Six of the Best 966

"The United Kingdom’s spiralling COVID-19 infection and death rates can best be understood as reflecting a tragic, and distinctly English, set of failures and delusions. The exceptionalism widely championed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other Brexiteers is proving fatal." Mary Fitzgerald and Peter Geoghegan tell it like it is.

The biggest myth about the Red Wall is that it was all about Brexit and that the Red Wall seats, which had voted Leave in the 2016 Referendum, fell to the Conservatives because of Boris Johnson’s repeated mantra that he would 'get Brexit done'." Joyce Quin looks at the myths and realities of the Tories' new seats.

Silviya Barrett makes the case for more and better public transport, walking and cycling for a successful, green recovery.

"There was little room for debate: if the first course of ECT did not work, I was expected to use another, and if necessary another." Pat Bracken on electroconvulsive therapy, depression and psychiatry.

James Wallace asks if English cricket has a class ceiling.

The Gentle Author bids farewell to Doorkins Magnificat, who was the incumbent cat at Southwark Cathedral until her recent death.