Britain’s nineteenth century tax system is breaking under twenty-first century strains April 15, 2016 Politicians have noticed (perhaps belatedly) that they have been fiddling with a nineteenth century tax system while taxpayers have been operating in the twenty-first century. The existing tax system is a result of years of tinkering, reflecting the influence of political views and special interest lobbying. This has created vast complexity. We could look to [...]
London’s growth is moving East – but more must be done to unlock the potential of the Royal Docks and London City Airport April 15, 2016 Connectivity is one of the key challenges facing London’s businesses and communities. The ability of visitors to access the city from overseas, the ability to access other countries from London, and the ability to move around within the capital are all key to growth. London is moving east: more housing is being built and more businesses [...]
As Jeremy Corbyn formally announces his support for Remain, will he swing the EU referendum? April 15, 2016 Olivia Bailey, research director at the Fabian Society, says Yes. The scale on which Labour supporters turn out to vote could be decisive in the EU referendum. On current voting intentions, just under two thirds of Labour’s 2015 voters support Remain, an electorally significant 6m people. But new research from the Fabian Society and polling company [...]
Three technologies which will change the world April 14, 2016 “Disruptive technologies” – a phrase we are hearing increasingly, but what does it mean for infrastructure and the world around us? How and when should we – business, industry, engineers, policymakers, academia– respond and how do we keep up? New technologies are emerging at a seemingly relentless pace. The McKinsey Global Institute’s definition spells it out. Disruptive [...]
Chatbots and more: What to make of Facebook’s F8 reveals? April 14, 2016 Facebook’s announcements from its F8 developer conference push two of its key products into becoming full ecosystems in their own right. With large numbers of companies and users using them, as well as a number of different business models running on them, both Messenger and video have reached a scale where they are ready for this next step. [...]
EU referendum: Why it’s crucial to remind ourselves that the European Union and Europe are not the same thing April 14, 2016 It’s got to that stage in the EU referendum campaign where we need to remind ourselves, again, that Europe and the European Union are not the same thing. The Remain campaign love to try and guilt trip people into voting to stay in June’s referendum by reminding us of the importance of being part of Europe. [...]
After high profile cyber attacks at firms like TalkTalk, companies ignore this risk at their peril April 14, 2016 If you found your company to be the victim of cyber crime, do you know who to call? Would you dial 999? Who would you speak to first – your customers, or your insurers? You probably have a company plan for the event of fire or power failure – but do you have a strategy [...]
BP must not brush off shareholder revolt over pay April 14, 2016 The Wedding Fair, a groove dance competition and a celebration of all things Star Wars-related: three of the events being held at ExCel, the London exhibition venue, in the coming months. BP’s annual meeting, which takes place there today, won’t have the same international pulling power – a fact for which Carl-Henric Svanberg and Bob Dudley might [...]
How London can turn the cyber-attack onslaught into an opportunity April 14, 2016 Whether it be the spectre of terror attack or catastrophic flood, reinsurance pools across the globe have historically been developed to handle the kind of risk judged too great for the insurance industry to bear alone. When the IRA bombed the Baltic Exchange in 1992, the scale of physical damage to buildings in the City [...]
Declining levels of public trust could have chilling implications for future prosperity April 14, 2016 With the debate over whether politicians should be required to publish their tax returns, the past week has seen the issue of trust thrust, yet again, to the forefront of politics. Understanding the concept of trust is easy when applied to individuals. Does he/she or doesn’t he/she tell the truth? But what is less obvious, [...]