After pledging a wealth tax and an end to austerity, would Owen Smith be just as bad as Jeremy Corbyn? July 28, 2016 Brendan O’Neill, editor of Spiked, says Yes. Corbyn versus Smith is the least inspiring leadership spat in living memory. On one side, a man who looks like he wandered out of the 1970s, a beardy, lefty version of Austin Powers, always saying stuff that’s decades out of date. And on the other, an edge-free technocrat whose [...]
Brexit won’t kill the EU: It’s more likely to be a long-term blessing July 26, 2016 Britain's vote to leave the European Union has engulfed the kingdom in a political, constitutional and economic storm. But it has also plunged Europe into uncharted waters. It may not be prepared for this challenging, uncertain course. We’ve so far witnessed a striking lack of consensus among policy-makers. This is not only in regards to [...]
Why Britain and America are streets ahead of Europe in cutting-edge innovation July 26, 2016 The proposed takeover of the hugely successful Arm Holdings by the Japanese giant SoftBank is in the news. Cambridge-based Arm is well placed to exploit the white hot concept of the internet of things, highlighting the UK’s recent advances in this field. The UK has also performed well in biotechnology. But the industry came under scrutiny [...]
Six steps to housing heaven: How Theresa May can kick-start a house-building revolution July 26, 2016 The new Prime Minister has been in place for two weeks now, and is getting to work to achieve her positive agenda of uniting the country and promoting all parts of it, so no one is left behind. To deliver this, there has been substantial focus on housing delivery. The social case for housing is [...]
As Amazon steps up tests in the UK, will drone deliveries really catch on among consumers? July 26, 2016 Nadav Rosenberg, partner at Entrepreneur First, says Yes. Two years ago, drone deliveries were a consumer gimmick; a PR stunt designed to push Amazon’s forward thinking brand. But this recent development is different. Having gained approval from the Civil Aviation Authority to test drones outside of warehouses, with special concessions including operating drones without a direct [...]
The whole UK will suffer if London loses out in the Brexit aftermath July 25, 2016 Just over a month on from the EU referendum and some semblance of order appears to be returning to Whitehall. We have a new Prime Minister and Cabinet. Ministers have started talking about things other than Brexit – such as transport policy and defence. Debt markets look calmer for now. But Brexit is clearly going [...]
Philip Hammond should ignore siren calls for more fiscal stimulus and develop a real strategy for growth July 25, 2016 A question, readers. Who said “spending and borrowing our way out of a recession, over and above the levels that are implied by the automatic stabilisers… will not work and is not sustainable”? Clue: he’s now chancellor of the exchequer. Philip Hammond once believed that Keynesian demand management was a fool’s errand. Just two weeks [...]
It’s 350 years since the Great Fire of London and we’ve still not fully learnt its lessons July 25, 2016 The Great Fire of London, which happened 350 years ago this September, destroyed more than 13,000 homes and 87 churches as it blazed for four days. Thousands of timber buildings, crowded together, proved highly susceptible to the flames. If such a fire engulfed the City of London today, we estimate the cost in insurance pay-outs would [...]
As Donald Trump pulls ahead in the presidential race, will 2016 be seen as the high water mark for globalisation? July 25, 2016 John Bew, professor at the war studies department at King’s College, London and lead of the Britain in the World project at Policy Exchange, says Yes. The world has never been more interconnected but globalisation has not been the happy process that many presumed. Potent forces like nationalism, ethnic rivalry and religious sectarianism are making a comeback. [...]
Head to Italy for this summer’s Eurozone crisis July 25, 2016 It wouldn't be summer without a crisis in the Eurozone and, following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, we are likely to have a second, this time with an Italian flavour. Italy’s banks were once the foundation of the modern banking system – but now, weighed down by bad debts and a dismal [...]