The unstoppable rise of the challenger bank: Canary Wharf’s retail giants have reasons to be worried January 22, 2022 If traditional retail banks have paid any attention to the latest data from the City watchdog, they have reasons to be worried, because challenger banks are increasingly taking over traditional banking services from established financial institutions. In fact, nearly 10 per cent of all accounts are now held with a so-called digital “challenger” bank. A [...]
Exempt housing can plug the hole, but we must bring it up to scratch January 21, 2022 If finding affordable housing is difficult for numerous young professionals and key workers in the country – and especially in the capital – imagine how hard it is for prison leavers struggling to find a job, or for refugees who have just landed on new shores. Then there are the victims of domestic abuse desperately [...]
Four day work week trial shows 100:80:100 model is taking off in UK but same job in less time may power stress and anxiety January 21, 2022 Three lockdowns have made a large number of employees re-evaluate the notoriously tricky work-life balance. The four-day working week is seen as the perfect solution, designed to offer employees flexible hours and increase productivity during working hours. To some large businesses the concept has proven more viable , so could the five-day working week the next traditional policy [...]
The left’s polarising piety is its own worst enemy in the politics of climate January 21, 2022 Throughout much of the English speaking world, climate change is a politically polarising issue. In the United States, Canada and Australia, the left favours action while the right opposes it. How lucky we are that this is not the case in Britain. Here, more than a decade of Conservative government has seen the introduction of [...]
Sadiq Khan is fighting London’s pollution problem but it’s the capital’s infrastructure that must be the priority January 21, 2022 Last week, millions of Londoners were advised to stay indoors – this time not because of a Covid-19 lockdown, but because pollution in the capital was at the highest possible level. For a country supposedly leading the way in net zero climate action, this is an alarming indication of how far its capital still needs [...]
Online school has been a blemish for kids learning but hybrid could be a safety net January 21, 2022 Earlier this week, Boris Johnson announced kids would once again be free to take off their masks while at school. But with the Omicron variant still sweeping through the country, some schools have defied the Prime Minister and will keep the rules in place. The uncertainty all of us have had to live through has [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Gas prices will exacerbate fuel poverty if we don’t act January 20, 2022 Gas prices will perpetuate the cost of living crisis in 2022, with hundreds of thousands of new households at risk of fuel poverty. On top of that, gas boilers still account for one in seven tonnes of carbon the UK emits each year. We need to act. The sooner we adopt low-carbon home heating and [...]
Britons, your country needs you. It’s time to take out your wallet and spend January 20, 2022 What stupid purchases have you made since Covid-19 arrived on these shores? Perhaps you bought a hot tub, some garden furniture or even a new shed. Perhaps you are more frugal minded, opting instead to squirrel away cash that would have otherwise been spent in the pub into your savings account. If you are the [...]
Rishi Sunak’s proximity to Johnson shot him to stardom but it could be his undoing January 20, 2022 Theresa May had a light smile on her lips as she expressed gratitude for the aviation industry and pressed the Prime Minister on his plans to drop testing rules for international travel. The one time Prime Minister was not the only Tory MP grateful for the joy of flight: Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, and [...]
Furlough fraud exposes the shortcomings of doling out endless amounts of cash January 20, 2022 Outrage has erupted over the news that £5.8bn has been “criminally siphoned off” the emergency Covid-19 schemes that propped up millions of workers and paid for us to eat on the cheap. The very same folk who complained ministers weren’t acting fast enough to provide support, rejecting warnings that furlough was excessively generous, are now [...]