Do we need stronger restrictions on public sector strikes? July 9, 2014 Mark Wallace, executive editor of ConservativeHome, says Yes. Today’s strike is a farce. The National Union of Teachers walk-out, which is at the heart of the action, is based on a ballot which took place two years ago and secured only the majority support of a tiny turnout. That flimsy, moth-eaten mandate will be used [...]
M&S is having an identity crisis: Only radical action can save it now July 8, 2014 Thousands of articles have been written about, and just as many reasons given for, the ongoing struggles of Marks & Spencer (M&S). The latest one, given only yesterday by none other than the chief executive himself, Marc Bolland, was the “settling-in” period of the new website. This, of course, is balderdash, or at least peripheral [...]
Piketty’s populism is flawed: Capitalism doesn’t mean more inequality July 8, 2014 The financial crisis has undoubtedly created a demand in popular culture for works portraying capitalism in a bad light, such as the recent bestseller by Thomas Piketty – Capital in the 21st Century. Piketty’s writing has gathered increasing attention from economists, who show that his arguments do not bear scrutiny. The focus of Piketty’s work [...]
Why you should get over Salesforce Tower’s name – it’s good for the City July 8, 2014 The proposal to change the name of Heron Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the City of London, to “Salesforce Tower”, has been met by more than its fair share of controversy. People have always been resistant to change, but in this case, many of the objections raised seem to be particularly short-sighted. First, [...]
As politicians pledge to end the economy’s focus on London, is this counterproductive? July 8, 2014 Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, says Yes. The problem with much of the discussion around this topic is that it assumes the capital’s success is to the detriment of other cities. London is enormously influential in putting the UK on the world stage, due to its position as a leading global hub for [...]
How could Marks & Spencer improve its website? The web developer’s view July 8, 2014 Marks & Spencer announced today that the new M&S website has failed to perform, with a fall in online sales of 8.1 per cent, and with the development project going over budget by 50 per cent. Since the new site launched in February, customers have taken to the company's Facebook page, Twitter and web forums [...]
Hollow localism: Our politicians are still wedded to rule from Whitehall July 7, 2014 Six weeks after the local elections seems an odd time to announce a new settlement for local government funding. Perhaps the parties wanted to get the grubby business of democracy out of the way before discussing the more important question of how local services are funded. After all, the UK has a long tradition of [...]
Judge the NHS on its outcomes – not the intentions behind it July 7, 2014 WITH Monty Python at the O2 arena and ongoing coverage of the NHS, I was reminded last week of the Python sketch showing a lady giving birth. Unfortunately for her, the doctors played by John Cleese and Graham Chapman are more interested in impressing the hospital administrator by surrounding her with machinery (like the machine [...]
As the Tour de France leaves the UK, have the economic benefits been over-hyped? July 7, 2014 Henry Overman, professor of economic geography at the London School of Economics, says Yes. When a major sporting event is announced, it’s common to see politicians use economic arguments to justify public investment. But there’s a danger these impacts may be over-inflated, in part because they’re often difficult to measure. Our recent evidence review of [...]
How to defeat Isis: We already have a playbook for beating these extremists July 6, 2014 MUNICH – As the Fourth of July comes and goes, I have been jokingly told by friends that I share a trait found more often in East Asian cultures; that of ancestor worship. One of my sons is named after both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, so fervently do I believe in the civic religion [...]