All hail the regulator going for growth November 12, 2024 At last month’s Investment Summit in the City, Keir Starmer set out an admirably clear view of how he wants this country’s regulatory bodies to work, telling delegates: “we will make sure that every regulator in this country, especially our economic and competition regulators, takes growth as seriously as this room does.” There’s been no [...]
Ministers either don’t understand private sector, or don’t care November 11, 2024 No politician could actually get away with telling businesses to “suck it up” when they warn about the impact of tax rises, though Labour’s Darren Jones came dangerously close yesterday, airily telling the BBC that bigger businesses can handle higher costs. While it’s true that they’ll find a way to pay these new taxes and [...]
It turns out Kamala never stood a chance November 6, 2024 In the end, the race for the White House was not determined by the Democrats’ celebrity endorsements, a backlash by the Puerto Rican community, Kamala’s Gen Z army, her party’s superior ground game, her running mate’s folksy charm, Donald Trump’s vulgarity or his criminal record. These may be the issues that have dominated US network [...]
Labour cheered 1p off a pint but the Budget leaves a vicious hangover November 6, 2024 As Rachel Reeves delivered her Budget one week ago, the loudest cheer on the government benches came when she declared that her policies will take 1p off the cost of a pint. Labour was so pleased with this bit of good news that the claim dominated their post-match social media output. This self-congratulatory victory lap [...]
As America votes, can US democracy survive without a WaPo endorsement? November 5, 2024 The US election has given rise to a huge number of divisive, potent and important debates. For many people, regardless of whether they even have a vote in this race, the contest has raised questions about the viability of American democracy itself. Those questions are likely to linger long after the close of polls and, [...]
Badenoch wants a battle of ideas – we should wish her well November 4, 2024 One week before emerging victorious in the Conservative leadership race, Kemi Badenoch was asked by Sophy Ridge on Sky News whether she wanted to be Prime Minister. “I don’t think it’s about wanting to be prime minister,” she said, adding, “I think it’s not an award. It’s not like winning a competition. It’s actually a [...]
Labour’s tax raid is an act of spectacular dishonesty October 31, 2024 Warming up for the Budget in the Commons yesterday, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer engaged in a civilised, warm exchange in honour of the former’s final outing as Leader of the Opposition. They joked about cricket, Yorkshire and life as a constituency MP. Within a couple of hours, Sunak was back on his feet delivering [...]
You can’t rebuild Britain by punishing people who build businesses October 30, 2024 Today, the Chancellor will attempt to write this government into a grand historical narrative that stretches back in Labour folklore to 1945. It was then, Rachel Reeves will say this afternoon, that the Labour Party “rebuilt our country out of the rubble of the Second World War.” Moving forward a couple of decades she will [...]
“Genuinely uplifting” – The City AM Dragon Awards for Social Impact October 29, 2024 The rest of this week is going to be dominated by the Budget, so permit us a diversion today as this column focuses not on capital gains tax, investor sentiment or national insurance, but on the quiet, unassuming brilliance of so many people and so many businesses doing so many great things. In yesterday’s paper [...]
