All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
‘They are S-C-A-R-E-D’. So said Binyamin Netanyahu in a famous 1999 election campaign speech, referring to the media. Now he is the one who is scared. The political mastermind who has been Prime Minister for the past eleven years stands to lose his crown. Israel’s political crisis of 2019-2020 saw three general elections without producing
From Friday night, southerners are set to be cooped up in their homes because of high Covid rates in the north. I’m talking, of course, about the decision to impose tier two restrictions on London. The capital’s nine million people will be banned from socialising indoors with people they don’t live with and commuters urged
‘I believe in the United Kingdom and in a successful United Kingdom’. For a committed unionist, Labour’s first minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, has done more than most to fan the flames of nationalism during Covid-19. In taking a markedly more cautious and communitarian approach to the pandemic compared to Downing Street, Drakeford has managed to both improve
Test and trace, according to the leaked minutes of Sage’s meeting on 21 September, has had a ‘marginal’ impact on the infection rate of Covid-19. But let no one say it has not achieved anything. It has succeeded in the virtually impossible: making HS2 look relatively good value for money. Documents revealed to Sky News
Boris Johnson probably thought he emerged from Prime Minister’s Questions this week having maximised his freedom of manoeuvre in the battle against coronavirus. Indeed, at one point he made it explicitly clear that he was not promising that there would be no second national lockdown, declaring: ‘I rule out nothing.’ While that may be the formal
There was cautious expectation China would become a responsible member of the international community, given its 40-year surge towards free trade. This has sadly not come to pass. China’s offence-is-the-best-form-of-defence posture after the spread of the coronavirus pandemic from its soil, has confirmed the Chinese communist party’s aggressive streak. But now countries neighbouring China are building a
The UK’s negotiating efforts with the EU this year have been dramatically better than under the May administration. But a bad deal is still a real risk as a result of political and time pressures. Some recent reports suggest the UK may be flirting with dangerous compromises in key areas. The temptation to give ground
It is hardly surprising that the new parliamentary complaints system has had what might politely be termed teething problems when it comes to helping staffers and others who turned to it. This week the Times reports that complainants had been given incorrect advice, had not received the mental health support they needed, and were even
Our latest poll in Scotland makes grim reading for unionists and offers much to celebrate for supporters of Scottish independence. Support for independence is now at a record high of 58 per cent. The SNP appear on course for a majority at next year’s Scottish parliamentary elections. And around two-thirds of Scots tell us that such
This week’s Prime Minister’s Questions stood out from previous sessions. Boris Johnson appeared the most comfortable he has in recent weeks – boosted by the loud support of the Tory MPs allowed in the socially distanced Commons chamber. In a way this was strange – Conservative MPs have become grumpier with each week when it
Sir Keir’s approach to PMQs is so brilliant it might be rather foolish. He shows up each Wednesday as if he were attending a particularly complicated fraud trial, full of unique and intriguing features, which will one day furnish material for a lecture at Inner Temple. It’s super-technical. It makes your brain itch. And anyone
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A paper to be published by Sage scientists today claims that more than 7,000 lives could be saved if the government imposes a two-week ‘circuit breaker’. With Keir Starmer today saying the policy would be in the ‘national interest’, Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth about whether Boris could put Britain into
When he assumed the Office of Prime Minister, Boris Johnson also took upon himself the responsibility of being, he said, ‘Minister for the Union’. Whatever you may feel about the manner in which he has performed as First Lord of the Treasury, his record in his other post has been miserable. So much so, indeed,
Does white privilege exist? For many white working-class pupils, in particular boys, it doesn’t. For years, it has been clear that these youngsters are struggling. Now for poor white kids, things are arguably worse than ever. Among poor white children, only 24 per cent of boys and 32 per cent of girls achieve five good GCSEs.
The theory behind a V-shaped recovery relied on the assumption that the economy would open up almost as quickly as it shut down. This did not happen. The UK moved at a much slower pace than its European counterparts exiting stringent lockdown measures. And already restrictions are being implemented again. August’s GDP figures were surprisingly dismal,
Keir Starmer’s strategy has always been to wait cautiously for events to unfold, rarely playing too bold a move. When he does act, it is usually after a long period of hibernation. Starmer sat in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet while many Labour MPs who felt roughly the same way he did about Corbyn’s project either rebelled from the
Donald Trump was bewildered, frustrated, and downright exasperated. Addressing a crowd of red-hatted, hard-core MAGA supporters last night in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the president wondered aloud how it was even possible he could be defeated by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. ‘I’m running against the single worst candidate in the history of presidential politics, and you
Could a two-week ‘circuit-breaker’ lockdown really ‘save’ nearly 8,000 lives, as is being widely reported this morning? Not according to one of the authors of the paper on which the claim is based. Matt Keeling, a mathematician at the University of Warwick, was questioned on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning about the paper —
It perhaps isn’t much of a surprise that Laurence Fox and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown failed to see eye-to-eye in a discussion on white privilege. But Mr S was still somewhat taken aback by the pair’s discussion on Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 talk show this morning. Alibhai-Brown started the discussion by telling Fox: ‘You should actually ask other people
Border posts have been dismantled. The armed guards and sniffer dogs have been retired. And the surly looking official who glances at you suspiciously before curtly handing back your passport has long since been consigned to the pages of dusty old spy thrillers. Over the last couple of decades, if the European Union had one
Will the presidency of Emmanuel Macron open the door to a political dynasty in France? He has no children, so that’s a problem. But wait. There’s Brigitte Macron, who has three. Albeit, all from the union she abandoned to marry Emmanuel, her pupil. Meet the youngest of Mme Macron’s three children, Tiphaine Auzière, 36, a
‘Do no harm’ are three words all doctors must follow in the course of their work. These words make me convinced that Covid-19 lockdowns are the wrong approach, and a growing number of doctors are on my side. Medical students throughout the West are taught the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence as pillars of medical
As Tory MPs vent over the government’s new three-tier coronavirus system, Boris Johnson appeared this evening before his party for an impromptu meeting of the 1922 committee. Ahead of votes on the measures, the Prime Minister used Zoom to address MPs dialling in from their offices. With many Conservative MPs grumpy over the latest restriction guidelines,
The Greater Manchester ‘local lockdown’ and the more extreme economic lockdowns have both failed to control the number of positive tests within the Borough of Bolton, which has inexorably risen. During the lockdown, Bolton has seen 20,000 fewer GP referrals to hospital when compared to last year, while many others have not accessed vital treatment because
Germany is edging towards revolt. Twelve of the country’s 16 federal states have brought in ‘accommodation bans’, forbidding travellers in high-risk areas from visiting other regions without proof of a recent negative test. These risk areas include four out of five of Germany’s largest cities as well as any Landkreis (or administrative districts) that have recorded more than 50 new cases per 100,000
Keir Starmer has called for more drastic measures in a bid to control coronavirus infections. After Sage minutes were published on Monday that revealed the scientists advising the government recommended a two-week lockdown — the so-called ‘circuit breaker’ approach — Starmer used a press conference this evening to urge the Prime Minister to act. The Labour leader called for ‘a
In a press conference this evening, Keir Starmer has called for a two week ‘circuit break’ lockdown. Below is a transcript of his remarks. Good afternoon. We’re at a decisive moment in the fight against coronavirus. The figures are stark and I’m afraid they’re all heading in the wrong direction. The number of Covid cases has
What is the North? Where is the North? Does it start at Stoke-on-Trent and Derby or at Chesterfield and Runcorn? Even when you get into the unquestionable north, it is full of divisions between Liverpool and Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire, Newcastle and Sunderland. It’s no more packed with men in cloth caps than the south
Nicola Sturgeon’s problems are mounting rapidly. The first minister is embroiled in a row over when she knew about the allegations of sexual misconduct against her predecessor Alex Salmond. Sturgeon is also under pressure over her government’s handling of the pandemic, as cases continue to mount. And disgraced SNP MP Margaret Ferrier – who boarded a train
When New Zealanders head to the polls this weekend, Jacinda Ardern seems all but certain to secure a resounding victory. So is this proof of the popularity of Ardern’s zero-Covid strategy? There is no doubt Ardern’s approach to the pandemic has been popular in New Zealand. Early on in the outbreak, the Labour party leader presented
Unemployment is creeping up. For months it remained stagnant, as the combination of the furlough scheme and people keeping out of the jobs market kept the rate deceptively low. But over the past few months, it has started to increase, with today’s labour market overview from the Office for National Statistics revealing a 4.5 per
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New documents from Sage show minutes from late September in which scientists advised a circuit breaker lockdown. It’s clear that the government didn’t take that advice. So is No 10 no longer ‘following the science’? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
Last Saturday the French president and British Prime Minister had a phone conversation about the pandemic and Brexit that received little coverage. But the subject matter highlights the extent to which the two leaders have troubles in common and solutions to share. Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson have had a bad pandemic for similar reasons: lack
Does catching the SARS-CoV-2 virus give us immunity from further infection by the virus or can we catch it a second time? The question has been given extra poignancy this week following Donald Trump’s tweet on Sunday, quickly censured by Twitter, claiming that he was immune. Before that row has had a chance to die