Explainer-in-brief: Another day, another tube strike November 10, 2022 Today London will be greatly affected by traffic turmoil, as tube strikes risk grinding the city to a halt. Londoners will be better off resorting to a Lime bike or an e-scooter to get to work. Not all news is bad news, though: at least we have been spared from the train strikes. The RMT [...]
Sunak needs to learn to fight for his decisions – if not for Gavin Williamson November 10, 2022 Malcolm Tucker once reassured a hapless minister that their job was safe because it was too soon to fire them; “Sacked after 12 months – looks like you’ve f***ed up. Sacked after a week – looks like he’s f***ed up”. It’s apt that the behaviour of a man who seemed to yearn to star in [...]
As long as we talk in emotive terms like reparations, we make the climate political November 10, 2022 No matter if a delegate was wearing an Arabian thawb, an African dhuku or a Western business suit; all attendees I encountered at Cop27 in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt were unanimous in recognising that action must be taken to stem the impact of climate change – and fast. It was clear from the very beginning of [...]
If every mistake results in a boycott, firms will stop publishing green promises November 10, 2022 As the famous saying goes, no publicity is bad publicity. However, the emergence of cancel culture – a modern day phenomenon often talked about as a form of boycott – has had a huge influence over the way we think, behave and crucially, communicate. While cancel culture has undoubtedly brought about positive change and social [...]
Explainer-in-brief: A return to identity cards… on the cards? November 9, 2022 It might be that in an era after vaccine passes, there is much less opposition. But they still need to be proven effective before justifying the cost.
Legal but harmful: The Online Safety stalemate is still stuck in the trenches November 9, 2022 When the government first announced the “legal but harmful” requirement in the online safety bill it wasn’t quite clear who was most offended. From the free speech activists fearful of overzealous regulation, to the tech entrepreneurs wary of burdensome requirements and the human rights lawyers cautious of government overreach, the screams of dissent came from [...]
Sunak’s flexibility has been curtailed by our undue reverence for the Bank of England November 9, 2022 The Bank of England has forecast a long recession, which could last two years. A statement treated, unquestioningly, as gospel despite the variety of failures at Threadneedle Street.
We do need serious mental health policy change, but we also need a change of heart November 9, 2022 This week I shaved off my beard to leave a resplendent moustache. I haven’t done Movember before but this year, I wanted to play a part. Last year, 75 per cent of suicides were men. I’ve always been cautious about campaigning along identity lines, but there is clearly a specific issue with men’s mental health. [...]
Letters: Giving older staff a leg up November 9, 2022 [Re: UK unemployment falls to 50 year-low amid jobs market exodus, October 11] Economic inactivity is a growing threat to our economy. As the Centre for Ageing Better noted, Covid-19 heralded an “unprecedented number of people aged 50-64…mov(ing) out of work”, electing to live on their savings instead. If we want to solve this inactivity, [...]
‘Golden source’ for ESG data will help listed firms decide where they put their cash November 8, 2022 A new ‘golden source’ for environmental and social governance (ESG) data will help listed firms decide where they put their money, and even what their values should be. Nina Spencer saw a gap in the market after more than 15-years sitting on company boards and advising leading fintech firms. Her new analytics and benchmarking database, [...]