Table of contents for V. 1313 in The Week

“The mid-winter Covid nightmare the Government feared most is upon us,” said The Sun. This week, in a bid to halt a dramatic surge in cases of the new, more contagious, strain of the coronavirus, Boris Johnson put England into a third national lockdown. It means that all of the UK is now under tight restrictions similar to those imposed in the spring. The Prime Minister said he had “no choice” but to act, pointing out that the number of people in hospital in England with Covid had shot up by nearly a third in the past week to almost 27,000 – 40% more than at the peak of the first wave in the spring. It’s thought that more than a million people in England currently have the virus. On…

The darkest hour is said to come just before the dawn – and so it may prove in the fight against coronavirus, said the FT. Just as hopes of a return to normality are being raised by the roll-out of vaccines, two highly contagious variants of Covid-19 threaten to herald the arrival of days even bleaker than those seen last spring. The first – B117 – is known as the UK variant, said Tony Allen-Mills in The Sunday Times. First detected in southeast England towards the end of last year, it has since been identified in at least 33 other countries. It is “dramatically more contagious” than other Covid strains, and is thought to have accelerated UK transmission rates by as much as 50-74% – even in areas that were…

Woman’s Hour, which received a rare message from the Queen, to mark the start of its 75th year. The 94-year-old monarch, who is believed to be a long-time listener, described the Radio 4 show as “a friend, guide and advocate to women everywhere”. Lewis Hamilton, the Formula 1 driver, who was awarded a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours. The citation describes him as “amongst the greatest ever sportsmen that the United Kingdom has produced”, and also notes his philanthropic work. Other honours went to actress Sheila Hancock, who was made a Dame, and screenwriter Jed Mercurio, who was made OBE.…

One in five British adults who drink alcohol are intending to forswear it for the whole of this month. That is the equivalent of 6.5 million people; by contrast, at this time last year 3.9 million people were planning a Dry January. Alcohol Change UK/ The Guardian A constituency-by-constituency poll has found neither the Tories nor Labour would win an outright majority if an election were held tomorrow. The poll put Labour on 37.7% (up from 32.2% in the last election, in December 2019) and the Tories on 35.6% (down from 43.6%). It found the Tories would lose 81 seats, including most of the “red wall” seats they took in 2019. Focaldata/The Sunday Times…

Washington DC Slow start: America’s “Warp Speed” mass vaccination programme against coronavirus got off to a disappointingly slow start, and missed its first target of inoculating 20 million people by the end of December. Although 14 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine were distributed by then, only 2.8 million people had been given the jab. Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert who is due to serve as Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, called on the federal government to make more resources available to the local governments charged with rolling out the vaccine. Biden has pledged to oversee the vaccination of 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. The death toll from Covid-19 in the US has now passed 365,000 – the highest tally of…

“These days many things seem to bring on the tears. Last week I was walking through a car park on a freezing cold Peak District day when I saw this small scene. Two older people unfurled a home-made ‘Happy Birthday’ banner and held it up, almost shyly. Across from them was a family including a young boy who must have been about eight. A bag of presents was on the tarmac between the two groups. The banner was put away amid much well-wishing for the boy. The presents were picked up. Then the two groups walked off to their separate cars. This is how grandparents hug in the time of corona. This is love when you follow the rules. I couldn’t help but be moved.” Ann Treneman in The Times…

Grandma and grandpa’s lives matter, too Dominic Lawson The Sunday Times “If you take away everyone with underlying conditions, Harold Shipman didn’t kill anyone.” That tweet from comedy producer Ed Morrish last week neatly skewers the misguided attempts by lockdown sceptics to play down the severity of Covid-19, says Dominic Lawson. They pooh-poohed the idea of a second wave; they said it was pointless to wait for a vaccine that might never arrive. And having been proved utterly wrong on both counts, they now fall back on another argument: that we make too much fuss about Covid deaths as they’re mostly confined to the elderly or those with “underlying conditions” – in short, people who already have one foot in the grave. Never mind that those “underlying conditions” include treatable…

Commonly used oxygen monitoring equipment is less reliable when used on patients with dark skin. According to a study in the US, oximeters – devices that clip onto a patient’s finger – are four times more likely to give a dangerously misleading result when used on a black patient than a white one. Oximeters work by passing beams of light through the blood in the digit, and measuring how much light is absorbed. When the researchers looked at 10,789 cases in which oximeter readings had been taken at the same time as more reliable test involving a blood sample, they found that the oximeter results were misleading in 3% of cases involving white patients, and 12% involving black ones. It’s not the first time the devices have been shown to…

Christmas used to be a quiet time for trade talks, said Alan Beattie in the FT – a peaceful interval during which “the world’s negotiators and lawyers toddled off home to think of something other than anti-dumping margins for a week or two”. But this festive season was jam-packed with action. First came the Christmas Eve Brexit deal. Then, at the end of the year, agreement on a new investment treaty between the EU and China. The latter deal, seven years in the making, aims to establish a level playing field for European and Chinese investment in each other’s markets. For now, it’s hard to make a judgement on the contents of the treaty, which is still only at “a broad political declaration stage”. But the timing of this announcement…

“Savour kindness because cruelty is always possible later.” Artist Jenny Holzer, quoted in The New York Times “With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and when I have to do with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half.” Otto von Bismarck, quoted in The Sunday Times “Not my vegetarian dinner, not my lime-juice minus gin / Quite can drown a faint conviction that we may be born in Sin.” John Betjeman, ibid “Remember your humanity; forget the rest.” Bertrand Russell, quoted in The Times “I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” Jerome K. Jerome, quoted on GoodReads.com “I can’t see the sense of making me a Commander of the British Empire. They might as…

With a host of scheduled treats – not least a deferred Olympics and a deferred Uefa Euro 2020 – 2021 was supposed to be the year that dispelled the traumas of the year gone by, said Sean Ingle in The Guardian. Alas, the future landscape is now “looking a lot more 2020 than we were expecting”. This week, England’s cricket tour of Sri Lanka was thrown into disarray when Moeen Ali tested positive for coronavirus; English football has a fast-growing fixture backlog; and it now seems doubtful whether the Lions rugby tour of South Africa will take place as planned this summer. And though it’s unlikely the Olympics or the Euros will be called off – both have too much money riding on them – they may well take place…

To The Daily Telegraph Good to see modern science catching up with Sherlock Holmes (“Want to clear your head of a thought? Just forget it, say scientists”). In A Study in Scarlet (1887), Holmes is quizzed by Dr Watson on his lack of general knowledge. On being told by Watson something he didn’t know – that the Earth travels around the Sun – Holmes thanks his friend, and says: “I shall do my best to forget it... I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic... The skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work... It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have…

Memorial by Bryan Washington Atlantic 320pp £14.99 The Week Bookshop £11.99 Bryan Washington is a young American writer whose work has been praised by both Barack Obama and Alan Hollinghurst, said Johanna Thomas-Corr in The Sunday Times. Memorial, his first novel, centres on a “deteriorating romance between two twentysomething men”. Benson is a black teacher who lives with Mike, a Japanese-American cook, in Houston. The story begins with Mike’s mother, Mitsuko, flying in from Japan just as Mike decides to fly to Japan to visit his estranged, dying father. Forced to share a one-bedroom flat, Benson and Mitsuko “form a grudging trust”, while in Osaka, Mike tries to connect “with his taciturn father”. Although the prose can be “a little flat”, this is a tender and “often profound” work. Washington’s…

Pixar’s new animated movie Soul (see review, right) stands in a long tradition of films about the afterlife, including a few true cinematic masterpieces. Here are some of those worth seeking out: A Matter of Life and Death Powell and Pressburger’s 1946 fantasy remains one of the richest and most imaginative British films ever made. An RAF pilot (David Niven) falls in love with an American radio operator (Kim Hunter) just before he bails out of his plane without a parachute. He was supposed to die, but the guide sent to escort him to the Other World misses his body in the thick fog. Orphée Jean Cocteau’s 1950 retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus is a dreamlike film shot through with dry humour, teasing reflections on the nature of…

Tracy is glum after her breakup with Roman but Oliver cheers her up. Freddie takes charge of the Christmas Show. David’s dreading his drink with Vince, but it goes better than expected; Vince says he’s serious about Elizabeth. Leaving for his Mum’s, Gavin tells Kirsty that Philip has been lying to her all along. Kirsty thinks Philip is having an affair, and later confronts him. He finally tells her about the workers, putting a spin on things, but Kirsty isn’t fooled. Roy arrives during their argument and Kirsty tells him to call the police. When they arrive, Philip gives himself up. Tracy and Jazzer have another run-in and Susan teases Tracy that he fancies her. Kirsty spends Christmas at Roy’s, where Phoebe comforts her. Philip’s ex-wife Rhiannon calls Kirsty to…

Recipe of the week: venison pie This slow-cooked and rich meat filling with shortcrust pastry pie brings a smile to everyone’s face, say Ollie Pudney and Joe Swiers. Serve with mashed potato and greens. For an amazing steak pie, swap the venison for an equal quantity of diced chuck steak. Serves 4-6 Equipment required: a roughly 20cm × 30cm pie dish For the filling: 1 tbsp light rapeseed oil 1kg venison haunch, cut into 3cm cubes 25g unsalted butter 300g pearl onions, peeled 2 carrots, diced ½ a celeriac, peeled and diced 250g chestnut mushrooms, halved 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 150g smoked bacon lardons 2 sprigs of thyme, leaves finely chopped 2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves finely chopped 2 bay leaves 2 tbsp plain flour 500ml red wine 600ml…

Tips of the week... how to exercise outside after dark ● Wear leggings, tights and base layers to keep warm. If it’s really cold, try inner gloves, too, and merino socks under waterproof socks – try Sealskinz or Endura. ● Opt for reflective clothing rather than fluorescent/hi-vis: the latter is better for daytime wear. Reflective strips on your wrists, ankles, knees and/or elbows will make you even more visible to cars. ● Where possible, stick to well-lit, populated areas. Avoid headphones. ● For off-road runners, a head torch is a crucial piece of kit. ● If you’re struggling to motivate yourself, use exercise as a kind of meditation where you focus on the pool of light ahead of you. ● If you are worried about your personal safety, consider a…

Fiat Chrysler/PSA: European car champion Two years after talks began, Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot-maker PSA have finally sealed their $47bn merger, creating the world’s fourth-largest auto company. And thus, said The Economist, “a new star will illuminate the car industry”. The combined company is called Stellantis (derived from the Latin “to brighten with stars”), and will be led by the “brightest star” in the business. Carlos Tavares is acclaimed for his “rapid revival” of former “basket-case” PSA; but steering a route into the “electric age” is likely to prove challenging. The two companies – which employ 400,000 people and own 14 brands including Jeep, Ram Trucks, Alfa Romeo and Maserati – reckon they “stand a better chance” of surviving that transition together, said Jack Ewing in The New York…

The City can thrive after Brexit Editorial Financial Times Finance was “all but absent” from the Brexit trade deal, and the EU has so far resisted granting the UK “equivalent” regulatory status to aid market access, says the FT. Given the shift in euro share trading we’ve already seen this week, the likelihood is that the “low tally” of City jobs lost so far “could indeed rise towards earlier predictions of up to 75,000”. Yet there is also room for optimism. “It is useful to remember that many of the high times of the City of London predate 1973, when the UK joined the European Community.” London has always “prospered through innovation” – and can do so again, if policymakers and financiers establish the “right architecture”. Britain now has an…

In just four years, a Canadian firm has gathered 32 million discarded chopsticks, and used them to make household items including tabletops and tablet stands. Founded by Felix Böck while he was a PhD student, ChopValue collects the mostly bamboo disposable chopsticks used in restaurants, and cleans and repurposes them. It currently picks up 350,000 a week in Vancouver, and it is expanding to other cities. Globally, 1.5 billion chopsticks are thrown away each week. Great white egrets were spotted in so many different parts of England and Wales last year that they will no longer be classed as a rarity by Bird Guides, the website that monitors sightings of rare breeds. The site said it had 8,300 reports of the birds in 2020, of which 2,300 were the first…

“Boris Johnson ended a bleak political year with a smile on his face,” said George Parker in the FT. In the end, he achieved something many said was impossible. He prised a free trade deal out of Brussels, and led a unified Conservative party into the Commons lobbies – alongside 162 Labour MPs – to support the new EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. During last Wednesday’s emergency debate, “various Tory MPs put Mr Johnson’s name into the same sentence as Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Alexander the Great”. Even Keir Starmer conceded that “a thin deal” was better than “no deal”. After years “of Brexit acrimony, it felt like a chapter was closing on British politics”. At last, “we are free”, said Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail – “free…

Ring-necked parakeets, with reports that officials at Defra are discussing plans to cull “satellite populations” of the birds. Scientists say the parakeets pose a threat to native wildlife. Once mainly confined to west London, they have spread rapidly in the past 20 years and are now seen in Manchester and even Glasgow. The Royal Mint, after admirers of H.G. Wells spotted multiple errors on a new £2 coin commemorating the author. The most egregious is arguably an image of a “Tripod” fighting machine from The War of the Worlds that has four legs. Margaret Ferrier, the MP who travelled 800 miles on public transport while suffering from Covid-19, who was arrested by Police Scotland on suspicion of breaking lockdown laws. Ferrier took a train to London last September, though she…

Edinburgh New lockdown: Mainland Scotland has been placed in full lockdown for at least three weeks because of the risks posed by the new Covid variant B117. In an emergency statement on Monday, Nicola Sturgeon said that with schools closed to pupils until at least the end of January, children would revert to remote and online learning. At the same time, new “stay at home” rules would be given legal force, greatly restricting freedom to travel. While Scotland has not experienced the sharp rises in Covid cases experienced in England over the past week, the number has been rising rapidly. On Monday, it reached 2,529. The Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney were left at level 3, meaning shops can remain open, but schools there are closing, and Sturgeon warned that…

Coulson’s time inside Andy Coulson’s rise and fall was meteoric. Born to working-class parents in Basildon, he started out in newspapers aged 16. By 20, he was reporting for The Sun; at 35, he was editing the News of the World. He resigned over the phone hacking scandal in 2007, but was made David Cameron’s director of communications six months later. Then, as the hacking revelations intensified, it all unravelled. He quit Downing Street in 2011 and, three years later, was sentenced to 18 months after being found guilty of conspiracy to intercept voicemails. Prison, he told Decca Aitkenhead in The Sunday Times, was a “miserable place... I was locked up for at least 18 hours most days and some days 23”. He tried to fit in; he used the…

The mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever, has been caught wearing no trousers during a live-streamed interview on Zoom. Four minutes into the broadcast, presenter Kim Debrie told the mayor of Belgium’s second city: “I’m a little distracted. You’re wearing a very nice shirt... But could it be that you are in your underwear?” De Wever replied: “How do you know that?” Then he realised: “I’m probably sitting in front of a mirror,” he said. “I had not taken that into account. The year begins with a particularly embarrassing moment.” A Celine Dion superfan woke up after a drunken night to find that he had changed his name by deed poll to Celine Dion. Thomas Dodd, 30, a furloughed hospitality manager, paid £89 to change his name after having a…

Birthday risk for surgical patients If you have to go under the knife, it might be a good idea to ask the surgeon’s date of birth. A new study has found that patients who have procedures on their surgeon’s birthday are 20% more likely to die in the weeks after the operation. For the BMJ-published research, a team at the University of California examined data on 981,000 patients over 65 years old who’d had major operations between 2011 and 2014, more than 2,000 of which were performed by a surgeon on his or her birthday. They found that the death rate (within 30 days) for the patients who did not have procedures on their surgeon’s birthday was 5.6%, whereas it was 6.9% for those who did. The researchers speculate that…

Hilaria Baldwin, the wife of Hollywood star Alec Baldwin, has long seemed Spanish: she speaks with a Spanish accent, and gave all five of her children Spanish names. Once, on TV, she even seemed to struggle to recall the English word for a cucumber. Yet it has now emerged she was actually born in Boston to American parents, and was called Hillary until ten years ago. The revelation sparked a furore on social media – but Baldwin denied any intention to mislead. Her parents loved Spain, she explained, and often took her there, while her accent changes with her mood. As for the cucumber episode, that was just a “brain fart”. Sophia Loren was pursued by several of her leading men. But perhaps her most committed suitor was Peter Sellers,…

After seven years holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy, and more than a year in HMP Belmarsh, Julian Assange seemed a step closer to freedom this week, after a judge at the Old Bailey ruled that he couldn’t be extradited to the US to face charges of espionage and computer hacking. He has been denied bail while the US appeals the verdict – which had come as a surprise. Assange’s backers had assumed he’d lose the case, and the judge did indeed dismiss most of his lawyers’ arguments, including that his activities – releasing classified documents about US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and thousands of diplomatic cables – amounted to legitimate investigative journalism. But she accepted that the WikiLeaks founder was too mentally fragile to be locked in a…

Less than a decade ago, Gerwyn Price was a rugby professional who used to play hooker for Neath and the Glasgow Warriors, said James Corrigan in The Daily Telegraph. Today, in what must surely rank as one of the greatest ever “cross-sport transformations”, he has ascended to the top rank of a very different sport. Six years after taking the game up professionally, the 35-year-old Welshman has won the PDC World Darts Championship, defeating Gary Anderson of Scotland in Sunday’s final. Known as “The Iceman” because of his unflappable finishing, Price spent most of the contest justifying that moniker: he threw with such unerring accuracy he opened up a 6-1 lead. Then all of a sudden, “as so often happens to first-timers at the point of glory”, his assuredness deserted…

Football Manchester City beat Chelsea 3-1 in the Premier League. Liverpool lost 2-1 to Southampton, meaning joint leaders Manchester United now have a game in hand. Ruby union Premiership leaders Exeter Chiefs suffered their first defeat this season, losing 34-5 to Wasps; Leicester Tigers beat Bath 36-31. Tennis Roger Federer pulled out of the Australian Open – scheduled to begin on 8 Feb: he’s recovering from a knee operation. He will get back on tour after the season’s first major tournament.…

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, 1861 (Wordsworth Classics £2.50). The story of Pip and his aspiration to become a gentleman, and Magwitch the transported convict, says all that needs to be said about the English social pyramid. How did Dickens address such themes at the same time as grabbing our hearts and making us laugh? Beloved by Toni Morrison, 1987 (Vintage £9.99). Possibly the greatest novel ever written about the US and its corrosive inheritance from slavery, told through the lives of Sethe and her daughter Beloved, in the years following the Civil War. Lyrical, compelling, the kind of novel that once read, changes one’s memory and perspective forever. Frost in May by Antonia White, 1933 (Virago £9.99). A perfect account of a Catholic convent childhood – a tale that…

With most real-life cultural activity suspended again, The National Theatre has launched a back-catalogue of its past hits, including Othello with Adrian Lester and Phèdre with Helen Mirren. Subscribe or pay per event (ntathome.com). Recorded in its empty theatre, The Old Vic’s In Camera production of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer – with a cast led by Michael Sheen – returns to stream from 20-22 January; tickets from £10 (oldvictheatre.com). Finally, the Southbank Centre presents a digital version of its Unlimited festival, celebrating work by disabled artists – including dance, music and comedy – from 13-17 January (southbankcentre.co.uk).…

Lockdown’s food entrepreneurs The “quiet months” of 2020 weren’t fallow for everyone, says Clare Finney in The Daily Telegraph: for some “food-loving entrepreneurs”, they provided the spark for a new venture. London husband and wife Jack and Natasha Durling began bottling homemade cocktails to give to friends to jazz up their Zoom calls. When interest and demand grew, they turned their hobby into a business. Lockdown Liquor & Co now employs “a team of mixologists”, and its bottles of premixed cocktails can be found at Liberty, The Conran Shop and other outlets. Students Jenny Bates and Elle Nash decided to start a pick ‘n’ mix sweet business to cheer people up during lockdown. “As people opened the door to receive their sweets, it brought a big smile to their faces,”…

Theragun Mini Great for cool-downs, this smallest model in the Theragun range of massagers is portable but powerful. Some of the profits from the (red) version go towards Covid-19 response and HIV/Aids charities in Sub-Saharan Africa (from £150; theragun.com). Meglio Asteroid Recovery Pack  Rollers are popular for easing tension and recovering from workouts, and this set is great value. The shapes give plenty of options, and the ball can be used against a chair to correct posture (£20; mymeglio.com). TKO Neoprene Dumbbells 1-8kg Ideal for those on a budget, these dumbbells come in a range of weights, and being hexagonal, they won’t roll over your foot. The grip is comfortable and secure (£8.50; shop.everyoneactive.com). The Auster  Everyday With suspension trainers (cables with handles on the end), you can use gravity…

The pound and UK shares jumped as Brexit uncertainty lifted and the roll-out of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine began. Sterling briefly pushed above $1.37 – a level last seen in 2018. But the effects of the EU split were felt on the first trading day of 2021: nearly v6bn of EU share dealing shifted from London to European capitals. China’s stock market hit its highest level since the 2008 crisis, having rallied 50% since the Covid sell-off in March. Elsewhere, stock markets fell, driven down by coronavirus concerns. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each fell by 1.5% – the steepest daily decline in more than two months. As the new national lockdown set in, UK business groups welcomed the Chancellor’s £4.6bn relief package for closed retail, hospitality and…

● Bitcoining it Londoners braving the Tube in December couldn’t avoid getting an eyeful of bitcoin, said Ian Allison on Coindesk.com. As the cryptocurrency’s extraordinary 2020 rally steamed to a conclusion, two exchanges – Coinfloor and Luno – staged prominent ad campaigns to lure more punters in. After rising by more than 300% last year, bitcoin continued its dizzying ascent into the new year, noted The Economist. Last Sunday, it climbed above $34,000. The annual gains far outpaced mainstream asset classes, such as gold (up 25%) and Wall Street’s blue-chip S&P 500 stock index (up 16%), feeding concerns that bitcoin is “set to repeat the events of three years ago, when a bull market dramatically collapsed”. ● Doom’s day Certainly, critics have been out in force – notably Nouriel Roubini…

Adar Poonawalla India’s “vaccine prince” has an ambitious plan to supply the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to half the planet this year, said The Times. Adar Poonawalla’s family firm, Serum Institute of India – founded by his father Cyrus (the “vaccine king”) in 1966 – is well placed to do so. It is already “comfortably the biggest vaccine manufacturer by volume in the world”, and some two-thirds of all children on the planet have been vaccinated with its products. Long a fixture of India’s business aristocracy, the Poonawallas – so-called because of their base in the city of Pune – originally got into vaccines almost by chance, via their stud farm. Adar, 39, thinks we were “lucky” with Covid: “Can you imagine if Ebola were as infectious as coronavirus?” Alexander Temerko Since…

It was a “beacon of hope” in an otherwise gloomy week, said Judith Woods in The Daily Telegraph. On Monday, 82-year-old Brian Pinker became the first person in the world to have the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital. After receiving it, the retired maintenance manager spoke of his relief at being able to look forward with confidence to celebrating his 48th wedding anniversary with his wife later this year. This “momentous” event took place days after the Oxford vaccine won approval for use in the UK, the second vaccine – after the Pfizer/ BioNTech version – to have done so. Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailed the roll-out as a “pivotal moment”; the Government says its aim is to vaccinate 13 million people by mid-February. The Oxford vaccine is…

A craze for posting pictures of fat pets online could be putting animals’ health at risk, vets have warned. Two Instagram accounts, Round Boys and Round Animals, have 1.2 million followers between them, while the Facebook group This Cat is Chonky has 857,000 members. There are about 8.5 million overweight pets in the UK, 600,000 more than five years ago. Experts say these sites risk giving owners a skewed perception of what a healthy weight is; and may even encourage them to overfeed their pets. A record 23% of current Year 13 pupils are hoping to study at a university close to home, a Ucas survey has found – suggesting that Covid-19 has accelerated the longterm trend away from “boarding” at university.…

Millions of homeowners in Britain are living in properties that they may be unable to sell because of concerns about the safety of their cladding. According to research for Telegraph Money, 4.6 million properties could be affected (16% of the housing stock). It is estimated that 870,000 of them are in buildings that are over 59ft (18m) tall, putting them at the highest risk, and meaning they will have to pass an External Wall Fire Review before banks will grant a mortgage on them to would-be buyers. This week, more than a dozen Tory MPs signed an amendment to the Government’s Fire Safety bill that would ensure that the costs of necessary remedial works would not be passed on to residents.…

Paris Abuse claims: One of France’s best known intellectuals resigned his academic and media posts this week, after being accused of sexually abusing his teenage stepson in the 1980s. The allegations against Olivier Duhamel (above) are contained in a new book by his stepdaughter, Camille Kouchner. She says that members of her family, and of Duhamel’s circle, were aware of the abuse, but kept quiet to protect him. She and her brother are the children of Bernard Kouchner – a former minister who co-founded Médecins Sans Frontières. He described it as a “secret that has been weighing on us for too long”. Vaccine hold-ups: France’s vaccination programme got off to a slow start last week, leading to withering criticism of the government by doctors’ groups and the media. By this…

1* The Day That Never Comes, written and performed by Metallica 2 Heart-Shaped Box by Kurt Cobain, performed by Nirvana 3 Pilate’s Dream (from Jesus Christ Superstar) by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, performed by Barry Dennen 4 Love Shack, written and performed by The B-52’s 5 Street Spirit (Fade Out), written and performed by Radiohead 6 For Those in Peril on the Sea by William Whiting and John Bacchus Dykes (arr. Lt Col Simon Haw MBE), performed by the Band of the Coldstream Guards and members of the Guards’ Chapel Choir 7 Fire by Sergio Pizzorno, performed by Kasabian 8 Big in Japan, written and performed by Alphaville Book: a book by Agatha Christie Luxury: a jigsaw puzzle * Choice if allowed only one record…

When city leaders in the American city of Portland, Oregon, began promoting the idea of “20-minute neighbourhoods” in 2010, others were quick to take note. The crux of the idea is that most essentials – work, schools, shopping, healthcare and recreation – should be within a 20-minute journey on foot, by public transport or by bicycle. Portland quickly led the way, turning some 70 miles of roads into so-called neighbourhood greenways – residential streets where pedestrians and cyclists have priority. The idea inspired the controversial “mini-Holland” scheme in London’s Waltham Forest. When first launched in 2013, the walking and cycling scheme attracted massive opposition from locals, motorists and traders. But seven years on, it has been credited with helping transform streets once used as “rat-runs” into bustling thoroughfares full of…

UNITED STATES How to make America rich again American Greatness (West Palm Beach) The problem with America today, says Chris Buskirk, is not that the rich are getting richer; it’s that “everyone else is, at best, running to stand still”. Over the last 50 years, America’s GDP has risen by more than 370% in real terms, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has jumped by some 357%. Yet over that period, real median wages have flatlined. This “disconnect” is the source of much of today’s political rancour. Prior to 1970, wages and living standards rose in line with GDP. Since then, though, productivity – the true engine of growth – has slowed and the economy has instead increasingly been fuelled by debt. This has created “a vicious cycle in which…

Mountain hares are still turning snow-white in autumn, even though their habitat is now often brown until much later in the year. The creatures, which are commonly found in the Scottish Highlands, shed their brown fur each year, in order to blend into the snowy landscape. As winters have started later in many areas, other mammal species have adapted by moulting later. Mountain hares have not, however: according to a new study, patterns of snowfall in the Scottish Highlands have changed dramatically in the past 60-odd years, but the creatures are still shedding their brown fur around the same times as they always did – and as a result, they are spending 65 days a year in the wrong coat for their surroundings, up from around 30 in the mid-1950s.…

Boris Johnson will “always be the Prime Minister who finally took Britain out of the EU”, said Henry Hill on CapX. But the manner in which he has done so could yet see him remembered for something rather different – breaking up the United Kingdom. Johnson has had to accept an Irish Sea border that damages the fabric of the Union: none of Northern Ireland’s MPs voted for the Brexit deal, which will pull the province firmly into Europe’s orbit. And in Scotland, resentment about Brexit “has opened up a new front of constitutional grievance”, said The Times. The SNP will almost certainly win another big majority in the Holyrood elections in May. Nicola Sturgeon will then claim a mandate for a new independence referendum; in recent months, 17 consecutive…

Compared with fish quotas and trade deals, the end of Britain’s participation in the Erasmus scheme may seem like “small fry”, said Julian Baggini in The Guardian. But for the hundreds of thousands of British university students who – like me – have been able to broaden their horizons by studying abroad through the Europe-wide exchange programme, Britain’s decision to drop out will be keenly felt. Despite the PM’s assurance to MPs a year ago that Brexit posed “no threat” to the scheme, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, noted on Christmas Eve that it was the UK Government’s decision to withdraw, after the two sides could not agree on the cost of Britain’s continued membership. Johnson has described Erasmus as “extremely expensive”, said The Times – and Britain certainly…

There are lots of ways in which Ole Gunnar Solskjær doesn’t fit the template of a successful 21st century football manager, said Oliver Holt in The Mail on Sunday. The gentle Norwegian rarely rages on the touchline; there is no cult of personality around him as there is with Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp and José Mourinho; he lacks the charisma of the born leader. Perhaps this explains why consistent carping has been such a feature of his tenure at Manchester United, where he succeeded Mourinho in December 2018. “Cone-man” and “PE teacher” are among the labels used to denigrate him, and virtually every time United fail to win a game, #oleout trends on Twitter. But in recent weeks, such voices have mostly fallen silent, said James Ducker in The Daily…

St Andrew’s cross To The Times In a Commons debate last week, Ian Blackford, parliamentary leader of the SNP, declared that “Scotland is at heart a European nation”, and indeed that she had been such since well before the Acts of Union in 1707. The SNP seems to have acquired this insight somewhat recently. In the 1975 referendum it was the only major party in Scotland to recommend leaving the European Community. Voters are entitled to an explanation of why the SNP changed its mind. Dare one suggest that dislike of England rather than love for Europe has been its motivating force? Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government, King’s College, London A hollow salute to nature To The Guardian I have been struck by the disconnection between the lockdown eulogies about…

by Jan Swafford Faber 832pp £30 The Week Bookshop £23.99 (incl. p&p) In the centuries since his death, a popular image of Mozart has crystallised, said Tim Page in The Washington Post – of a “doomed wunderkind” who was “misunderstood by his contemporaries” before being laid in a “pauper’s grave”. In his admirable and lively biography, Jan Swafford sets out to counter this “sentimental tragedy”. Mozart, he suggests, was “fundamentally a happy man”. Born in Salzburg in 1756, he was the son of a mediocre violinist named Leopold who ruthlessly exploited his children’s talents, said Jessica Duchen in The Sunday Times. With Maria Anna, his elder sister, Mozart was dragged through the royal courts and capitals of Europe, with Leopold pocketing all the proceeds. Nonetheless, his childhood was happy, and…

Mark Simpson: Geysir, and Mozart: “Gran Partita” K.361 Orchid Classics £13.50 The clarinettist and composer Mark Simpson conceived his 2013 work Geysir as a companion piece to Mozart’s vast K361 Serenade in B flat, the “Gran Partita”, said Fiona Maddocks in The Observer. This exceptional recording of them – the playing “buoyant, nimble, expansive” and elegant – has leapt straight onto my best albums of 2020 list. Geysir is scored for the same ensemble as the Mozart: pairs of oboes, clarinets, basset horns and bassoons; four horns and double bass. It “bubbles and boils” towards a “climactic eruption, before subsiding back to where it began”. Geysir is a “fascinating, accessible” work that references Mozart’s themes but is more “unruly and wild”, said Graham Rickson on The Arts Desk. It proves…

It’s not an “edifying watch”, but the BBC’s new true-crime drama series The Serpent offers “a convincing glimpse of evil”, said Victoria Segal in The Sunday Times. On the Asian hippy trail in 1975 – when “utopian 1960s dreams” have given way to “getting stoned in grotty hostels” – the charismatic serial killer Charles Sobhraj (Tahar Rahim) snares trusting backpackers by posing as a gem dealer. Offering hospitality at his Bangkok house, he robs and kills them with the complicity of his girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc (Jenna Coleman). Rahim exerts a “watchful menace”, but the pair are “unreadable” behind their sunglasses, “an international jet set Barbie and Ken”. Sobhraj was nicknamed The Serpent because he was so good at “slithering away from the law”, said Rebecca Nicholson in The Guardian. I…

If you love top-drawer red burgundy, but hate the astronomical prices, make this the winter to track down a good-value pinot noir, says Jane MacQuitty in The Times. It might take some work, but it is just about possible to enjoy burgundy’s “classic finesse for a bargain price”. Germany has started making some “cracking pinot noir” – or spätburgunder – as harvests there have got warmer and riper. Look in specialist wine shops for examples – such as Hanewald Schwerdt Spätburg 18 (£15.90; thesampler.co.uk). If you want to spend a lot less, then go to the New World. Pinots from Chile are richer and spicier than those from France and Germany. The 2019 Cono Sur Bicicleta Pinot Noir (£6, down from £7.25; Asda) is bargain basement, but “surprisingly classy”. New…

French designer who revolutionised the fashion industry Pierre Cardin 1922-2020 One of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century, Pierre Cardin was known in particular for shaping the 1960s aesthetic. The cut-out tunics and bold A-line dresses he produced for his Space Race-inspired Cosmocorps collection in 1964 became one of the defining looks of the decade, while his relaxed suits, with collarless jackets, were immortalised by The Beatles. Later, he added vinyl mini skirts and “egg carton” dresses made from Cardine, his own heat-embossable fabric. But arguably his greatest innovations were on the business side: Cardin was the first couturier to sell prêt-à-porter collections through department stores; the first to produce unisex lines; and the first to turn his name into a global brand, by using it to…

It looked a sure-fire bet that the Americans would come for a FTSE 100 gambling operator in 2021, said Christopher Williams in The Sunday Telegraph. Nothing like getting in with an early roll of the dice. On the first day of trading this year, the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral – the newly renamed Entain – turned down an £8bn bid from MGM Resorts, claiming it “significantly” undervalued the company and its prospects. Shares in Entain, which already operates a 50:50 joint venture with MGM, soared 26% on the news. Investors are betting the US behemoth will return with a higher offer – in keeping with what looks like a full-scale “American takeover of gambling”. MGM’s “biggest moneymakers” – casinos and hotels on the Las Vegas strip – have been…

Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index “suffered its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis” in 2020 (down 14.3%) as the toxic combo of the pandemic and Brexit uncertainty hit stocks, said Graeme Wearden in The Guardian. But there were pockets of brilliance. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust – which invests in US and Chinese tech companies – was the best-performing FTSE 100 stock, more than doubling in value. Ocado, meanwhile, gained 78%. Hopefully, it’s a good omen that the FTSE 100 was almost alone in shining among the big indices as the new year dawned, said Tom Howard in The Times. “London’s outperformance was thanks to its exposure to big-name mining stocks, which got a leg up from a rise in metal prices” as investors bet on a “vaccine-led global recovery”.…

Shares for the year ahead AstraZeneca The Daily Telegraph The Oxford jab has grabbed the headlines, but the oncology, cardiovascular and respiratory focused pharma’s pipeline is “bursting” with late-stage drugs – with partnerships creating further growth opportunities. Pricey but “not to be missed”. Buy. £74.01. Games Workshop Group The Times The Warhammer figurine-maker and retailer had a “phenomenal” 2020 – shares almost doubled. Given the huge potential of licensing its patent-protected fantasy world to film-makers, the sky-high rating is justified. Buy. £11.20. Naked Wines The Daily Telegraph As the pandemic shifted alcohol consumption to the home, the online wine retailer became a winner. Interim sales, up 80%, have prompted a growth forecast upgrade. Also seeing “significant” US growth. Buy. 668p. Ørsted Investors Chronicle The world’s leading offshore wind developer sells…