Thames Water mess could soon swamp ministers – and taxpayers June 4, 2025 Water takes the path of least resistance, and so – on this occasion as least – does private equity. Apparently deterred by the increasingly hostile political and regulatory environment KKR, the US giant which secured ‘preferred bidder status’ for a takeover of Thames Water, pulled the plug on its £4bn investment over the weekend. They [...]
Westminster is dancing to Nigel Farage’s tune June 4, 2025 Whether it’s Keir Starmer’s welfare U-turns or Robert Jenrick’s viral videos, parties of the left and right are scrabbling to respond to Farage’s Reform onslaught, says Emma Revell Spending time away from the office when you work in Westminster is a strange experience. Either you keep watching the news and doomscrolling on social media, in [...]
Britain’s trade deals mean nothing if we neglect our own industries June 4, 2025 Trade deals and global ambitions will mean nothing if Britain neglects its domestic industries, writes Shevaun Haviland.
Britain’s biggest growth threat is giving into doomsterism June 4, 2025 As the Spending Review looms over Westminster, Britain must not just lie down and accept decline, writes Simon Clarke.
Ticket resale price cap will be a champagne supernova for fraudsters June 4, 2025 Cracking down on regulated ticket resale platforms will push touts into riskier corners of the internet, says Tony Neate As we head into a jam-packed concert season, with a star-studded line-up including Oasis, Coldplay, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, ticket demand is soaring. But with extraordinary demand comes extraordinary risk – and a perfect storm for [...]
Don’t rely on the FCA to stamp out toxic workplace culture June 3, 2025 City bosses shouldn't wait for the FCA to stamp out toxic workplace behaviour, writes Lucy McNulty in today's Notebook.
Starmer’s defence pledges will trigger a tax bombshell June 3, 2025 Here’s a cracker of a pub quiz question for you: what links mega-rich non-doms, nuclear-powered submarines, congestion in Wigan and the Bank of England’s former chief economist? The answer, as so often appears to be the case, is tax. On the day that Keir Starmer unveiled a Strategic Defence Review that calls for nearly £70bn [...]
London Tech Week is a chance to take the lead on AI June 3, 2025 Rapid advancements in AI – if matched by agile government policy, infrastructure investment, and responsible adoption across both private and public sectors – presents a transformative opportunity for the UK, says Leon Butler The pace of change in technology is moving faster than it ever has – but slower than it ever will. This presents [...]
Google is getting AI wrong June 3, 2025 Google’s AI strategy, though technically impressive, lacks the cohesive vision, enterprise-grade stability, and governance needed to earn long-term trust from businesses navigating the AI era, says Paul Armstrong Google’s I/O 2025 event was a spectacle of AI announcements, unveiling more than 100 updates across its product ecosystem. From the introduction of Veo 3, a generative [...]
Don’t forget the arts when it comes to R&D spending June 3, 2025 The UK’s creative economy is worth more than our life sciences, aerospace and automotive industries combined, says Hetan Shah UK productivity growth has been woeful since the financial crash and the economy is about a fifth smaller than it would have been had the trend in productivity growth continued after 2007. The Chancellor has a [...]