Opinion

A watershed moment is approaching for Britain, says Francis Beckett. Alas, it looks certain to lead us the wrong way. The end of this virus emergency, whenever it comes, will be a political watershed. As Britain’s most trusted historian, professor Lord Peter Hennessy, has said: ‘Those who write the history of Britain post-1945 will divide […]

Boris Johnson idolises himself on Winston Churchill, but he becomes the latest in a string of politicians to lead the country away from the wartime leader’s vision for Europe. Once again, we are having a wondrous warm wallow in the waters of WW2 nostalgia, the sense that Britain paid the highest price, won the most […]

MITCH BENN says it will be up to those of us left standing to ensure the lessons are learned, and it will involve fighting the very powerful to make sure it happens. First of all, many thanks to those of you who sent messages of support and condolence after last week’s column; Harry’s family send […]

Having the worst coronavirus death rate in Europe would be a statistic hard to spin for Boris Johnson’s government. MICHAEL WHITE says the prime minister is already looking for scapegoats. Boris Johnson. Photo: PA / Dominic Lipinski – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images When the Daily Telegraph reported that Boris Johnson was returning to work under […]

TIM WALKER looks into the life and career of Christopher Lee, best known for his portrayal Dracula. There are certain parts – and Dracula is one of them – that require of the actor playing them some sense of being in on the joke with film-goers. Christopher Lee never saw anything funny about what was […]

While our attention is elsewhere, we are hurtling towards a catastrophic no-deal, says Caroline Voaden. She says the government must urgently rethink its Brexit strategy. Former Lib Dem leader in the European parliament Caroline Voaden. Photograph: Supplied. – Credit: Archant It’s hard to believe that something which had dominated our lives for so long – […]

Government negligence over coronavirus comes as a result of Tory preoccupation with Brexit, and we are all paying the price. Thousands of deaths in the Covid-19 pandemic is a tragic if inevitable statistic. Dozens of deaths of NHS frontline staff and care workers, however, represents negligence of stupefying dimensions. Now that a leaked Department of […]

The government is once again dragging its feet over the coronavirus – this time over face masks. I just don’t get it. Why on earth is the government not advising us all to wear face-coverings? OK, not the masks needed by hospitals and front-line workers. But scarves or home-made masks. Imagine that a face-covering gave […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Readers are sceptical that there will be any change from the Tory government after the coronavirus outbreak. For the past few years, politics has been dominated by matters of principle and personality: the principles of Brexit (pure sovereignty versus shared sovereignty); the personalities of Johnson, Corbyn and Farage. Now, all governments, will be judged on […]

A year after the official launch of Change UK, and her own unveiling as one of its candidates, RACHEL JOHNSON looks back on the doomed party with some affection and admiration. On the day after Easter Monday, I tweeted: ‘I became a candidate for Change UK on Easter Tuesday last year and was so unsuccessful […]

BONNIE GREER on the strengths female world leaders have brought to their nations during the coronavirus pandemic. 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 to a print or […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL has compiled a list of what he misses the most about normal life, from Pret to Burnley Football Club. Scottish Celtic rock band Skerryvore have topped the charts with fundraising single Everyday Heros. Alastair Campbell plays bagpipes on the track. Picture: Alan Cruickshank – Credit: Archant Easter Monday. I woke up, sat down […]

Boris Johnson’s return to work will bring more obsessing over Brexit, at a time when he should be fully focused on coronavirus. As he savoured his moment of glory after his triumph in the polls in December followed by Britain leaving the EU Treaty in January, Boris Johnson thought he had Europe at his feet […]

TIM WALKER recounts meeting Harry Andrews, an actor who never went public about his sexuality. When I arrived at the home of Harry Andrews in the Sussex countryside, I was greeted at the door by his lover of the past 30 years, who led me into the living room where the ‘tough guy’ star of […]

MITCH BENN on a death which represents far more than a statistic. I met Harry McFarlane in the late summer of 2018, when my girlfriend Leslie – Harry’s granddaughter – and I called in at her old hometown of Prestwick on our way back from that year’s Edinburgh Festival. Harry was on good form that […]

JAMES BALL on why this crisis must result in a renewal for our health service. It was, of all people, the former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson who noted in his memoirs that the ‘National Health Service is the closest thing the English have to a religion’. The observation was intended as a complaint, more than […]

Former Downing Street director of communications ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on how the government can improve its messaging over coronavirus. Given I’ve written thousands of words on my blog of well-intentioned advice about the government briefing operation, which seems to get worse not better, I’m not sure another ’20 ways to improve your communications strategy’ memo from […]

Readers have their say about Boris Johnson and the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. It is an observable fact that organisations and even countries rapidly take on the characteristics of whoever is leading them at the time. The UK response to the COVID-19 crisis is no exception. Bluster, half-truths, unrealistic future projections and avoidances […]

Readers have their say on how the government’s handling of the coronavirus exposes the myths surrounding Brexit. One myth that has been exploded by coronavirus is the notion of British exceptionalism. The fiascos over ventilators, testing, PPE and the rules of lockdown has exposed the UK as not-really-that-special after all. How could such a country […]

Experts warn that overusing hand sanitiser during the coronavirus epidemic could have the opposite effect in trying to prevent ill-health. WINSTON MORGAN issues a warning. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists and governments have been advising people about the best hygiene practices to protect themselves. This advice has caused a significant surge in […]

Newspaper calls for the lockdown to be lifted are out of step with public opinion. CATHERINE HAPPER says cabinet ministers would be wise to ignore the any rash decisions. In times of crisis and widespread concern about decision-making, the public are extremely reliant on journalists to put their questions to those in power. If there […]

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 […]