The first week of February 2022

This week it emerged that the public will be told if Boris Johnson is fined by police for breaking lockdown rules. The Telegraph will talk you through the key points in Sue Gray’s report into ‘partygate’, while Camilla Tominey writes that the report “has not wounded Boris Johnson fatally – but he is bleeding badly”.  While the contents of Sue Gray’s report are mortifying, it does not seem to have wielded a mortal blow. Its headline finding that there were “failures of leadership and judgement by No 10” is, at least to those not fluent in bureaucratese, blandly reproachful. Sherelle Jacobs raises some illuminating talking points as she argues that “The hunt for a smoking gun has missed a far more devastating bombshell.”

The Telegrph can exclusively disclose that the Prime Minister appears to have scrapped Lord Frost’s plan to free the UK from EU red tape in favour of net zero regulations. The former head of MI6, meanwhile, has stated that Russia could be stopped from invading Ukraine through sanctions.

With the cost of living crisis set to leave workers £2,850 worse off, Mike Warburton warns that “National Insurance rises are only the start – even more tax meddling is on the horizon”. Jessica Beard examines how pensioners are being trapped by costly equity release loans. Plus, Lloyds Bank has launched Britain’s cheapest ever 10-year mortgage.

In Culture, Michael Deacon takes issue with the recent interrogation of a domestic violence campaigner, asking “Have Scotland’s bobbies got nothing better to do than police a woman’s tweets?”. Celia Walden is brilliantly balanced as she writes “Thank you, Joanna Lumley, for being brave enough to say what everyone’s thinking” in light of the star’s recent comments on mental health. Suzanne Moore makes a compelling case for why “Our ‘inclusive’ world is anything but – it excludes women, renames us and disappears us”. And in Film, Tim Robey addresses “The depressing creative decline of Woody Allen”.