How Trump and his media acolytes got the coronavirus wrong

How Trump and his media acolytes got the coronavirus wrong

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Might be problematical in election year The above compilation of clips, mostly from Fox News, shows how leading media supporters of the President and Trump himself were viewing the epidemic only a few weeks ago. Since then the US has become the nation most affected and Trump has changed his tune. His latest is blaming the World Health Organisation. The initial stance from the White House was reflected in the polling. In mid-March Ipsos found that 63% of Democrats and…

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The nation rallies to Boris but who’ll now make the critical decisions?

The nation rallies to Boris but who’ll now make the critical decisions?

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Is there a need for a temporary PM? Today’s front pages very much sum up the the mood of the nation and the political issues created by the continued hospitalisation of the prime minister who has been in intensive care now for a second night. All this comes at the height of the biggest peacetime emergency that the UK has seen in generations. A huge issue that will have to be decided in the coming days and weeks is how…

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As the crisis continues time to relax in Tuesday’s PB Nighthawks cafe

As the crisis continues time to relax in Tuesday’s PB Nighthawks cafe

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What a strange period this is and it is hard to see things in perspective. That the man leading the fight against the virus is seriously ill after getting it himself is totally shocking and makes me for one feel very uneasy and worried. The lockdown seems to have been going on for an eternity as we try to find something positive with each new set of daily virus statistics. We can’t even take those numbers as giving the whole…

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That Boris could be so afflicted brings home in a powerful way why the shutdown is necessary

That Boris could be so afflicted brings home in a powerful way why the shutdown is necessary

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That the man who just four months ago led the Conservatives to their biggest General Election Victory in decades should now be in intensive care with the coronavirus brings home the sheer magnitude of what the world is facing and why governments are going to extraordinary lengths to try to impede it. This is a killer and at the moment there’s no way of of stopping it. What makes him being afflicted more striking is that Boris is in his…

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Boris goes into intensive care

Boris goes into intensive care

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Boris Johnson was taken to ICU at St Thomas’s Hospital about 7pm. He remains conscious, ICU is a precaution in case he needs ventilation. Dominic Raab asked to deputise for PM if necessary. — Tom Barton (@tombarton) April 6, 2020

That designated deputy Raab last spoke to Boris on Saturday raises questions of who is running the country

That designated deputy Raab last spoke to Boris on Saturday raises questions of who is running the country

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"I spoke to the PM on Saturday, [that] was the last time I spoke to him," says Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab Boris Johnson is in hospital with "persistent symptoms" of coronavirus https://t.co/OIh7EwyqSR pic.twitter.com/HDmG3ygnUP — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 6, 2020 This seems a touch odd – if PM is really in regular touch, and Raab really is in charge, shouldn't they have talked to each other in the last 24 hours ? https://t.co/j5bnc4rId2 — Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) April 6,…

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A party fit for purpose

A party fit for purpose

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The challenges ahead for the new leader Labour has a new leader. And soon a new Shadow Cabinet. Starmer will not be short of advice, most of it unasked for. Momentum have already started. Would that Starmer gives them the answer Attlee gave Harold Laski: “A period of silence from you would be most welcome.” If not, perhaps a link to this tongue lashing from Alan Johnson would do.  So let’s join in. Should he go for unity – healing a divided and demoralised party?  Magnanimity…

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