Opinion-in-brief: Budget traditions are traditions for a reason October 27, 2021 Budgets are supposed to be secret. Apart from launch codes and special forces, they’re the most confidential part of government. In 1947, the Labour chancellor, Hugh Dalton, had to resign because he let slip a detail of his budget on his way into the chamber. They’re not just secret from the public. By tradition, the [...]
Letters: Ikea needs more than real estate for high street success October 27, 2021 [Re: Ikea snaps up former Topshop Oxford St flagship for £378m, yesterday] While Ikea’s takeover of Topshop’s iconic Oxford Street store seems like a no brainer in driving footfall and brand awareness, making it a success will require more than stocked shelves and Swedish meatballs. The pandemic has accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar to ecommerce, [...]
Legacy banks don’t deserve a bigger slice of the pie than fintech businesses October 27, 2021 Rishi Sunak plans to slash the bank profit surcharge from 8 per cent to 3 per cent. This is designed to offset the rise in corporation tax to 25 per cent in 2023, but only for the big banks. John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury, outlined the logic behind the move in September, stating [...]
The NHS will continue to be a blackhole of cash until we confront its underbelly October 27, 2021 Can enough money ever fix the NHS? Rishi Sunak is the latest in a long line of Chancellors to promise increased spending for the health service, after the Government committed a further £5.9bn. The investment is welcome for a health service that has suffered enormously. But it only touches the surface of answering the problems [...]
In the end, the Swedes really did have the last laugh with a relaxed Covid approach October 27, 2021 They never give up. The finger waggers who know what is good for the rest of us; the epidemiologists trying to intimidate us with their seemingly terrifying but actually rather trivial models of applied mathematics. The vested interests in the NHS creating excuses for the inefficiencies inherent in the system. If we already have restrictive [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Legislation won’t solve the Facebook problem October 26, 2021 Whistleblower Frances Haugen has revealed troubling details about Facebook’s algorithms and how they foster a polarised environment. While there is a compelling moral case for regulating these harms, legislation will not solve the problem.Facebook already prohibits a wide range of content that is legal but offensive to users. The company uses algorithms to sort through [...]
Letters: making it through the winter October 26, 2021 [Re: Budget 2021] We still need to see strong support for the nation’s 6 million small businesses coming through in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. There has been unprecedented support, yes, but withdrawing this now, all at once, would be a potentially damaging mistake. Firms face a tough combination of higher supply chain costs, higher energy [...]
Editorial: Facebook needs to change to win friends back October 26, 2021 Move fast and break things was once the defining force behind Facebook’s success, but perhaps Mark Zuckerberg may reflect that the mantra was supposed to be about technological innovation – not the social fabric that holds us together. Let’s be clear: Facebook is in a lot of trouble. Regulators are gearing up for a fight, [...]
If Sunak’s budget delivers for financial services, they can deliver for the globe October 26, 2021 At Conservative party conference, the Chancellor promised to deliver an economy based on “good work, better skills and higher wages” and embrace “the agility, flexibility and freedom provided by Brexit”. This will create a dynamic, high-tech economy. Financial services are critical to delivering this ambition. The engine of the UK economy has not only withstood [...]
The cities of the world will give us the entrepreneurs to solve the climate puzzle October 26, 2021 Investment in climate tech companies has increased five-fold since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. This year, there has been venture capital investment in climate tech than in all of 2020. That’s good news – but it’s not enough. Cities have questions to answer for their role in creating pressures on the climate – [...]