The Debate: Should we look to legalise assisted dying? October 24, 2024 As the second reading of a new bill proposing legalisation of assisted dying approaches, our contestants lay out the arguments around this sensitive and complex moral choice. Yes: A new law would facilitate a kinder way to die For the vast majority of the public – three-quarters of us across Britain – the introduction of [...]
The Apprentice: Is the Trump biopic fake news? October 24, 2024 The Apprentice, a film directed by Iranian-Danish Ali Abbasi out last week in the UK, constitutes a brutal character assassination against presidential candidate Donald Trump. Focusing on the years 1973 to the early 1980s, it tracks Trump’s rise from real estate mogul’s awkward son (he’s literally knocking on doors collecting rents) to the man liberals [...]
Class action boom in UK is yet another disincentive to investing here October 24, 2024 As the country holds its collective breath ahead of next week’s Budget, it’s fair to say that business confidence in the UK is lower than the Treasury might like. Last week, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) reported that business confidence had fallen to a 12-month low, while the Institute of [...]
Fear of failure is holding British entrepreneurs back October 24, 2024 Too many aspiring UK entrepreneurs believe they are doomed to fail before even starting a business, a new report finds It takes great courage to start a business. Often, it means leaving a job with a guaranteed income, holiday allowances and welfare contributions. It is hardly unsurprising then that most people are afraid to make [...]
Labour activists are right to campaign for Harris October 24, 2024 It’s easy to laugh at try-hard Labour staffers wanting to get involved in US politics by campaigning for Kamala Harris, but what happens in America matters to us all, says Will Cooling We’ve all experienced the horror of returning from holiday to a massive backlog of work emails and urgent tasks, but few have experienced [...]
It’s already too late to prepare your business for the Budget October 24, 2024 Transactions rushed through ahead of the Budget are more likely to be on HMRC’s radar and subject to additional scrutiny, says Stephen Kenny This Budget has created panic of a magnitude that I haven’t seen for many years. Widespread talk of closing ‘loopholes’ – despite the fact that most aren’t actual loopholes but previous tax [...]
Make the Tories Conservative again? October 23, 2024 A particularly laughable defence of socialism is that it’s never really been tried. It’s tempting to dismiss the central analysis of both candidates for the Tory leadership – that their Party lost the general election because they were not conservative enough in government – on similar grounds. But it would be a mistake to imagine [...]
The walls are closing in on the Chancellor October 23, 2024 With just one week to go until the Budget (arguably one of the most consequential in recent memory) economists, investors, analysts (and most certainly journalists) are scouring everything from tea leaves to official data for indications of what exactly the Chancellor is going to say next Wednesday. Most people agree that her choices are limited [...]
Craft beer: it got corrupted, now it’s being reclaimed October 23, 2024 I’ll have a craft beer, you might say, when your colleague proposes another round at the pub. Coming right up. But… what actually is a craft beer? Well, once upon a time (the 1970s) it reliably meant “made in an independent brewery”. Later on it got hipsterified, and in the 2000s and 2010s a choice [...]
This Budget looks set to be more car park than roadmap October 23, 2024 You have probably read at least two dozen columns speculating on where those tax rises of doom are going to land in next week’s budget, so I’m not sure there is much more to say on the big topics of contention. We’ll find out soon enough whether employers’ National insurance (NI) really will go up, [...]