July Budget 2015: Liberalised shopping on Sundays will deliver big benefits to the consumer July 7, 2015 The liberalisation of Sunday trading hours, expected to be announced in the Budget today, is a timely response to the way in which Sundays have changed in the 21 years since shopping hours were last reformed in 1994. Sundays remain a day of leisure for most of us, and our leisure time is enriched by [...]
Will the ongoing Greek crisis have a positive impact on Britain’s renegotiation with the EU? July 7, 2015 Brian Monteith, communications director of Global Britain, says Yes David Cameron could not be in a stronger position in pushing for major EU reforms that retain our trading links but decouple the political interference in our everyday laws; remove the price-fixing and subsidies for energy and food producers that cost every family nearly a £1,000 [...]
A healthy office space is fundamental for success July 7, 2015 Over one million people in the UK suffer from work-related illnesses every year, according to a recent study from the Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and the resulting cost to the economy is huge. Read more: London’s new crisis: A shortage of offices will do immense damage While the influence of office [...]
Greece could now get its deal – but only if you believe the unbelievable July 6, 2015 “Freedom’s just a word for nothing left to lose.” – Janis Joplin, “Me and Bobby McGee” Greece's Syriza government likes to gin up its overheated rhetoric through the use of war metaphors, so let’s play along, as for once they are entirely appropriate. In political risk analysis, when there is an explosion from out [...]
Two more bad arguments for why Britain needs a mandatory living wage July 6, 2015 With £12bn of working age welfare cuts expected in this Budget, Conservative voices are clamouring for the “living wage” to be used as a means of reducing in-work poverty. In the past week, two celebrity former advisers to the Prime Minister, Steve Hilton and Rohan Silva, have argued the government should boost the national minimum [...]
George Osborne needs a long-term plan for taxation July 6, 2015 “Don’t tinker with taxes” is a consistent cry from business. True, few will bemoan a change that benefits them, but it’s hard to overestimate how much firms value certainty in their tax affairs. It’s difficult to plan ahead if you don’t know what your costs are likely to be. Yet we now effectively have two [...]
Has muted market reaction to the referendum hurt Greece’s hand in impending negotiations? July 6, 2015 Paras Anand, head of European equities at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, says Yes The benign market reaction following Sunday’s referendum, and ultimately the increased probability of a Grexit, will strengthen the perception that systemic risk from such an event is modest. While some have correctly suggested that spreads on sovereign bonds are being distorted by the [...]
Productivity isn’t such a puzzle: Five steps to unleash business’s potential July 5, 2015 Solving the “productivity puzzle” is consuming a lot of brain power in UK business and economic circles. But is it quite the conundrum it’s made out to be? Productivity is certainly a serious issue. The latest data offers a hopeful sign – as reported output per hour was 1.3 per cent higher in the first [...]
London can build Crossrail – so why won’t we give Heathrow a new runway? July 5, 2015 Back in 1971, the Roskill Commission on London airport expansion selected Cublington, a sleepy village in Buckinghamshire, as the site for a new South East airport. For those of us old enough to remember, the government rejected the idea, and since then politicians and policymakers have been trying to fix our airport capacity shortfall. Last [...]
Resilience and revival: 7/7 bombings and London’s bid for the Olympics 10 years on July 5, 2015 Today is the tenth anniversary of London winning the competition to host the 2012 Olympics. Tomorrow is the tenth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on the capital in recent times, when 52 people were killed and 770 injured by bombs on the underground and a bus. From the pinnacle of celebration to the depths [...]