While the lunatic fringe of Extinction Rebellion wages war on itself, the City does the green heavy lifting September 1, 2021 To Extinction Rebellion’s list of enemies – of whom there are now so very many – we can now add the giant panda. You might have thought that the endangered bamboo-bothering bear was an example of the dangers of environmental change. After all, there’s no question that human behaviour has led, in part, to their [...]
Editorial: America First vs Global Britain August 18, 2021 On Tuesday night Joe Biden shirked the blame from the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The speed of the Taliban’s takeover was unexpected, the President said – a sole admission of any miscalculation. Biden took the reins of a Trump-era decision and mangled it into a foreign policy catastrophe for the US and [...]
Editorial: Slashing staff pay for remote work is a slap-dash response to the shifts of the pandemic August 11, 2021 To say the cost of living in London is more expensive than the cost of living in rural Sussex is so obvious, it hardly bears repeating. By every price index, rent, transport, coffee, pints or food, London tops the charts. Companies have always forked out more money for employees who live in expensive metropolitan cities. [...]
Editorial: Online retail has a duty to be human – for their workers and the industry July 28, 2021 Old-school retail has been plagued by many criticisms through its long performance on our high streets. It has been far from the patron saint of good behaviour. But if you walked into a store in the early 2000s, you could, fairly or unfairly, get a feel for a company from the staff you bumped into. [...]
Editorial: Boris Johnson’s Government desperately needs a reset to avoid giving credence to Cummings’ claims July 21, 2021 Had you considered so doing before, it now seems unlikely Dominic Cummings would make the cut for a “dream dinner party” list. Your other guests wouldn’t get a word in edge-ways. In his hour-long interview aired on the BBC last night, the Prime Minister’s former adviser was half score-settling and half self-justification, delivering a vicious [...]
If not now, when? Boris Johnson’s grand reopening must be buttressed with a shorter waiting gap for second doses July 13, 2021 “It is only thanks to the vaccine program, we are able to take these cautious steps, but to take these steps, we must be cautious and we must be vaccinated, so please, get that jab,” Boris Johnson cried from the podium of Downing Street yesterday. It was not, as the Prime Minister had once promised, [...]
Editorial: A growing talent time-bomb is putting London’s economic recovery in peril July 7, 2021 London feels more normal than it has done for a long time. Soho is buzzing, Oxford Street has begun to see elements of a footfall revival, and at certain times in recent weeks it’s been possible to see young men of a certain age getting merrily tanked up before going to the football. And not [...]
Editorial: Quarantine exemptions for CEOs must be part of wider travel plans to fulfil the Global Britain promise June 30, 2021 In December 2019, Boris Johnson vowed to fight for a Global Britain as the nation prepared to leave the European Union. He promised to ensure the United Kingdom would remain a hub for international business and would be even more attractive on the world stage once it was unshackled from the bureaucracy of Brexit. Over [...]
London will be diminished if the Government’s Fortress Britain approach lasts much longer June 23, 2021 The sights and sounds of London’s gradual return to normality are tonic for the soul. There are the obvious signs: the march of City workers across London Bridge in the morning, queues at Pret at lunchtime, a packed Greek Street in the evening. And there are the less obvious, like spotting tourists plotting their journey [...]
Editorial: London has deserved more from an insipid Mayoral contest May 5, 2021 It is fair to say the year-long delay to the London Mayoral election has not increased the appetite for it. Nor have the last few months been a vintage political campaign of sharp differences, eye-catching promises and grand visions for the future. That’s a shame. London is a global city and will reinvent itself post-pandemic. [...]