A new leader might give the Labour party a chance March 31, 2020 For anyone holding out for some exciting non-virus news, this week brings a treat: the result of Labour’s leadershipelection. Having suffered a catastrophic drubbing in mid December, the first Saturday in April will see a new leader of the opposition crowned, along with the elected position of deputy leader. Amusingly, the candidates have all been asked to film an [...]
The City will guide the way for economic recovery March 24, 2020 The latest assessment of leading economic organisations is stark – and grim. The head of the OECD, Angel Gurria, warned yesterday that the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will result in a deeper and more complex hit to the world economy than the 2008 financial crisis. He echoed the head of the IMF, Kristalina [...]
Tackling the virus will require big changes to lives and businesses March 23, 2020 Annual General Meetings don’t normally count as part of one’s social life, no matter how entertaining Mike Ashley’s are. But new rules on social distancing mean that a gathering of directors and shareholders is hard to justify. The London Stock Exchange and other City institutions are right to push for a change to the Companies [...]
Will British businesses stand behind Bailey? March 20, 2020 Most people spend their first week in a new job getting to know people and figuring out how the printer works. Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey ends his first week having slashed interest rates to the lowest level in the institution’s 325-year history. When he writes a book about his time at Threadneedle St [...]
The worst of times may just bring out the best in us March 19, 2020 From the Queen of Denmark to the mayor of Parsipanny, New Jersey, leaders around the world are reaching for a phrase that speaks to the challenge we face: we must come together by staying apart. Ireland’s Leo Varadkar deployed the same line in an excellent speech to his nation on Tuesday night. It captures perfectly [...]
Peacetime is over — and the war has only just begun March 18, 2020 We are still in the very early stages of this crisis and already we risk becoming desensitised to the kind of language deployed by our leaders. The Prime Minister says he’s running “a wartime government” while the chancellor tells the country “never in peacetime have we faced an economic fight like this one”. The words [...]
Boris Johnson needs to deliver his own Mario Draghi moment March 16, 2020 At the start of a crisis, especially one as alien and as fast-moving as the Covid-19 pandemic, governments can count on a certain amount of public support. Quite a high amount, in fact, as has been born out by recent polling revealing high levels of approval for the government’s handling of things so far. But [...]
Our ability to overcome should never be in doubt March 16, 2020 We are being told to prepare for significant changes to our way of life. Within weeks, perhaps sooner, the government will require anyone over the age of 70 to stay in their homes. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, says that when the order comes it will last “for a very long time”, while Public Health [...]
We’re going to have to help each other out March 13, 2020 Major events of the kind that come to be seen as era-defining tend, over time, to attract a simple question: “Where were you when you heard it?” The assassination of JFK, the death of Princess Diana and 9/11 are just a few examples, and it’s reasonable to assume that to this list Brits may add [...]
Splash the cash and hope for the best March 12, 2020 He didn’t look or sound like a man who had only been chancellor for a matter of weeks. It would have been a difficult debut outing in good times, but delivering an emergency Budget — just hours after an emergency rate cut — would test the mettle of a seasoned parliamentary grandee. The delivery was [...]
