Raab’s plans for a Bill of Rights will turn the British courts into a political storm June 28, 2022 IN 2019, the Conservative Party’s manifesto promised reform to the Human Rights Act (HRA), and last Wednesday we finally saw it: the new Bill of Rights. Rather than “enhancing human rights protection” as Dominic Raab has described, it represents a considerable lessening of our liberties in the UK. It shows a government scrambling to find [...]
Letters: Keep a hold of your cash June 28, 2022 [Re: Over seven in ten Brits worry for the elderly if UK goes cashless, yesterday] Your article speaks to a debate that is important to address. It is not just the elderly that would be made vulnerable as in the UK, it’s estimated that 16 per cent of over 18s don’t own a smartphone, and [...]
ESG investing is worth billions and post-Brexit rules should give Britain a headstart June 28, 2022 The EU has been cast as one of the leaders in the ESG regulatory race. But Brexit could give London the agility and flexibility to eclipse the rest. In the last few years, ESG has taken centre stage. In 2021 alone, there was an estimated $120bn poured into sustainable investments – and with so much [...]
Explainer-in-brief: The domino effect driving unions to strike over pay June 27, 2022 As this week begins, we come back to the railways with a sigh of relief. Yet the rail strikes of last week are unlikely to be a one-off, as RMT leader Mick Lynch has already warned more could come if the talks between the unions and the rail bosses keep on failing. Someplace else in [...]
Negotiation has failed: the defence Keir should have made for rail strikes June 27, 2022 The rail strikes have finished, for the moment, and we can return to normal after the disruption. But we are promised a “summer of discontent”, with teachers and barristers next up to withdraw their labour. Disruption in public-facing services seems to be emerging as 2022’s leitmotif. The government responded to the transport strike by simultaneously [...]
There’s much benefit in cooperation with our Indo-Pacific friends as we boost trade June 27, 2022 Amidst high inflation and a difficult economic outlook, it would be easy for our country to turn inwards in search of a panacea. But to echo the sentiments of John Donne – a famous poet born in the City of London – “no man is an island, entire of itself”. The same is also true [...]
As Sajid Javid outlines a digital NHS, tech needs to learn the health service’s values June 27, 2022 When Sajid Javid set out his reforms for the health sector back in March, he outlined his vision for a tech revolution. Healthcare, the health secretary argued, needed to follow the banking and shopping sectors, by using tech innovation to empower patients, leading to greater choice and convenience, and lower costs and health disparities. This [...]
Letters: Saving money through EVs June 27, 2022 [Re: To turbocharge our own EV revolution we must ensure affordability for all, June 21] Electric vehicles are seen as the car of choice for the elite. This is mainly due to the cost – a leading obstacle many drivers face when considering whether to invest in an EV. Over half of EV owners sit [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Why paper bank notes are finally on the out June 24, 2022 Hear, hear: we all have 99 days left to use our £20 and £50 paper banknotes before they’re out of the market. Why is the Bank of England taking these notes away? The OId Lady says paper notes are easier to counterfeit than plastic ones, so it’s time to get rid of them. Plastic ones [...]
The Roman Empire has a lesson for Andrew Bailey on devaluing a currency June 24, 2022 Winston Churchill once said: “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” Those words apply to many aspects of our lives, not least economics. The past few weeks have seen the pound slump in value. In May alone, it fell by around eight per cent on its year-on-year value [...]