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 [...]
UK debt interest payments show the desperate need for economic growth August 18, 2022 Towards the end of the Johnson administration, which still staggers along in zombie-like fashion, it became fashionable to say that the problem was it never really stood for anything. This is true: even now with a degree of distance, Johnsonism remains something of a mystery beyond its defining principle that Boris remain very much in [...]
Pubs are vital parts of our community: they urgently need a tax cut August 16, 2022 If the pandemic taught us one thing, it’s that the City is far more than traders, brokers and bankers. It’s the teams who packed up a host of high-end kit on a Friday and parked it in front rooms in the Home Counties in time for Monday’s open; the insurers and the compliance bods who [...]
Leadership contest doing little to inspire confidence in any plan for growth August 14, 2022 If Queen of Pop Madonna was living in a material world, it is hard to shake the feeling that our prospective Kings or Queens of Westminster are living in something of a fantasy world. After almost a month of this interminable Tory leadership contest, which every day seems to somehow inspire less confidence, we are [...]
Editorial: Time to knock heads together until planes can fly at full capacity August 3, 2022 Imagine if the London Olympics were being hosted next week: the stadium would have been a shadow of itself with ticket-holders still stuck on the tarmac.
Editorial: The next prime minister must put an end to our U-turn habit August 2, 2022 Rishi Sunak has promised to cut income tax to 16p in the next seven years after calling Liz Truss' plans to slash the tax burden were a "fairytale"
Yet another ‘housing policy’ designed mainly to frustrate housebuilding July 28, 2022 Pictured in an olive, recently waxed Barbour jacket in front of rolling green hills, Rishi Sunak looked every bit the country gentleman in pictures posted to his social media accounts yesterday. The reason? A commitment to protect the green belt. “We’ve seen too many examples of local councils circumventing the views of residents by taking [...]
Energy bosses must be wise to the coming tide of public anger July 28, 2022 ONE OF a City chief exec’s key jobs is horizon scanning. For those in the energy sector, should they be finding their forecasting glasses a little fogged up, we’ll help: you’re about to become the least popular companies in Britain. It is hard to over-egg how painful energy bills could become this winter, with predictions [...]
