DEBATE: Is there a case for a ‘working from home’ tax? November 17, 2020 Richard Tice, businessman and chairman of Reform UK, says YES Nightmare: your business loses half its customers overnight. You must react: do you double your prices, adjust your cost base, or seek a bailout? This is the dilemma facing public transport companies, as millions of customers suddenly choose to work from home. Double fares, halve [...]
Editorial: Vaccine success is a shot in the arm for the free market November 17, 2020 Who would have thought that competition and the free market would be the world’s saving grace as we head towards 2021? Other than anybody who has studied free market economics, obviously, or anybody who has noticed that over the past hundreds of years it has invariably been the private sector, driven by need, who have [...]
Covid revealed that compliance is broken — now let’s build back better November 17, 2020 We’ve all been a little lonely during lockdown, but a word to the wise — if a new match on a dating site asks you to transfer some money to them, don’t do it. It’s probably a fraudster. Professional money launderers have been getting creative during the pandemic. With the usual avenues closed to them, [...]
We need business to help us get girls learning — and change the world November 17, 2020 Coronavirus has changed the world. We are facing the biggest triple threat of our lifetimes, with unprecedented economic, health and education crises. While there has been much focus on the first two, the latter cannot be overlooked. At the height of school closures due to coronavirus, 1.6 billion children were out of school globally with [...]
Whinging car giants are giving business a bad name November 17, 2020 News broke last week that the UK government is reportedly planning to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. As night follows day came the inevitable howls from the car industry. It’s not possible. It’s all too quick. Our societies are not ready for it. And on it goes. The reality is [...]
Relax, the EU needs a last-minute equivalence deal with the City too November 17, 2020 How do things look when it comes to financial services post-Brexit? At first glance, not good. Despite chancellor Rishi Sunak stating that the UK would grant the EU access to its markets, Brussels is claiming it will only allow the City access to European markets if it is “in the EU’s interests”. With less than [...]
Government must shield, not sacrifice, financial services in Brexit negotiations November 16, 2020 The health and success of London’s financial businesses is pivotal to the national interest. Banks and other financial institutions that operate out of the Square Mile and Canary Wharf play a vital role in financing businesses, start-ups and critical infrastructure projects in every corner of the UK.
Brexit sovereignty is on the horizon, if the government would only seize it November 16, 2020 With just 45 days to go until the Brexit transition period expires, negotiations between Brussels and London are heading into a final frenzy. At the same time, the political battle is heating up. Last week, the government’s proposed Internal Market Bill, designed to correct the most pernicious aspects of the Brexit withdrawal agreement signed last [...]
Locking down care homes risks the very lives we are trying to protect November 16, 2020 An overwhelming number of the UK’s elderly population are at risk — not just from Covid-19, but from our response to it. The recent news that Pfizer has developed an effective vaccine has been a source of optimism for millions, but mass immunisation is still a long way off. Many of our most elderly, especially [...]
Grow your audience or double down? The classic mistake made by Brand Trump November 16, 2020 As marketers know well, big ambitious brands cannot continue to grow by simply targeting the same people with the same messages. There comes a point in every major brand’s life when new audiences are needed to grow a following. Somehow, the Trump campaign ignored this, and the President’s failure to understand the need to expand [...]