Cover Page, 10 December 2020, Issue 259 Welcome to our latest edition. This week we lead with the impact of Covid-19 on education (and vice-versa). See John Watson’s comment and David Chilvers’ latest report on the statistics. We also consider Covid etiquette, the eternal Washington swamp, East v West in the EU, inflation, a Corbynista’s
10 December 2020 Education Levelling up. By John Watson Gavin Williamson may not be good at jokes but his proposal to make this year’s public exams easier, to reflect the difficulties faced by pupils, seems to have been broadly welcomed. A Christmas present for hard pressed students, perhaps? At the Shaw Sheet we are suspicious
10 December 2020 Forward To The Past Still in the swamp? By J R Thomas The shades of night are drawing around the current President, whilst the rising sun lights the gentle smiling face of the new First Citizen. That’s the only poetic effusion that you will have to suffer here, so pass safely on.
10 December 2020 Lies, Damned Lies and Coronavirus How different sectors have fared by David Chilvers Lockdowns, including Tiers, seek to reduce human interaction by: Limiting the number of contacts an individual makes through rules for people (Rule of Six, households bubbles etc) Limiting the number of contacts an individual makes by rules for businesses,
10 December 2020 The Inflation Enthusiasm Curb A potential economic nemesis. By Frank O’Nomics We are all doing it. The roll out of a covid vaccine, it is hoped, will make 2020 just seem like a bad dream. The prospect of recovering lost growth, with a backdrop of exceptionally low interest rates, has set all
10 December 2020 Poland, Hungary and the EU Facing the music. By Neil Tidmarsh The revelation about Chopin was a gift, but who could have guessed what would follow? The long-running conflict between Poland / Hungary and the rest of the EU has been coming to a head in recent weeks. Brussels is alarmed that
10 December 2020 Covid Etiquette The return of manners? By Lynda Goetz One good thing Covid may have done for society is to bring back respect for others (at least to some small degree) and, in so doing, a welcome return of good manners. Manners are something which have fallen by the wayside in the
10 December 2020 Diary of a Corbynista Schools being screwed up. By Don Urquhart 3 December In Shawsheet 258 JR Thomas made a strong case for a federal United Kingdom and in particular saw this as a way of resolving the Scottish independence issue. I was quite heartened as it seemed to offer a potential
10 December 2020 View from the Cotswolds The Chipping Norton omnibus By Paul Branch Tuesday afternoon, still the wheels of Brexit negotiations turn turgidly but with no perceptible movement on the three main thorny issues outstanding since last January. We await with bated breath the outcome of Boris’s dash to Brussels where he hopes to
