Is it irresponsible for parliament to be on recess at such a crucial time? August 8, 2019 Is it irresponsible for parliament to be on recess at such a crucial time? Dr Stuart Thomson, head of public affairs at BDB Pitmans, says YES. With a hard no-deal Brexit looming, now is not the time for a parliamentary break. There is too much to do, but only if the government allows it. Allowing [...]
Think tanks beware: No one knows what you actually do August 8, 2019 In the midst of the Tory leadership contest, City A.M ran a leader entitled The definition of a think tank is up for debate. The article cited research from my firm showing that fewer than four per cent of the population could name a think tank. It also noted studies published by two leading think [...]
A belligerent President has an effect on us all August 8, 2019 Donald Trump’s 63m followers on Twitter are used to all manner of bluster emerging from the US President’s account. Nonetheless, yesterday’s rant at the Federal Reserve managed to raise a few eyebrows when Trump bizarrely argued that the “yield curve is at too wide a margin” to justify rates staying at their current level. Trump [...]
University is not the be all and end all for success August 7, 2019 Exam results are looming, and with fears of failure and disappointment plaguing young people up and down the country, it’s about time we make students in the UK more aware of the realities of our changing professional landscape. The fact of the matter is that a piece of paper should never and will never define [...]
Maybe this will be the time that the US finally gets over its love affair with guns August 7, 2019 Even Donald Trump, for once, didn’t appear to believe what he was saying. “Mental illness and hate pull the trigger, not the gun,” opined the President in his prepared statement from the White House on Monday, in response to the latest mass shootings on US soil in El Paso and Dayton which have claimed 31 [...]
Introducing the new cast and crew of Downing Street August 7, 2019 The dust is beginning to settle: Boris Johnson is Prime Minister, and the Whitehall machine has been stripped and restaffed. A new team has been installed to run his Downing Street operation – but who are they, and what does it mean? Even the Prime Minister’s most vocal advocates would not describe him as a [...]
DEBATE: Is Donald Trump right to label China a currency manipulator? August 7, 2019 Is Donald Trump right to label China a currency manipulator Alex Deane, a Conservative commentator, says YES. Once again, President Trump “triggers” his opponents by doing what he said he would do. He promised on the campaign trail to designate China as a currency manipulator; indeed, he’s late on this as he undertook to do [...]
Retailers beware, the online shopping revolution isn’t going anywhere August 7, 2019 Another week, another retailer biting the dust. The baked potato specialist Spudulike has closed all 37 of its branches, with a loss of nearly 300 jobs. Shopping centres are undergoing a sudden and dramatic squeeze, with many retailers only able to stay in business if granted a dramatic rent reduction. Last week, Intu Properties, owners [...]
Unconscious bias and lack of diversity is holding business back August 6, 2019 The lack of diversity in technology is not a new issue. A study by Statista showed that female employees make up between 26 percent and 43 percent of the workforce at major tech companies. However, even this does not tell the whole story, as the number of women in engineering or product-focussed jobs is even [...]
Free ports could turn Brexit to our economic advantage August 6, 2019 One of the most exciting shifts in policy under the new government has been its whole-hearted embrace of free ports. But many people are still puzzled by what they are. In a nutshell, free ports are areas which are within the UK, but outside its customs borders. So you can bring your goods into the [...]