Fraser Nelson

Fraser Nelson

Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.

The government’s black-box approach to lockdown

17 min listen

What is Boris Johnson going to say in his speech on Sunday? Wales's first minister Mark Drakeford gave us a clue this morning when he announced that the Welsh lockdown will continue for at least another three weeks. Meanwhile, No. 10 has been trying to dampen speculation that the PM will announce substantial relaxations to the lockdown. Katy Balls, Fraser Nelson and John Connolly discuss the growing concern among Tory backbenchers over the government's handling of the exit strategy.

Sweden tames its ‘R number’ without lockdown

Sweden has been the world’s Covid-19 outlier, pursuing social distancing but rejecting mandatory lockdown. Schools, bars and restaurants are open – albeit with strong voluntary social distancing compliance and streets that often look almost as empty as Britain’s. Has this been enough? Sweden’s public health agency has now published a study of its R number, a metric which the UK is using to judge the success of the lockdown. The UK objective is to push R below one, by which it means it wants the number of new cases to fall. Last week, the UK’s R number was estimated at 0.8 (± 0.2 points), a figure described as an achievement of lockdown. But Sweden’s reading is 0.85, with a smaller error margin of ±0.02pts.

In data: the rise of non-Covid deaths

A pandemic will claim lives in two ways: directly, through those it infects, and indirectly as others who need healthcare either do not seek it or are denied it. Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, has always made this argument - which is partly why, for so long, he was not seeking a lockdown. The focus, since then, has understandably been on Covid deaths. But about a third of the rise in excess death is not explained by Covid, and it's worth looking at in more detail. The chart showing weekly deaths will, by now, be pretty well-known.

The 10,000th

40 min listen

This week, the Spectator commemorates its 10,000th edition. On the podcast, Cindy Yu speaks to David Butterfield and Fraser Nelson about the magazine's two centuries of history, finding out about how the publication started, discussing whether it is still the same now as it was originally intended, and hearing about what David calls its 'industrial drink culture'. Find out more about the history of the magazine with David's new book, 10,000 Not Out. Also on the podcast, Cindy speaks to James Forsyth and former Director of Comms at No 10, Craig Oliver. As James writes in the issue this week, when Boris Johnson comes back to work, he returns to a split Cabinet and a difficult decision - how and when to ease the lockdown?

Spectator covers that almost were

Sometimes The Spectator goes to press very shortly after election results have been announced. In those instances, Morten Morland, our cover artist, draws versions to cover for any outcome.  These have since been framed and hung at Old Queen Street in the lavatories. For our 10,000th issue, we're sharing some of them. The last UK general election was on a Thursday and our cover went Friday morning: we had three versions. Boris winning, his being held to a hung parliament and (pictured) Jeremy Corbyn winning, depicted as an unlikely saviour with Jo Swinson and Nicola Sturgeon (who were talking about putting him in power via coalition deals) depicted as the parents around the crib.

What is the real impact of lockdown on the NHS?

24 min listen

The NHS has been transformed to deal with the coronavirus threat, and it's thus far holding up, despite fears over capacity. But what has been the effect on the rest of the health service, and its usual patients? Fraser Nelson speaks to Alastair McLellan, Editor of the Health Service Journal.

Will Boris disappoint the lockdown hawks in government?

15 min listen

Behind the scenes, the Cabinet is split on whether or not to lift the lockdown. The hawks such as Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, and Alok Sharma, are concerned about the economic and human costs of a sustained lockdown; the doves, such as Matt Hancock, worry that lifting the lockdown too soon risks a second wave. Given Boris's liberal instincts, the hawks hope that he will come down on their side. But will the Prime Minister disappoint?

Is the UK on track to be Europe’s worst hit country?

18 min listen

On the Andrew Marr Show today, Sir Jeremy Farrar, a senior scientific advisor on the government's scientific advisory group Sage, warned that the UK is on track to become one of the worst hit countries in Europe by coronavirus. So has the British government been too slow in its response?

Pompeo: China must be more transparent

While coronavirus ravages the world, a political battle is also being waged with China resisting suggestions that it’s to blame. I have just spoken about this with Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, in a conference call with journalists from eight other European countries. I tried to gauge the mood in the White House towards China. Donald Trump has referred to the virus as the 'China Virus', a label vigorously resisted by Beijing. Some Chinese officials had even suggested that it might have American origins. Things seemed to have cooled after Trump’s recent call with Xi, but I asked Pompeo how worried he is about disinformation coming from China. The answer, it seemed, is very concerned indeed.

The decision Dominic Raab can’t make

12 min listen

One of the biggest decisions in the government's approach to tackling coronavirus is when and how to lift the lockdown. But this is also one of the most divisive issues within Cabinet. With the Prime Minister not yet out of hospital, this will be one of the things that Dominic Raab can't decide in his stead.

Who is running the government?

16 min listen

With Boris Johnson currently hospitalised with no sign of release any time soon, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is the 'designated survivor'. But at today's press conference, he admitted he hadn't spoken to Boris Johnson since Saturday. So who is running the government?

Boris admitted to hospital

12 min listen

Tonight, the Prime Minister is admitted to hospital for tests; the Queen gives a statement to the nation; and Catherine Calderwood steps down as Scotland's Chief Medical Officer after having been found to flout her own social distancing rules.

Has Sweden got it right?

16 min listen

Unlike the UK and most of Europe, Sweden hasn't locked down its population. What explains its difference in approach? Plus, what does the government's coronavirus exit strategy look like?