Liz Truss: New government must demonstrate that politics can deliver September 7, 2022 Some time ago in an editorial meeting at City A.M.’s offices, just after the discussion of another major UK infrastructure project dumped on the back-burner, one of our more cynical staff members suggested that it might not be all bad for Britain to enjoy a benign dictatorship for a few years, driving through necessary but [...]
Liz Truss could be the gear shift Britain needs September 6, 2022 Should you be in need of a slightly bitter laugh during your lunch break, we recommend you pop down an internet wormhole and find the video of Britain’s former business secretary and now Net Zero czar Alok Sharma proudly pressing the red button on the demolition of SSE’s Ferrybridge coal plant. It is just over [...]
Liz Truss: New PM can be radical – but she’ll need to keep sceptical markets onside September 5, 2022 As she gets used to the new letterhead on her stationery over the next couple of days, Liz Truss will also be introduced to the art of the balancing act. The job of Prime Minister requires different skills from that of a successful Cabinet minister, on whom it is beholden to drive forward their own [...]
Liz Truss as PM will need a sharp focus on delivery September 4, 2022 In the Square Mile and Westminster alike, the secret to good leadership is two-fold: say hello to everybody, and don’t sweat the small stuff. The vast majority of CEOs in the City know that the best way to run a large business is to set a clear strategy and focus on a small, but important, [...]
City stands ready to invest in UK if governments gives it ability – and faith – to do so August 31, 2022 What’s the size of 31 Lake Windermeres, home to 165 steel-and-fibreglass behemoths each taller than the Monument, and 70-odd miles from Grimsby? If your answer was the Hornsea 2 wind farm, ten points to you. The world’s largest offshore wind farm became fully operational yesterday, set to power around 1.4m homes – combined with Hornsea [...]
A new Prime Minister must give London a hearing in Downing Street August 31, 2022 That the farcical fights over Transport for London have dragged on this long tells us everything we need to know about Westminster’s relationship with London. When Boris Johnson was elected it was on a mandate of “levelling up” – a victory which often made our capital city, and the south east in general, a useful [...]
Tory leadership election: Let’s hope for some fresh ideas from new PM August 29, 2022 To paraphrase the former US President Gerald Ford, we are approaching the end of our national nightmare. The Tory leadership election finally comes to an end this time next week, when the new Prime Minister will travel to Buckingham Palace to inherit an in-tray of what would no doubt be described by Whitehall mandarins as [...]
Editorial: Downturn the perfect time for some genuine Whitehall reform August 24, 2022 We tried to find some more good news for the front page – we promise – but the truth is it seems harder to find now than it has for some time. Every day brings new data suggesting that things are bad now, and getting worse. But that’s no reason to be (too) down-hearted – [...]
Avanti West Coast woes give train privatisation a bad name August 21, 2022 It is tempting to place the blame for the rail chaos gripping the country firmly at the feet of Mick Lynch and his twitter-friendly pals at the top of the unions, and it is true that much of it does indeed lie there. But on one particular line the operator should take their fair share [...]
A City super-regulator’s benefits are not immediately obvious August 18, 2022 The greatest compliment a football fan can ever give a referee is that they ‘let the game flow’ and try to avoid blowing their whistle except when absolutely necessary. Financial regulators sit broadly within the same definition. So it is with some regret that just a few years after we went through a post-crisis reorganisation [...]