DEBATE: Is the Thomas Cook boss right to defend his high pay? October 1, 2019 Is Peter Fankhauser, boss of now-collapsed Thomas Cook, right to defend his high pay and bonuses? YES, says Benedict Spence, a freelance writer. It never sits well, watching those high up the corporate ladder gorge themselves as companies go under. But the case of Peter Fankhauser and Thomas Cook isn’t quite as clear cut as [...]
DEBATE: Does the Hong Kong Exchange boss have any chance of winning over LSE shareholders? September 26, 2019 Does the Hong Kong Exchange boss have any chance of winning over LSE shareholders? YES, says Benedict Spence, a freelance writer. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s takeover attempt may not sit well with some elements of the city, nor with some in Westminster, but at a time of insecurity over the future of the nation’s [...]
Would Nigel Farage be a good pick to be the next UK ambassador to the US? July 9, 2019 Would Nigel Farage be a good pick to be the next UK ambassador to the US? Benedict Spence, a freelance writer, says YES. Remove from the equation what you make of the politics of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, and your suspicions over their relationship. The fact that they have such a relationship would make [...]
DEBATE: With the launch of KFC’s vegan burger, is it smart for fast-food brands to move into veganism? June 19, 2019 With the launch of KFC’s vegan burger, is it smart for fast-food brands to move into veganism? Caroline Dilloway, client service director at StormBrands, says YES. The new vegan burger is undoubtedly a smart move for KFC, and it won’t be the last fast-food brand to move into this space. The incredible rise of consumers [...]
Debate: As National Vegetarian Week ends, will this group outnumber meat eaters in the next decade? May 17, 2019 As National Vegetarian Week ends, will this group outnumber meat eaters in the next decade? YES – Sophie Lewis is chief strategy officer at marketing agency VMLY&R. If you’d asked me two years ago, my answer would have been in the negative, but we’ve reached a cultural tipping point when it comes to both vegetarians [...]
DEBATE: Should individuals be held accountable for the failure of the Garden Bridge project? April 12, 2019 Should individuals be held accountable for the failure of the Garden Bridge project? Caroline Pidgeon, chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, says YES. When £53.5m is spent on a project, including £43m from the public’s pocket, and there is literally nothing to show for it, some very fundamental questions have to be answered. I fundamentally [...]
DEBATE: Was Facebook right to ban Tommy Robinson? February 28, 2019 Was Facebook right to ban Tommy Robinson? Dr Ben Marder, social media expert at University of Edinburgh Business School, says YES. Facebook was absolutely right to permanently ban Tommy Robinson from its platform and sister site, Instagram. Facebook prides itself as a medium of free speech, one that affords individuals and organisations an influential and [...]
DEBATE: Will the new Franco-German pact help heal the EU’s divisions? January 28, 2019 Will the new Franco-German pact help heal the EU’s divisions? Dr Andrew W M Smith, historian of modern France at the University of Chichester, says YES. From its inception, European integration revolved around the axis of Franco-German unity. In 1963, Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer tied the knot at the Elysee palace, and Emmanuel [...]
DEBATE: Should we celebrate the fact that car sales are down for the second year running? January 8, 2019 Should we celebrate the fact that car sales are down for the second year running? Benedict Spence, a freelance writer, says YES. For all the talk of a fall in car sales in the UK, well over two million new vehicles were registered in Britain last year. It’s a staggering number, and it was only a [...]
DEBATE: Can we expect the Chinese celebration of Singles’ Day to make it over to Britain? November 13, 2018 Can we expect the Chinese celebration of Singles’ Day to make it over to Britain? Abbie Llewelyn, a writer and commentator, says YES. If you think that Valentine’s Day is a commercialised hallmark holiday, just wait until UK companies catch onto Singles’ Day. Originating at Chinese universities in the 90s, Alibaba made it what it [...]
