Trowers & Hamlins partner Sara Bailey: I was told I was ‘too Yorkshire’ January 22, 2026 Sara Bailey, senior partner at Trowers & Hamlins, takes us through her career in law in this week's Square Mile and Me.
Greenland and the limits of Artificial General Intelligence January 22, 2026 ChatGPT thinks this Greenland crisis is fake, giving lie to Sequoia Capital’s claim that AGI is here, says Lewis Liu “AGI is here, now.” That’s Sequoia Capital this week, one of Silicon Valley’s most legendary venture firms and a major OpenAI investor, declaring we’ve crossed the threshold into artificial general intelligence. Their post also proclaims, [...]
Northern Powerhouse Rail has more to do with votes than growth January 22, 2026 With Northern Powerhouse Rail now given the green light, the North-South divide now benefits the North over London, writes James Ford I have long thought that the North-South divide was far more cultural than economic. One end of the country prefers gravy on their chips and chooses to eat them watching Coronation Street whilst the [...]
I’m a teetotaller – banning alcohol-free beer shows Labour’s contempt for young people like me January 22, 2026 The government’s proposed ban on sales of 0 per cent drinks for under-18s is deeply patronising. Young people like me are capable of making healthy choices without the government holding their hand, says Samiksha Bhattacharjee The government may be about to ban zero-alcohol drinks for under-18s. Increasingly, there is a strange paradox at the heart [...]
Son-of-a-toolmaker Starmer is a poor workman January 22, 2026 Successful organisations, from businesses to governments, work best when their leaders are able to articulate a clear, long-term vision, says Paul Ormerod Keir Starmer has been complaining that the machinery of government does not work properly. When he pulls a policy lever, very little happens. This has provoked a public argument with the health secretary, [...]
The Debate: Should the UK ban social media for under-16s? January 21, 2026 As the UK launches a consultation into a social media ban for under-16s, we hear the arguments for and against in this week's Debate.
Global minimum tax holds despite Trump’s exemption January 21, 2026 Rumours of the death of Pillar 2, the OECD’s global minimum tax, appear to have been exaggerated, but the international, rules-based order may be discovering its limits, says Tim Sarson Businesses across the globe welcomed in 2026 with the news that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had published the long-awaited update to [...]
With not much else to offer, Reeves pitches ‘stable’ UK to Davos elite January 21, 2026 The Canadian PM and former governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, told an audience at Davos yesterday that “the old order is not coming back,” and that “there’s been a rupture in the world.” He said the structures we took for granted have been replaced by “a system of intensifying great power rivalry [...]
Why the most expensive inefficiency on a City trading desk is the one nobody measures January 21, 2026 At a time when geopolitics can be completely upended over the weekend, trades that have been agreed on a Friday but aren’t booked ’til Monday have become one of the biggest vulnerabilities in a desk’s profit and loss swing, says Oliver Blower Since the dawn of time, City trading desks have prided themselves on their [...]
It’s not too late to stop Chagos surrender – and we should January 20, 2026 Until the treaty to cede the strategically vital territory is ratified, which is impossible without legislation authorising ratification, it is open to the UK to walk away. And walk away it should, says Richard Ekins Another plot twist! Donald Trump has weighed in on the UK’s Chagos deal, branding it an act of “great stupidity” [...]