Editorial: London’s ability to roll with the punches has served it in good stead September 20, 2021 “Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls.” So snarled Joe Strummer on The Clash’s London Calling – an iconic rallying cry that we have borrowed for today’s front page. West London’s finest songwriter probably didn’t foresee the strange places in which we’d one day be making pandemic-induced Zoom calls. but he’d surely be [...]
A net zero future depends on open trade of green goods and services September 20, 2021 In the future when historians look back at 2021 they could well see it as a turning point. A time when after witnessing unprecedented wildfires, flash flooding and extreme winds, the world finally took notice and came together to tackle climate change. Or they could see it as a time when the world squandered this [...]
Editorial: London’s back and will remain a giant among cities September 20, 2021 “Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls.” So snarled Joe Strummer on The Clash’s London Calling – an iconic rallying cry that we have borrowed for today’s front page. Whether the London legend foresaw the strange places in which we’d one day be making pandemic-induced Zoom calls is up for debate. Regardless, it [...]
Starters, mains and a side order of inducement: why that extra bottle could land you in trouble September 20, 2021 Many financial services sector city workers who have been working from home over the last eighteen months are now emerging butterfly-like from their home-office chrysalis and returning to the office. Enthusiasm and appetite for the working lunch have also returned, with socialising around work firmly back on the menu. It is not surprising to read [...]
Big Tobacco’s takeover of Vectura shows the holes on our Companies Act September 17, 2021 There’s little dispute that companies ought to aim to return money to shareholders. Dividends sustain our pension pots and are vital to keep our economy growing. But when this pursuit becomes single minded it fails even by its own logic. PMI’s takeover of Vectura will generate the greatest shareholder value in the short term, but [...]
The pact between Australia, UK and the US is a historic face-off with China and proof of Global Britain September 17, 2021 In a joint speech by Boris Johnson, Scott Morrison and Joe Biden, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States announced a historical pact dubbed AUKUS. It will allow the Royal Australian Navy to construct and operate nuclear-powered attack submarines. But AUKUS is about more than just what powers Australia’s submarines. The agreement also covers [...]
KPMG: Britain’s tax system is having an identity crisis September 17, 2021 Every so often a debate about UK tax policy cuts through into the media and public imagination, as we’ve seen in this last couple of weeks. The Health and Social Care levy has thrown a light on some big questions about how, and from whom, we raise money to fund the country’s public spending needs. [...]
Technology could save our ailing healthcare systems – if only we can trust it September 16, 2021 The number of digital tools that promise to deliver better outcomes in healthcare are proliferating at a breathtaking pace. While healthtech promises to solve a lot of our woes, the speed of evolution is vastly outpacing the rules to ensure promises on efficacy – and safety – are kept. Online symptom checkers are widely used. [...]
From Scotland, with love: indulgent drink driving laws get us nowhere September 16, 2021 In December 2014, Scotland introduced a new policy modifying its drink-drive limit, to reduce the number of alcohol-fuelled traffic accidents. The legal limit was slashed from 80 to 50mg per 100ml of blood. Now, seven years later, a study published in the Journal of Health Economics has looked at the impact of the policy. The [...]
Editorial: Sir Lindsay Hoyle leads by example and stands up to China September 16, 2021 The Chinese embassy has accused UK parliamentarians of undermining Beijing’s attempts to improve Sino-British relations. No, that is not satire. The same regime which slapped sanctions on MPs who spoke out against egregious human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims has claimed it is in fact Westminster standing in the way of a cohesive and collaborative [...]