Charity begins at home — which makes foreign aid more important than ever November 26, 2020 No one can have envied Rishi Sunak yesterday, for it was the chancellor’s task to unveil the Spending Review to the House of Commons, facing (we were told by the Treasury) the worst economic landscape since the Great Frost of 1709. Sunak strove for sombre and minatory, but he has not yet gained enough political [...]
Build back better? London won’t be building at all if construction can’t recruit the workers it needs November 26, 2020 “Build back better” has become the government’s mantra as it seeks to lift the country out of its Covid slump. Ever since Boris Johnson announced an “infrastructure revolution” back in the summer, with a raft of commitments on building hospitals, schools and transport projects, the construction industry has been held up as central to the [...]
Eurostar is our green gateway to Europe — we cannot abandon it November 26, 2020 As the end of the EU transition period looms, the UK must be able to showcase the strength of its post-Brexit trading role, whatever the outcome of negotiations. Our connectivity with Europe, even as a standalone nation, is crucial to demonstrating this. Yet Eurostar, the most iconic connection between the UK and mainland Europe, is [...]
Editorial: No-deal Brexit and London lockdown would compound economic catastrophe November 25, 2020 It is hard to shake the suspicion that Rishi Sunak’s spending review is a political response to an economic catastrophe. Cutting foreign aid because of these exceptional circumstances makes sense. Time to tighten the belts, as they say. But then taking the saving and putting it into a pork barrel levelling-up fund? Those are political [...]
Green energy — it’s bigger than the internet November 25, 2020 Last week, media outlets across the country suggested a new rule of internet etiquette: scrap unnecessary emails in order to save the planet. We should all, apparently, stop sending “thank you” emails, as the servers transmitting them use even more energy, emitting carbon and contributing to climate change. Don’t get me wrong, I am all [...]
With Brexit almost in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to get CANZUK done November 25, 2020 As the UK heads into the final weeks of the transition period, it is time for all of us in Westminster, however we may have voted in the past, to make Brexit work and look beyond the EU to our global future. And as we broaden our horizons and open up to the world, it [...]
DEBATE: Should Rishi Sunak scrap the RPI inflation measure in today’s Spending Review? November 25, 2020 Should Rishi Sunak scrap the Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation measure in today’s Spending Review? Angus Hanton, co-founder of the Intergenerational Foundation, says YES. We need to say RIP to RPI. Why? Because the use of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) is based on a flawed methodology — one which disproportionately impacts younger generations. From [...]
Want people to get the Covid vaccine? Pay them November 25, 2020 The vaccines seem to be coming thick and fast. The task now is to ensure that enough people get them to keep the virus under control. The first issue is one of logistics. The track record of the UK’s health bureaucracy during the crisis has not been good. But the NHS does have experience of [...]
How smart buildings can power the green revolution November 25, 2020 The Prime Minister’s decision to base last week’s so-called “reset” around a 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution tells us a lot about where he thinks the country needs to go over the next decade. Indeed, it hints at what kind of country we are after Brexit: not one that looks back complacently to [...]
Telecoms providers must beef up their cybersecurity for the 5G age November 24, 2020 As this 5G digital revolution gathers pace we must prepare the communications networks on which this technology depends so they are secure and resilient