A National Social Care Service would be a total disaster September 29, 2026 Even if we generously assume that a National Care Service would not lead to efficiency losses, crude rationing of care services, and an explosion in waiting times, it would still be a bad idea, because it would lead to the politicisation of key decisions in the sector, says Kristian Niemietz Britain spends about 2.6 per [...]
Andy Burnham can’t treat Heathrow expansion as a local planning issue September 29, 2026 Has Andy Burnham’s commitment to devolution morphed into a convenient excuse not to lead? I ask, because he seems to have excused himself from the debate about a critical £50bn national infrastructure project: Heathrow’s third runway. The project has been debated since the 1980s but officially kicked off in 2003 when Labour’s Alistair Darling, then [...]
Are we regulating all the fun out of fireworks? September 29, 2026 As Truro cancels its Bonfire Night display, the government is consulting on tightening regulations around fireworks that could put a dampener on this great British tradition, says Steve Raper Nobody is proposing to ban Bonfire Night. Of course they aren’t; but there is more than one way to make a tradition disappear. As Brits, we [...]
Labour will learn to love deregulation September 29, 2026 The Labour government I served in made advances in planning reform and curbing regulator overreach. But those efforts should be seen as a first step, not job done. Not least because there is barely a great progressive cause that does not now require deregulation to advance, says Alan Lockey Warm words for business are a [...]
Burnham must kill off bonkers Chagos deal for good September 28, 2026 The proposal to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and pay for the privilege appeals to no voters and has lost the support of Donald Trump. Andy Burnham should pull the plug, says Eliot Wilson It became clear early in Sir Keir Starmer’s brief premiership that here was a leader of unusual political [...]
The City’s contribution cannot be taken for granted September 28, 2026 Growth in London or the regions is not a zero-sum game. The success of the City is good for the whole country, writes Chris Hayward.
Trump-Xi summit: Don’t be fooled, this was more than panda diplomacy September 28, 2026 Yes there was one panda involved, but eight-ninths of the real outcomes of this meeting are hidden from sight, writes Tim Hames.
The Building Safety Levy will cost eight times more in London than County Durham September 25, 2026 The new Building Safety Levy, introduced to pay for historic fire safety defects, will make many new developments unviable, especially in London where they are needed most, says Mark Holloway The introduction of the Building Safety Levy (BSL) marks a shift in how the government funds the remediation of historic building safety defects. Due to [...]
Olympia reborn: Inside a £1.3bn makeover for a 140-year-old icon September 25, 2026 Bringing a Victorian building into the modern age was a labour of love, but the method was “deceptively simple”, Olympia CEO Michael Volkert tells Andrew Busby Opened in 1886 as a Victorian temple to spectacle – trade fairs, Vivienne Westwood’s first runway show, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix under the same cast-iron roof – Olympia [...]
I’m a property developer – here’s why I’m still building in London September 25, 2026 Today’s housing market is hampered by higher interest rates, build cost inflation, weaker sales and headlines about war in the Middle East and Ukraine. But residential development has always been about managing cycles: with many projects taking more than a decade from conception through planning, construction to handing over the key to new homes. Property [...]