Confirmation of the third step of lockdown easing understandably dominated the news agenda this week but wouldn’t you just know that, like last time, the sense of release was marred by the exponential growth in Indian variant cases. These are tripling every week and there are at least 1300 cases in this country, particularly affectingContinue reading “Sunday 16 May”
Tag Archives: Boris Johnson
Sunday 9 May
News last week, including that a senior Tory, Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross, said Boris Johnson should resign if he breached the ministerial code, has been temporarily obscured from view by the striking results of local elections and the Hartlepool by-election. The ‘catastrophic’ losses suffered by Labour including losing control of 21 councils have alreadyContinue reading “Sunday 9 May”
Sunday 2 May
It already seems a long time since last weekend, when many were disturbed to see the thousands taking part in an anti-lockdown protest in London’s Hyde Park and Oxford Street, apparently allowed by the police to go ahead. Of course there was no distancing or mask wearing and a group of six women interviewed forContinue reading “Sunday 2 May”
Saturday 24 April
Last week the Greensill scandal continued to be the gift that kept on giving, fresh revelations mushrooming up every day, although the government must have been grateful for the three distractions which the media made the most of. The latest bombshell from Dominic Cummings is a distraction the PM definitely won’t be grateful for –Continue reading “Saturday 24 April”
Saturday 3 April
A happy Easter to everyone! Whether or not you’re religious, this time of year is associated with a spirit of renewal, even more so this time as Monday signalled the easing of restrictions in England. Although ministers have long erroneously maintained that ‘most people are obeying the rules’ when sights on local high streets tellContinue reading “Saturday 3 April”
Sunday 28 March
As we pass the anniversary of the first lockdown, the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for the humanities and the social sciences, issued a major report, warning of a post-pandemic decade of ‘social and cultural upheaval’ featuring significant inequality and deprivation. Set up last year, initiated by the Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance,Continue reading “Sunday 28 March”
Saturday 20 March
We’re now fast approaching the anniversary of the start of the first lockdown and what a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. Now that about 130,000 lives have been lost, it will be interesting to see how the public mourning day (National Day of Reflection) goes on Tuesday, to be markedContinue reading “Saturday 20 March”
Saturday 6 February
As we move into February the first week has seen plenty to occupy minds and media, from the Covid death totals, which remain very high (eg 1449 on Tuesday, 915 on Thursday, 1014 on Friday), to the sad death of Captain Sir Tom Moore, continuing debate about the vaccination programme and challenges regarding the slowContinue reading “Saturday 6 February”
Saturday 30 January
Yet again it’s been a very eventful week, the most arresting issues being the passing of the ghastly 100,000 Covid deaths milestone and EC/AstraZeneca row (see below). With a further 1725 deaths being recorded on Wednesday, taking just one day as an example, the situation is clearly improving only very slowly, in terms of numbersContinue reading “Saturday 30 January”
Sunday 10 January
Not for the first time, I’m reminded of the Lenin quote which this blog began with in April: ‘There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen’. So much has occurred this week that recent events such as the 18th government U-turn (the third national lockdown announcement), and Trump’s shocking attackContinue reading “Sunday 10 January”
Politics and mental health - the missing link? 