Make Budgets mean Budgets again: We need far better tax policy-making October 3, 2016 At lunchtime today, Philip Hammond will stand up in Birmingham and make his first major speech as chancellor. He will be aiming to reassure audiences that the government will manage the economic consequences of Brexit – and will give the first indications of his approach. The Institute for Government, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and [...]
Accountancy must adapt to survive in this brave new world October 3, 2016 Charles Darwin would have made a brilliant accountant. It’s not just his forensic brain or curious nature that would have made him successful, but his understanding that it’s not the strongest or most intelligent that survives, but the most adaptable. Look at the world and think back five years. Rapid developments in technology and regulation, the [...]
As the Tory Party conference kicks off, should Theresa May use the opportunity to call an early general election? October 3, 2016 John Lehal, managing director at Insight Consulting Group, says Yes. The case for an early election is overwhelming. Like Cameron, Major and Callaghan before her, Theresa May is finding out just how difficult governing with a small majority can be. The government is divided on what Brexit should look like, while her domestic agenda, including the [...]
The new sick man of Europe is the continent’s entire banking sector September 29, 2016 The “sick man of Europe” has been a popular phrase for describing countries in Europe beset by economic woes since the mid-nineteenth century. The UK, Italy, Germany, France and Greece, among others, have all borne this unwanted diagnosis at some point. But in 2016, this moniker can no longer be solely applied at a country level. [...]
The Conservatives are shifting to the left to destroy Corbyn’s Labour September 29, 2016 The Labour Party is in rapid decline. Now Jeremy Corbyn has been confirmed as Labour’s alternative Prime Minister at the next election – and with far-left activists in apparent ownership of the party – it is hard to see anything other than internal resignations, defections and desertions. The party as we know it looks to [...]
Massive business rate hikes will be a disaster for growth and investment in London September 29, 2016 Hundreds of thousands of companies across the UK are nervously awaiting today’s release of new property valuation data that will determine how much they will have to pay in business rates. As if the prospect of having their rateable values reassessed after a seven-year gap wasn’t scary enough, government announcements this week create a toxic [...]
From server rooms to boardrooms: Cyber crime issues must become top priority for UK bosses September 29, 2016 Cyber crime is big business. Attacks can come from opportunists, commercial rivals, terrorist groups, bored teenagers, organised crime and nation states. The goal could be anything from online vandalism to data theft or destabilisation. Faced with such threats, a new industry has emerged promising an array of state-of-the-art systems to keep your data and commercial [...]
Blackout Britain: Don’t blame the EU alone for the UK’s energy crisis September 29, 2016 Today, the government will release its monthly statistics on total energy production in the UK. This new data will no doubt reflect the poor state of the UK’s energy system, which has suffered from a series of highly damaging state interventions that have burdened consumers with unnecessary costs and left the UK with a worrying [...]
Brexit isn’t a Woolworths moment for commercial property in the City September 28, 2016 In the days following the EU referendum, I found myself looking back to one of the seminal moments of 2008: images showing hundreds of Woolworths shops closing their doors for the final time. At that point, no other event seemed to better illustrate the effects of the global financial crisis on the UK high street. With hindsight, [...]
Trumponomics is big, bold and brash – but less unorthodox than you might think September 28, 2016 Donald Trump is an undoubted political maverick. But is he an economic maverick too? The answer is yes and no. Yes he’s a maverick on trade policy, arguing for the rejection of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump has also called for a 35 [...]