Targeting the wealth creators to pay coronavirus bill would be madness, writes ALEX BRUMMER

With a Budget looming this autumn and Britain’s national debt standing at extraordinary levels, it will come as no surprise that the Treasury is dusting off plans for big tax rises. Rishi Sunak’s pandemic spending splurge has driven the annual borrowing requirement and the nation’s debt to £2trillion – a level unseen in peacetime – … Read more

Kate Middleton writes to boy with prosthetic legs who raised £1m

Kate Middleton pens letter to amputee Tony Hudgell, 5, who walked SIX MILES in 30 days to raise £1 million for the hospital that saved his life – and says everyone is ‘so proud’ of his ‘amazing’ achievement Tony Hudgell, five, had to have his legs amputated in 2017 as a result of abuse Set out … Read more

I’m fed up paying for a ‘woke’ BBC, writes former broadcaster JAN LEEMING 

When I was presenting the news on BBC1 in the 1980s I firmly believed that the Beeb was the best broadcasting outlet in the world and the channel of choice for quality. It had strength in depth throughout its range of content — from my own bailiwick of news and current affairs through drama, comedy, … Read more

If the BBC knew its history, it would understand Rule Britannia ISN’T racist, writes ROBERT HARDMAN

At least, there is still one irredeemably British quality to this year’s Last Night of the Proms: the fudge. Not even the finest dairy herds of Devon and Cornwall could have confected something as thick, rich and clotted as the latest solution served up by the BBC. Instead of either ignoring the usual half-hearted complaints … Read more

Russia’s coronavirus ‘vaccine’ announced – but don’t dismiss it just yet, writes BEN SPENCER 

Russia’s coronavirus ‘vaccine’ announced by Vladimir Putin is shrouded in secrecy – but don’t dismiss it just yet, writes BEN SPENCER By Ben Spencer for the Daily Mail Published: 23:24 BST, 11 August 2020 | Updated: 01:47 BST, 12 August 2020 Russia‘s claims to have created the world’s first coronavirus vaccine should not be dismissed … Read more

Simon Cowell will be ‘back on his feet in three weeks’, writes ALISON BOSHOFF

Simon Cowell was recovering in hospital last night after breaking three vertebrae in a fall from a new electric bicycle. The TV mogul, 60, required six hours of surgery and had a metal rod put in his back. He will have to cancel all professional commitments for the rest of the month. Doctors say he … Read more