Markets have shown what a deal could yield October 14, 2019 This is the week in which it will become clear whether Boris Johnson’s government has secured an agreement with the European Union. If he has (and the signs are encouraging, if not yet cause for celebration) then he’s only half way out of the woods. MPs will sit on Saturday — the first weekend sitting [...]
If you care about the kids, there’s no excuse not to legalise cannabis October 14, 2019 If we have the chance to reduce harm, we should take it. That idea – harm reduction – lies behind much of what any government seeks to do. It is an uncontroversial principle. Yet there is a key area of government policy which does not abide by it: drugs. Our government’s approach is to pursue [...]
In defence of my friend Dominic Cummings October 14, 2019 Everyone of a certain age who worked in New York or Washington has a 9/11 story; mine concerns Dominic Cummings. It was sometime early in the afternoon of the unforgettable, nightmarish day. Three planes had already slammed into the World Trade Centre Buildings and the Pentagon, inflicting their awful havoc. A fourth plane had been [...]
DEBATE: Are great startups always about having a great idea? October 14, 2019 Are great startups always about having a great idea? Lily Covington, senior strategist at commercial strategy firm Cruxy & Co., says YES. Marketing guru and Silicon Valley mastermind Guy Kawasaki famously said “ideas are easy, implementation is hard”. But while ideas may be easy, truly great ideas are anything but. In the fast-paced and saturated [...]
It’s up to businesses to make sure no one gets left behind in the digital revolution October 14, 2019 The digitisation of the global economy is transforming the way we communicate, work and live. Today, you can transfer money to the other side of the world in the blink of an eye, pay for a coffee by tapping your phone, and open a bank account in minutes. The startling growth of the UK’s innovative [...]
Employers, it’s time to add some freelancers to your armoury October 12, 2019 Talk to graduates, new mothers, or young creatives about work today, and the one word you’re likely to hear more than any other is freelance. The term itself certainly isn’t new. In Walter Scott’s 1819 novel Ivanhoe, paid mercenaries described as “free lances” are offered from one feudal lord to another. Fast-forward 200 years, and [...]
Four tactics buyers must use to beat sellers in London’s housing market October 11, 2019 If you’re looking to buy residential property in London right now, buckle your seatbelt: despite recent doom and gloom headlines, Central London remains a seller’s market. It is true prices have come off about 20 per cent since the 2014 high. It’s also true that the average time a London home spends on the market [...]
Taking a stand is easy when it doesn’t cost you anything October 11, 2019 DOWNING Street is busy trying to get FTSE chiefs to sign a letter in support of the government’s Brexit position, whatever it may be. Enthusiasm is apparently in short supply, and who can blame business leaders for steering clear of this polarising topic? In this day and age, publicly backing Boris Johnson will trigger a [...]
Boris rekindles hope of Brexit breakthrough October 11, 2019 This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Then again, it might not be. In the days before Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar’s meeting yesterday at a Liverpool wedding venue, talk on both sides of the Channel was of the [...]
Rory walks on with a campaign to spice up the race for London mayor October 11, 2019 Watch out London, your favourite selfie-taking, tie-rejecting, accidental-opium-smoking, politician/rambler is coming to a Tube station near you. Yes, it’s Rory Stewart time once again. For those of us who were mesmerised by the former international development secretary’s short-lived sensation of a campaign to be Tory leader, now we get to enjoy the sequel, after Rory [...]