Reluctance to seek medical care risks storing up another public health crisis September 3, 2020 Are people in Britain getting the healthcare they need? The sad answer, after six months of intense pandemic response, is that far too many are not. Some of that is down to the public’s own choice to avoid seeking medical advice. In May, a poll conducted by IPSOS for the Health Foundation showed almost half [...]
Shooting for the stars: The case for a CANZUK space agency September 3, 2020 The British government knows three things for certain about space. It’s big. It’s cold. It’s expensive. For a small country, the scale of the challenge is daunting — and lonely. Not long ago, the United Kingdom had access to the joint space initiatives of the European Union such as the Galileo program, a global navigation [...]
It’s time for the UK to set its financial services sector up for success September 3, 2020 With the Brexit transition period drawing to a close, the United Kingdom has a unique opportunity for legislative and regulatory reform. For our financial services sector, the Treasury’s review of the regulatory framework presents a fantastic chance to set the UK up for another decade of global leadership, in an international market that is fast-changing [...]
How dare the government turn on the self-employed now September 3, 2020 Twice this week, reports have emerged that the Treasury is considering drastic tax hikes on the self-employed: first, increases in corporation tax (hitting the UK’s 715,000 sole directors of limited companies), and second, the equalisation of self-employed and employee National Insurance Contributions. The justification? The support the self-employed got during coronavirus. Given how many people [...]
DEBATE: Is there a future for tech hubs post-Covid? September 3, 2020 Is there a future for tech hubs after Covid-19? Gavin Poole, chief executive of Here East, says YES. For centuries, the success of London’s business landscape has been steeped in the clusters of industry across the city. Companies and entrepreneurs exist side by side, driven by a shared mission and passion, and an exchange of [...]
The tech export boom shows the UK is leading innovation at a crucial time September 3, 2020 The UK has been at the vanguard of technological change, with our tech creators, innovators and risk takers helping shape the digital world around us. Whether you are tracking your heart rate on a run, finding ways to be carbon neutral, taking education to the next level, or increasing financial inclusion, the UK’s tech businesses [...]
Business has a moral duty to tackle the scourge of human trafficking — starting with supply chains September 2, 2020 The impacts of this pandemic have been countless and varied — from health to the economy, education to technological development. But one tragic side effect of Covid-19 has sadly too often gone unspoken: an increase in instances of human trafficking and forced labour abuses taking place amid the disruptions to global supply chains. According to [...]
DEBATE: Should we be worried about a tech bubble? September 2, 2020 Should we be worried about a tech bubble, particularly in emerging markets? Tatjana Puhan, managing director and deputy chief investment officer at TOBAM, says YES. Over recent years, we see a clear trend of investors becoming exposed to higher concentration risk in specific sectors like technology. Having represented already a considerable risk exposure in major [...]
Can office workers save the day for local businesses ravaged by Covid-19? September 2, 2020 The sudden shift to remote working put in place by the majority of UK businesses may herald the end of the office, at least as we know it. Five months and multiple government campaigns later, and the shift to the kitchen table continues, seemingly unabated. According to a survey from US bank Morgan Stanley, just [...]
Science and tech has proved a damp squib in the fight against Covid-19 September 2, 2020 Few of us alive today have lived through a year so tumultuous, historic, and (yes, that word again) unprecedented as 2020. We are seeing the biggest health pandemic since 1918’s Spanish Flu; the biggest threat to the world economy since 1929’s Great Crash; and the biggest civil unrest in the US since 1967 — all [...]