Coronavirus has had a catastrophic knock-on effect on the nation’s health, as non-Covid conditions have gone untreated. Vital operations for everything from cancer to heart disease have been postponed and hospital admissions during lockdown are down 43 per cent year-on-year. Such is the concentration on Covid, even chemotherapy sessions have been cancelled. Between March and … Read more
Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Johnson? Just after 4pm on Wednesday, Boris’s carefully cultivated reputation as a Churchillian champion of British liberty crumbled like stale Stilton cheese. ‘We will boost the local enforcement capacity of local authorities by introducing Covid-secure marshals to help ensure social distancing in town and city centres, and … Read more
The Black Lives Matter movement is planning to select candidates to contest seats at the next General Election. Makes sense. Judging by that sinister stab-vests-and-balaclavas march through South London recently, BLM already has a paramilitary wing. A political arm is the logical conclusion. It will be called the Taking The Initiative Party, or TTIP for … Read more
Britannia may rule the airwaves once more, but it’s a pity the same can’t be said for the airways. New BBC director-general Tim Davie might have overturned the ludicrous ban on singing traditional patriotic songs at the Proms. Yet what’s the point of belting out Land Of Hope And Glory when the country is still … Read more
Motorists who park on pavements are to be hit with a £70 fine under new rules published by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. The fixed penalty is designed to stop cars and vans blocking the free movement of wheelchairs, parents pushing buggies and morbidly obese people on mobility scooters making their way back from the chip … Read more
To paraphrase Pastor Martin Niemoller, first they came for taxi drivers and I did not speak out because I was not a taxi driver. When they came for the sandwich makers, I did not speak out because I was not a sandwich maker. When they came for the shop assistants, I did not speak out … Read more
The Notting Hill Carnival is a glorious celebration of the Caribbean heritage of generations of Londoners. It’s one of the highlights of our cultural calendar, along with Wimbledon, Royal Ascot and the British Bog Snorkelling Championships. So imagine if someone decided it was ‘hideously black’ and had to be shorn of its steel bands, dub … Read more
Dishi Rishi’s ‘Money For Nothing And Your Chips For Free’ deal has been a runaway success, depending on your point of view. More than 35 million half-price meals have been served and the Chancellor is coming under pressure to extend the scheme beyond the end of August. Restaurants report record takings on Mondays, Tuesdays and … Read more
Exeter Chiefs rugby union club has ditched its Red Indian mascot to appease anti-racism campaigners, who complained it was offensive to Native Americans. That would, presumably, be all those members of the Navaho and Arapaho tribes living in Devon. Er, not exactly. The Big Chief Must Fall campaign is spearheaded by the usual bunch of … Read more
Boris Johnson wants to clear Backlog Britain by the end of September. Good luck with that. He hasn’t a hope in hell’s chance of persuading feather-bedded civil servants back to their desks any time soon. Why would they, when MPs have just knocked off for six weeks’ summer holiday? If the Government was serious about … Read more