Chancellor Philip Hammond’s tax hikes in yesterday’s Spring Budget spell political trouble March 9, 2017 Philip Hammond was beaten up pretty badly at last night’s meeting of Tory MPs. Colleagues rounded on him for hiking a tax on the self-employed (for which one can read, entrepreneurs) and for another raid on dividend payment tax relief. How exactly are Tory MPs meant to sell this to their voters? And how does [...]
Ever the pragmatist, chancellor Philip Hammond is right to be bullish on Brexit March 6, 2017 Philip Hammond isn’t known as Westminster’s most exciting MP. He lacks the bombast of a Boris Johnson or the polished ambition of a George Osborne. And yet, he has emerged as one of the most respected figures of the post-referendum government, with many City figures viewing him as “the grownup in the room”. Having backed [...]
Editor’s Notes: It’s hard to see how Corbyn’s Labour party could sink any lower, Brexiteers attempt some cheer and Michael Gove takes to Twitter like a duck to water March 3, 2017 An American has taken out an advert in the Times to lay claim to the British throne. Allan Evans, of Colorado, says he is a descendant of a royal Welsh line dating back to the third century, and that “in 30 days’ time” he “shall claim his royal estate”. I was reading about Evans’ dubious [...]
Ministers cannot afford to echo Sir John Major’s nervousness over Brexit March 1, 2017 For someone so dull, John Major manages to provoke passionate reactions. Among those who welcomed his latest intervention in the great Brexit debate he is hailed as a wise and respected grandfather to the nation, speaking sense at a time when the UK is running towards to a cliff edge. In contrast, he is seen [...]
Editor’s Notes: Snapchat woos London investors, Venezuela’s vice president reaches a new low and Channel 4’s Jon Snow needs to get a grip February 24, 2017 Are you a Snapchatter? Do you even know what I’m talking about? Snapchat is a social media app that allows users to send images and videos to each other, often augmented by the addition of creative filters or effects. It’s also increasingly used as a platform for viewing and sharing news content. You may not [...]
Experts are vital, but so is scepticism and debate – take it from the Bank of England’s Minouche Shafik February 23, 2017 Experts have come in for plenty of stick over the past 12 months. Michael Gove’s infamous assertion during the referendum campaign that “people have had enough” of them has entered political legend. His actual quote is overlooked: he was specifically criticising experts who worked at “organisations with acronyms” and who were “consistently getting it wrong”. So, [...]
Downing Street was up for a fight over the now scuppered $140bn Kraft Heinz-Unilever mega deal February 20, 2017 Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be. Many of us spent the weekend chewing over the early manoeuvres of what would have been one of the largest corporate deals ever, but by Sunday evening Kraft Heinz declared it was “amicably” walking away from its audacious bid to scoop up Unilever. In just 48 hours, a [...]
Editor’s Notes: Lloyd’s has bigger things to worry about than staff nipping out for a drink February 16, 2017 When I started working at a Westminster PR firm eight years ago, I had to learn how to drink at lunch. It wasn’t exactly a hardship. We were a small office (just three people when I joined) and every day we would decamp to the Italian next-door and see off a few bottles of red. [...]
The Treasury needs to rebuild public trust February 13, 2017 Lord Kerslake popped up on Sunday morning to discuss the findings of his review into the current state of the Treasury. Kerslake, a former head of the civil service, was commissioned by shadow chancellor John McDonnell to assess the capabilities and remit of HMT and his findings look set to make interesting reading. Kerslake’s report is [...]
Editor’s notes: Follow the data: Our world is getting safer, richer and healthier February 10, 2017 Towards the end of last year, my colleagues and I made a point of trying to buck the notion (most deep-rooted on social media, it must be said) that 2016 was a particularly dreadful year. Brexit, Trump and a host of celebrity deaths were held up as evidence of a wider disintegration of our fortunes. [...]
