General Election 2015: Introducing the business wish list April 12, 2015 As we enter the final days of the election, we have decided to ask a select group of business leaders what would make them vote for one of the parties. We’ve not asked them to name the party they support because for many this would count them out of giving an opinion. [...]
The Eurozone will remain mired in crisis unless it faces up to the facts April 12, 2015 During my years in the trenches in Washington, my staff christened one of my favourite analytical canaries in the coalmine the “we are where we are moment”. That is, you can determine whether a crisis is actually being dealt with simply by looking at the rhetoric of the opposing forces involved. If they hadn’t moved [...]
Why politicians should stop using employment law as an electioneering tool April 12, 2015 Faced with stubbornly unchanging polls and less than a month before the General Election, what can a party leader do to prevent the nation drawing the duvet over its collective head on 7 May? Into the arena is pulled employment relations law. All the main parties have something to say here – the coalition points [...]
A strong partnership between the City and Scotland benefits all April 12, 2015 As the Easter weekend fades into distant memory, my programme of visits to the City’s key trading partners kicks back into action. Instead of a far-flung, emerging market on the other side of the globe, however, my travels this week take me to economic partners a lot closer to home – the cities of Edinburgh [...]
Are markets too sanguine about the risks that the impending General Election poses? April 12, 2015 Nick Peters, co-portfolio manager of Fidelity Multi Asset Income fund, says Yes. Over the last six months, the FTSE 100 has risen just over 10 per cent, lagging behind US and European markets. But this hasn’t been a result of markets worrying about May’s election: it’s driven more by the heavy bias of the FTSE [...]
Ryanair’s charm offensive is a breath of fresh air April 10, 2015 It’s no surprise Ryanair reported a 28 per cent increase in passenger number this week. Spokesman Kenny Jacobs put it best, when he attributed it to “not unnecessarily pissing people off”. Don’t get me wrong – I used to love reading chief executive Michael O’Leary’s latest ruse for making press noise: standing room only [...]
General Election 2015: There’s a deafening political silence around those who opt to go private April 9, 2015 Anthropologists argue that, to explain a situation, you have to examine its “silences”. The General Election is no different. In almost every area where government remains active, there is a growing group of voters who pay their taxes and then “go private”, but remain politically unacknowledged. In healthcare, the UK is already a world away [...]
The housing crisis could extinguish London’s growth: No party has a solution April 9, 2015 For the best part of 30 years, London’s renaissance has seemed unstoppable. The 1980s “big bang” created a tidal wave of regeneration which swept over the city, reinvigorating areas of decline and nurturing a globally competitive super region. While an exodus of businesses and investment once appeared inevitable, London is now a hive of startup [...]
Wearables at work: Why employees don’t need to fear an office Big Brother April 9, 2015 Imagine the following scenario. An employer has given a wearable device to one of their most high-performing staff members. Among other functions, the wearable monitors the employee’s heart rate and blood pressure over a period of six months. After analysing the data collected, it becomes obvious that the employee is more stressed on Wednesday mornings. [...]
Is renewing the Trident nuclear programme necessary for UK defence in the modern world? April 9, 2015 Dr Andrew Futter, senior lecturer in international politics at the University of Leicester, says Yes The threats facing the UK today are unquestionably different to those of the Cold War – and nuclear weapons have little utility against cyber attacks, terrorists or climate change. But this is to misunderstand their role – they have only [...]