DEBATE: Is the UK going to require higher taxes in the future? November 15, 2019 Whoever wins this election, is the UK going to require higher taxes in the future? Adam Corlett, senior economic analyst at the Resolution Foundation and author of its report “The shifting shape of UK tax”, says YES. Tax is set to be a major battleground at the election. Labour has been upfront about its plans [...]
Tories deserve to win the economic battle November 14, 2019 The Conservatives have taken a fair bit of stick for their claim that “the cost of Corbyn” would come in at £1.2 trillion. Independent fact-checkers have dismissed the methodology and pointed out that it’s difficult for the Tories to cost Labour’s manifesto commitments when the manifesto hasn’t been published. Still, the £1.2 trillion figure isn’t [...]
Our Westminster politicians must pay heed to the Union November 14, 2019 Pollsters at election time are a funny breed. Like Father Christmas, they drop nuggets of data into the hands of grateful journalists and analysts hoping to make sense of what is going on around them, trying to drown out the noise of election campaigns and listen to what really matters. Yet the most interesting — [...]
Retraining course: The case for lifelong learning November 14, 2019 As the General Election race heats up, it was great to see the focus on adult skills and further education among the first announcements to be made by both the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party this week. Given that this area is often an afterthought by policymakers and politicians, long may this renewed focus [...]
DEBATE: Is ‘Equal Pay Day’ a valid part of the gender pay-gap debate? November 14, 2019 Is ‘Equal Pay Day’ a valid part of the gender pay-gap debate? Vivienne Artz, president of the industry networking group Women in Banking & Finance, says YES. What gets measured gets done. Equal Pay Day is calculated annually from the UK government’s datasets on the gender pay gap, and effectively represents the day each year [...]
How can you stop your credit card being sexist? November 14, 2019 Can a credit card be sexist? It’s not a question most people would have thought about before this week, but on Monday, the US financial regulator announced an investigation into claims of gender discrimination by Apple Card. The algorithms Apple Card used to set credit limits are, it has been reported, inherently biased against women. [...]
This election has exposed Britain’s foreign policy vacuum November 14, 2019 The 2020 US presidential election will be heavily influenced by foreign policy debate. So was the last one, and the one before that. Barack Obama initially stood out against Hillary Clinton by defining himself in opposition to the Iraq War. Donald Trump represented a break from the typical interventionist nature of Republican candidates, and so [...]
Parity denied: Why ‘Girl Boss’ ad is the last thing women need to succeed November 13, 2019 Moving around London’s transport network I recently clocked a poster ad for a freelancing company. The caption read: “You do the girl boss thing. We’ll do the SEO thing.” The orange of the first sentence matched the hair of the lackadaisical-looking woman in the photo. Call me a snowflake, but I was offended. Maybe this [...]
Is Mark Barnett repeating Neil Woodford’s mistakes? November 13, 2019 A little over a year ago, many would have argued that following in the footsteps of Neil Woodford was a positive move. Now, after the recent scandal around the infamous fund manager and the collapse of his investment empire, most people would likely argue the complete opposite. Trust has been shaken, and investors are understandably [...]
Banks are under threat – and this time it’s personal November 13, 2019 The launch of Uber Money, which provides payment and banking services to the company’s drivers, is an example of the next big trend in banking — the rise of the so-called “non-bank”. The establishment of a financial product for non-banks goes beyond simple revenue growth. It is about establishing loyalty, and in the case of Uber, loyalty [...]