Letters: A future of a four day week October 18, 2021 [Re: Employers expected to up the ante if they want to retain the best staff. 13th October] It’s no surprise that a four-day week is the most desirable benefit for British workers, while an office bar is now bottom of the list (and presumably bean bags and ping pong too). It’s not without its challenges [...]
Crackdowns on tech mergers will only serve to deter British entrepreneurs October 18, 2021 What if Facebook had never bought Instagram? This question keeps competition regulators like the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) up at night. In 2012, Instagram had just 30m users, 13 employees, and made no money. The $1bn valuation was mocked and appeared to many to be the sign of a tech bubble ready to burst. [...]
Global Britain is a good policy – now we need businesses to put it into action October 18, 2021 Our economy is facing many challenges, but there is a huge opportunity too. Both the Government and business must be committed to make a success of our Global Britain mission. Following the G7 summit in Cornwall and with Cop26 just weeks away, the timing is right for business to feed into the development of what [...]
Boris Johnson won because people were tired of Brexit – bringing it back won’t help him October 18, 2021 David Frost, the UK’s Brexit Minister, used a speech last week to threaten to suspend parts of his own Brexit deal with the EU unless changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol could be agreed. The speech has ratcheted up tensions on a debate that had largely dropped off the agenda since the outset of the [...]
Editorial: Time to cool the temperature – and say thank you a little more October 18, 2021 Much has been said about the death of Sir David Amess MP, but it is the anecdote from his former researcher that perhaps best serves as a fitting epitaph. “Early on, I was absolutely terrified we had forgotten to tell him about an urgent call from David Cameron’s office. Couldn’t have bothered him less. ‘Don’t [...]
Operation Reinhard: the anniversary of the Holocaust’s deadliest chapter reminds us of the persecution of Uyghur muslims in China October 16, 2021 Have you heard about Operation Reinhard? It was the most destructive phase of the Holocaust – yet most of us have never heard of it. Why is this? Unlike Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps, the three death facilities of Operation Reinhard remain relatively obscure in public consciousness. That is why we write. This week eighty years ago, saw the commencement of a secretive [...]
Opinion-in-brief: We must grow green jobs to address the climate crisis October 15, 2021 The pandemic and the end of furlough have left 12.9 per cent of 16 to 24 year-olds unemployed. In the lead up to Cop26 the Prime Minister has hailed a green industrial revolution as a potential solution. The transition to net zero is already affecting career plans for many, removing large numbers of jobs, whilst [...]
Letters: no joke with emissions October 15, 2021 [Re: Offsetting a ‘bit of a joke’ says going-green airline boss, 13th October] The chief executive of Whizz Air said the quiet bit out loud: today’s carbon offsets are a joke – and a bad one because they allow people to think that a bit of spare change can solve the climate crisis. We need [...]
Tech industry jargon is full of hot air and keeps public valuations sky-high October 15, 2021 It was the presentation that cost £1.85bn. On Tuesday morning, Matt Moulding, the CEO and founder of The Hut Group, addressed his shareholders, attempting to reverse a precipitous slide in the company’s share price. It didn’t go well. Just hours after his presentation ended, the firm had lost another third of its value. The Hut [...]
As bills go up, we need to brace for a pretty chilly winter in the UK October 15, 2021 As usual, Destiny’s Child was right. Bills, bills, bills, as the iconic girl group put it, put friction into our relationships and left us acting dumb. This winter they’re going up. As inflation starts to bite we’re going to find it tougher to make ends meet. From groceries to energy, the cost of everything is [...]