Letters to the Editor – 30/09 – Miliband’s price fix, Best of Twitter September 29, 2013 Miliband’s price fix [Re: We can bring down UK energy costs without Miliband’s populist price fix, Thursday] Ed Miliband’s misguided proposal to place a cap on energy prices does not acknowledge the severe implications that will be felt across the UK energy sector. Miliband should instead encourage a multi layered approach, with a more open [...]
How business can fight back and win against opportunistic political attacks September 26, 2013 ED MILIBAND’S move against energy firms at this week’s Labour conference was the latest in a long line of political attacks on British businesses. Drinks firms, airlines, supermarkets, food retailers and, of course, banks have all been recent targets for politicians. This trend shows no sign of abating. It would be wrong to suggest that [...]
The Long View: Don’t hate politicians: We’re partly to blame for their professional deformation September 26, 2013 I LOVE this time of year. It’s a shame politicians have to ruin it. The weather is cool and crisp but mild enough not to be winter-miserable, the year is running towards its end but there’s enough time left to get stuff finished first. Nature is filling all fruit with ripeness to the core – [...]
Police can intensify the fight against crime with private sector expertise September 26, 2013 THE ECONOMIC crisis has had a lasting effect on London. Much has been negative. But less well-known is that, with the government determined to cut the deficit, the public and private sectors are increasingly finding common ground, by working together in unique and integrated new ways. London’s police force is a case in point. I [...]
Letters to the Editor – 27/09 – Lessons from Italy, Labour on housing, Best of Twitter September 26, 2013 Lessons from Italy [Re: Lessons from Italy: What happens when businesses are forced to move abroad, yesterday] The same piece could have be written about France. Unfortunately, both France and Italy’s political elites – who are trained as civil service administrators and possess no business experience – are unlikely to heed the warnings. Pierrick Moreaux [...]
We can bring down UK energy costs without Miliband’s populist price fix September 25, 2013 WELL, no one can say we don’t know what Ed Miliband stands for any more. Whacking business with higher taxes, strangling them with regulation, expropriating land from owners who don’t develop, and reversing benefit cuts. The list of Wonga policies – superficially attractive in the short term, punitively expensive in the long term – was [...]
Lessons from Italy: What happens when businesses are forced to move abroad September 25, 2013 THE 42 employees of Firem, an Italian heating systems maker, returned from their August holidays to find the plant where they worked had relocated to Poland. Firem is not the only recent Italian escape act. Italy’s entrepreneurs, facing the second-to-worst business climate in the developed word, on World Bank figures, are leaving. And union power [...]
Freedom and liberty: The dangerous words our politicians ignore September 25, 2013 TWO words have dropped from the political lexicon. In fact, Nick Clegg and Vince Cable, Ed Balls and Ed Miliband appear to find them dangerous. For in their conference speeches, these words weren’t mentioned at all (bar a passing reference from Clegg). Yet the same words were central to many of the great political speeches, [...]
Letters to the Editor – 26/09 – Energy price fix, Inflation target, Best of Twitter September 25, 2013 Energy price fix [Re: Miliband’s lurch to left is a recipe for disaster, yesterday] Labour claims that it wishes to promote a more competitive energy industry by breaking up the largest firms. Of course the irony is that the plan to freeze energy prices will likely result in a far less competitive market. Centrica has [...]
How Labour can deliver on its pledge and tackle London’s housing drought September 24, 2013 HAROLD Macmillan made his reputation – and became Prime Minister – after delivering on his pledge to build 300,000 houses a year in the early 1950s. As Ed Miliband made clear yesterday, when he promised that a Labour government would ensure that 200,000 new homes were built annually by 2020, we now need similar ambition. [...]