Management gurus drop the ball this time January 28, 2020 England’s cricketers haven’t made a recent habit of winning Test matches abroad, so the 3-1 series victory over South Africa is cause for celebration – not least due to the arrival on the international scene of Ollie Pope and a sign that we might just have found a pair of openers who can keep us [...]
No cricket chat? Management gurus dropped the ball this time January 28, 2020 England’s cricketers haven’t made a habit of winning Test matches abroad recently, so the 3-1 series victory over South Africa is cause for celebration — not least due to the arrival on the international scene of Ollie Pope and a sign that we might have found openers who can keep us in a game beyond [...]
Businesses need to be heard on immigration January 24, 2020 Over the last few years, the Home Office has managed to preside over the Windrush debacle, been forced to apologise for a heavy-handed refusal to issue visas because of minor administrative errors, and admitted that it has no idea of how many customs agents it has. It is, in short, a department in which things [...]
Boris bounce must be given the right boost January 23, 2020 The weather may be turning for the worse, but it appears that the economy has some sunlit uplands in its sights. Day after day seems to bring a new survey which suggests that business leaders, households and analysts are feeling a little chirpier about 2020. Today the CBI and Atheneum join a growing chorus of [...]
Can the UK deal with both Brussels and DC? January 22, 2020 To take Donald Trump literally, but not seriously, is a mistake that many have made since he transitioned from waning reality TV star to political insurgent and leader of the free world. It is true that many of his chosen and oft-quoted facts are at best disputable, and his tweeted assaults on the English language [...]
Business needs weirdos and wild cards, too January 9, 2020 We need some true wild cards… super-talented weirdos.” That was the verdict of new Number Ten brain-in-chief, and occasional chief of staff, Dominic Cummings last week on who he wished to hire to transform the British state. His argument – in a blog that is best described as forthright – is that there are some [...]
Labour’s problem is the message, not London accents December 18, 2019 “There is no choice between being principled and unelectable, and electable and unprincipled. We have tortured ourselves with this foolishness for too long,” said Tony Blair, in his 1994 speech to Labour Conference, his first as leader. “If the world changes and we do not, we become of no use to the world. Our principles [...]
Boris bans government ministers from Davos December 17, 2019 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has banned government ministers from the annual World Economic Forum jamboree in Davos. The Daily Mail’s Jason Groves reports that a Government source told him “Our focus is on delivering for the people, not champagne with billionaires.” The gathering of the business and political elite is seen as the premier networking [...]
Bees. Fridges. Secret tapes. That was the election that was. December 12, 2019 Elections, so the common wisdom goes, are won by smart political positioning, uniting figures and a well-thought-through ground game. Debate performances that change the dial, soaring speeches that speak to a country yearning for inspiration, the public coming together behind that single candidate who… Well, yes, we may have to revisit that — for despite [...]
Poll predicts Tory majority of 28, halved from a fortnight ago December 10, 2019 In a further sign that the election polls are narrowing, a comprehensive poll conducted by YouGov suggested the expected Tory majority to be 28 – a significant fall from the 68 they predicted a fortnight ago. The final MRP poll of 2019 found that were the election to be held tomorrow, the Conservatives would be [...]
