This anti-immigration arms race exemplifies everything that’s wrong with politicians October 13, 2014 "Race relations/immigration” is now ranked by voters as the most important issue facing Britain, according to Ipsos MORI. On 39 per cent, it’s above the economy and the NHS – areas the Conservatives and Labour want at the centre of their 2015 campaigns. This concern is not new. Even in the 1990s, when net migration [...]
Cameron has given up on NHS reform – and has put the health service at risk October 13, 2014 THE NHS costs £110bn a year in England alone, amounting to around 7 per cent of GDP. It employs more than 1.3m people, and its success or failure touches all of our lives, while indirectly affecting the strength of every business. So it matters that, as reported yesterday, the government now sees its NHS policy [...]
With the FTSE 100 trading close to 12-month lows, will it fall further by the end of the year? October 13, 2014 Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Yes. The FTSE is currently trading below its long-term average compared to company profits, but that doesn’t mean it won’t go further into deficit. Markets are fickle beasts over the short term, and there’s no telling how long, or deep, the current bout of risk aversion will [...]
Bombing IS in Syria was always going to fail – and Washington knew it all along October 12, 2014 In his magisterial work The Best and the Brightest, David Halberstam makes clear that the essential tragedy of the Vietnam War was US decision-makers’ inability to see beyond the Potomac river in Washington, DC. Every policy debate concerned what would sell in the city’s foreign policy community, rather than what might make sense on the [...]
Both Miliband and Cameron must bet the house on Rochester to save themselves now October 12, 2014 UKIP’s victory in the Clacton by-election was historic, if not unpredictable. From the moment Douglas Carswell entered the room of shocked journalists and activists in August and declared his defection, to when the polls opened early on Thursday morning, it was inevitable that Ukip would be celebrating the election of its first MP – a [...]
Forget New York versus London: Business has its own special relationship October 12, 2014 If two cities could ever be described as siblings, it would be London and New York; two truly global cities, alive with culture, and both co-operating and competing as the world’s two largest international financial centres. And like all siblings, we often engage in friendly rivalry, jostling to be the best at theatre, art, fashion, [...]
As oil prices fall sharply, is this a worrying sign for the health of the global economy? October 12, 2014 Ole Hansen is head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, says Yes. The sharp drop in oil comes at a time of rising global tensions. IS militants are causing havoc in the Middle East, while deteriorating relations between Russia and the West have triggered something akin to a new Cold War. Lower oil prices mean [...]
Both Miliband and Cameron must bet the house on Rochester to save themselves now October 10, 2014 Ukip's victory in the Clacton by-election was historic, if not unpredictable. From the moment Douglas Carswell entered the room of shocked journalists and activists in August and declared his defection, to when the polls opened early on Thursday morning, it was inevitable that Ukip would be celebrating the election of its first MP – a [...]
Lib Dems are right to push for decriminalisation of prostitution October 10, 2014 The Liberal Democrats overwhelmingly reaffirmed their call to decriminalise prostitution at their Autumn Conference in Glasglow this week. While sex work is technically legal across the UK, strict prohibitions on soliciting and brothel ownership remain on the books with sporadic enforcement — such as a major raid conducted in SoHo last December by the London [...]
London is a scientific powerhouse – and it’s about more than Nobel Prizes October 9, 2014 THE AWARD of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this week to London-based professor John O’Keefe, along with his colleagues Moser and Moser, is well-deserved recognition for truly ground-breaking science – science which, in time, could have profound ramifications for the way we understand and treat neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s. His story is typical [...]