News and Opinion

A new study reveals that, despite Boris Johnson making fewer appearance in front of cameras, people want to see less of the prime minister and more of the experts. Since the UK government introduced late afternoon press conferences in March, these have tended to dominate the news cycle. But our research with news audiences suggests […]

The UK’s statistics watchdog has criticised the ‘limited detail’ in the government’s coronavirus testing figures. UK Statistics Authority chairman Sir David Norgrove told health secretary Matt Hancock that the ‘trustworthiness’ of official figures would be helped if they were more straightforward to find and better explained. Boris Johnson has set a goal of having the […]

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has called the government’s reluctance to follow the way Asian countries responded to the coronavirus a ‘major blind spot’. Addressing the Commons, the former Tory leadership hopeful said the UK, US and Europe failed to follow in the footsteps of its Asian trading partners and implement a more vigorous coronavirus […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has issued a strong defence of the government against allegations he has ‘let the care sector’ down during the coronavirus outbreak. Today programme presenter Martha Kearney put it to him that more care workers had died than doctors and nurses. But Hancock provided a strong defence of the government’s actions, claiming […]

A professor has claimed that more lives could have been saved had the UK government enforced a coronavirus lockdown sooner. Sir Lawrence Freedman, a strategic studies professor at Kings College, accused the government of following public opinion rather than leading it when it imposed a shutdown of the economy on March 23. Writing in Survival, […]

A former Conservative Party leader has called for Boris Johnson to stop using slogans during the coronavirus pandemic. William Hague said the approach of delivering a ‘straightforward and direct’ message paid off in the early day of the battle against coronavirus but more nuance was needed now. The prime minister has told the country ‘stay […]

Brexiteer MP and disgraced former defence minister Liam Fox has claimed that the global community may have ‘overreacted’ to the emergence of the coronavirus. Speaking in the House of Commons, the Brexiteer told MPs that ‘we cannot afford to close down the global economy every time we have a new virus emerging’. He said: ‘We […]

A recent study has suggested up to 3% of NHS staff could be infected with the coronavirus without knowing it. Researchers at Cambridge University tested more than 1,200 workers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge throughout April and found that of the almost three-quarters that reported feeling fit for work, 3% had tested positive for Covid-19. […]

Neil Ferguson already had Covid-19 so was unlikely to be infectious. So did he really do wrong in flouting the rules? If anyone is an expert on when it might be OK to breach lockdown regulations, it’s one of the country’s leading epidemiologists. But after breaking the rules, Neil Ferguson felt the need to step […]

The furlough scheme currently supporting 7.5 million workers through the coronavirus crisis will be extended until the end of October, chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced. The scheme – which pays 80% of a worker’s salary up to a £2,500 monthly cap – will remain unchanged until the end of July and then continue with employers […]

A former council leader has fumed that the government’s coronavirus lockdown ‘infringes our basic human rights’ claiming that people still ‘have the right to carry out actions even if they are not in our best interest’. Former Cambridge County Council leader Nick Clarke is given a guided tour of Wisbech Town Centre. Photograph: Archant. – […]

The government’s new coronavirus lockdown slogan has been ridiculed by Twitter users who have rehashed the ‘stay alert, control the virus, save lives’ graphics into hilarious parodies. The new government ‘stay alert’ slogan. Photograph: Downing Street/Twitter. – Credit: Archant The new messaging was introduced ahead of Boris Johnson’s latest lockdown announcement on Sunday, after ministers […]

The prime minister has rejected newspaper reports that the government’s new ‘stay alert’ message was not signed off by two of its keys experts. The Guardian reports that neither Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer (CMO), nor Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser (CSA), were asked to sign off the new messaging […]

The RNLI has issued a warning after Boris Johnson ruled out opening up swimming pools in the easing of coronavirus lockdown, but claimed people can use lakes and the sea. Johnson told MPs in the House of Commons ‘we can’t do anything for swimming pools’ but changes to allow people to access lakes and the […]

Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford has accused the UK government of ‘getting it wrong’ over its new coronavirus lockdown measures. Speaking at his daily press conference, Drakeford said he would use ‘whatever means are available’ to stop revellers crossing into Wales. He said: ‘I think we have got it right in Wales, and I don’t […]

Readers have mixed views on the media coverage of Boris Johnson’s handling of the coronavirus. The way much the UK media – not including TNE – has rolled over for Boris and his government has astounded and depressed me. The lack of critical distance, even from the hitherto sensible, is dumbfounding. There seems a desire […]

Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer will broadcast his response to Boris Johnson’s latest lockdown measures on television and radio, the BBC has confirmed. In a tweet, the broadcaster confirmed that Sir Keir will make his address on BBC Radio 4 at 5.50pm, with a televised version to be aired at 6.55pm on BBC One. They […]

A decade ago, a handful of new Tory MPs wrote a book outlining their criticisms of the country and vision for how to improve it. Now they are in senior roles, putting their proposals into action. SUNA ERDEM revisits the original, troubling tome. Dominic Raab in the House of Commons – Credit: HOC/JESSICA TAYLOR Behold […]

This Morning presenters Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby have joined the criticism of Boris Johnson’s lockdown announcement by suggesting the government had ‘arsed it up’. Schofield appeared on the daytime television programme alongside co-presenter Willoughby to claim that the televised address to the nation had ‘created more questions than answers’. He opened the show saying: […]

Boris Johnson failed to provide a coherent plan for Brexit – is it any surprise he is floundering over the lifting of the coronavirus lockdown? So we are promised a comprehensive plan from the Johnson stable setting out how and when we might eventually come out of lockdown. If memory serves me right, we were […]

Less than a third of people say they know what the government’s new ‘stay alert’ coronavirus message is asking them to do, a poll has found. Researchers also found the public is almost evenly divided on whether they support the partial easing of the lockdown announced by prime minister Boris Johnson. The overwhelming majority of […]

Tory Brexiteer MP Andrew Bridgen has been accused of spreading confusing advice following Boris Johnson’s announcement on the easing of the coronavirus lockdown. Brexiteer MP Andrew Bridgen (right) appearing on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan; Twitter – Credit: Archant Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen appeared on Good Morning Britain (GMB) to tell presenter Piers Morgan […]

Boris Johnson is to avoid questions from journalists over his announcement surrounding the easing of the coronavirus lockdown, instead opting to take pre-recorded questions from the public. The government has been accused of ‘mixed messages’ after Johnson addressed the nation on Sunday evening to offer his ‘first sketch of a road map’ for restarting the […]

People should use ‘common sense’ in meeting other people outside, foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said, as the government comes under continued pressure over ‘a lack of clarity’ in its messaging to the public. Raab appeared to add to the uncertainty following Boris Johnson’s announcement by saying people should only go to work from Wednesday. […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the new lockdown instructions issued by the prime minister on Sunday were starting to ‘unravel’ after Dominic Raab toured television and radio studios. ‘What I think everybody wanted to hear was something that was pretty clear and a sense of all the countries – England, Scotland, Wales – […]

Cabinet ministers are said to be ‘fuming’ after reports emerged that Downing Street cut them out of discussions on how to ease the country out of coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Several senior cabinet figures told The Telegraph that Boris Johnson’s team failed to brief them on changes to lockdown measures. The paper reported that ministers received […]

Dominic Raab has been told to ‘grow a pair’ by breakfast television presenter Piers Morgan after he dodged an interview with Good Morning Britain. The foreign secretary struggled through interviews with BBC Breakfast, talkRADIO and the Today programme, but avoided Morgan’s programme. It prompted an outburst from the breakfast show broadcaster, in which he said: […]

The newspapers are focused on Boris Johnson’s ‘road map’ out of the coronavirus lockdown, but there have been mixed reviews. The Daily Telegraph, which formerly carried a column from Johnson, has printed an opinion piece suggesting this road map had ‘vague directions’. Camilla Tominey, the paper’s associate editor, writes: ‘For nearly two months, we stayed […]

Actress and comedian Miriam Margolyes has sparked more than 240 complaints after saying she wanted Boris Johnson ‘to die’ from coronavirus. Have your say Send your letters for publication to The New European by emailing letters@theneweuropean.co.uk and pick up an edition each Thursday for more comment and analysis. Find your nearest stockist here or subscribe […]

Scotland’s first minister has criticised the UK government’s new coronavirus slogan, saying that mixed messaging could put lives at risk. Nicola Sturgeon urged people living in Scotland instead insisted those north of the border should continue to stay at home. Appearing on Good Morning Britain (GMB) Sturgeon said progress on beating Covid-19 was too ‘fragile’ […]

A statistician has criticised the methods used by the government’s daily briefings saying to report coronavirus deaths and tests, saying that the public is being fed ‘number theatre’. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, chairman of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, sits on the government’s Scientific Advice Group for […]

Leaders of all the devolved nations have rejected Boris Johnson’s new ‘stay alert’ advice in favour of keeping the ‘stay at home’ message in the fight against coronavirus amid criticism that the new slogan is unclear. The prime minister was planning to drop his stricter message as he prepared to unveil his plans to ease […]