Letters to the Editor – 02/07 – Flexible working, EU reform failures, Best of Twitter July 1, 2014 Flexible working [Re: Firms fear a backlash over flexible work, Monday] City A.M.’s reporting on the new flexible working regulations omits the crucial point that staff can request flexibility in work location, not just hours. This reflects a common misconception among employers that flexible working is synonymous with flexi-time. In fact, multi-location working (usually involving [...]
There is a problem in the UK’s energy market – but it’s the regulator’s fault July 1, 2014 OFGEM has referred the retail energy market for investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This is the right decision, for the wrong reasons. Most of Ofgem’s concerns are insubstantial. The real source of the problem is Ofgem’s policy, described in its annual report issued the same day as “Simpler, clearer, fairer. Three words [...]
The crisis isn’t over: The Eurozone’s laggards still need disciplining July 1, 2014 THE POLISH banking and financial elite gathered last week at a conference in the Baltic seaside resort of Sopot. The proceedings were enlivened by the presence on the platform of Jacek Rostowski, one of the senior Polish politicians recently caught on tape badmouthing David Cameron, in very colourful terms, for his failure to stand up [...]
We urgently need simpler taxes: National Insurance is a good place to start July 1, 2014 JUST days after the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published a damning report, describing tax authorities as “unable to cope” with the number and complexity of UK tax reliefs, it has emerged that the chancellor is considering abolishing employee’s National Insurance and merging it into income tax. This is genuinely great news. With a [...]
As Ocado posts a half-year profit, will the business now go from strength to strength? July 1, 2014 Jonathan Jackson, a partner and head of equities at Killik & Co, says Yes. Ocado offers a unique way to play the expected strong growth in the UK online grocery market. The group offers investors the potential to benefit from its industry-leading intellectual property, built up over 13 years of investment in technology, to more [...]
Letters to the Editor – 01/07 – Not a new normal, Best of Twitter June 30, 2014 Not a new normal [Re: Is Mark Carney right that the “new normal” for interest rates will be 2.5 per cent?, yesterday] Mark Carney has pointed to financial market expectations to support his assertion that the “new normal” for rates will be around 2.5 per cent. He is wrong. Financial markets do not forecast the [...]
We can help mend our fractured economy – by passing powers to cities June 30, 2014 AT LONG last, the economy is growing. But as business leaders constantly told me during my economic review, deep structural problems need urgent attention – mass youth unemployment, skills shortages, too few high growth companies which innovate and export, poor infrastructure, and excessive centralisation on Whitehall. The facts are stark. Nearly one in five under [...]
Britain needs safeguards on ever-closer union – or we’ll sleepwalk into EU exit June 30, 2014 DAVID Cameron has been engaged in a valiant, some might say vainglorious, charge to set clearer parameters for the future development of the European project – only to find that those who pay the piper call the tune. The paymaster of Europe is undoubtedly Germany, and recent events have demonstrated that it is indeed Germany [...]
Why bold action on NHS funding can no longer be avoided June 30, 2014 FEW SUBJECTS generate emotion in UK politics like the funding of the NHS. Warnings of the health service’s imminent collapse are ten a penny, while politicians love to talk about “saving” it. With an election less than a year away, the call by Dr Sarah Wollaston MP (chair of the health select committee) and former [...]
As BNP Paribas receives a $8.9bn fine, can US authorities be accused of protectionism? June 30, 2014 John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, says Yes. BNP Paribas has pleaded guilty to significant wrongdoing. But while US authorities may have levied large fines on US banks, by suspending BNP’s ability to handle some US dollar clearing, they have removed a major competitor from the market. The US Justice Department has fined non-US based [...]