Germany’s SPD following Labour’s footsteps December 2, 2019 Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) have just elected Norbert Walter-Borjans, the former finance minister of north Rhine-Westphalia, and Saskia Esken, a member of the German parliament, as their party’s new joint leaders. The two left-wing candidates gained 53.06 per cent of the vote in the run-off election, clearly beating the moderate German vice-chancellor Olaf Scholz, and [...]
Hong Kong protesters should be welcomed December 2, 2019 What connects China’s systematic abuse of human rights with the Tory party’s commitment to a “global Britain” post-Brexit? The answer is Hong Kong. Even before the protests of recent months captured the world’s attention, China’s erosion of civil liberties in Hong Kong and its sprawling security presence meant that the rights and freedoms which the [...]
Social media lessons from TikTok, Tencent and Weibo December 2, 2019 The average consumer would be forgiven for not knowing their Tencent from their Sina Weibo. In fact, it’s unlikely that they have heard of either platform. Yet these are two of the biggest social media companies in the world, bringing in billions in revenue each year. From transferring money, playing games, and even booking doctors [...]
No, your CEO can’t come paint our office: The 4 golden rules for CSR December 2, 2019 Two years ago, I launched Beam, a tech-for-good startup that crowdfunds employment training for homeless people and supports them into stable, paid work. Ever since we started to gain visibility, a number of brands have approached us with different propositions for demonstrating their corporate social responsibility (CSR) agendas. To paint a picture of what these approaches [...]
Farewell to a decade of seismic change and existential anxiety December 2, 2019 You’d be forgiven for not having a moment to notice, but this is a decade that is fast running out of time. The 2010s began with the unease of the consequences of the financial crash. They end with another dose of unease, this time both political and economic. Theresa May tried to win an election [...]
DEBATE: Does the UK need to address the fact that it reportedly has a ‘particularly extreme form of capitalism’? December 2, 2019 A new British Academy report argues that the UK has a ‘particularly extreme form of capitalism’ — is that something we need to address? Professor Christopher McKenna, co-director of the Global History of Capitalism Project at Oxford University, says YES. The proliferation of environmentally damaging industrial practices, the social divisions arising from monopoly power, and [...]
The gig economy needs a creative touch to regulation, not a knee-jerk ban December 2, 2019 The gig economy is a central part of what makes London the vibrant, world-class city it is. From Deliveroo to TaskRabbit to Uber, technological innovation is enabling people to work in ways they never could before and serve the needs of customers. It should be no surprise that more than one in five of London’s [...]
People from all backgrounds deserve the opportunity to succeed in our capital December 2, 2019 As we draw closer to the end of another momentous year in politics, it’s a time to reflect and look forward to the future. With all the Brexit noise, social mobility is one of the many issues that just hasn’t had enough airtime recently. Too often, people from less financially advantaged families lack opportunities, and [...]
Labour’s manifesto could break the fabric of the UK economy November 29, 2019 Labour’s manifesto would completely break the fabric of Britain’s liberal and tolerant free market economy, replacing it with a command and control centralising experiment that would do untold damage to the very people Labour claim to support. Let’s be clear; this is not a normal Labour manifesto. This Labour manifesto would uproot society to the [...]
Safe as houses? Our electoral map is fuelling voter apathy November 29, 2019 With less than two weeks to go until the country heads to the polls, I have personally encountered precisely one attempt to garner my vote, in the form of a leaflet from my local Green candidate. While somewhat ironic given the party’s mission to protect the environment, this was immensely welcome. The other parties, it [...]