Kent is steeped in history. For hundreds of years, houses such as Hever Castle and Penshurst Place have hosted power politics and palace intrigue. More recently, they attract visitors from all over the world to see the haunts of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. They should be welcoming more people today, but they are not. The … Read more
Last week a dejected Tory MP was sitting in the House of Commons lobby when the Prime Minister appeared. ‘He saw me and said, ‘Don’t worry. Everything will be all right in the end,’ the former Minister recounted, ‘then just ambled off.’ Things are not going to be all right. It was left to Rishi … Read more
No doubt like many of you, I have spent the last few days trying to get my head around the Government’s latest response to coronavirus, and the fact that, for the most part, it seems to have gone down like a dry cough in a crowded train carriage. And I’ve concluded that, when it comes … Read more
After a crisp winter walk in the glorious dales or high peaks of Derbyshire, nothing could be more natural than stopping for a restorative drink and hot lunch by the fire of a local pub. Yet incredibly, the Government has now declared this simple pleasure to be illegal. Because Derby and some other parts of … Read more
Well, that’s scuppered my plans for Christmas. I knew there would be a limit to the number of people I could invite, so I came up with the ripping wheeze of inviting the virus instead of the relatives. All of it. No problem with the seating plan. Some scientists have calculated that the amount of … Read more
Following the chaos and conflict of the Dominic Cummings era, the appointment of Dan Rosenfield as Boris Johnson’s chief of staff is a decisive break with the past. The Prime Minister’s most senior aide, shaven-headed Cummings, 49, never wore a suit and tie, was rude to MPs and officials, and revelled in the notoriety of … Read more
Think of an idyllic English summer, and what is the first image that springs to your mind? If you’re anything like me — and there are still a fair few of us old dreamers left — you’ll see a cricket match in progress on a lovingly tended village green. Under an ancient oak tree by … Read more
Professor Lawrence Young (above) of Warwick Medical School last night said restrictions must continue – but even he admitted that ‘the new three-tier approach remains very confusing’ ‘Authoritarian’, ‘devastating’, ‘deeply disappointing’ – the reaction to yesterday’s news was telling. MPs and council leaders across the country were exasperated by the prospect of four more months … Read more
Just imagine that this time last year someone had described to you what Britain would look like in December 2020. They would tell of a country in which vast swathes of the population had spent endless months locked down at home. Where one business after another was heading for the wall, where children were being … Read more
And so came the tiers. There was no actual blubbing in the chamber when Matt Hancock announced his post-lockdown restrictions yesterday. Some Tory MPs looked jolly close to turning on the waterworks though. Blimey, were they cross! The Health Secretary had just announced that all of them – barring members for Cornwall, the Isles of … Read more