Who will replace Dominic Cummings?
15 min listen
Boris Johnson’s chief aide has said that he’ll be gone by Christmas – so what does that mean for Downing Street operations? Katy Balls is joined by Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
Fraser Nelson
Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
Friday
Dominic Cummings's departure is dangerous timing for Boris
Dominic Cummings didn’t angle for this job: Boris Johnson begged him to take it. The Tories faced extinction after the Theresa May debacle. Boris needed purpose, direction and miracles – which Cummings had a track record in supplying. He brought with him into No. 10 both Vote Leave staff and its modus operandi: a fixed
Thursday
Has Vote Leave lost control?
14 min listen
Downing Street has seen a day of backstabbing and counter-briefings after Dominic Cummings ally Lee Cain resigned as Boris Johnson’s director of communications. John Connolly talks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.
Will Lee Cain's departure spark a Downing Street exodus?
A day of explosive disclosures from No. 10 has ended in the resignation of Lee Cain as Boris Johnson’s communications chief. Only 24 hours ago, it was reported he’d be promoted to Chief of Staff, after having threatened to quit last week. Now, he’s gone. Depending on which rumours you believe, Cain had fallen out with Carrie
Monday
Are we on the brink of a Covid vaccine?
14 min listen
The drugs firm Pfizer has announced that its vaccine — currently in stage three trials — is 90% effective. Meanwhile, Britain and the EU are entering the final stage of trade negotiations. Finally, No. 10 is ramping up its inquiry to discover who leaked news of England’s second lockdown. Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson
Saturday
Can the NHS cope with Covid?
25 min listen
At Thursday’s coronavirus press conference, Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, said a second wave ‘is real and it’s serious’, as he warned that 11,000 people were already in hospital with the virus. Is the NHS able to cope with another spike in infections, and has the government adequately prepared for winter? Kate
Why is Britain so worried about Denmark's mink farm Covid outbreak?
How worried should we be about a mutant strain of Coronavirus found in Denmark’s mink farms? The virus was found on its farms in June, and it emerged a few days ago that a dozen people had been infected with a strain of Covid called ‘Cluster 5’. This has raised the prospect of a new, more
Friday
Was the three tier system working all along?
14 min listen
As Liverpool begins it’s mass testing trial, ONS figures published today show that the coronavirus infection rate was fell in the week ending October 31. So was the tiered system working all along, meaning the new lockdown is unnecessary? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth about the new data, Scottish independence, and
Monday
Why a Tory lockdown rebellion should worry Boris
18 min listen
After Boris Johnson announced that England would be put into another nationwide lockdown this Thursday, backbench Tory MPs quickly made their opposition known. Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee, said the restrictions would be denounced ‘as a form of evil’ if enforced in a totalitarian state. But with Labour’s backing meaning the measures
Saturday
Lockdown Part Two - Is England back to square one?
16 min listen
Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson discuss the Prime Minister’s latest lockdown announcement.
Why have No. 10’s Covid forecasts changed so much?
Just ten days ago, Boris Johnson was attacking lockdowns for the “psychological, the emotional damage” they inflict: the effect on mental health as well as the economy. Then, he saw Covid-19 as a menace that could be managed with a “commonsensical approach” of local and regional measures. Now, he sees Covid as a monster capable of overwhelming the NHS and warns of
Is a second national lockdown imminent?
17 min listen
The whole of England could be put into lockdown again, reports this morning claim, as coronavirus cases continue to rise at a rate above the worst-case scenario modelled by SAGE. It comes as newly published minutes from the first week of October show the advisory group pushed the government to take action sooner. Katy Balls
New Sage leak says NHS could be overwhelmed within weeks
A few days ago, The Spectator published a classified ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ from Sage, written back in the summer and fearing a second wave that would claim 85,000 lives, peaking at about 800 deaths a day. A new leak this morning from the Cabinet Office, using current data, paints a far-bleaker picture: 2,000 deaths a day – even
Thursday
The long winter – why Covid restrictions could last until April
39 min listen
Why does the government think the second wave will be worse than the first? (00:49) Will a Biden presidency restore America’s fortunes? (18:45) And finally, does Covid mark the end for the silver screen? (30:10) Spectator editor Fraser Nelson talks to Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence-based medicine at the University of Oxford; editor of The
Why we’re publishing SAGE's ‘worst-case scenario’
In the UK’s pandemic response system, an independent committee of scientists – SAGE –draws up a ‘Reasonable Worst-Case’ planning scenario. This isn’t a prediction, but what it thinks could reasonably happen. Importantly, government then plans along these lines. But it has no obligation to tell the Cabinet, let alone the rest of the country, what
The long winter – why Covid restrictions could last until April
Not much makes sense during a pandemic but in recent weeks the Covid puzzle has become a deeper mystery. When local lockdowns failed, the solution was to try even more of them. Manchester was put into Tier 3 restrictions when its Covid cases were falling; now there’s talk of a Tier 4. Confirmed infections are nowhere
Sunday
Was the NHS overrun by Covid during lockdown?
The decision to implement lockdown was inspired partly by the appalling scenes from Lombardy, where hospitals were overrun and dying patients left in corridors. In London, ministers were terrified by the prospect of the same happening here. Today’s Sunday Times has published a long investigation from its Insight team looking at the Covid disruption in hospitals,
Friday
What will tier three do to the North?
10 min listen
Tier three restrictions came into force in regions across the UK, including Greater Manchester, today. Blackpool Tower even lit up with an SOS message last night, as businesses warned they could not survive in the face of new measures. John Connolly discusses what the new restrictions will do to the North with Fraser Nelson and
Thursday
Kemi Badenoch: The problem with critical race theory
Even now, months after the event, Labour MPs have not forgiven Kemi Badenoch for saying that Britain is one of the best countries in the world in which to be black. It was during the Black Lives Matter protests and many politicians — including Sir Keir Starmer — were ‘taking the knee’ to show fealty
Tuesday
Will coronavirus overwhelm Manchester's hospitals?
12 min listen
While the government has failed to strike a deal with Greater Manchester authorities to put the region into tier three, the Prime Minister is expected to announce an imposition of the restrictions in a press conference later today. But will coronavirus overwhelm Manchester’s hospitals? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
