Our Prime Minister is in thrall to a group of blinkered scientists What has happened to the Boris Johnson I used to know — a man of open mind who welcomed debate and resisted the groupthink of government drones? Our Prime Minister is in thrall to a group of blinkered scientists. When his views are … Read more
Are we heading for a second wave of Covid-19 as gruelling as the first? Not according to unidentified government officials quoted in yesterday’s Mail. During an off-the-record briefing in which comments weren’t attributed to individuals, experts suggested the second wave won’t be nearly as bad as the first. This is not a view openly expressed … Read more
Brexit is over. It has all been sorted out. It is ‘a historical event’ that ‘took place on January 31, 2020’. So declares a leaked, confidential Brexit ‘lexicon’ approved by No.10 and issued to ministers to make sure they are all singing off the same hymn sheet. If only it were true! But, alas, it … Read more
Bear in mind with what follows that I voted Brexit in 2016, and for Boris Johnson and the Tories last December. I long for the moment that Britain truly leaves the EU. With that said, let me express my shock that Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis should have told the Commons on Tuesday that the … Read more
The wicked old Soviet Union had a privileged administrative class. By Soviet standards they were well paid, and the lucky ones got dachas — cushy second homes. These unaccountable bureaucrats were called the nomenklatura. Although Britain is a parliamentary democracy, we have developed our own nomenklatura. They are highly remunerated and not infrequently incompetent. Although … Read more
Are we turning the corner? Is there light ahead? Can we discern traces of economic recovery? Or is this a comparative calm before a storm that will be far more tumultuous than anything we have experienced in the past six months and test this error-prone Government to breaking point? Let’s look on the brighter side for … Read more
Where is Boris? We are told he’s camping in Scotland with fiancée Carrie Symonds and baby son Wilfred. It’s hard to imagine him banging in tent pegs, or hunched over a flickering Primus stove. Maybe he’s not really camping and being bitten to death by midges but sheltering in a friend’s house on some pleasant … Read more
Whenever migrants cross the English Channel in considerable numbers, as is happening at the moment, government politicians tend to employ two reach-me-down arguments. One is to blame the French, who are declared shifty and generally unhelpful. If only they would keep their eye on the ball, it is said, fewer migrants would leave their shores … Read more
What should we feel now that the investigation into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence 27 years ago has for all practical purposes been wound up? Frustration, certainly. And sadness. Two of his murderers were finally brought to justice in 2012, and are serving time in prison, but no other suspects have ever been … Read more
Do we have a corrupt and rotten Establishment teeming with people who are happy to take money from countries that wish us ill, particularly Russia and China? It’s a depressing suggestion. But over the past few weeks we’ve seen more evidence that some of the great and good have – how shall I put it? … Read more