Boris Johnson opened up the shutters but it was just a crack, a chink, a cigarette paper-slim slit. May as well have kept them slammed shut for all the good it did. Four more months. Another four months of pettifogging rules and restrictions. Our emergence from this year of hell will not so much be … Read more
David Blunkett MP, a former Labour Education Secretary All of the sacrifices during the past months have been about protecting the elderly and vulnerable in our society from the ravages of Covid. The country has united behind the slogan ‘Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives!’ Today it is time to protect our children — … Read more
Let’s stand back for a moment from this awful pandemic and consider what has been done to us. No previous governments in peacetime, and very few in wartime, have curtailed personal freedoms to the extent that ours have been suppressed over the past 11 months. We can’t meet our nearest and dearest. We are obliged … Read more
We haven’t had such a bumper day of royal binge-watching since, well, that glorious Saturday in 2018 when Harry and Meghan walked out in to the Windsor sunshine. By any measure, March 7 is going to leave royal-watchers goggle-eyed. And for those of a republican bent, it would probably be advisable to switch off and … Read more
As I listened to Boris Johnson outlining his so-called roadmap out of lockdown to the House of Commons yesterday, my frustration turned to anger. Amid all his rhetorical twirls and boasts about the (undoubted) success of the vaccination programme, a simple, devastating truth could not be concealed. Pubs and restaurants will not be allowed to … Read more
As roadmaps go, it’s hardly the full AA atlas. Yes, it leads us out of the cul-de-sac we’ve been stuck in since December, but sadly not as far as the open road. That page appears to be missing. If advance indications are to be believed, Boris Johnson’s chart for national reawakening is cautious, highly conditional … Read more
When on a winning streak, you should make the most of it. And the British Government has hit the jackpot (again) with its Covid vaccination policy. The Lancet has just published a study of 9,000 healthcare workers conducted by the Sheba Medical Centre in Israel (the country is the front runner in the global vaccination … Read more
As turf wars rage among the staff at No. 10, a battle- weary Boris Johnson has sued for peace with one of Parliament’s most senior MPs. In July the PM removed the Tory whip from Julian Lewis in an act of revenge, after the rebellious member for New Forest East stood against Johnson’s preferred candidate, … Read more
Britain has one of the greatest restaurant scenes in the world. It makes this country a uniquely exciting place to live and do business. You might never have thought about it this way, but our restaurants are a major national asset. And they are on their knees. As are our pubs. Last year, the hospitality … Read more
Number Ten has long been a hotbed of gossip, intrigue and backstabbing as the power-hungry jostle for position at the court of the prime minister. But even by that yardstick, the events of recent days have been something to behold. And the figure accused of being at the heart of the latest series of power … Read more