However worthy their cause may be, eco-rebels are not above the law October 17, 2019 Imagine a city in the grip of a crime wave, where the hard-pressed police have to draft in officers from other parts of the country to maintain order in an increasingly fractious situation, where ordinary citizens find their daily journeys to work and school disrupted, and where local businesses suffer the effects of day after [...]
Jeremy Corbyn is deluded if he thinks Labour is remotely ready for an election October 17, 2019 When Jeremy Corbyn told Labour members last week that “we’re ready and chomping at the bit for an election”, one can only assume that he was using the royal we. With the exception of the leader, it’s hard to find anyone in Labour who believes that the party is anywhere near ready for an election [...]
What does Britain need? More robots October 17, 2019 On Monday, the Queen’s Speech set out the government’s legislative plans, starting with tackling all things Brexit, before laying out a radical programme to shake the country out of its current torpor. Leaving aside whether any of this legislative programme manages to get through parliament, I would argue that one of the most critical issues [...]
DEBATE: Can Neil Woodford’s reputation ever recover? October 17, 2019 Can Neil Woodford’s reputation ever recover? Tom Berry, chair at Chameleon PR, says YES. Reputation in this day and age is a transient thing. The value of Neil Woodford’s brand might be at an all-time low now, but he has 30 years of successful investing behind him – and he has made a lot of [...]
How the wind-up of the Woodford fund will hit investors October 16, 2019 If the Neil Woodford scandal has been a slow-motion car crash, this must be the part where it finally hits the wall. Last night, it was announced that Woodford Investment Management will close. This followed news earlier in the day that the firm’s flagship Woodford fund would be wound up, putting an end to months [...]
How Neil Woodford’s star came crashing down to earth October 16, 2019 He was once known as the most successful stockpicker in the country. He had money, power and influence — all worn without swagger. He favoured jeans over pinstripes and the home counties over the Square Mile. His reputation soared along with the returns he generated at Invesco: 1,688 per cent between the launch of its [...]
Crowdfunding in the age of the consumer October 16, 2019 It became clear that fintech companies began to prize crowdfunding three years ago. Monzo crashed our servers in 2016 when it raised £1m in 96 seconds. Last December, the now-serial crowdfunding neobank raised £20m from retail investors. The staggering thing about Monzo’s raise — and it speaks volumes about where both crowdfunding and fintech have [...]
DEBATE: Is the G7 warning the end for Facebook’s libra? October 16, 2019 Now that the G7 has issued a warning against the cryptocurrency, is this it for Facebook’s libra? YES, says Ana Bencic, president of Nexthash. Facebook’s libra is the most high-profile example of a centralised cryptocurrency and is a living example of how it will be perhaps the last one to exist. The G7’s warning to [...]
You’re fired: Why the Apprentice is bad for business October 16, 2019 If you have been meaning to catch up on the latest instalment of the BBC’s long-running reality series The Apprentice, allow me to save you the time. Last week saw one set of brash egomaniacs with largely questionable entrepreneurial instincts facing off against another, with both teams struggling to demonstrate even the most basic set [...]
Voter ID is a misguided solution to a problem that doesn’t exist October 16, 2019 Out of all the policies revealed in the Queen’s Speech on Monday, one seemingly minor proposal should ring alarm bells: an intention to introduce compulsory voter ID at polling booths. The aim is ostensibly a laudable one. It is important to ensure that elections are secure and fair, and this precaution is meant to tackle [...]