Britain must define in its place in the world with rich trading relationships March 16, 2021 Today, the government will seek to define the UK’s place in the world as it publishes “Global Britain in a Competitive Age” reviewing foreign and defence policy. Back in 1962, the American statesman, Dean Acheson, famously observed that the UK had “lost an Empire but not yet found a role.” Now, after Britain has left the EU, the [...]
Protests are disruptive by design and extra police powers could threaten all our human rights March 16, 2021 The police crackdown on the Clapham Common vigil in memory of Sarah Everard this weekend was a stark reminder that we all need human rights to ensure that the police both protect our lives when we are threatened and respect our rights to protest when things go wrong. In recent years, human rights have been [...]
Joe Biden must not meddle in Northern Ireland March 16, 2021 Amid ongoing post-Brexit discussions, the Northern Ireland office has dispatched a representative to the US to “build relations” with the Biden administration. Tensions flared last week as Unionist paramilitaries withdrew their support for the Good Friday agreement. Meanwhile, key Republican actors set about launching a campaign in the US to build support for their cause, [...]
Boris Johnson’s plan to tackle obesity must be backed by behavioural science March 15, 2021 The last 12 months have revealed clear links between obesity and Covid-19. As the Government pledges £100m to tackle this next great health challenge, what will it take to reduce our national waistline for life – not just life after lockdown? This month, the Government unveiled a new incentives and rewards approach designed to tackle [...]
Air pollution is an invisible killer and a dangerous reality for Londoners March 15, 2021 While Covid-19 and Brexit have continued to dominate national headlines, there’s another another critical issue affecting the lives of every Londoner, which hasn’t been front and centre. Here in the City we’ve started three exciting schemes to help rid the capital of toxic air. In partnership with Camden Council, and funded by TfL through the [...]
B Corps: Can business really be kind? March 15, 2021 “Business as a force for good” is the commercial equivalent of “speaking your truth”. A lightning rod phrase that divides and says much about the relationship between business and society. This month is B Corps month, which has seen a host of companies seek to spotlight a different way for business. Less the binary profit and loss, [...]
Cressida Dick and the Metropolitan Police lost the communications war after Sarah Everard disappearance March 15, 2021 The disappearance and alleged murder of Sarah Everard touched already frayed nerves. Many have spoken or written of their powerful feeling of “It could have been me”, because Ms Everard was doing what thousands of women do all the time, walking back to her house through streets she knew with, presumably, every expectation of reaching [...]
A London High Line: A New York-style makeover could help the capital thrive post-Covid March 14, 2021 The familiarity of empty streets as a result of lockdown has drawn attention to the reality that after more than a year of living with COVID, London urgently needs to be revitalised. So the news that Camden and King’s Cross is to receive a New York City-style makeover – with a section of disused railway [...]
We should be teaching financial literacy through fiction March 13, 2021 Imagine, sometime in the not-so-distant future, your mum is thinking of going off-grid to escape the government’s new retirement age of 85. She’s 65 and was looking forward to stopping now. But she can’t. The new retirement age is compulsory because finances don’t allow anything else. You realise you will eventually be in the same [...]
A week which started with International Women’s day was one of the worst for women March 13, 2021 Friday afternoon, usually a moment of jubilant celebration. The working week is nearly over, soon the celebratory glass of wine will be poured, and the animated discussion about which takeaway order will start. Then the TV will be on and the living room will be filled with laughter, courtesy of, in my case, The Last [...]