Labour’s arrogance is disrespectful to business October 10, 2024 When it emerged that Boris Johnson reportedly muttered “f**K business” during a meeting as Prime Minister, he was rightly castigated. For many people it marked an emphatic break in the relationship between government and the private sector. We might not be able to point to any similarly totemic moment in Keir Starmer’s first three months [...]
Chancellor’s tightrope walk will leave us holding our breath October 8, 2024 By tradition, Chancellors are allowed a stiff drink at the despatch box as they deliver their Budget. Parliamentary records tell us that Gladstone enjoyed sherry and beaten egg while the most recent Chancellor to indulge in this ancient right, Ken Clarke, opted for a straight whiskey. Since then, there’s been nothing but water in the [...]
It wasn’t supposed to be this way, was it? October 7, 2024 Kremlinology is an old Cold War concept referring to the study of key individuals high up in the Soviet government. Who was in favour, who hadn’t been seen in a while, who was winning power struggles and who had been shot; Western analysts devoured such intelligence in an effort to understand who was actually in [...]
Demise of coal power is end of an era, but not an end in itself October 1, 2024 A quiet revolution occurred in the very earliest moments of this morning, probably while you were asleep. You went to bed in one sort of country, and woke up in another sort entirely. The difference is largely invisible but undeniably huge: yesterday, the UK’s last coal power station was still operational and by this morning [...]
How will Labour fill the non-dom shaped hole in their tax plans? Brace yourself. September 30, 2024 Cast your mind back to the Spring and early Summer of this year when the election campaign was underway. It seemed the Tories were announcing a new policy every day, from the return of National Service to inventive new ways of protecting pensioners’ incomes, Conservatives filled the airwaves with ideas, policies and announcements. In the [...]
Nobody turns up to a Starmer speech expecting to have their ribs tickled September 24, 2024 Was Keir Starmer once beaten up by an actor? Was he bullied by a clown? Something must have happened in his past to explain his visceral aversion to performers and showmen. He rarely makes a speech these days without attacking those who take to a stage with a spring in their step and a quip [...]
Wealth creators are right to be nervous September 24, 2024 The Chancellor insisted yesterday that the proceeds of economic growth must be “felt by the many,” in a line that echoed the commitment made by David Cameron 15 years ago to “share the proceeds of growth.” Rachel Reeves would not be comfortable with such a comparison, and as if to make that very point she [...]
The UK economy is suffering from long Covid and a short memory September 23, 2024 We may have ditched the testing swabs and face masks, but the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is still being felt. Quite understandably, we’d rather consign that era to history, but the scale of the costs incurred makes that impossible. The official inquiry is attempting to get to grips with questions of preparedness, decision making [...]
“Older and poorer” – the UK’s future? September 19, 2024 The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, said last week that the UK risks becoming “a country with an NHS attached.” Coming from a Labour MP this constitutes admirable candour. The problem is, we’re long past that point already. The NHS is by far the biggest employer in the country (over two million people) with a budget [...]
The departure of the super rich is an early warning siren for the rest of us September 18, 2024 Marcelo Goulart, managing partner at the Zurich-based wealth advisor First Alliance, has been so busy helping his clients leave the UK that he’s had no summer holiday. He tells City A.M. that 80 per cent of his “UK exposed” clients have either left the country or are in the final stages of doing so. He [...]
