Letters: Startup survival of the fittest December 12, 2022 Agile startups can relieve pain points faster than big businesses – so long as they can survive the
Explainer-in-brief: The travel industry ready for more rows December 12, 2022 This year has been marked by travel chaos. Earlier in the year, strikes, cancellations and staff shortages lead to mass queues at the airports over the summer. Heathrow, as a result, instigated a passenger cap to reduce the number of people flying in and out of the airport. It was lifted in November, but with [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Britain’s baby challenge December 9, 2022 The UK is seeing out the perils of an ageing society already. We have a social care system stripped down, which, in turn, is preventing the NHS from functioning as elderly patients stay in hospital beds because of lack of adequate care elsewhere. And Britain is only set to get older with the average age [...]
A new coal mine in Cumbria won’t save the burning problems for the UK December 9, 2022 After years of political ping-ponging, the decision has been made: we’ll have the first new coal mine in thirty years in the UK. It will be located in Whitehaven, in Cumbria, and it’s meant to bring 500 direct jobs to an impoverished area that has often felt forgotten by central government. The indirect jobs in [...]
Inheritance tax shows just how antiquated our system is and how much we’re losing December 9, 2022 Ultimately, the UK tax system remains rooted in 19th century principles. It requires modernisation as well as simplification. But it’s not a priority for government,
Letters: Still clinging on to Bitcoin December 9, 2022 [Re: Bitcoin ‘on the road to irrelevance’, says ECB, November 30] Recent comments by the ECB and other banking stakeholders show that many central banks along with the regulators are missing the key point: Bitcoin is already being used to pay for goods while they are still debating whether crypto is an asset class or [...]
Britain’s social infrastructure is depleted and we need a blueprint for local success December 9, 2022 When Theresa May appointed me as her Minister for Civil Society, I was struck by an enormous sense of purpose. After all, she was the Prime Minister who had entered office promising to tackle the “burning injustices” that are a sad fact of life for so many in the UK – and my role was [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Conservatives’ money problems December 8, 2022 The Conservative Party is hiking its membership fees. Annual membership will go up from the current £25 to £39. The move might prove yet another point of friction in the party, with Conservative MP Justin Tomlinson calling it an “absolutely stupid idea” on Twitter. Yet the party’s headquarters must have felt they didn’t have many [...]
Try as Sturgeon might, Scotland can’t overcome the problem of geography December 8, 2022 There is a saying in Mexico, “So far from God and so close to the United States”, to explain how its proximity to a richer and larger neighbour has stunted its development and bedevilled its politics. They would likely have short shrift then for the plight of Scotland, which once dreamed of conquering Panama, and [...]
We can’t survive without North Sea drilling, but we also can’t continue in the same way December 8, 2022 The North Sea has occupied a significant place – not just geographically – but in the debate of future energy supply in the UK. It’s deeply polarising, to say the least. Protesters want us to stop drilling in the North Sea altogether, while other radical commentators insist we must extract whatever we can no matter [...]