Putin fears an EU fracking bonanza – but environmentalists don’t have to May 29, 2014 RUSSIA and China agreed on a $400bn, 30-year deal last week, wherein Gazprom will deliver 38bn cubic metres of natural gas a year to China. This will exacerbate the EU energy crisis, but the bloc still seems intent on ignoring the only obvious solution – fracking – and fidgets at the margins with renewables. Large [...]
Why Scottish independence would be costlier than the nationalists believe May 29, 2014 ON 18 September, the Scottish electorate will vote on whether to secede from the UK. Although supporters of the Union may be reassured by polls suggesting that break-up will not happen, this should not be taken for granted. And both sides have not properly analysed the economic consequences if the Scots do vote to leave [...]
How to make long-term saving work for everyone May 29, 2014 AUTO-ENROLMENT, the revolution in workplace pensions introduced in October 2012, has been a big success so far. Requiring firms to enrol staff in a private pension, with employee contributions topped up with tax relief and an employer contribution, the policy will reach all employers by 2018, with staff able to opt out if they wish. [...]
Letters to the Editor – 29/05 – Energy innovation, Best of Twitter May 28, 2014 Energy innovation [Re: Why environmentalists should embrace fracking, yesterday] Paul Ormerod’s opinion piece claims that I deny the ability of innovation to solve climate change problems. That is absolute nonsense. We need every tool available to us if we’re to build a new energy system based on clean, home-grown, secure energy supplies. We need a [...]
Forget the dodgy numbers: Leaving the EU makes economic sense May 28, 2014 UKIP’S recent electoral triumph has reignited debate about the cost of Britain’s place in the EU. But what do we know about the economics of our membership? Let’s start from the beginning: we’ll find that Brexit has long made economic sense. Prior to joining the then Common Market in 1973, two government white papers and [...]
How Google’s driverless cars could save your life – and make you money May 28, 2014 WHEN the man behind the Segway, the battery-powered personal mobility scooter, died after riding one of his products off a cliff, it seemed like a grim end to yet another transport fad. After the Sinclair C5, the hovercraft, the poweriser and the Segway, it’s easy to be sceptical about the next sci-fi “leap” in transportation. [...]
Letters to the Editor – 28/05 – Ukip’s rise, Best of Twitter May 27, 2014 Ukip’s rise [Re: Why it’s hard to be optimistic about the future of UK politics, yesterday] Your point about Ukip needing to deal with the Lib Dem problem of being one thing to one set of supporters, and another to a different set, is spot on. It’s odd seeing so many younger metropolitan supporters regard [...]
An earthquake bigger than Ukip: Only radical EU reform will be enough May 27, 2014 MAKE no mistake, these European elections are an earthquake that should make political leaders across the EU sit up and take notice. While pundits will debate why Ukip topped the polls in the UK, more significant is that the public has made it clear that they want a big change in Britain’s relationship with the [...]
Why environmentalists should embrace fracking – not sacrifice May 27, 2014 THE FRACKING debate continues apace, with the British Geological Survey announcing that there are over 4bn barrels of oil in the shale rocks of the South of England. The government has proposed new rules of access to land to speed up the exploitation of this oil, with proposed payments of £20,000 to those living above [...]
We can reform London’s rental sector without demonising landlords May 27, 2014 THE SHADOW of Peter Rachman, the epitome of the rogue landlord, still lingers over the rented sector. Yet deregulation in the late 1980s means it is incomparable with the rent-controlled, deteriorating rump stock of old. Today’s rented sector houses a phenomenally diverse 2m Londoners. There isn’t a typical renter. Every income group is represented equally, [...]