Unlocking the UK could trigger 6 years of economic growth in just 10 months March 2, 2021 Can you remember what you were doing on the eve of the pandemic? It should be easy to recall. But what were you doing in early 2014? Why do I ask? Well, in a few weeks’ time, as lockdown ends, the economy is likely to be to back to where it was in the first [...]
London must be a launchpad for Britain’s global Fintech success March 1, 2021 The continuing impact of technology and the unprecedented changes it has had on our lives has only been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the past year, technology has been critical to our lifestyles. It has kept us connected with family and friends, enabled us to work from home, and to carry out those once [...]
Shamima Begum made her choice and shouldn’t be given a path back to UK March 1, 2021 It is not often that a British court decision makes the news for the right reasons. So used are we to judgements that fly in the face of what appears obvious to any non-legal mind, that when the opposite happens it is often met with incredulity. Yet last week, the UK Supreme Court astonished many [...]
Joe Biden’s new Energy Secretary gives us a taste for his plans for a Green New World March 1, 2021 Most people don’t spend their weekdays glued to C-SPAN and coverage of the United States Senate and its committees. Last week, however, the energy and natural resources committee conducted a confirmation hearing for President Biden’s nominee for secretary of energy, Jennifer Granholm. The committee approved Granholm’s nomination, which was then confirmed 65-34 by the whole [...]
FinTech revolution was borne out of 2008 crash, Rishi Sunak must nurture a post-crisis environment for innovation March 1, 2021 It was from the devastation of the global financial crisis the FinTech revolution emerged. The pandemic will spur a new era of innovation too, and it has the potential to be bigger and even more explosive than the past decade – if we get it right. Who knew that while we all watched on as [...]
20 taxes to scrap: Britain’s growth needs a simpler tax system March 1, 2021 This week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will present possibly the most consequential Budget in half a century. UK PLC is simultaneously struggling to cope with both the ongoing catastrophic impact of the Covid pandemic and the unanswered questions of what post-Brexit Britain will look like. According to the OBR, this year’s expected budget deficit will likely [...]
Chores, childcare, Covid and work: remote working has not been a great liberator for women March 1, 2021 Many have regurgitated a common myth: the Covid crisis has led to more flexible working, which helps working women attain better equality. The true picture, however, is more nuanced and complicated. Rather than being a great liberator, Covid has, in some ways, exacerbated the problems for mid-career women. A report published today by the Female [...]
Bringing London back to life is about more than a return to offices – the capital is fighting for its soul February 28, 2021 Everyone who has moved to London from somewhere else remembers their first night here. I remember mine. My wife and I had dinner in a tiny Indian restaurant in Wembley near the GPs surgery where she’d be working as a nurse. I didn’t have a job yet – but I had that pure excitement that [...]
Clubhouse is already dying, but it reminded us what social media should be February 27, 2021 Clubhouse has reminded us what the internet originally promised us: collaboration and community, not arguments and alienation. I hope that Clubhouse can show the big social media platforms what we really want from social media. But, save for a massive shift in the way we use social media, I doubt that the exclusivity and trust [...]
Shamima Begum’s radicalisation was our failure to address online extremism and protect our kids February 26, 2021 Regardless of who Shamima Begum is today, the fact that a group of British teenage girls could be groomed online for sex and violence in a faraway land, should be taken as a cautionary tale for us all. Earlier this month, a 16 year old from Cornwall was sentenced for terrorist offences. He was 13 [...]