There’s been plenty of argument about the ethics of a Covid passport system, but a more fundamental question still remains unanswered: can these passports be feasibly delivered in a timescale that is going to enable the wider reopening of society? These ‘passports’ are intended to provide proof that an individual has reduced risk of transmitting […]
‘It’ll be over by Christmas’ is a phrase that came to sum up the romanticism and naivety of the summer of 1914. That initial optimism was soon met with the reality of a protracted and bloody war. In November 2020, just as clinical trials were showing positive results for the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, Matt […]
Binyamin Netanyahu had one key strategy to winning Israel’s election last week. He outlined it very clearly back in December to senior members of his Likud party. At the time, Israel had just begun its covid-19 vaccine roll-out and Netanyahu predicted that success in vaccinations would push Likud, which was then languishing in the polls […]
Should pubs be allowed to refuse right of entry to any customer they choose? On Wednesday the Prime Minister suggested the decision would be down to individual landlords, prompting a media storm and Labour accusations of “passing the buck” on a key policy. Boris Johnson’s position here barely qualifies as an announcement, more a muttering […]
It was a weak joke, delivered to (supposed) friends, instantly regretted and best forgotten. But Boris Johnson’s equation of capitalism with greed is a common mistake on both sides. The caricature Wall Street financier Gordon Gekko proclaims that “Greed is good!” while Marx rejects the “werewolf greed” of capitalists. Indeed, people often define capitalism in terms of greed, concluding […]
What country in the world has, really, been best at tackling the coronavirus? There is no way to tell for sure. It is, however, possible to consult the court of international public opinion. This is precisely what British brand valuation company Brand Finance did when weighing in coronavirus sentiment for its yearly Global Soft Power […]
55 Days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 37 seconds…… So says my Time Until Pubs Open in England app as I write. By the time you read this that blessed relief will be even closer. We can now see a vaccinated, confused but certain path to our old lives, and to help us along the […]
Charles Oti is an infection control scientist who specialises in preventing contamination in hospitals – skills that are vital for the fight against coronavirus. But he was forced to give up his job in the NHS because the Home Office said he did not have the right documentation and was at risk of being deported […]
At the moment it feels like Europe’s political class is having a competition to see who can produce the most bafflingly incoherent response to the pandemic. From the beggar-thy-neighbour over-caution of various governments suspending the AstraZeneca vaccine, to Ursula von der Leyen’s threats to block exports of medicines, even as those individual governments decline to use the ones […]
Vaccine nationalism, where every country or region of the world selfishly fighting for itself to roll out Covid vaccines and battling with others, “can only slow down the global fight against the virus”. Instead, what we need is “teamwork solving global problems” through worldwide cooperation and open markets. These were the words of European Commission […]
Conspiracy theories have long been considered eccentric and ridiculous in Britain. You may have had a relative who believed the CIA murdered JFK or that Harold Wilson was nearly overthrown by a military coup. But in typically English fashion, we usually laughed at people like that. Yet nowadays it feel as if there is more […]
The economy has been in an induced coma, and many are pinning their hopes on a burst of consumer spending to jolt it back to life. But months of inactivity may be masking changes to habits and perceptions that could lead to a greater propensity to save. This means recovery may not be as simple […]
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been temporarily suspended across France, Germany, Spain, Italy and a number of other European countries after reports of blood clots among some people who have received the shot. Thankfully, the UK has taken a different approach, with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency making clear that there is no evidence […]
As public relations disasters go, it’s hard to top. Police officers bundling into a group of women who had come together in sorrow and disgust at the murder of another young woman, turning what should have been a sombre moment of reflection and tribute into one of anger, frustration and fear. Even the most fervent […]
From the beginning of Britain’s Covid crisis, comparisons with the Second World War have been inescapable. The profound changes to our way of life, the economic toll and the sense of a shared national struggle have all felt particularly resonant in a country whose national identity has been so profoundly shaped by that conflict. From […]
“Data not dates” the Prime Minister declared, as he announced a series of dates on which the country will cautiously return to normal. The Government is planning a slow and staggered reopening to allow scientists to analyse how well vaccines work faced with a spreading virus and mutations. In short, the roadmap is primarily a […]
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