lockdown
The cost of delaying ‘freedom day’
When Boris Johnson announced that unlocking would be guided by ‘data not dates’ he handed detractors ample scope for derision…
Boris Johnson delays the end of lockdown
Boris Johnson has this evening confirmed that he will delay the lifting of all Covid restrictions by four weeks to…
Speaker blasts Boris again over lockdown announcement
The government has just suffered a further verbal drubbing for the way it announced it would be delaying the roadmap…
The lockdown delay has triggered a constitutional crisis
It is not the Battle of Marston Moor, but it strikes me that we are now in something of a…
What Tory MPs fear most about a lockdown delay
As Boris Johnson prepares to announce a four-week delay to the final stage out of lockdown, he faces a mixed reaction.…
New wave
It’s here – but it shouldn’t delay our reopening
Portrait of the Week
Home The government pondered delaying the end of coronavirus restrictions on 21 June. But Chris Hopson, the chief executive of…
Lockdown unlocked
The choreographers called on to get the nation’s dancers back on to the stage have as much to say about…
Open road
It seems all but impossible to convince government scientists of the wisdom of proceeding with the final lifting of Covid…
Why the vaccines should prevent a deadly third wave
Among the scientists and medics calling this week for caution in the government’s reopening of the economy was Dr Lisa…
The turf
Humans are herd animals too. Jockeys, trainers, owners and those enjoying the few prized media attendance slots for racing behind…
Real life
‘We’re closed for lunch,’ said the farmer, sitting behind the counter of his farm shop with a scowl on his…
What will Cummings say?
As the government puts the final touches to its social distancing review and Foreign Office ministers ponder the best response…
Routine procedures
Among the horrors, some aspects of lockdown were bizarrely less gruelling than expected; indeed for some people, the experience was…
Will the 21 June easing go ahead?
The roadmap out of lockdown is the signature document of Boris Johnson’s new team in No. 10. It’s intended to…
Variants and variables
The scare over the Indian variant of coronavirus this week is a taste of what to expect over the next…
Off-the-peg ire
Over the decades, Van Morrison’s role within the tower of song has shifted from chief visionary officer to head of…
Open arms
It’s the hugs vs the hug-nots
Could the Indian variant slow unlocking?
So is the ‘irreversible’ lifting of lockdown really irreversible after all? There is a grim echo of what happened last…
Were fears of a third wave overblown?
So, the third wave is officially no more. New modelling by SPI-M, the government’s committee on modelling for pandemics, has,…
Data, not dates
A slogan can come back to haunt you. For Boris Johnson, the words ‘data not dates’ sounded powerful at a…
Trail of tears
Why India is reluctant to lock down again
Pete the Street
‘I’ve been seeing the bare bones of London,’ explains the landscape artist Peter Brown, who is known affectionately as ‘Pete…
The perils of lockdown drama
Hats off to the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. They’ve discovered a new form of racism. Some people say we…
Need we fear a third wave after lockdown ends?
When Boris Johnson revealed his roadmap out of lockdown at the end of February he promised a ‘one way road…