What David Cameron’s guru Steve Hilton doesn’t get: You need to shrink the state to make it human June 10, 2015 Steve Hilton, David Cameron’s former chief strategist, recently published a new book, More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First. From a powerful mayor in every town to self-build housing, from radically new models of education delivery to “Patients Like Me” social networks in health, Hilton has whizz bang ideas across most public policy [...]
Tower Hamlets is broken: How City philanthropists can put it back together June 10, 2015 Tower Hamlets goes to the polls today to elect a new mayor. Whoever takes charge from Friday will inherit a rotten borough, hollowed out by the behaviour of the previous administration. Former mayor Lutfur Rahman was kicked out of office in April after an electoral court found him guilty of electoral fraud. The bitter irony [...]
As Jack Ma goes on a US charm offensive, does Alibaba pose a real threat to Amazon and Ebay? June 10, 2015 Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, says Yes In terms of sheer size, accounting for 80 per cent of all Chinese online shopping, with volume growth easily outstripping rival internet retailers thanks to 1bn items on offer to 350m buyers, and with 30m shipments made per day, fast-growing behemoth Alibaba represents a [...]
George Osborne should prioritise taxpayer value over a rapid RBS privatisation June 9, 2015 Almost seven years on from the £46bn taxpayer bailout of RBS, it may seem perverse to ask “why the rush?” when it comes to selling our 79 per cent stake in the still-ailing bank. But this is precisely the question that must be posed if, as anticipated, George Osborne sets out at the Mansion House [...]
Robust yet fragile: Why the financial system has the same qualities as cancer June 9, 2015 Massive fines for banks, gross misbehaviour, huge bonuses for failure, bailouts at vast expense to the taxpayer: it’s little wonder that politicians and pundits can almost invariably win cheap applause by describing the financial system as being a cancer on society. But in a deep way, cancer and the financial system do have much in [...]
Electoral loss for Turkey’s authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is good news for markets June 9, 2015 The one thing Sunday’s game-changing election result in Turkey has definitely given us is uncertainty. But while markets initially reacted with dismay after the incumbent Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) 13 years of solid majorities came to an end, in the longer term, they may wonder if uncertainty is that much worse than the alternative [...]
As Zac Goldsmith plans to run for London mayor, can the Conservatives win again in a Labour city? June 9, 2015 Tom Mludzinski, head of political polling at ComRes, says Yes Whoever is the next Tory candidate faces an Everest-sized task. But Everest has been conquered, and so can London. Boris Johnson is a special politician and winning twice in London as a Conservative is a big achievement. His success was, of course, partly down to [...]
Being made redundant? This 12-point plan can help you make your next move June 9, 2015 This week has already seen two huge British businesses confirmed widespread redundancies. Yesterday Boots revealed it was cutting up to 700 head office jobs, while today HSBC said as many as 25,000 jobs would be going at the bank, of which 8,000 will be from the UK. For many people nowadays, redundancy is a fact [...]
London’s next mayor must harness the City to tackle the housing crisis – David Lammy June 8, 2015 Not a day goes by without a politician talking about the London housing crisis, and rightly so. It is the biggest challenge our city faces, causing serious problems for almost all sections of the capital, from businesses to renters and families to first time buyers. Politicians have a frustrating tendency to talk about housing with [...]
Why a compulsory living wage is not the best way to help society’s poorest June 8, 2015 The Living Wage Foundation – which lobbies employers to pay £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 elsewhere – has never called for statutory implementation of its cause. It considers itself to be a pragmatic civil society movement, encouraging firms to pay their low-paid workers enough to live comfortably. But the campaign has been hijacked [...]