What might happen in 2019? A second referendum, an economic recession, and the political parties will fall apart December 18, 2018 Anyone posing as Mystic Meg in the current environment of political turmoil would either be very brave or a charlatan. In four months’ time, the UK could still be a member of the EU, or will leave in either a chaotic or an orderly manner; with a radically different or the same government; or still [...]
DEBATE: Is the Asos profit warning a sign that online retailers face the same challenges as the high street? December 18, 2018 Is the Asos profit warning a sign that online retailers face the same challenges as the high street? Scott Guthrie, a digital strategy consultant, says YES. Online retailers have previously appeared immune to the hardships faced by their high street rivals. Yet there are many marketplace similarities between the two opposing business models – especially in [...]
Breaking the current Brexit impasse could land Theresa May in even deeper trouble December 18, 2018 Despite efforts by the Labour party and other political opponents of the government in the House of Commons, it now looks very unlikely that Theresa May will put her Brexit proposal to a parliamentary vote this side of the New Year. But there may still be plenty of public disagreements and political wrangling ahead when [...]
Opinion: Why we should follow the French by considering guardianship as a way to fill empty homes with those in housing need December 17, 2018 Christmas is the time of year when the misery of homelessness becomes apparent to everyone. Many homeless people are in this position as rising property prices and rents across London, combined with the housing shortage, has made affordable accommodation in decent locations a mere pipe dream for many young and low-paid people working in the [...]
Sam Torrance: Europe’s Ryder Cup success tops the bill in my golfing highlights of 2018 December 17, 2018 From Europe's Ryder Cup glory to Francesco Molinari's breakthrough and a British Major winner in Georgia Hall, it has been a vintage year for golf. Here, Sam Torrance picks his highlights from 2018. 1. Pulverised in Paris Europe didn’t just beat the United States at this year’s Ryder Cup; they outclassed, out-thought and comprehensively out-played a [...]
Productivity lessons from the procrastinator Prime Minister December 17, 2018 Can we assume, given that you’re reading this section of the paper, that you are currently delaying doing something you really ought to be focusing on? I don’t mean to lecture you. I myself currently have an Oliver Spencer tab or two open on my browser. I spent most of last Wednesday Googling the viability [...]
The new Brexit Wars episode is out: May the force be with you December 17, 2018 Maybe it’s just me, but the Stormtroopers in the new Star Wars movies never seem to have the same menace as the old ones. Last week, Jacob Rees-Mogg and his colleagues in the eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) of the Conservative party looked like they believed that they had gone old-school – Empire Strikes Back. [...]
DEBATE: Will the new ban on stereotypes in advertising help improve gender equality? December 17, 2018 Will the new ban on stereotypes in advertising help improve gender equality? Christi Tronetti, marketing director at creative agency isobel, says YES. There is an unconscious gender bias in advertising that needed to be addressed. Do we really need to see men struggling to change nappies in this day and age? Or women beaming as [...]
Businesses on both sides of the Channel are fighting for a strong future relationship December 17, 2018 A week is a long time in politics, but the last seven days have felt like an age. The postponement of the Brexit vote, the Prime Minister’s trip to Brussels to try to secure further concessions, then her survival of no confidence by Conservative MPs in the span of a week is remarkable even by [...]
The age of the electric car? Not before we talk about metals December 17, 2018 SINCE exuberance for electric vehicles (EVs) started to gain traction in recent years, there has been no shortage of bullish forecasts predicting that the end of the internal combustion engine is nigh. In other words, cars as we know them are on their way out. Governments are setting ever more aggressive targets on reducing – [...]