News and Opinion

Scientist WANDA MARKOTTER on the investigation into the cause of the outbreak, and why it matters so much. The current Covid-19 outbreak is driven by a novel coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) that is spreading between people. The first human infections were reported at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province in China, when a […]

There is an assumption life will return to normal once the coronavirus has been combatted. But some changes could well be permanent. JOHANN FORTWENGEL explains how business could be impacted. The realisation that life is going to change for a good while is starting to take hold. To flatten the curve of the COVID-19 outbreak, […]

The coronavirus has exposed our vulnerability like nothing else we have experienced, says WILL SELF Wolfgang Schivelbusch, the great scholar of 19th century industrialisation and its psychological sequels, defines ‘the falling height’ of technological constructs thus: ‘The technology has created an artificial environment which people become used to as second nature. If the technological base […]

PETER TRUDGILL on the sometimes confusing way in which surnames seem to indicate nationality People with the surname Inglis are usually Scottish. That might seem rather strange, because the name is the Scots-language word for ‘English’ – and why would Scottish people have been called Inglis? But actually of course there would be no point […]

The Icelandic capital has had a cultural impact out of all proportion with its size, says SOPHIA DEBOICK. Iceland’s iconic natural features belie the new dance craze taking the capital by storm. PHOTO: C Hutchinson – Credit: Archant Rarely has the world needed a silly dance craze more, and Iceland – a place of deep […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has advised Britons to stop paying attention to Piers Morgan and listen to the government. Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid appear on Good Morning Britain to talk about the coronavirus. Photograph: ITV. – Credit: Archant The Tory MP and House of Commons leadr had been asked about the role of the media in […]

JASON SOLOMONS talks to the director of Radioactive, a powerful film not only about the pioneering scientist but her research that changed the world Marie Sklodowka Curie (1867 – 1934) in her laboratory. She shared a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre for their work in radioactivity. In 1911 she became […]

Windrush campaigners have called for an end to the government’s hostile environment policy after a report revealed the generation had been let down by the Home Office’s attempts to act tough on immigration. The hostile environment policy has come under fire over claims it failed to take into account that people from Commonwealth countries may […]

Downing Street says the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator contracting coronavirus will not force the transition period to be extended. Michel Barnier said he was ‘doing well and in good spirits’ in a video message. He posted on Twitter: ‘I would like to inform you that I have tested positive for #COVID19. I am doing well […]

His long-forgotten scheme to drain the Mediterranean now sounds absurd. But at least Herman Sörgel raised some of the right questions. ROGER DOMENEGHETTI dredges up one of history’s most extraordinary chapters. How the Mediterranean would have looked. – Credit: Archant When Boris Johnson proposed a bridge linking Scotland to Northern Ireland as a symbolic way […]

Permanent Midnight, TV writer Jerry Stahl’s book chronicling his drug habit, is now 25 years old. But it has lost none of its power, says RICHARD LUCK, who credits it with helping him sober up. Back when they were a double act, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring performed a highly entertaining sketch comparing the hostage […]

Post-virus politics might look very different, says John Kampfner, and there are signs that the centrists are fighting back The leader of the free world dismisses it as a hoax. Then he blames it on foreigners. Then he declares a national emergency ‘two very big words’. Then he tries to bribe the Germans to give […]

Former Labour MEP SEB DANCE explains why he is supporting Rosena Allin-Khan in the Labour deputy leadership race. Britain has left the EU. As a former Labour Member of the European Parliament, as a Remainer, and as a proud pro-European, that’s still not an easy thing for me to say – but it’s the reality. […]

Few people have been as deeply entangled in Labour’s infighting over recent years as MP Shabana Mahmood. She tells MATT WITHERS about what went wrong, how to put it right and how Twitter has harmed the party. For the past four years, Shabana Mahmood has had a front-row seat for one of the most bruising […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has told MPs the government wants them back in the House of Commons after the Easter recess. The Commons leader outlined business for next week, including MPs considering all stages of emergency coronavirus legislation on March 23, and provisional business for March 30 and 31 – at which point the House is expected […]

Psychologist Sarita Robinson delves into the scientific research for some tips on those who may be required to isolate themselves. For some people, the idea of self-isolation may seem like a dream come true. For others, the idea of being cut off from the outside world, alone or with only a few close family members, […]

DYLAN HENDERSON reports on one the the challenges with working from home during the coronavirus. And as more people also self-isolate and turn online some have begun to question whether the UK’s ageing broadband infrastructure can cope with millions of people logging in from home. While UK broadband operators argue there is sufficient network capacity […]

Downing Street will not put London into a lock down like other capitals, despite Boris Johnson suggesting ‘further and faster measures’ to stop the spread. Downing Street said there was ‘zero prospect’ of a ban on travelling in and out of the capital, but with some in the city still ignoring advice about socialising in […]

Singapore’s response to the coronavirus outbreak was swifter because it learned from the SARs outbreak two decades before. DALE FISHER explains the action it has taken. Singapore’s response to the coronavirus has been held up by many around the world as a model. As of this week, the country has had 266 total cases (with […]

Former prime minister and chancellor Gordon Brown has claimed that nationalism has prevented ‘global action’ taking place to tackle coronavirus. Brown, who led the Labour Party in government during the 2008 financial crash, said the scale of the crisis now facing the country is ‘unprecedented’ as he called for international co-operation instead of ‘populist nationalism’. […]

George Eustice has claimed that restrictions on customer numbers in supermarkets would be ‘counterproductive’. The environment secretary said such social distancing measures taken in Italy had proven to be ‘counterproductive’ as they led to hundreds of people ‘huddled together’ at store entrances. His remarks came after ministers were accused of lacking urgency in their response […]

Brexiteer Nigel Farage appears to be more concerned about the UK’s departure from the EU during the coronavirus outbreak than public health – by claiming it will provide a kind of Brexit that he has longed for. Nigel Farage celebrates the pound plummeting on the night of the EU referendum result. Photograph: TNE/Contributed. – Credit: […]

The Lord speaker has announced he is ‘reluctantly’ withdrawing from the House of Lords in view of the coronavirus advice for the over-70s. Lord Fowler, 82, told peers he would still be in close contact with his office and ‘continuing my duties as Lord speaker’. He said: ‘In effect, I will be doing what thousands […]

Scientist WANDA MARKOTTER on the investigation into the cause of the outbreak, and why it matters so much. The current Covid-19 outbreak is driven by a novel coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) that is spreading between people. The first human infections were reported at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province in China, when a […]

MICHAEL WHITE on what the country needs from its prime minister… and his critics. Of all the extraordinary things we’ve all read and heard during this jaw-dropper of a week, I still can’t believe the little gem that stuck in my mind like a stubborn bit of food between the teeth. Did Nigel Farage really […]

The coincidence of the coronavirus arriving at the changing of the seasons seems like a cruel twist. In fact, says SIMON BARNES, it could help us all spring back from this. A bright day with dark thoughts. The buds had burst on the big ash tree, chiffchaffs, the first migrant birds to arrive in this […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL argues that Boris Johnson, like his former boss Tony Blair, must become far more visible – and honest – during this health crisis of epic proportions. A few weeks ago, when the only Corona we had ever heard of was a beer or a cigar, I was out walking the dog with my […]

BONNIE GREER on an overlooked novel from the past which described a devastating 21st century pandemic. The book cover of Mary Shelley’s 1826 publication of “The Last Man”, a novel set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by plague. – Credit: Archant He knew that fear and melancholy forebodings were powerful assistants to disease; that desponding […]