The rallying cry of levelling up has been cash-strapped and watered down February 3, 2022 People deserve to live in a country where life is not a postcode lottery, says Michael Gove in the foreword of the much awaited flagship plan for levelling up unveiled yesterday. This is one of those recycled truisms we hear again and again in politics. The same could be said for much of the white [...]
As Johnson and Starmer dance to the same tune, politics will look for an outsider February 3, 2022 THIS week, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has invoked Margaret Thatcher in an effort to skewer Boris Johnson for ignoring Covid rules and attacked the Prime Minister for presiding over a policy of “low growth and high taxes”. It’s a strong position for Starmer to be in, as support for Johnson groans under the [...]
Interview: Zoom beyond lockdown February 3, 2022 Zoom CIO Harry Moseley talks to Leah Montebello about the firm beyond Covid-19
A four day week relies on a near universal acceptance of a transformed workforce February 3, 2022 It is easy to forget how recent the five-day working week is. In fact, it was first piloted in the US in 1908 and not widespread until the late 1920s, so it is under a century old. But so ingrained is it that recent news that 30 companies – including Canon’s UK arm – are [...]
Letters: Don’t bite down on Bitcoin February 2, 2022 [Re: Britain will be left in the dust with our tepid attitude to cryptocurrencies, Jan 27] Matt Hancock claims the UK can become the home of fintech and crypto, but only with the right regulatory regime. The secret to that success is finding the right balance. As it stands, too little regulation is harming consumer [...]
Behind the story: Boris Johnson and the false Savile claim against Starmer February 2, 2022 Boris Johnson, hardly a man for backing down, apologised on Monday for the allegations of parties in No10. The words had hardly escaped his mouth when he wound up in another scrap, this time after repeating a false claim – originally pedalled by right wing conspiracy memes – that Keir Starmer had failed to prosecute [...]
Westminster must relax its grip on the purse string to fix regional inequalities February 2, 2022 Last week, Michael Gove visited Wolverhampton as he prepared to release the levelling up white paper out today. The central aim of this government has been to re-energise regions across the country to ensure investment and opportunities are shared widely. In the West Midlands, we have already begun the journey to create more opportunities and [...]
Uncertainty from our leaders is keeping our economic recovery wavering on the brink February 2, 2022 In November last year, the UK’s total GDP output finally regained its pre-pandemic level. But although the economic recovery is on an upward trajectory, there is a disconcerting stop-start hesitancy to it. A reasonable indicator of where the economy stands in any given month is the purchasing managers’ index which shows the prevailing direction of [...]
Unvaccinated health staff are irresponsible but it’s our failure if we can’t reach them February 2, 2022 On Monday, Sajid Javid axed plans to require health and care staff to have had a Covid-19 vaccine. In the context of an incredibly fragile NHS workforce, already groaning under the weight of staff shortages, emotional strain and self-isolation requirements, this was sensible. But by invoking a sense of “proportion” as rationale for removing the [...]
Editorial: After months on the sidelines, it’s time for the Bank of England to enter the inflation fight February 1, 2022 After months on the sidelines, the Bank of England’s rate setting committee should finally enter the inflation fight at their meeting on Thursday. Arguably, governor Andrew Bailey has inherited not just Mark Carney’s role as Bank chief, but also his propensity to act like an “unreliable boyfriend” after keeping rates unchanged in November despite the [...]