News and Opinion

With the virus restrictions preventing more than a brief daily stroll, CHARLIE CONNELLY goes in search of books that provide a bit more of a sense of journey. I miss walking. I mean, I get out once a day for a mooch about but it’s the same short route every time, nodding at the same […]

WILL SELF on his fight to hang on to humour. Like Sigmund Freud before me, I’ve been working on a grand unified theory of humour. For Freud, laughter ensues when the repressed desires of the id are released from the unconscious by the superego, such that the ego (that’s you), clutches his or her sides […]

Charlie Connelly explores the life of Italian film director, producer and screenwriter, Sergio Leone. Few directors can claim to have redefined a single genre more than Sergio Leone. Between 1964 and 1971 he made five westerns, films that rendered everything that had gone before immediately obsolete and maintain a tangible influence on everything made since. […]

A professor has called on a government minister to stress the international nature of the Oxford university team leading the race for a coronavirus vaccine after claiming the efforts were the ‘best of Britain’. Matt Hancock tweeted his support for an agreement between pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford to work together to […]

PETER TRUDGILL on the sometimes surprising languages spoken by some our greatest composers. Music is sometimes said to be the universal language; and it is certainly true that the music of the great classical composers is as well known these days in China, South Korea and Japan as it is in its original European homeland. […]

SOPHIA DEBOICK explores the musical heritage of the Japanese capital through two of its most enchanting talents. Tokyo – a kaleidoscope of neon and skyscrapers – was a megacity even in the 18th century, when the population of the city then known as Edo topped one million, 50 years before London reached that milestone. With […]

The UK has said it will ‘never accept’ the proposals the European Union is putting forward for fisheries after Brexit. A source close to the UK negotiating team said: ‘If they continue to insist on their position on a so-called level playing field and on continuing the Common Fisheries Policy, for example, we are never […]

It has a controversial reputation, but lockdown TV should make us re-evaluate the unloved laughter track, says Charlie Watts. I don’t know about you, but I could do with a laugh at the moment. Any opportunity to watch an entertaining television comedy show could prove the tonic we all need. It might be one of […]

Richard Holledge considers the troubling implications of a now-postponed exhibition which took sin as its theme. Venus and Cupid Lucas Cranach the Elder 1529 – Credit: Archant It is devilishly difficult getting to grips with sin. Are the wages of sin death, as the Bible has it? Or for the non-believer, an affront to society […]

We have lived through so much cultural change so quickly, it is hard to project forward more than a day or two. Where will we be by the end of the year – reverting to type, or changed utterly? HANNAH JANE PARKINSON has been scanning the horizon. Mountain goats roam the streets of Llandudno, Wales. […]

Downing Street has insisted the government is ‘working hard’ to hit its target of testing 100,000 for coronavirus by the end of the day. Boris Johnson’s spokesman said that as of April 28, testing capacity had been increased to 77,365 and told a Westminster briefing: ‘The target is for 100,000 tests today and the health […]

Whether through self-interest or altruism, we have to help the global south through this crisis, says JOHN KAMPFNER. If you are optimistic about human nature, you might base the following argument on ethics, decency and compassion. If you are pessimistic, you would fall back on self-interest. Whatever the motivation, the problem is the same: how […]

Too critical for some, not critical enough for others, the press has infuriated and irritated many during this crisis, says LIZ GERARD. NHS workers wearing full PPE Picture: Joe Giddens/PA – Credit: PA Let’s hear it for the key workers keeping the country going. Obviously the doctors, nurses and care staff, but also the delivery […]

From the good to the very bad, ALASTAIR CAMPBELL rates each world leader’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. A few weeks ago I set out 10 principles of crisis management. Now is not a bad time to assess which governments and leaders have done well, and which less so, judged against them. All 10 speak […]

Health staff are rightly receiving praise, but don’t forget those other workers still at their posts on the frontline of the virus battle, says BONNIE GREER. This was the beginning of May, yet the weather was temperate, variable and cool enough…the city was healthy …St Giles buried two and thirty… This passage comes near the […]

Tonight’s audience-free virtual Question Time comes from the ether, with the show having apparently abandoned its pandemic practice of sourcing video questions from a particular town. But who’s on the panel? Here’s your complete guide… The panel on a previous episode of BBC Question Time practice social distancing. Photograph: BBC. – Credit: Archant Grant Shapps […]

The Brexiteer boss of pub chain JD Wetherspoon has been accused of ‘going rogue’ after the firm appeared to hint at a re-opening in June. As the company announced its half-yearly results a statement read: ‘The company’s immediate priority is to manage the business during the current ‘lockdown’ period. It is also starting to plan […]

The government’s coronavirus testing target was not set based on specific scientific advice, says England’s top medical officer, Chris Whitty. Whitty told a Commons science and technology committee that neither he, or other Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) advisors, recommended a 100,000-a-day test target.. He said: ‘SAGE did not give that specific target. SAGE […]

Allies of Priti Patel are demanding that critics apologise to the home secretary as she is expected to be cleared of bullying allegations. The Daily Telegraph reports that an investigation into the Tory MP, overseen by cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, found no evidence to support claims she had bullied staff in three different departments. […]

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has been told to restart no-deal Brexit planning after both sides failed to make a breakthrough in talks. Barnier has claimed that there are ‘vast differences’ remain between the two sides, with reports that the European Commission is now resuming its contingency planning for Britain leaving the bloc without an […]

Boris Johnson will front his first coronavirus press conference in Downing Street on Thursday since falling ill with the disease in March. The prime minister is expected to release coronavirus testing figures which ministers concede may be below the 100,000-a-day target the government set in early April. Figures for Thursday will be released on Friday. […]

JAMES BALL on how Boris Johnson needs to keep his eye on the long game to protect his political legacy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a daily press conference at 10 Downing Street. Picture: WPA Pool/Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images Boris Johnson is back at work, at least in part, after several weeks of […]

ANDREW ADONIS wonders whether the prime minister will have undergone a conversion during his coronavirus treatment at the hands of the NHS. Has Boris Johnson’s resurrection on Easter Sunday converted him to the national religion? The NHS, that is, not the Church of England. ‘The National Health Service is the closest thing the English have […]

The Good Morning Britain host has been a force for good during the coronavirus crisis, says ANTHONY CLAVANE. Piers Morgan – Credit: Archant If Ian Hislop is short of an idea for Private Eye’s next ‘Apology’ column he should bury the hatchet with his arch-enemy Piers Morgan and feature the Good Morning Britain host. The […]

The number of people who think the government didn’t act fast enough in dealing with the coronavirus is increasing, a poll reveals. Two-thirds of adults think ministers brought in strict measures to deal with the emergency too late, a rise from 57% two weeks ago, the Ipsos Mori survey found. The snapshot poll said people […]

A chance lockdown discovery leads CHARLIE CONNELLY down memory lane to the Danish castle that inspired the Bard. We all have little jobs around the house that we’ve planning to get around to – for years in some cases. One of mine was going through a big box of old DVDs that needed sorting out […]

The pandemic is the perfect storm in which to test the controversial proposal, argues Professor Nayef Al-Rodhan, who says the benefits could be more than just economic. Prime minister Boris Johnson will meet with cabinet to discuss easing coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Photograph: Matt Dunham/PA. – Credit: PA Perhaps 2020 will mark the point at which […]

The government has rejected a request for an EU customs office in Belfast and asked officials to fly in regularly instead. The UK insists the office will sow political divisions in the nation while Europe says it will be essential in upholding terms in the Withdrawal Agreement and other trade deals. Brussels suggested the move […]

Nigel Farage has insisted he was not flouting coronavirus rules by travelling more than 100 miles during the coronavirus lockdown to film a rant about migrants. Nigel Farage appears in a video ranting about migrants on social media. Photograph: Twitter. – Credit: Archant The Brexit Party leader travelled from his Kent home to a beach […]

Michael Gove told a Commons public administration committee that the UK was not prepared for an epidemic like the coronavirus. The chancellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster told MPs that disaster preparation plans did not factor in a highly contagious respiratory disease like Covid-19. Gove said that the government’s previous epidemic planning – known as […]

Boris Johnson is expected to take paternity leave later in the year, answering questions about whether he would take any during the coronvirus crisis. Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds gave birth in a London hospital on Wednesday morning, and a spokeswoman for the couple said both mother and baby were doing well. It is understood Johnson […]

A former US ambassador to the United Nations has claimed Boris Johnson’s response to the coronavirus has been just as bad as Donald Trump’s. Speaking about Johnson’s leadership Samantha Power said the UK’s reaction to Covid-19 was poor, and that it missed a series of opportunities to get it under control. She told LBC’s Tom […]