Opinion

There is an undeniable pressure not to undermine the government’s response to the coronavirus. But LIZ GERARD argues we have a duty to question it. We are not at war. We cannot defeat the ‘enemy’ with grit or determination or by ‘fighting’ (and certainly not on the beaches). Walls do not have ears. This invader […]

Government ministers have been accused of losing control in the last few weeks. EMILIE ANCELIN says that Boris Johnson and his cabinet would benefit from looking to French president Emmanuel Macron for some tips in how to regain authority. Three weeks after putting the whole of France into lockdown, Emmanuel Macron gave his third address […]

MICHAEL WHITE asks will we all rise again after the Covid-19 pandemic? Even well-read atheists know that Easter’s message of resurrection and redemption is at the heart of Christian faith and must be hoping that the Boris Johnson who emerged soberly from his near-death experience at St Thomas’ Hospital is a better man than the […]

The virus crisis has accelerated the tech revolution to breakneck speed, says JAMES BALL. We need to be careful we are not hurtling towards dystopia.

The case for a broad political alliance holding the government to account is once again needed more than ever. Keir Starmer’s refocusing of Labour priorities is welcome. Less welcome is the postponement of the Liberal Democrat leadership election until the Covid-19 virus is under control. The Brexit debacle saw unprecedented cooperation between principled MPs of […]

The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified orientalist, anti-Asian sentiment in the West. HOLLY BARROW calls for those in the UK and US to look closer to home before attributing blame on other countries. A Chinese tourist wears a protective mask as she visit the almost empty Badaling Great Wall in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty […]

TIM WALKER recounts interviewing American actress Lauren Bacall, whose life remained shaped by Humphrey Bogart even after his death. Lauren Bacall’s publicist was adamant that the star would talk to me about any subject under the sun, except her first husband, Humphrey Bogart. ‘She feels she’s talked about him quite enough,’ he said. ‘So I’d […]

MITCH BENN issues a musical call-to-arms to a country under the coronavirus curfew. Mitch Benn’s song and video urged people to stay in during coronavirus. Picture: Contributed – Credit: Archant On the one hand, envisaging into what sort of post-Covid world we might one day emerge, fat and blinking, seems like the most exquisite form […]

We have to try to find a language for us all in this alien world, says BONNIE GREER. Connection during coronavirus: Hackney Carers Collective have been streaming dance classes on Zoom to help carers over 50 keep connected during the lockdown. Picture: Anne-Marie Payne – Credit: Anne-Marie Payne Something new and something very old… coronavirus […]

The words of the British Queen, King Philippe of Belgium and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark were echoed throughout Europe and around the world. Their messages have resonated far greater than the words of any prime minister. The British Queen’s address to the nation evoked huge interest, respect and widespread appreciation. Nearly 24 million people […]

The government must release all prisoners who do not pose a threat to society immediately, says Boris Johnson’s former press secretary Ashish Prashar The injustice of mass incarceration and our legal system, on both sides of the Atlantic, is the civil rights issue of our time. What is both saddening and terrifying is that it […]

We are already starting to see the political blame game in response to the coronavirus – but who really benefits? Among the contemporary chaos, one prediction can be made with confidence. The coronavirus pandemic will soon lead to an outbreak of divisive and disruptive political blame games. Politicians, policymakers, advisers and experts will all seek […]

We will come out of the coronavirus wiser if we do not frame the response in narrow military language, says ALEXANDRE CHRISTOYANNOPOULOS. In speeches, commentaries and conversations about the coronavirus pandemic, we keep hearing war-like metaphors being deployed. It happens explicitly (‘we are at war’, ‘blitz spirit’, ‘war cabinet’) and implicitly (‘threat’, ‘invisible enemy’, ‘frontline’, […]

Even before the coronavirus recovery begins we’re seeing how fundamental business collaboration is, says Lucy Franklin. A Brexit delay is inevitable We’re living through a situation that almost no one saw coming, and no one was prepared for. I’m not going to use this article to throw my voice behind the chorus of recriminations or […]

Shining humour on to dark times, comedian MITCH BENN says if this was The Walking Dead, he would skip ahead. First of all, I hope this finds you safe, well and still relatively sane. I know the waggish thing to do at the moment is to draw satirical comparison between our current plight and the […]

Police are not overlords, they are citizens in uniform, argues JAMES BALL. They need to guide us through this crisis, not force us. In the days shortly before the UK government eventually decided to lock down much of the country – which was still only a handful of weeks ago, even if it feels much […]

With no more plays to review, TIM WALKER reviews the stars he’s met, starting with Roger Moore and one role that really mattered to him The director Stephen Unwin has a question he puts to people who want to work for him on his productions. ‘Don’t you just love stars?’ he’ll say, smiling broadly. All […]

Despite the coronavirus outbreak the government is continuing with Brexit talks. Consequently a campaign for assoicate EU citizenship must continue. The campaign to allow British citizens to apply for associate EU membership must go on. When all this is over the economic consequences will be devastating and the USA will be in no position to […]

Whether it’s the NHS, students or sport we should write off 2020. Andrew Adonis makes the point that students should be allowed to repeat this year with no fees. My daughter, who is in her first year at university, has already suffered as a consequence of the lecturers’ strike and will have lost half a […]

BONNIE GREER writes how the central ‘beautiful figure’ of Italian culture cannot be seperated from the tragedy facing Italians Anyone who has been to Italy or known Italians will recognise la bella figura. The term literally means ‘beautiful figure’ and expresses a central part of the country’s culture, a basic part of who its people […]

One reader says those blaming China should look closer to home for who to blame over the response to coronavirus. Don’t blame the Chinese for being slow off the mark. They had no great warning and knew little about what was coming. However we did have warning and lots of information from China and we […]

One reader thinks the daily press briefings from the government has improved without Boris Johnson. I’m finding the 5pm Covid-19 briefings without Boris Johnson more factual, succinct and more credible. I think experts give more guidance than politicians. This may be our darkest hour but Boris is most certainly not Churchillian Tony Howarth London SW3 […]

A new Labour leader finally takes Jeremy Corbyn’s place this week – his dogged determination to carry on to the end has been one of his final strategic mistakes. No-one could have predicted the crisis the country would be facing when Labour decided to set the close of the leadership contest for this week, but […]

Experts at King’s College London have developed a free coronavirus app to monitor symptoms on a population-wide level. TIM SPECTOR from the institution said that the public response has been staggering. The global COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is a public health emergency. In just under three months, we have gone from […]

Are you protected for life once you have the coronavirus antibodies as the government’s experts claim? CONNOR BAMFORD assesses the claim which spurred the idea of ‘herd immunity’. Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser to the UK government, recently said that many groups are working on blood tests for COVID-19, adding: ‘That would tell us who […]

BONNIE GREER assesses the English coping strategies coming to the fore during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Americans and Italians and the French, just to name a few cultures, are touchy-feely. An American will shake your hand under almost any circumstances. Or give you a hug. Especially if they do not know you because the hug […]

The Brexit transition period must be delayed to help the UK after the coronavirus outbreak. The coronavirus crisis, resulting in mass panic buying, hoarding and supply shortages with extensive empty shelves in supermarkets, has inadvertently become a dry run for no-deal Brexit and an unofficial test of resilience in the UK. I expect to see […]

The COVID-19 response has been at a national, not European, level. With countries often turning to populist and nationalist solutions, what is needed is a wider community response. What the economic downturn that began in 2008 did not achieve, could be managed by a microorganism. The outbreak and spread of the virus SARS-CoV-2 and the […]

A more humane society is possible from the response to coronavirus. But, as SIMON MAIR explains, it requires politicians moving away from putting the markets and profits first. Coronavirus warnings on signs in Glasgow as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire. – Credit: PA […]

Is it time for Boris Johnson to show genuine leadership by calling for a national unity government to steer the country through the coronavirus outbreak? These are truly unprecedented times and as such there must surely now be a government of national unity. If parliament is forced to suspend, either formally or through parliamentarians voluntarily […]

With Boris Johnson belatedly raising his game, MITCH BENN’s attention turns to ‘horrifyingly fascinatiing’ behaviour of his US counterpart. How are we all holding up? I do hope you’re all well, safe and still relatively sane. I won’t ask if you’re all behaving yourselves and staying indoors, since that decision is no longer ours to […]

The COVID-19 crisis represents an opportunity for positive change that could span decades, according to JAMES BALL. Boris Johnson is almost certainly not a fan of the man who coined the phrase ‘there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen’ – it was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin – but even he […]