The Spectator

Today

4 Jun 2020
The Spectator

Portrait of the week: MPs return, dentists reopen and racing resumes

Home Primary schools were allowed to reopen but many did not want to. MPs voted to return to their physical presence in parliament. The government told people they were allowed to meet in gardens or on rooftops, up to the number of six, as long as those from different households remained two metres apart. About 2.5 million vulnerable people in England and Wales, who had been advised to stay at home, were now advised that those living alone might meet another single person out of doors. Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury, resigned as a whip after she was found to have gone for a walk with her current partner at a time that he was still living with his wife. Racing resumed. The Queen rode a fell pony at Windsor Castle.

Portrait of the week: MPs return, dentists reopen and racing resumes

Yesterday

3 Jun 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Lockdown attainment gap could wipe out a decade of education gains

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis More Covid-19 deaths in Scotland have happened in care homes than hospitals, according to the National Records of Scotland. Details below.A report from the Education Endowment Foundation finds that the attainment gap caused by shutting down schools could wipe out a decade of gains from education policy. Ross Clark has the details below.The NHS test-and-trace programme is not tracing the contacts of at least 60% of people who test positive for Covid-19.MPs have voted to end voting from home. At today’s PMQs, Boris Johnson offered MPs who are shielding the chance to vote by proxy, rather than just being paired.

Covid-19 update: Lockdown attainment gap could wipe out a decade of education gains

Tuesday

2 Jun 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: UK death toll nears 50,000

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis  Public Health England has released its report on the effects of Covid-19 on BAME communities, which finds that black and Asian ethnic groups are ‘up to twice as likely to die with Covid-19 than those from a white British background’. The biggest risk factors are age and gender.The ONS reports an additional 51,466 deaths this year over the five-year average, as the death toll linked to Covid-19 approaches 50,000. Details below.Half of UK hospitals have reported no Covid-19 deaths in the past two days.The government will no longer hold its daily Covid-19 press conferences on weekends.

Covid-19 update: UK death toll nears 50,000

Monday

1 Jun 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Japan avoided lockdown and kept deaths low. How?

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad.News and analysis Primary school pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 can return to school from today. The National Foundation for Educational Research estimates that 46 per cent of parents will keep their children home over safety fears.Some 2.4 million cancer patients have missed out on tests and treatment because of a backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Cancer Research UK.Fewer than 80 prisoners have been released early to stop the spread of Covid-19 in prisons. The government had previously said up to 4,000 would need to be freed.

Covid-19 update: Japan avoided lockdown and kept deaths low. How?

Friday

29 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Sunak starts to roll back furlough scheme

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis  Rishi Sunak is set to announce changes to the furlough scheme this afternoon. Details below.Groups of up to six people can meet outside in England from Monday. Meanwhile Scotland has begun to ease its lockdown as people from two different households can now meet.The first Covid rehab centre, designed to help patients recovering from the virus, has taken in its first patients.‘More than two additional hours of teaching per week might be needed over a year to compensate for each school week lost to Covid-19’, according to a report from the LSE.

Covid-19 update: Sunak starts to roll back furlough scheme

Thursday

28 May 2020
The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Cummings under fire, protests in Hong Kong and a big cat in East Finchley

Home Open-air markets and car showrooms will be allowed to open from 1 June and other ‘non-essential’ shops from 15 June. Sales of goods in April had fallen by 18 per cent, those of clothing by 50 per cent. Government borrowing rose sharply to £62 billion in April, the highest sum known. The Office for Budget Responsibility predicted borrowing for the year of perhaps £298 billion, more than five times the estimate at the time of the Budget in March. The government announced funding for new long-term housing for 6,000 rough sleepers, of whom more than 14,000 had been given emergency accommodation from the start of the coronavirus lockdown. The Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, soon to be Archbishop of York, is to lead a review of how many bishops in the Church of England to cull and how many historic churches to mothball.

Portrait of the week: Cummings under fire, protests in Hong Kong and a big cat in East Finchley

Wednesday

27 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Lockdown was not needed to tame Covid, says Norway

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis Boris Johnson will face questions from senior MPs on the Liaison Committee amid the Dominic Cummings fallout. The PM is also expected to launch the UK’s track-and-trace programme this evening.Some 8.4 million employees have been furloughed, an increase of 400,000 in one week.Local lockdowns could be used to suppress future outbreaks of Covid-19 in the UK.Two different households will be able to mix outdoors next month, according to the Telegraph.The Covid drug remdesivir will be made available on the NHS.

Covid-19 update: Lockdown was not needed to tame Covid, says Norway

Tuesday

26 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Deaths fall to six-week low – but excess deaths still rising

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad.News and analysis New ONS data shows the proportion of deaths involving Covid-19 continues to fall in all English regions, but the excess death toll has reached over 60,000. Details below.Tory MP Douglas Ross has resigned as a government minister over the Dominic Cummings row. Details below.Non-essential shops can reopen from 15 June. Barbecues and garden parties of up to ten people may also be allowed.One in four adults in the UK is not receiving their mental healthcare because of lockdown, according to Public Health England.

Covid-19 update: Deaths fall to six-week low – but excess deaths still rising

Friday

22 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: UK debt jumps to 98 per cent of GDP

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis  The UK’s two metre social distancing rule could be relaxed according to medical director of Public Health England Yvonne Doyle, speaking at a science and technology committee hearing.The UK government borrowed £62.1 billion in April, sending net debt to a record 98 per cent of GDP. Details below.Foreigners and UK nationals will be fined £1,000 if they refuse to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in Britain. They must share contact details with authorities and will then be subject to spot checks in homes by health officials and police.

Covid-19 update: UK debt jumps to 98 per cent of GDP

Thursday

21 May 2020
The Spectator

Letters: When is a sport not a sport?

Save the children Sir: Your leading article is correct that the government should have evaluated the detriment caused by shutting schools, against the risk posed by Covid-19 (‘Class divide’, 16 May). This is not a glib trade-off between protecting lives and allowing children to go to school: the predicament foisted on young people will affect their future for decades. Exams were abruptly cancelled in March. This has left many schools dealing with apathetic individuals. The disparity between disadvantaged and affluent students is widening: middle-class schoolchildren are twice as likely to receive online tuition, and only 8 per cent of teachers in low-income communities report more than three-quarters of work being submitted, compared with 50 per cent in the private sector.

Letters: When is a sport not a sport?

Wednesday

20 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Cancer deaths, A&E and the lockdown effect

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis  Slogan update. After ‘Stay alert’ comes: ‘Keep our distance, wash our hands, think of others and play our part. All together.’Delays to cancer surgery will lead to almost 5,000 deaths, according to the Institute of Cancer Research. Analysis from Fraser Nelson below.The UK has sold government bonds with a negative interest rate for the first time ever: £3.75 billion worth, maturing in July 2023 with an average yield of -0.003%.Cambridge University said it will switch to online lectures in the next academic year.

Covid-19 update: Cancer deaths, A&E and the lockdown effect

Tuesday

19 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: How many furloughed jobs will come back?

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis  The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the UK rose to 2.1 million in April in the biggest jump since records began in 1971.One in three private sector workers now has some of their wages paid for by the government.The official number of UK coronavirus deaths is now more than 44,000. The number of care home deaths is down 31% on the previous week, according to ONS data.Primary school pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 may return to school from 1 June. However children from other year groups may no longer receive online teaching as staff will be spread out across smaller classes.

Covid-19 update: How many furloughed jobs will come back?

Monday

18 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Measuring the damage of lockdown school closures

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis Children from better-off families spend 30% more time on home learning than those from poorer families, according to new research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.Missing a third of a year of school could cut pupils’ lifetime earnings by 4%, a German study says. More below.More than 500,000 people have accessed a suicide prevention course over the past three weeks, according to a suicide prevention charity.Trains in England are running at increased frequency and stations have put in place crowd control measures.

Covid-19 update: Measuring the damage of lockdown school closures

Friday

15 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Boris Johnson declares war on obesity to tackle the virus

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis Boris Johnson has declared war on fat as an increasing body of research suggests a link between obesity and Covid-19 deaths. James Forsyth has the details below.Some 20% of Londoners are thought to have caught Covid-19 and now less than 24 people a day in the capital are being infected with the virus, a Cambridge model predicts. This chimes with testing data below.The model also suggests that one in five children and one in nine adults – 6.5 million in total – are understood to have contracted the virus.

Covid-19 update: Boris Johnson declares war on obesity to tackle the virus

Thursday

14 May 2020
The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Will antibody tests be a gamechanger?

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis  The UK has approved a new antibody test for detecting Covid-19. Details below.It could take ‘many months’ to restart NHS services, according to experts from three leading think tanks. The news comes as A&E attendance fell to its lowest level on record.A study from the University of Manchester has claimed that 29% of the UK population may have already had Covid-19 by the end of April.Plans for the NHS Covid-19 tracing app have been leaked after officials put the documents online by mistake. Details below.

Covid-19 update: Will antibody tests be a gamechanger?
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