If Chequers is dead, a new battle looms: European Economic Area or Free Trade Agreement? September 3, 2018 Chequers, the Prime Minister's official country residence, was gifted to the nation by Lord and Lady Lee after the First World War. A stained glass window carries an inscription offering “this house of peace…as a place of rest and recreation” for Prime Ministers. Despite this noble intention, it's hard to imagine that Theresa May associates [...]
Editor’s Notes: Time for some forward guidance on the next Bank of England governor, Labour loses a man of principle and Warren Buffett’s lunch date August 31, 2018 Mark Carney’s first speech as governor of the Bank of England was on 28 August 2013, at a lunch co-hosted by the CBI and the Institute of Directors. I was working for the latter at the time, and was leaning against the back wall with a glass of warm white wine in my hand as [...]
Venezuela sinks ever lower as the state tightens its grip August 29, 2018 Life in Venezuela is now unimaginably hard. In recent years, we have watched as this once prosperous country descended into poverty, chaos and political turmoil. The United Nations estimates that more than two million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2015, with thousands more attempting to pour over the boarders of neighbouring countries every day. [...]
Tesla can’t afford Elon Musk’s eccentricities August 27, 2018 In the late hours of Friday night, Elon Musk published a blog post that brought to an end a three-week period of intense speculation and investor confusion. The billionaire Tesla founder declared that, having discussed the matter with his board, taking the company private “would be even more time consuming and distracting than initially anticipated.” [...]
Theresa May needs to clarify the government’s ‘no deal’ message August 27, 2018 With each passing day the Prime Minister's previous insistence that “no deal is better than a bad deal” slips further down the political memory hole. It used to be trotted out as often as “Brexit means Brexit” – but as exit day draws closer, and the tension ramps up, we don't hear Theresa May offering [...]
The Brexit campaign is about to be fought all over again August 19, 2018 If you thought you would return from your summer holiday to find the country coming together behind a coherent Brexit plan, think again. With the departure date just over 200 days away, one could have been forgiven for thinking that the old arguments about Leave versus Remain would have given way by now to something [...]
Editor’s Notes: Our world is getting better all the time; a G&T at 28,000ft; knocking down the door to the City; and Andrew Adonis is triggered by City A.M. August 10, 2018 Ignore the misery merchants, the world is getting better all the time When voters are asked to estimate the size of the immigrant population, the rate of teenage pregnancy or the level of unemployment, they routinely overshoot. This mindset is prevalent among voters right across the world according to Bobby Duffy, author of a new [...]
Editor’s Notes: Our world is getting better all the time; a G&T at 28,000ft; knocking down the door to the City; and Andrew Adonis is triggered by City A.M. August 10, 2018 Ignore the misery merchants, the world is getting better all the time When voters are asked to estimate the size of the immigrant population, the rate of teenage pregnancy or the level of unemployment, they routinely overshoot. This mindset is prevalent among voters right across the world according to Bobby Duffy, author of a new [...]
Editor’s Notes: The real threat to our democracy is the call for a second referendum, making new homes more popular and communism vs liberty August 3, 2018 There's a lot of talk around about “our democracy being under threat.” This alarmist claim is thrown around by people who are still fighting the Brexit referendum – many of whom are convinced that Leave only prevailed thanks to Russian disinformation, nefarious online campaigns and dodgy money. Guardian columnists, keyboard warriors and a handful of [...]
Taxes are too high and too complicated – it’s time for urgent reform July 9, 2018 A week ago, this newspaper bemoaned the government's drift towards tax rises – and the lack of any proper low-tax Tories coming to the fore. Without a doubt, Jeremy Corbyn's Labour has shifted the Overton Window (the range of policies deemed acceptable by politicians) and the debate now largely concerns which taxes to raise and [...]
