“These measures may be a short-term strategy, but they cannot be a long-term one”
Those words from Jeremy Wright capture the spirit of many Tory MPs who voted for lockdown yesterday. Ministers be warned.
Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Johnson seduces the House, and talks away his mistakes, by promising a rosy future
There were moments when the PM made everyone from the Speaker down laugh, and most of his listeners were grateful for light relief from the crisis.
How Conservative MPs should approach today’s vote on the Government’s lockdown plan
Until or unless they receive assurances from Ministers that an impact assessment will be published, they should withhold their support.
Our survey. More than half of members back the Government over extending free school meals
Just over 56 per cent support the decision not to extend the programme through the Christmas holidays, versus almost 38 per cent who disagree.
What matters most for deciding on lockdown is hospitalisations – not deaths
To both treat every Covid patient who needs it and maintain regular services through the ‘winter crisis’, the NHS needs a more muscular intervention.
Our Cabinet League Table: Sunak is still top, and Johnson is back in positive territory – just
All in all, it’s much of a muchness – with Douglas Ross down by about 25 points, now that his Party Conference coverage has faded.
Like the virus itself, and like other restrictions, this shutdown will come down hardest on the deep poor
Duncan Smith names “five giants”: family breakdown, worklessness, serious personal debt, addiction and educational underachievement.
The Government must publish regular reports on the cost of the virus, restrictions, and this coming lockdown to lives and livelihoods
Our latest survey finds that nine in ten Party members support such a move – a total that this latest news is unlikely to have reduced.
Our survey: more than half of Tory members want Trump to win next week
Fewer than one in four are holding out for Biden. Does this reflect their view of which will be better for Britain, or simply instinctive mistrust of the Left?
Will Labour expel Corbyn?
Perhaps the charge of opportunism won’t stick to Starmer, but the Tories are striving, with a vigour that’s been rare recently, to ensure that it does.
Johnson’s quiet shift to a more permissive migration policy
He is averse to using numbers as the main instrument of control – perhaps viewing them as an arbitrary measure of success.
Why we should “have enough of experts” – the SAGE advisers and Great Barrington signatories alike
It’s important to have advisers, but “advisers advise and Ministers decide” – because the latter are accountable to the rest of us.
Normal relations between the Conservative leader and Conservative MPs are breaking down
Johnson’s troops are issuing declarations of intent in public. His success will depend on his ability to learn from mistakes.
The case for Trump turns out to be stronger than you may think
And that Biden would doubtless be a one-term president leaves a mass of unknowns about his candidacy.
How to ensure that disadvantaged children are fed when schools are closed
Ministers could not have handled the matter worse if they’d tried. But Paul Maynard, pictured, is championing a solution.