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 [...]
Relax, the UK (probably) isn’t heading for recession July 17, 2019 Immediate fears of a recession in the UK economy were eased last week with the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate of monthly GDP. The economy had shrunk in April, but growth resumed in May. This has not prevented widespread conjecture that a recession is imminent. The Resolution Foundation claimed last weekend that the [...]
Boots puts the boot into plastic bags as shoppers support switch to paper version July 17, 2019 Health and beauty chain Boots has joined other retailers in pledging to swap plastic bags for paper, after facing criticism earlier this year for keeping medical prescription bags in plastic to protect medication during transport. The new paper bags are unbleached and use water-based ink, and will be in all stores by early 2020. Boots [...]
Stop nudging people towards property at the expense of their pension – it’s irresponsible July 16, 2019 Suggestions that young workers should be able to dip into their pension savings to help buy their first home are unhelpful