DEBATE: Would the railways run better with a ‘fat controller’? July 18, 2019 Would the railways run better with an independent “fat controller” in charge, as recently proposed? Scott Corfe, research director at the Social Market Foundation, says YES. Commuters are right to be angry with the state of Britain’s railway network, with its unpalatable combination of high fares, delays, and trains so packed that one feels like [...]
Young voters today care about far more than just tuition fees July 18, 2019 Student debt is, once again, pledge fodder as politicians jostle for power. Conservative leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt has promised to wipe student debt for successful entrepreneurs and reduce interest on loans, the Brexit Party has pledged to remove and reimburse interest altogether, while Labour has long vowed to scrap tuition fees entirely. It’s not hard [...]
Public speaking – why are we so scared of talking to a crowd? July 18, 2019 Public speaking. It is the stuff of nightmares. Standing in front of your peers, colleagues and managers, words that you’ve prepped for weeks rendered to a mere whisper. It’s incredible the number of senior professionals, business owners, chief executives and managers – highly intelligent, articulate, funny and above all inspiring people – who hate the [...]
The next moon landings will spur giant leaps here on Earth July 18, 2019 This week, we celebrate 50 years since Apollo 11’s first landing of humans on the moon – one of humanity’s greatest achievements. The technologies born of the Apollo missions shaped life on Earth in more ways than we often recognise through inventions we use every day. This anniversary is about more than where we’ve been [...]
Businesses must step up and raise their sustainability game July 18, 2019 When it comes to making sure that our day-to-day consumption is as environmentally friendly as possible, where does responsibility lie? According to new KPMG research, believe it or not, just 15 per cent of consumers point to policymakers, and only 10 per cent think that they themselves are responsible. The majority – 53 per cent [...]
Private in the public eye? How a royal fairytale can turn into a nightmare July 17, 2019 A lot of seasoned royal watchers predicted that Miss Markle would give the Royal Family a new edge, a modern, feminist twist and a dose of Hollywood fame into the bargain. It isn’t quite working out that way.
Elitist Britain: how can we make business more meritocratic? July 17, 2019 The UK may have been spared an all-Etonian Tory leadership contest, but Britain is still an undoubtedly elitist country. While just seven per cent of Brits were educated privately, 65 per cent of senior judges, 59 per cent of top civil servants, 39 per cent of cabinet ministers, and 44 per cent of newspaper columnists [...]
Let Apollo 11 be an inspiration, mankind can achieve the impossible July 17, 2019 Fifty years ago this week, in one of the seminal moments in the history of humanity, man landed on the moon for the first time. As hundreds of millions watched with bated breath, hoping against hope that nothing would derail this most extraordinary of missions, Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface and immortalised [...]
DEBATE: Was Sadiq Khan right to reject plans for the Tulip tower? July 17, 2019 Was Sadiq Khan right to reject plans for the Tulip tower? Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat member of the London Assembly, says YES. I seriously disagree with Sadiq Khan on many subjects, but on this issue I think he is right. Innovative and challenging designs of buildings are of course important, but we should never [...]
Facebook’s libra could solve the gig economy’s payment problem July 17, 2019 Ordering your evening meal or weekly groceries online has never been easier. In most cities, you can now book a car from your phone to get you from A to B in minutes. All of this is made possible by two things: the marketplace technology that facilitates instant transactions, and the gig economy that delivers [...]