The public sector’s vast bank of unused land is a national disgrace August 22, 2016 So Brexit means that overseas demand for London property will decline, prices will fall and the housing crisis will ease, right? Think again. Whatever the effects of Brexit on London house prices, short or long term, the basic problem persists: the capital faces a chronic shortage of homes. Demand for all but the most expensive [...]
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour should focus on growth above inequality August 22, 2016 It used to go without saying that growth matters. But if former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers now feels the need to take to the pages of the FT to make the “progressive case for economic growth”, it shows just how far other issues, whether inequality or climate change, have come to dominate the thinking [...]
Even Switzerland doesn’t want Britain to adopt the Swiss model post-Brexit August 22, 2016 Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, but it is doubtful whether anyone in Switzerland is thanking the City and the British Bankers’ Association for coming up with the idea that London should seek a Swiss-style relationship with Europe once Brexit is fully consummated. The reason Swiss banks and finance firms are so [...]
As an EY survey finds financial firms shrugging off Brexit fears, is the City being too sanguine about leaving the EU? August 22, 2016 Professor Richard Portes, academic director at AQR Asset Management Institute, London Business School, says Yes. Of course nobody predicted an immediate fall in output and employment. But those will come. Both vacancies and investment plans are already down. Sterling has fallen a lot, and short positions are up, with the exchange rate set to fall further. [...]
Theresa May’s Olympic praise sheds light on her industrial strategy vision August 22, 2016 Theresa May returns to Downing Street this week after a walking holiday in Switzerland, a reminder to anyone still basking in the sun with a bottle of rosé that autumn is now upon us. Unlike the rest of us mortals who spend the first day back in the office clearing out the inbox, the Prime [...]
Less silver spoons, more silver (and gold) medals: Team GB represents the best of Britain August 22, 2016 After Team GB’s exceptionally successful Olympic Games in London 2012, a report was published stating that over a third of its medal winners were privately educated. The research, published by the Sutton Trust, kicked off a round of that age-old and forever-popular British sport of moaning. Team GB’s success, while celebrated by the vast majority of [...]
A Global Free Trade Alliance should be Britain’s stunning post-Brexit future August 22, 2016 “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’” – George Bernard Shaw If the EU isn’t Britain’s future, then what is? Surely, part of the answer lies in the Drakean vision I have put forth in previous columns, forging far closer economic ties with the [...]
Businesses have a duty to help end the scourge of youth unemployment in London August 22, 2016 On Thursday, the tense wait will finally come to an end for thousands of students who will find out their GCSE results. Last week thousands more received their A-Level grades, and both sets of results could determine these young people’s futures. Whether it’s deciding to continue into higher education or take on additional training – [...]
We need less vision and more basic competence from our political and business leaders August 22, 2016 The things that people don’t know. Brexit, for example. “Brexit means Brexit”, I get it, but a bit more detail would be great. When will we leave the EU, for example? The date keeps shifting every time I check. Do we have a workable trade deal in mind? Boris Johnson apparently saw a “bright future” [...]
As members prepare to vote in its leadership contest, will Labour remain toxic for a generation? August 22, 2016 Chris Rumfitt, founder and chief executive of Field Consulting, says Yes. In politics, mud sticks. It took Labour 20 years to shake off the memory of the winter of discontent. And the Tories’ “nasty party” image still follows them like a bad smell long after Theresa May coined the phrase. Even if Jeremy Corbyn went tomorrow, [...]