Britain’s socialists aren’t quite as “progressive” as they think they are September 26, 2016 It’s as predictable as the so-called “rabbit out of the hat”. Twice each year (three times when George Osborne felt an “emergency” coming on), the days after a Budget or Autumn Statement are littered with left-wing MPs, armed with their Institute for Fiscal Studies bar chart, denouncing the package of policies as “regressive”. “The tax and [...]
What is the worst policy to come out of the Labour party conference so far? September 26, 2016 Dan Lewis, senior infrastructure policy adviser to the Institute of Directors, says the ban on fracking. Fracking has been transformative for the United States, leading to reshoring of manufacturing, bringing down energy prices, reducing emissions, creating jobs and raising taxes. No serious US politician seeking power wants to reverse that. And in this country, it will [...]
Leave the EU’s Customs Union for a serious trade and aid policy September 26, 2016 It will not be enough to leave the EU’s Single Market. We need to leave its highly corrosive Customs Union too. Indeed, as a new report from Global Britain into the links between international trade and development aid shows, leaving the Customs Union is a prerequisite for making globalisation of benefit to the whole world – [...]
Getting an Opec output cut won’t be a piece of cake September 26, 2016 With the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan rate decisions out of the way, focus could now shift elsewhere. Like towards the expected weaker US durable goods orders (which are, according to Credit Suisse, set to drop to -2.3 per cent in August compared to 4.4 per cent in July), or the oil [...]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will now renew the attack on capitalism September 26, 2016 You may not have spent your Saturday morning huddled round the TV waiting for the result of the Labour leadership election to be announced, but you probably haven't missed the fact that Jeremy Corbyn saw off his challenger and cemented his position as leader of Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition. Yes, Jeremy’s going nowhere – [...]
Five points the City needs government to heed during Brexit negotiations September 26, 2016 To a huddle of European journalists, Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, claimed that Frankfurt could be attractive and would welcome newcomers. This is of course just the latest marketing attempt by our competing continental financial centres wanting take some of the City’s business. But how does the City respond? We are of course used to [...]
Syria must burn itself out: It is time for the West to do nothing September 26, 2016 (The best policy is) to float lazily downstream, occasionally putting out a diplomatic boathook to avoid collisions. Lord Salisbury, 1877 In one of the least shocking policy outcomes of the year, the US-Russian brokered ceasefire in Syria did not last the week. Speaking as a longstanding sceptic of intervention there, being right analytically gives me [...]
Moderate Labour is dead: A new party is the only way to fill the vacuum in British politics September 26, 2016 So he won. And, for second time in little over a year, he won pretty convincingly. Members of the Labour Party have made their choice, and they have chosen to be a purist left-wing sect pursuing their own narrow interests rather than a serious party of government. Over the coming weeks, thousands of people will [...]
Brexit advice to brokers: hope for the best, plan for the worst September 23, 2016 It’s three months since the UK voted to leave the EU, and we still don’t know what kind of exit deal, if any, will be agreed. The government can’t seem to make its mind up. Earlier this month we saw the secretary of state for Brexit – David Davis – saying it was unlikely that the UK would [...]
Gender is secondary at Walmsley’s GSK September 23, 2016 If the patient isn't responding, change the medicine: that's been the crude, but long-running, summary of some investors' prescription for Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals group. So for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) investors, the least important aspect of Emma Walmsley's appointment as its next chief executive is her gender. That doesn't make it unimportant, of course: as the global [...]