‘I interviewed with 20 minutes notice’: Senior London culture advisor Laia Gasch on her career highs and lows June 26, 2025 London culture aficionado Laia Gasch takes us through her career, from The Spitz to the London Olympics in Square Mile and Me.
Chess-playing Reeves is in a political zugzwang over welfare June 26, 2025 A looming rebellion on welfare reforms is casting doubt on Rachel Reeves’ ability to meet her fiscal rules, says Helen Thomas As we approach the first anniversary of the first Labour government in 14 years, we also approach its first significant rebellion. According to the analysis of our team at BlondeMoney, next week’s vote on [...]
Glastonbury weekend: drugs testing can save lives this festival season June 26, 2025 No matter what organisers do, there will always be drugs at festivals like Glastonbury, so why not make sure they are as safe as possible? Asks Sacha Lord This weekend will see the doyenne of festivals, Glastonbury, will fire the starting gun on the summer party season. At every single major festival in the UK [...]
The investment industry has three asks for Reeves’ Mansion House speech June 26, 2025 The investment industry is listening to the Reeves’ rallying cry for growth, but there are three things we need to make it happen, says Chris Cummings In just over two weeks’ time the Chancellor will deliver her Mansion House address to the financial services sector. It is an important moment for government to demonstrate progress [...]
Have developed countries discovered the ideal corporate tax rate? June 26, 2025 International tax was once a veritable jungle of exotic regimes, but now many jurisdictions seem to have settled on a natural equilibrium of around 25 per cent, says Tim Sarson An interesting and rather consequential piece of tax policy from the new German coalition government might have slipped under your radar recently – they are [...]
How thriving, free-market Hong Kong came under the boot of communist China June 26, 2025 What began on this day in 1843 ended in a strange form of decolonisation. The UK handed over a territory to China, not by popular demand, but to abide by international treaties, knowing that to the other side such agreements were worthless, says Eliot Wilson If you have any real memory of the handover of [...]
Have we crossed the AI event horizon? June 26, 2025 Despite Sam Altman’s claims that we’ve crossed the AI “event horizon,” the reality is that today’s models remain far behind human intelligence in scale, flexibility, efficiency and learning, says Lewis Liu Sam Altman is currently peddling the “gentle singularity“, claiming we are already “past the event horizon” for AI – at the point where the [...]
Don’t let ticket resale price caps ruin the party this festival season June 25, 2025 Misguided plans to cap regulated resale of tickets for live events will be a gift to unscrupulous touts, says Bob Kupbens The numbers are in – and they’re alarming. Home Office figures just released point to a huge increase in officially reported losses in fraud from ticket sales. And crucially, half of the £1.6m total [...]
Contradiction at the heart of National Security Strategy June 25, 2025 The situation in the Middle East reminds us that these are volatile times and as the war in Ukraine grinds on, an unpredictable US President heads to the Hague for a crucial Nato summit where the security of Europe is on the table. At home, the government has published its National Security Strategy which concludes [...]
The Debate: Is it okay to wear shorts to the office? June 25, 2025 In the midst of a heatwave, it's time to ask the big question: is it permissible to wear shorts to the office? Our writers battle it out.