James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
31 min listen
It’s the first few days of a national lockdown, so have humans been hubristic in not expecting something like this to happen (1:10)? Over in France, is President Macron dealing with this any better (11:05)? Last, is there any point in being a historical novelist in the age of Hilary Mantel (19:10)?
Schools will close from Friday afternoon as the government steps up its effort to reduce the spike in coronavirus infections, and keep the numbers within the limits that the NHS can deal with. In a sign of how long these measures will go on for, Boris Johnson also announced that this summer’s exams will not
13 min listen
The government today announced that schools will be closed come this Friday. Boris Johnson wasn’t able to answer when they will resume, but James Forsyth says in today’s Coffee House Shots podcast that this is only the beginning of stricter social measures, some of which could become compulsory in the not distant future. Rumours abound
Boris Johnson has taken to calling his Government a ‘wartime’ one because of the fight against coronavirus. If you accept the logic of that, the flip side of this is that we are going to have to become a ‘wartime’ society. This means people are going to have to accept the restrictions on social interactions
14 min listen
In a dramatic escalation of government advice, Boris Johnson, the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser have said that those with anyone in their household with a fever or a new continuous cough should self-isolate for a fortnight. They also urged even those without any symptoms to avoid non-essential social contact – so
16 min listen
As more and more other countries go into lockdown or opt for mass school closures, there is going to be political controversy over this government’s approach to coronavirus. The political consensus on the handling of the virus is already beginning to fray. But it is worth trying to understand why the UK isn’t doing what
British politics has not lost its flair for the dramatic. If it was not enough to have Sajid Javid resign as -chancellor less than a month before the -Budget, Wednesday’s statement was delivered against the backdrop of a global economic crisis. Coronavirus is causing a shock to both demand and supply. We have not had
The government has bowed to the inevitable and announced that May’s local and Mayoral elections have been postponed. With the Chief Scientific Advisor saying that the coronavirus peak is 10 to 14 weeks away, it was hard to see how you could have had an election campaign within that period. As I said in the
11 min listen
In a sombre news conference in Downing Street, Boris Johnson has warned that coronavirus is causing the ‘worst public health crisis for a generation’ and that many families will lose loved ones before their time. Flanked by the chief scientific adviser and chief medical officer he announced a new series of measures including that people
11 min listen
36 min listen
This week kicked off with an incredible fall in oil prices globally, so what on earth happened (00:50)? We also talk about the Budget, where Rishi Sunak set out in more detail how the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda will look (10:20). Finally, should we be doing more science research for curiosity’s sake (23:05)?
84 min listen
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The most remarkable element of that Budget was a Tory Chancellor standing at the despatch box saying that people had voted to change the ‘economic geography’ of the country and that was what this government was going to try and deliver. It was a sign of how different this government is from its Tory predecessors.
