columnists

DAN HODGES: At last, there are reasons for optimism

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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

ALEX BRUMMER: Boris Johnson’s Government is going for broke to fight coronavirus

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Yesterday it was made clear that Boris Johnson’s Government is going for broke.  It is sparing no effort as it battles to stop the coronavirus sending Britain’s hardwon prosperity over a cliff and turning what is now an inevitable recession into a depression of a kind not seen since the 1930s, with large and enduring … Read more

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: If police grovel when eco vandals tear up historic lawn, why have faith in them?

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As millions of us know, no relationship is more heartfelt than that between an Englishman and his lawn. ‘Nothing is more pleasant to the eye,’ wrote Francis Bacon in 1625, ‘than green grass kept finely shorn.’ A well-kept garden, Bacon explained, was the ‘greatest refreshment to the spirit of man’ that could possibly be imagined. … Read more

DAN HODGES: How Sajid Javid was doomed from the day he said he’d vote Remain four years ago

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It was four years ago – almost to the day – that Sajid Javid’s fate as Chancellor was sealed.  On February 21, 2016, his article appeared in The Mail on Sunday stating ‘with a heavy heart and no enthusiasm, I shall be voting for the UK to remain a member of the European Union’. ‘Dom … Read more