The UK’s stamp duty on shares is a form of fiscal self-harm August 29, 2023 The malaise of our stock markets has been discussed at length over the past year. Reasons offered vary: Britain’s investors lacking a risk appetite, pension funds not putting sufficient capital into equities, a lack of research thanks to Brussels-era unbundling rules, even our liberal approach to short sellers have all been given as perfectly sane [...]
Prigozhin death a needed reminder the West cannot sit back on its laurels August 24, 2023 It is a sad fact of life that war fatigue exists. When the Russians invaded Ukraine in February of last year, it was on our front page day after day. That isn’t the case anymore, even if the daily devastation wrought on Ukraine remains much the same. Indeed sometimes it is easy, almost, to forget [...]
Blitz spirit may be overdone but there’s a lesson in taking quick action August 23, 2023 The worst fire in the City’s history was not, in fact, the Great Fire of 1666. It came on a Sunday night in December 1940, when seemingly half of the City was blitzed into oblivion. The other half took its punishment on other nights in that terrible few months. Amongst the many indignities suffered by [...]
Individual climate action is rendered meaningless if the big polluters – like HGVs – roll on August 22, 2023 Like a ropey old pullover, pulling at the threads of Britain’s net zero efforts can sometimes do more damage. Take our roads, for instance. Over the past decade – in truth the past two or three years – even the country’s most committed petrolheads have come round to the idea of electric cars. Our black [...]
What a day out in Whitstable tells us about our water companies August 21, 2023 Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink. To be fair to the water companies, they continue to provide us with drinkable stuff out of the tap. Unfortunately it’s everything else they’re failing at. Over the weekend, a City A.M. reporter took a trip to Whitstable for a sunny(ish) weekend break. The beach was [...]
Long-term investment ends in triumph – just look at the Lionesses August 17, 2023 Everything’s going up, they cry. Well, almost everything. The price of a ticket to watch Arsenal’s women’s team at the Emirates last year was £12. This year it’s come down to £7 or £9, depending on how many games you buy for. Who said you can’t find value in 2023. The story of women’s football’s [...]
He could work on the delivery, but Bailey’s warnings were right August 16, 2023 So was he right? Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey’s comments that Brits shouldn’t ask for a pay rise looked tin-eared at the time, and it didn’t help when the Bank then upped its bonus pool. But his warnings of a wage price spiral appear to be coming to fruition. Now, what brought on the [...]
The BBC needs a chief ‘why?’ officer if it’s to regain its relevance August 15, 2023 The BBC is struggling for its survival. It sees a hostile government, new agile competition from streamers and social media, and may soon find out what life is like without the guaranteed income of a licence fee. Faced with this dilemma, the BBC announced a new show yesterday sure to change the institution’s fortunes: a [...]
It is time Britain rid itself of its entrenched tall poppy syndrome August 3, 2023 Britain has a tendency to chop down the tallest of our poppies, from growing tech businesses to promising young footballers. Some try to do that with one of our more appealing recent success stories: English wine.One recent article elsewhere said the red tasted like vimto and the good stuff was too expensive; buy French, seemed [...]
Housing crisis is not just an issue for avo-loving millennials, but one for the UK at large August 2, 2023 House prices crash – first time buyers, rejoice? Hardly. The near four per cent fall over the past year takes house prices back to where they were only a couple of years ago; and with interest rates and therefore the price of mortgages rocketing, the end result is housing remaining out of reach for all [...]