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It’s been like playing a game of Whack-A-Mole,’ the exhausted Government adviser admitted to me. ‘One moment we’re under attack over contact tracing. It’s been like playing a game of Whack-A-Mole,’ the exhausted Government adviser admitted to me. ‘ One moment we’re under attack over contact tracing. Last week was the blackest week of the coronavirus … Read more
It’s an awful Bill,’ a Tory MP told me, a day after voting through the Coronavirus Act. ‘It’s utterly tragic something like this has passed the House of Commons. But we had no choice. Boris had no choice. This is a real public health crisis.’ Unfortunately, this pragmatic analysis of the most draconian piece of … Read more
As the coronavirus tightened its grip a fortnight ago, a Department of Health official told me: ‘We have to conduct the battle on two fronts – the battle against the disease and the battle for public confidence.’ This morning the battle against the disease is hard fought and ongoing. But the battle for public confidence is … Read more
The military are mobilising. Preparing for the deployment of Army units to protect hospitals, supermarkets and other vital facilities. Not from a hostile invading force, or terrorist fanatics. But from the British people, in the event the coronavirus emergency starts to spiral out of control. It sounds like something out of science-fiction film. Or a … Read more
Early this week, Boris Johnson will take his seat in the COBRA briefing room in the Cabinet Office of 70 Whitehall and be told by his senior medical advisers that the time has come to officially move to the Delay phase of the Government’s four-part coronavirus action plan. He will then be given an extensive … Read more
Priti Patel doesn’t like to dwell on the racism she used to experience as a child. ‘She doesn’t talk about it much,’ a close friend told me. ‘But she used to get a lot of name-calling at school and when she was out with her parents. She has told me it was pretty horrible.’ That was … Read more
Alan Partridge is taking to the streets. ‘I would man the barricades to defend the BBC,’ actor Steve Coogan pledged last week, before warning Ministers that ‘they’ll have a fight on their hands if they threaten it’. He won’t be alone. Yesterday BBC royalty, in the shape of veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby, joined the uprising. ‘The … Read more