As Obama warns of spillover from the Iraq crisis, could it destabilise the whole region? June 23, 2014 Dr Simon Mabon, a lecturer in international relations at Lancaster University, says Yes. When ISIS forces seized Mosul earlier this month, a spokesperson for the group declared that this signalled “the beginning of the end of the Sykes-Picot agreement”, the deal that shaped the modern Middle East. This claim suggests that ISIS is looking to [...]
The new machine age: Britain must not miss out on the robot revolution June 23, 2014 MORE and more people are concerned about a wave of robots stealing their jobs. But for Britain, there’s a more pressing concern: what if the robot economy doesn’t arrive here at all? For a while now, pundits have been speculating that robots, self-driving cars and clever algorithms will take many of the jobs now done [...]
City Matters: Business and innovation thrive when they’re underpinned by diverse talents June 23, 2014 IF LONDON and the UK are to remain at the cutting edge, it is vital that students today acquire the skills needed to meet the challenges of tomorrow. In a fast-moving globalised world, that increasingly means adapting to the realities of the digital revolution. Over recent decades, technology has transformed how industries ranging from financial [...]
Stop bashing offshore finance: It’s vital for a liquid financial system June 23, 2014 FOR MOST people, Jersey has traditionally conjured up images of picturesque villages and coastlines, its famous cows and Jersey Royal potatoes. More recently, however, the island has found itself cast as a villain, seeking to aid multinationals and wealthy individuals to avoid paying their “fair share” of the UK’s tax burden. Yet as a recent study [...]
Letters to the Editor – 23/06 – Alternative finance, Parties of liberty, Best of Twitter June 23, 2014 Alternative finance [Re: Santander refers rejected small business loans to Funding Circle, Thursday] It is welcome to see Santander taking a progressive attitude to lending by promoting alternative financial solutions. The greatest barrier to SME growth is a lack of education of the types of funding available. For many, alternative forms of finance offer the [...]
Letters to the Editor – 20/06 – The estuary option, Flatter the better, Best of Twitter June 19, 2014 The estuary option This week, Sir Howard Davies, chairman of the Airports Commission, was questioned by the London Assembly. Some of his answers were worrying. He seemed to refuse to acknowledge the benefits a new four-runway hub airport would bring to Britain. When hubs are being built all over the world, with upwards of four [...]
Forget the neocons: How Lawrence of Arabia can help save Iraq from chaos June 19, 2014 AS THE West casts about for an appropriate response to the perilous situation in Iraq, and with President Obama now saying that the US is potentially ready for “targeted military action” in the country, we would do well to ignore the tarnished faces of neoconservatism, calling for full intervention again at any cost. It’s time [...]
It’s not enough for Tories to love liberty – Britain needs two parties of freedom June 19, 2014 FREEDOM doesn’t get many shout-outs from politicians in today’s Britain. The hustings of the nation whose proudest boast used to be “it’s a free country” now echo with little but shades of paternalist reassurance. Have a problem? There ought to be a law to sort it out – and if you vote for us, by [...]
London needs a radical digital vision extending far beyond Tech City June 19, 2014 LONDON is now hosting its first ever Technology Week – an opportunity to “showcase London’s role as the digital capital of Europe”. It is right to celebrate the success of London’s tech industry. Nearly 16,000 firms started up in the East London tech hub in the past year, with more businesses registered in the EC1V [...]
Letters to the Editor – 19/06 – Falling short, Best of Twitter June 18, 2014 Falling short [Re: We are jeopardising UK tech by failing to tackle UK skills shortages, yesterday] David Richards raises an important point. On the one hand, we hear about the thousands of jobs and millions of pounds in revenue being created by the UK’s tech scene. But on the other, we are not giving future [...]