Good news: the Government has finally cleared up the confusion about whether or not over-50s will be locked down (or up, depending on your point of view) in the event of a second wave. It turns out we won’t be. This comes as a relief not only for people like me, aged 53, with a … Read more
Is it just me? Or has shopping become utterly joyless? asks SARAH VINE Sarah Vine argues shopping in the UK has become a lengthy, mindful process Claims it’s impossible to pop into a shop during your lunch or on your way home She fears the pandemic shopping guidelines may not be good for business By … Read more
Around 8.30 on Monday morning, I was confronted by an unfamiliar sight: my teenage daughter, up and dressed, preparing to leave the house. Fair to say it’s been some weeks since she last saw the right side of lunchtime, so I was a little surprised. And then I remembered: the shops were reopening. After weeks … Read more
Well, I don’t know about you, but events over the past few days have left me feeling very depressed. I think it’s a combination of things: revisiting the Madeleine McCann case; the shaming Prince Andrew saga; the spiralling cost — both human and economic — of coronavirus; the fact that our children’s education is being … Read more
Those of us who have followed the twists and turns of the Madeleine McCann story had all but given up hope of the long-running inquiry into her disappearance leading anywhere. So yesterday’s announcement by the police came as a bolt from the blue. So much time has passed and so many leads have come to … Read more
Those of us who have followed the twists and turns of the Madeleine McCann story had all but given up hope of the long-running inquiry into her disappearance leading anywhere. So yesterday’s announcement by the police came as a bolt from the blue. So much time has passed and so many leads have come to … Read more
There is a scene in George A. Romero’s 1978 cult zombie classic Dawn Of The Dead, where survivors arrive at a post-apocalyptic shopping mall to discover it teeming with the infected, stumbling around closed shops, blindly riding the escalators in a grimly comedic ballet of gore. ‘But what are they all doing?’ asks the heroine. … Read more
Citizens rejoice! The Government has decreed that from June 15, Britain will once again be a nation of shopkeepers. Non-essential retail such as mobile phone shops and fashion stores (and car showrooms, which are allowed to open from next Monday) are to fling wide their doors to a grateful public who, it is hoped, will … Read more
When it comes to the latest Government guidelines on the (very) gradual lifting of lockdown, it seems people fall into one of two camps. You’re either a Pooja from Solihull, or a Ryan from Surrey. Pooja Jalota is the pharmacist who on Monday, in deeply censorious tones, accused Boris Johnson of being ‘too vague’ and … Read more
First of all: how are you both? I know no one ever asks, so I thought it best just to check. After all, it must be so hard for you, stuck in Los Angeles in rented accommodation with only Ellen DeGeneres and Beyonce for company. We all know how stressful moving house can be, and … Read more