Category : Political

The numbers are in, and Johnson's government really is world-beating | Marina Hyde

It’s not just Cummings. From laughing Hancock to cheery Sunak, they all want to style out this whole 60,000 dead thingCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageI read this week that Boris Johnson has been given permission by the Que...

The truth about why Cummings hasn't gone: Johnson is too terrified to sack him | Marina Hyde

The prime minister’s decision is not born of loyalty to his adviser – he just can’t get rid of his ideas manCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePerhaps on Sunday you watched the entire nation being lectured on what constitutes...

Lessons on civic duty from Boris Johnson? No thank you | Marina Hyde

The prime minister is handling coronavirus so badly now, he makes even his most unpopular predecessors look public-spiritedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThough it majors in killing, coronavirus certainly enjoys a sideway...

Johnson's back, and this time his message is: all aboard for the sunlit downlands | Marina Hyde

The UK is on course to have the continent’s worst death toll – but don’t expect this prime minister to be a gloomsterCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHow maddening to learn the Nigerian president has appointed a dead man to...

Boris Johnson is tough on crime. Except when coronavirus wants to mug Britain | Marina Hyde

The PM is back – but neither he nor his Good News Bears cabinet can explain why they just watched the virus head for usExciting news in Johnsonian linguistics this week, as the prime minister’s coronavirus response moves beyond his previous “send it...

Donald Trump's prescription for coronavirus: quite literally toxic | Marina Hyde

The president’s advice involves ingesting bleach, which for some of us is beginning to seem like the only rational responseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageInteresting developments in America’s elect-your-id experiment, as...

Hancock's channelling James Blunt, Raab looks terrified. But at least we're not the US | Marina Hyde

He may not be able to deliver enough PPE (or enough ‘care’ badges), but our health secretary sure can deliver a sultry presserCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageNews that Matt Hancock, the health secretary, used Friday mornin...

With 1,000 deaths a day, our leaders should be facing far tougher questions | Marina Hyde

Dominic Raab ought to be addressing inadequate testing plans and kit shortages for NHS staff, not his ‘letters of last resort’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDay 19 of lockdown, and some Britons have identified a greater e...

The horror of coronavirus is all too real. Don't turn it into an imaginary war | Marina Hyde

Politicians may turn to platitudes about heroes or battlers or victories, but they can’t disguise Britain’s grim current realityThe language of war is baked in to most of us, to one degree or other. Our new daily discourse runs deep with talk of fiel...

It's only a matter of time before Raheem Sterling gets it in the neck for coronavirus | Marina Hyde

In this week’s shifting blame game, health secretary Matt Hancock has kicked Premier League footballers into touchOne of the great rules of British public life is that sooner or later, everything ends up being blamed on footballers. No matter how ali...

First the corona prince, now Johnson. Who are their designated survivors? | Marina Hyde

The trajectory is darkening, with Britain now a significant step nearer to being led by Dominic RaabHere we are, then. TFI whatever day it is. It might feel unclear if you’re suffering from a persistent cough or are just trying to hack up the red pil...

Johnson's 'fight them on the beaches' moment: true grit, or more shifting sands?

As the giddy welcome of long overdue action on coronavirus subsides, let’s put his address into Churchillian perspectiveCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWell, we can’t know if it felt as he had always imagined it might. But...

When Johnson says we'll turn the tide in 12 weeks, it's just another line for the side of a bus | Marina Hyde

There’s something unsettling in seeing the prime minister repurpose his Brexit media strategy for a deadly contagion Coronavirus latest updates See all our coronavirus coverageBritain. A nation of shopfighters, presided over at a time of mortal peril...

Perma-smirking Priti Patel brings the hostile environment in-house | Marina Hyde

It’s the home secretary’s trickiest week since her ‘holiday’ in Israel, but at least she’s visible. Where’s the prime minister?According to officials from one of her former departments, Priti Patel was given to coming out of her office and inquiring:...

Dominic Cummings has started to believe he’s cool. What can you say but, ‘Ooooh’? | Marina Hyde

He likes to play badass, but if he’s so ruthless why does the cabinet still contain such mediocrities as Gavin Williamson and Liz Truss?With regret, I must begin with an apology. As the Westminster-based events of Thursday unfolded, I recalled with m...