Letters: Fundraising in a recession July 4, 2022 [Re: UK to tip into ‘mild recession’ as cost of living crunch cools spending, June 27] When money gets tight, people rein in their spending. These types of decisions have a social impact as well. When disposable income decreases, people need to make tough decisions across their budgets, and how much they help others is [...]
Opinion-in-brief: An outdated vision of motherhood plagues our Parliament July 1, 2022 Babies will be banned from the House of Commons after several MPs complained they are “distracting”. The debate started after Labour MP Stella Creasy brought in her then three months old son Pip during debates. “Mothers in the mother of all parliaments are not to be seen or heard it seems”, commented Creasy after the [...]
Business rates have made American candy stores a blight on our streets July 1, 2022 The emergence of large numbers of American-styled candy stores across the West End over the last year has become a cause for concern amongst high street retailers, leisure businesses and hospitality owners alike. Having weathered the storms of the pandemic, which saw footfall and revenues plummet during lockdowns, the West End was beginning to show [...]
Britain could be stuck with an outdated telecoms industry without a plan for 5G July 1, 2022 The enormous benefits of full 5G are clear. Developing high capacity, standalone infrastructure promises to be a gamechanger for our transport network, for industrial settings such as smart factories, and for public services such as hospitals. What is less clear at present is whether the UK will get to feel the full benefits of the [...]
China has failed to live up to its promise to Hong Kong, but Britain must not follow July 1, 2022 When Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, bowed out of the territory for the last time at midnight on July 1, 1997, he departed with the hopeful promise that “now, Hong Kong people are to run Hong Kong.” Twenty-five years later, that dream has been irrevocably dashed by the Chinese Communist Party [...]
Britain needs to respond to the ‘kindness of strangers’ July 1, 2022 Britain has always been an attractive place for investors to park their money. The country’s economic dynamism has helped it pull in billions of pounds of investment, mainly toward its world-leading services industry and financial services businesses. Although the City’s banks, insurers and brokers have contributed a great deal to UK growth, the country is [...]
Letters: Grappling with dirty money July 1, 2022 [Re: Credit Suisse becomes first Swiss bank to be convicted in Switzerland’s own courts, June 27] The FCA is concerned crypto firms don’t have the adequate processes in place to identify and prevent money flows into illicit activities, from money laundering to terrorist financing. While the FCA’s concerns are warranted, we should not see this [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Sajid Javid’s digital-first push for the NHS June 30, 2022 Yesterday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid unveiled more details of his plan to drive digital transformation across the NHS. Speaking at Policy Exchange, he said that “we must modernise and adapt or we will fall behind”. His strategy focuses on three areas: the NHS app, digital provision across the board and new technologies. A lot of [...]
Chief execs at centre court, please ditch the sports analogies for business June 30, 2022 In many ways, leadership in business is like tennis, football and cricket – it’s about timing, precision and creating the right circumstances that allow you to maintain control of the ball. Anyone in business will have noticed that chief executives, managers and bosses from different sectors often use sports as analogies to help them inspire, [...]
Sadiq Khan: London needs to cut its dirty energy addiction and divest from fossil fuel industries June 30, 2022 THE PANDEMIC was devastating for our capital city, country and economy. But the upheaval, loss of life and cost to business that would result from a full-blown climate crisis defies comprehension. It is both unimaginable and unquantifiable. As we host London Climate Action Week, my message is that all of us – cities, businesses and [...]