Britain’s mayors need more teeth to succeed in creating jobs and wealth May 6, 2021 On Thursday, seven English city regions will vote in the metro mayoral elections, including West Yorkshire for the first time. These are showcase elections with candidates setting out their bold visions and plans for the future of the cities. Mayors play a critical role in our cities. They are able to use hard and soft [...]
Mayor of London election: Beware the capital’s slide into a one-party city May 6, 2021 Most major election campaigns have trademark moments or themes that leave an indelible image on the electorate and become a part of the public’s collective memory. The 2019 General Election will be remembered as the Brexit election and for Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” slogan. In the 2016 London mayoral election there was Zac Goldsmith’s [...]
DEBATE: Was Facebook’s Oversight Board right to uphold the ban on Donald Trump? May 5, 2021 Anna-Sophie Harling, Head of Europe at NewsGuard, says YES This question of the Oversight Board’s decision is, in itself, problematic. The Board, a panel of paid advisors hired by Facebook to do high-level content moderation, only has as much credibility as we lend it. As a private company, Facebook is well within its rights to deplatform Donald Trump — [...]
Britain is sitting on a mountain of debt – but there is a way to climb down May 5, 2021 The UK’s public finances – a source of perennial debate amongst politicians, think tanks, economists and investors – are in focus like never before. Covid-19 has ushered in a period of unprecedented public spending, funded in the main by large amounts of debt. Government borrowing – money it needs to borrow to pay for spending [...]
It’s time to give Scotland and Wales a dose of financial reality and rethink the Barnett formula May 5, 2021 Subsidies continue to flow from the English taxpayer to the devolved nations of the UK. Boris Johnson is reportedly considering a further massive programme of infrastructure spending to convince the Scots of the benefits of being in the Union. The so-called Barnett formula, put together in the 1970s, already ensures that Scotland always gets more [...]
Editorial: London has deserved more from an insipid Mayoral contest May 5, 2021 It is fair to say the year-long delay to the London Mayoral election has not increased the appetite for it. Nor have the last few months been a vintage political campaign of sharp differences, eye-catching promises and grand visions for the future. That’s a shame. London is a global city and will reinvent itself post-pandemic. [...]
Local elections: Labour has become a metropolitan party disconnected from its political roots May 5, 2021 For Keir Starmer the elections on May 6 have become more of a challenge than an opportunity. Having brought Labour back level with the Conservatives in the polls last autumn, they turned against him again from February this year. Despite the seemingly endless narrative of prime ministerial scandal and the public’s declared scepticism as to [...]
Capital exports: London should have its own diplomats in every UK embassy to make Britain truly global May 4, 2021 British embassies around the world run the whole gamut. From No. 35, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré to Level 19 of the Shangri-La Offices in Ulaanbataar, they look different but all have the same purpose: to maintain and develop relations between the UK and the host country. That can mean a multitude of different things in [...]
There is a generation of small businesses hungry to reinvent the high street May 4, 2021 You’d be forgiven for thinking the story of our British high streets was all about the evacuation of large retailers. Debenhams, Mothercare, Topshop, Peacocks barely scratch the surface of the total exodus which has seen 11,000 shops close in just 12 months. Many have been quick to explain that the pandemic has simply accelerated an inevitable, crumbling demise. While our high streets might look bleak right now as larger companies withdraw, small businesses are [...]
City Recovery Taskforce: innovation and creativity must be at the heart of Square Mile’s restoration May 4, 2021 As history shows, the City of London is nothing if not adaptable and this remarkableability to reinvent itself in response to economic and social trends lies at the heartof its success. Throughout the centuries, the resilience of the Square Mile has meantthat, whatever adversity it is hit with – great fires, plagues or wars – it has alwaysmanaged to [...]