Data protection: Privacy crackdowns could hand tech giants even greater dominance if we don’t tread carefully April 16, 2021 As consumers of online content, we have all grown used to the knowledge that the internet offers an inexhaustible wealth of information from countless sources, ranging from critically acclaimed journalism to user-generated content. Much of it is completely free and accessible to everyone with an internet connection. The principles of an open and free internet [...]
An ethical dilemma: Penguin Random House made huge sales during the pandemic, but kept the furlough cash April 15, 2021 A little over twelve months ago, Rishi Sunak pumped unprecedented amounts of money into the economy to help ensure businesses could make it through the pandemic – saving as many jobs as possible. Now, as we begin to take our first tentative steps out of the third national lockdown, businesses are under no illusion that [...]
DEBATE: Are the IMF’s proposals for a one-off wealth tax a good idea? April 15, 2021 Danielle Boxall, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, says No After the deepest recession in 300 years, the last thing ministers should be considering is new taxes. Covid has already placed a huge burden on families and businesses alike, the IMF’s suggestion of new taxes on individuals and companies could choke off the recovery [...]
To make the UK a tech leader, retail money must be given more access to private investments April 15, 2021 It should be a good thing that Oxford Nanopore, Deliveroo, and Cazoo are all listing, regardless of their early stock market performance. But who in particular will be celebrating? It’s not clear whether much of the value created will be seen by the person on the street – and if we really want the broader [...]
Ministers must avoid slap-dash rules for Covid passports or they risk falling foul of human rights laws April 14, 2021 Are they a ticket to freedom or a tool of oppression? Will they encourage vaccinations or discriminate against vaccine sceptics? Are they worth the paper, or the code, they are written on? As arguments swirl around “Covid status certificates” or “Vaccine Passports” in the corridors of power around the world, human rights law may help [...]
Britain has a productivity problem – but we have the tools to solve it April 14, 2021 Budgets come and go. There is a huge buildup, the papers are filled with speculation and leaks, and in the days before excitement in Westminster reaches fever pitch. It is one of the few times when you will find all backbench MPs avidly reading government documents in detail because they know the details matter. Most [...]
Boris Johnson’s push for mass testing is set for failure before it even gets off the grounds April 14, 2021 The campaign for regular, mass Covid resting has begun in earnest. From last Friday, everyone in England has been eligible to access lateral flow tests for free. The government would like people to test themselves twice a week. Under the slogan “Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air”, the public is being urged to use the NHS [...]
Brexit: Paperwork and bureaucracy have created barriers at the border as tough as tariffs April 13, 2021 In the months since the Brexit transition period ended, trade flows at British borders have plummeted and border checks have been deemed so unworkable that their implementation has been pushed back by a year. Dire figures and delays point to the fact there is far more to free trade than tariffs, and still much to [...]
Facebook: personalised advertising isn’t all bad – it can support bricks and mortar retail April 13, 2021 There has been much talk in recent years about “bricks versus clicks” and the threat that the rise of online shopping would ultimately mark the downfall of the Great British High Street. The strongest small to medium sized businesses are those that make the most of all the channels available to them to reach their [...]
To make Britain competitive globally, we must strip away regulatory red tape April 13, 2021 Last month, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) made a ruling which blocked the merger of the two British crowdfunding sites Seedrs and Crowdcube. This was wrong for a slew of reasons, not the least because Seedrs and Crowdcube are both tiny companies that should be below the regulatory radar. Both companies are currently [...]