The UK must lead a united front ready to tame the alarming global food crisis June 9, 2022 On Monday, the Russian ambassador walked out of a UN meeting after Charles Michel, the European Council president, accused Moscow of using food supplies as “a stealth missile against developing countries”. Michel was referring to the situation in Ukraine’s port of Odessa, where tons of wheat have been left to rot in containers because of [...]
Street votes will worsen our already archaic planning system instead of cutting red tape June 9, 2022 A central pillar of the government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which had its second reading yesterday, is Michael Gove’s plan to provide neighbours with the agency to prevent planning applications. This may, on the surface, seem like a good idea, and it will probably win his party some votes – but it is a [...]
Marx and Smith would – for once – agree on the danger of monopolies in sports like golf June 9, 2022 From today until Saturday, the Centurion Club near St Albans in Hertfordshire will be the rather unlikely host of an attempted revolution in the game of golf. LIV Golf is a Saudi-backed attempt to disrupt the existing PGA and European Tours by tempting players with huge prize money -$255m in its first season alone – [...]
Letters: Action, not words June 9, 2022 [Re: Watchdog bans Tesco Plant Chef ads over ‘misleading’ claims, yesterday] Tesco is the latest in a line of household name organisations being criticised for their environmental claims. Many businesses overlook the real business and legal implications that greenwashing can have. Sustainability is a deeply complicated area, and it isn’t purely reputational. Businesses are eager [...]
Opinion-in-brief: The calm after the storm is only an illusion for Boris June 8, 2022 On Monday, Boris Johnson won a no confidence vote – but lost the support of two in five of his MPs. While his supporters painted it as a conclusive victory, arguing that it’s now time to move on, the idea that “a win by one vote is enough” is very far from reality. There are [...]
To seed a food secure future for our nation we need technology on our side June 8, 2022 An oven-ready roast chicken in your local supermarket will probably cost you more than it did last month. As will eggs, pasta and bread. And they’re likely to cost you even more next month, as world food prices hit an all-time high. The crisis in Ukraine has had a domino effect, but food prices have [...]
A windfall tax raised by a money-hungry government will scare off our businesses June 8, 2022 Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax on energy firms – what he called a “temporary targeted profits levy” – has gone down well with voters. The tax makes it look like money is raised from someone else and given to them through subsidies to their bills. Despite claims that the tax will yield an additional £5bn in [...]
Small businesses should ask what’s in a name and protect their intellectual property June 8, 2022 If David were to take on Goliath today, it would likely be an altogether different type of confrontation. An army of lawyers fiercely arguing over whether David’s slingshot was a proprietary design and an eventual out-of-court settlement from which Goliath would ultimately walk away unscathed. Large corporations flexing their legal muscle to defend their market [...]
Letters: Making an entrance June 8, 2022 [Re: Apple launches buy-now-pay later offering, yesterday] The fact that Apple has officially entered the buy-now pay-later space brings an appetite for ecommerce to the forefront. From a surge in online shopping to an increase in edtech, owing to physical restrictions, the pandemic has accelerated the already burgeoning space of e-commerce. As a result, the [...]
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