Reform’s rise speaks to a deep crisis in Establishment parties – but relies on appealing to social and economic grievances the left should make its own, argues NICK WRIGHT

OVER the course of the Covid-19 outbreak in Britain many people have been following the charts plotting confirmed cases and deaths over time. We look to these graphs to get a sense of what the outbreak is doing and how well we have it under control.
One thing some people have begun to question is an apparent discrepancy between the numbers of confirmed cases and the numbers of deaths that accompany them.
For example, between March 1 and the April 1 this year, the government Covid-19 dashboard reports that in Britain there were 139,065 confirmed cases and 24,046 deaths. In comparison, between the September 1 and October 1, there have been 134,538 confirmed cases but only 711 deaths.

A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Science has always been mixed up with money and power, but as a decorative facade for megayachts, it risks leaving reality behind altogether, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

