Michael Gove overstates number of UK coronavirus tests as government misses target March 30, 2020 Senior government minister Michael Gove has been caught out misstating the number of UK coronavirus tests carried out last week. The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said yesterday the UK had reached 10,000 coronavirus tests a day. That would be in line with the government’s weekly target. However, it has been revealed today that [...]
How small businesses can do big things for sustainability March 30, 2020 | Sponsored With the green agenda more important than ever, businesses are under pressure to ensure they are both environmentally and economically sustainable. The 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) is on the horizon and attention is focused on how businesses will play their part to tackle climate change. Many big corporations have big budgets for green [...]
Dominic Cummings self-isolates with coronavirus symptoms March 30, 2020 Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser Dominic Cummings is reportedly self-isolating at home with coronavirus symptoms. A Number 10 source told the MailOnline that Cummings is still “in contact” with Downing Street colleagues. A Downing Street spokesperson said they “wouldn’t expect” that Cummings had been tested. It comes after the Prime Minister tested positive for Covid-19 [...]
UK coronavirus outbreak is slowing and antibody test could be ready in days, says top scientist March 30, 2020 The coronavirus epidemic in the United Kingdom is showing signs of slowing and antibody tests for the disease could be ready in days, a top epidemiologist has said. “We think the epidemic is just about slowing in the UK right now,” Neil Ferguson, a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, told the BBC [...]
COVID-19 – the latest challenge to ‘levelling up’ the UK economy March 30, 2020 | City Talk In uncharted territory … When I flew out of Buenos Aires in late 1990, having ended my stint working as part of a team supporting the economic reform programme of President Menem, I genuinely believed I would never again work in such a severe economic situation like the one Argentina had been in. Prices in [...]
DEBATE: Should businesses sign a new ‘social contract’ in exchange for government support? March 30, 2020 Should businesses sign a new “social contract” in exchange for government support? YES, says James Kirkup, director of the Social Market Foundation. Taxpayers are offering unprecedented support to business during this crisis, and will be paying for it for years to come. To avoid a backlash that harms business and the UK economy afterwards, we [...]
A more sustainable capitalism will emerge from Covid-19 March 30, 2020 The main concern that is paralysing the financial markets right now is uncertainty. Investors and the business community are questioning how long this crisis will last, and when consumer and investor confidence will return, with no end in sight. But while none of us can predict the future, when it does return, one possible outcome [...]
China is using the coronavirus crisis to its advantage March 30, 2020 It is easy to lose your bearings while in self-isolation. Trust me, as I’m into the fourth week of quarantine here in Milan, I entirely understand. But baseline realities matter even more in a genuine crisis. One such truism was put best by John Stuart Mill: all it takes for evil to triumph in the [...]
DEBATE: Does the shift in police attitudes threaten British society? March 30, 2020 Does the shift in police attitudes threaten Britain’s free society after this crisis is over? YES, says Matt Kilcoyne, deputy director of the Adam Smith Institute. Our police keep us safe by consent. Overreach by rogue forces risks more than criminalising vast swathes of our society, it risks the very principle of our civilian police [...]
State could be landed with £8bn rail pension deficit March 29, 2020 Taxpayers could be on the hook for £8bn of railway pensions after the government effectively nationalised a portion of the rail system after coronavirus hit demand. The Telegraph reported that the massive government intervention could shift the pension deficit of franchises from the private sector to the public sector. The Department for Transport (DfT) last [...]