The World Health Organisation’s war on vaping is a lesson in terrible risk management August 19, 2021 Pfizer has been having problems with its stop-smoking drug varenicline, known as Chantix in the USA and as Champix in the UK. It has had to recall batches of the drug because it contains quantities of a carcinogen that exceed the Food and Drink Administration’s safe level. The FDA isn’t enforcing the recall, however. Instead, [...]
The prodigal son returns: The hunger for Bitcoin signals an appetite for hard money August 19, 2021 This week marks 50 years since President Richard Nixon announced the US would abandon the Gold Standard. Instead of redeeming the dollar in gold, the government allowed its value to float freely on the market. So began a sharp devaluation of the world’s reserve currency of choice under the US-led Bretton Woods system. Priced in [...]
Editorial: America First vs Global Britain August 18, 2021 On Tuesday night Joe Biden shirked the blame from the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The speed of the Taliban’s takeover was unexpected, the President said – a sole admission of any miscalculation. Biden took the reins of a Trump-era decision and mangled it into a foreign policy catastrophe for the US and [...]
Fall of Afghanistan: Britain must learn to make itself independent from the US on foreign policy decisions August 18, 2021 It will be a sight etched into the public imagination forever: a US Air Force transport aircraft taking off with scores of Afghans clinging to the wheels. Some reached a significant altitude before falling off, presumably to their deaths, as the aircraft soared into the air. So ended the Allied intervention in Afghanistan, with the [...]
From Covid deaths to Usain Bolt: statistics are never black and white August 18, 2021 Who is the greatest 100 metre male runner of all time? The answer seems obvious, even if you lack sporting common knowledge, it is only a quick Google search away. Usain Bolt’s time of 9.58 seconds is unchallenged. Both Tyson Gaye and Yohan Blake are quite away behind with records of 9.69. This year’s Olympic [...]
Britain 2030: Reviving the industrial spirit along the River Thames August 17, 2021 Snaking inland from the dark of the North Sea, the River Thames has for centuries been the very lifeblood of London. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the Thames that put the capital right at the heart of Britain’s global empire, turning it into the modern, thriving metropolis it is today. Travel just [...]
Net zero must be at the heart of Britain’s taxation system if we want to meet our carbon commitments August 17, 2021 If there was any doubt about the urgency of the climate crisis, this summer of extreme weather events – from “heat domes” in the US, to devastating forest fires across Europe and flash flooding closer to home – has surely put paid to it. The latest stark assessment from the IPCC leaves no room for [...]
Abortion numbers are at an all-time high – it means reforms are working August 17, 2021 In 2020, the total number of abortions performed in the UK reached a record high of 210,860. Most of these – 47 per cent– were early abortions, carried out during the pandemic by women in their own homes, using pills posted to them after a teleconsultation with a doctor. Prior to the pandemic, those seeking [...]
The spy case in Berlin is a reminder that money will always be the greatest temptation and weapon August 16, 2021 Spying almost always makes headlines whenever it hoves into public view. There is something inherently fascinating about the idea of nations engaged in cloak and dagger operations against one another, trying to find a weak point they can exploit for their own advantage. All the more so when an intelligence service employs dramatic tactics like [...]
Businesses without diversity are plagued by groupthink August 16, 2021 Cast your minds back to your school days and in particular, the days when you received your final exam results. As you opened your results envelope, did you do that excitedly, with a flourish, or did you shield it from your friends, worried that you might not get what you expected? Last week, students across [...]