Filled with HS2 fever? No? Then let’s think up something better August 27, 2019 HS2, the unloved child of British infrastructure, looks like a goner. And while those into trains might spot that there is a review underway, there can be little doubt that this in itself sends a terminal signal to a project that once seemed to offer a glimpse of what a brave new British future might [...]
He might not be best friends with the press, but the Prime Minister is no Putin August 27, 2019 Is Boris Johnson the new Vladimir Putin? That’s what Dorothy Byrne, head of news for Channel 4, suggested at the Edinburgh Festival last week. Byrne said that Boris Johnson was “a known liar”, and accused him of aping not only Donald Trump, but the Russian President in his dealings with the press. A head of [...]
Time to scrap our archaic and misguided Sunday trading laws August 27, 2019 The Sunday Trading Act 1994 came into force 25 years ago yesterday, allowing shops to open on Sundays, but restricting opening times of stores over 3,000 square feet to six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm. This compromise followed the defeat of the Shops Bill 1986 – Margaret Thatcher’s only defeat in the House of [...]
Management lessons in kindness from TV icon Mister Rogers August 27, 2019 Say the name Mister Rogers to a certain generation of Americans, and they will likely go misty-eyed and start humming the same tune. Fred Rogers hosted a US children’s television programme called Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood that ran from 1968 all the way to 2001. The show was revered for its host’s gentle nature and the [...]
Fracking faces a battle to win over the public August 26, 2019 Just a dozen days ago the government said it would consider easing rules that force fracking companies to stop all activity when relatively weak tremors are found. The hint of a U-turn was a considerable boost to an industry that had become exasperated by Theresa May’s somewhat-bizarre approach of officially supporting fracking while essentially preventing [...]
Republicans have no clue how to handle their deranged ‘Messiah’ August 23, 2019 Imagine you are a serious US politician. What do you do when the man your party put in the White House tries to buy another country’s territory, before repeating claims that he is like the “King of Israel” and boasting that he is “the Chosen One”, all within the space of two days? The obvious [...]
Shocked at the NHS denying treatment to unmarried women? That’s just the start August 23, 2019 All healthcare systems ration. Single-payer models dependent on tax revenue, like the NHS, tend to ration with access to treatment and waiting times. The utilitarian defence of such systems is that they are universal. If I’m waiting for my hip replacement, so are you. If you can’t access an experimental drug for your ailment, my [...]
From body modification to BDSM, we have no right to police the choices of consenting adults August 23, 2019 Earlier this year, Brendan McCarthy, known as Dr Evil, was sentenced to 40 months in jail for performing consensual body modifications. This included the removal of a nipple and ear, and the splitting of a tongue. The judges ruled that the customers’ written consent to McCarthy did not amount to a defence. “Not my cup [...]
DEBATE: Will email die out? August 23, 2019 Will email die out? Morten Brøgger, chief executive of collaboration platform Wire, says YES. Almost 50 years on since its inception, email is fast becoming no longer fit for purpose as a communication tool. Given that 90 per cent of cyber attacks begin with a phishing email, today it’s the equivalent of leaving the house [...]
Preparing for ambush: Why media training is critical August 23, 2019 Chief executives are in the spotlight like never before, with all the press attention of a Kardashian but none of the media savviness. What many don’t realise is that we’ve entered a new age of media, particularly when it comes to on-screen exposure. Where a chief executive would once have had hours if not days [...]