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How is it possible that the public sector is no more productive today than it was in 1996, before the internet took off? Britain has a chronic productivity problem. As the American economy marches upwards in output per person, Britain limps behind. As Ben Southwood, Samuel Hughes and Sam Bowman have calculated, if GDP per hour […]

Contrary to reports, the evidence still points to a lab leak being the most likely cause of the pandemic No, there is no new evidence that Covid originated with a raccoon dog in a market in Wuhan. The public relations blitz that surrounded the publication this week of a paper in Cell from a team whose previous […]

Green shift is already leaving our energy system hugely vulnerable ‘If Ed Miliband has a plan to deal with the volatility and intermittency of renewable energy, he is yet to reveal it’ Heathcliff O’Malley Energy is already ludicrously expensive. Making it more unreliable will only compound our misery. In November 2021, Storm Arwen gave me a […]

The jabs undoubtedly saved lives, but overblown claims sadly damaged the reputation of vaccination Vaccination is one of mankind’s most miraculous innovations. The eradication of smallpox, and the retreat of measles and other cruel afflictions, mean that vaccines rival sanitation for first prize in the saving of lives. New jabs against malaria and melanoma promise great benefits. […]

Even green campaigners fear they are damaging the planet, consuming land that could be left to nature The actress Tracy Ward objects to her ex-husband the Duke of Beaufort building a 2,000-acre solar farm in Gloucestershire: “Solar panels should be on roofs, along motorways, or industrial sites,” she says. “Be careful what the climate change […]

The current investigation isn’t doing its job. We need a faster, cheaper rival to actually get to the truth. In his excellent 2014 book Black Box Thinking, Matthew Syed begins with the story of an airline pilot, Martin Bromiley, whose wife died because of mistakes made by anaesthetists during a routine operation. He set out […]

The jabs undoubtedly saved lives, but overblown claims sadly damaged the reputation of vaccination. Vaccination is one mankind’s most miraculous innovations. The eradication of smallpox, the retreat of measles and other cruel afflictions mean that vaccines rival sanitation for first prize in the saving of human lives. New vaccines against malaria and melanoma promise great […]

Rishi Sunak will be the latest politician to appear at this show trial run by the Blob to exculpate the Blob On Monday, Rishi Sunak will appear at the Covid Inquiry. It barely matters what he says because it is as predictable as sunrise that he will be pilloried for the mistakes of others, that being […]

Beijing’s lies denied the world a chance to stop the spread, costing millions of lives. We deserve to know the truth. Michael Gove has told the covid inquiry that “a significant body of judgement… believes that the virus itself was man-made”. He was immediately slapped down by the lead counsel to the Inquiry, Hugo Keith KC, who […]

Politicians should stop endorsing an energy source that isn’t particularly clean or secure, and won’t bring down prices. The MPs who have forced Rishi Sunak into a U-turn on onshore wind power love to repeat the favourite slogan of the wind industry: “wind is cheap”. “Cheap, clean, secure,” says Sir Alok Sharma. “Cheap,” cheeps Ed Miliband. […]