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Boosterism is back! The Prime Minister delivered his latest address to the nation on the coronavirus yesterday. His message was fizzy, frenetic, oozing optimism. We have seen a rather different Boris Johnson than we are used to this week. The gravity of this disease has required him to occupy a persona in which he had … Read more
We were promised a bazooka. What we got, instead, was a volley of howitzers, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Chancellor Rishi Sunak was summoned to the front-line in the Government’s assault against the coronavirus yesterday. His orders: to deploy every weapon in the Treasury’s arsenal to keep Britain’s economy above the water line. Generous cash grants, … Read more
Whenever Boris Johnson has sticky news to deliver, he has what card sharps call a ‘tell’. I’ve come to know it as his imaginary pen rummage routine. It begins with a dramatic double pat to the chest. A quizzical look then creeps across his face, as though to say: ‘Where is the blighter, what have … Read more
Shortly after 5pm yesterday an eerie silence fell over the No 10 briefing room. Out of nowhere the Prime Minister had just lobbed a sobering thought for the nation to digest. ‘I must level with you,’ he said awkwardly, staring down at his haphazard collection of notes. ‘Many families, many more families are going to … Read more
Cometh the hour, cometh the golden boy. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer resumed his seat in the Commons shortly after 1.30pm yesterday, a great cry went up from the Government benches. It was a deep, booming roar, loud enough to loosen window putty. They probably heard it all the way over in the Treasury. … Read more
Get too close to snakes and chances are you’ll get bitten. It was with a certain squeamishness, then, that I plonked myself within yards of Whitehall grande fromaggios Sir Mark Sedwill and Sir John Manzoni at yesterday’s hearing in front of the public administration select committee. Sedwill and Manzoni. Sounds like a cruise liner cabaret … Read more
Breathless Boris Johnson had his oratory dial set to ‘rousing’: HENRY DEEDES on the PM’s emergency coronavirus address to the nation By Henry Deedes for the Daily Mail Published: 00:21 GMT, 10 March 2020 | Updated: 01:24 GMT, 10 March 2020 Film buffs will know there comes a point in every science fiction disaster movie … Read more
They say scary times call for steady heads. Fortunately, Professor Chris Whitty is one weirdly cool hombre. For 90 minutes yesterday, England’s Chief Medical Officer answered questions from the Commons health committee on the coronavirus outbreak. No notes, no sprawling entourage. He didn’t so much as require a replenishing tumbler of Highland Spring as he … Read more
Priti Patel sat motionless under fire as Boris Johnson flapped: HENRY DEEDES sees the Home Secretary endure a Labour barrage By Henry Deedes for the Daily Mail Published: 22:02 GMT, 4 March 2020 | Updated: 22:02 GMT, 4 March 2020 Jeremy Corbyn’s yellowing fangs were practically slobbering when he rocked up at PMQs yesterday. On … Read more
An icy morning and an early summons to Downing Street. The Prime Minister wished to lay out his plans to take on the coronavirus outbreak. There had been suggestions lately that Boris Johnson was not giving the escalating crisis due attention. Worse, that he was lying ‘doggo’, hoping it would all blow over. Time, then, … Read more