DEBATE: Was it the right decision to end the daily government press briefings? June 24, 2020 Was it the right decision to end the daily government press briefings? Eliot Wilson, co-founder of Pivot Point and a former House of Commons official, says YES. The coronavirus pandemic changed so much. One thing it brought was daily Downing Street press conferences, at which a senior minister would take questions, flanked by advisers or [...]
Life after lockdown: Returning to the classroom won’t be straightforward for our vulnerable children June 24, 2020 2020 is not the year anyone expected. The coronavirus pandemic has upended the lives of millions: people have lost jobs, been furloughed or taken pay cuts, and purse strings have tightened as a result. The impact has been especially hard on this country’s disadvantaged families — in particular, children’s education. It is a challenge I [...]
Brits rejoice! The era of black market hairdressers is coming to an end June 24, 2020 What I am about to tell you will shock you to your very core: there are some people out there walking the streets who have had haircuts. No, not the ones delivered by unsuspecting partners or housemates with about as much proficiency as a bow-wielding chimp wearing mittens. No, dear reader, these people have had [...]
Business didn’t get us into this mess, but with the right reforms it can get us out of it June 24, 2020 Back in March, City A.M. announced that it was suspending its print edition — partly due to concern about the drop-off in advertising revenue, but mostly because it seemed futile to distribute newspapers around London when workers had been told to stay at home. Recently, this paper’s editor made the welcome announcement that its print [...]
The government should have been working on multiple tracing apps all along June 24, 2020 The NHS contract tracing app has been scrapped in favour of a system developed by Google and Apple. Although health secretary Matt Hancock has been heavily criticised for this failure, the UK is by no means alone. For example, Denmark, Germany and Italy each tried to build their own app, based on the same type [...]
The risks are elevated, but investors have faith UK financial services can weather the storm June 23, 2020 The mood music in Brussels has changed over the last few weeks — and the financial services sector is back in the spotlight. In recent negotiations, the EU explicitly challenged the notion that Britain will be able to “cherry-pick” the benefits of the Single Market and retain its strategic position in financial services post-Brexit. With [...]
Tax system to the rescue: Six policy tweaks that could kickstart the economy June 23, 2020 The past three months have seen a deluge of economic, political, and legal moves that would have been unthinkable at the start of the year. As civil liberties were curtailed on a scale never seen in peacetime and ten million children were turned away from school, new hospitals were built in a matter of weeks, [...]
Getting small businesses match fit for economic recovery June 23, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic is having a profound shock on the economy, with UK GDP dropping by a record 20.4 per cent in April. Businesses of all sizes have been shaken, with many — especially smaller ones — struggling to survive. It has also become clear that there is no longer a separate digital economy and [...]
Adapt planning and licencing rules or risk losing the high street forever June 23, 2020 The nation’s high streets have been struggling for years. Rising vacancy rates and declining footfall over the past decade have seen town centres begin to undergo a fundamental transformation — but in many ways not for the better. Empty, boarded up shops have become a depressingly familiar sight in towns and cities across the UK. [...]
Beyond Petroleum: Is BP finally moving from rhetoric to reality? June 22, 2020 Kneeling in prayer for a sin he doesn’t regret, Shakespeare’s Claudius, Hamlet’s fratricidal uncle, ruefully admits: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below, / Words without thoughts never to heaven go.” Claudius knew that empty rhetoric is entirely unpersuasive — a lesson many corporate executives have since learnt. In 2000, BP hired the advertisers [...]