The Anglosphere is Britain’s past, present and future: Let’s embrace it post-Brexit July 25, 2016 Sometimes things are so much simpler than they seem. I had one such moment in Warsaw, not long after Poland’s accession to Nato. To a man, the Polish elite were particularly insistent on making every American aware of how much they valued being in the alliance, but they obviously wanted something more. A number of my [...]
The UK faces two critical trade-offs in determining its future EU relationship July 25, 2016 It is now D day +32 and the country has experienced an unprecedented period of political change, along with significant uncertainty about Britain’s future relationship with the EU and the rest of the world. On the positive side, few countries could achieve such a change of government so smoothly. But now that the initial emotions from the [...]
Sir Philip Green ran BHS like a medieval fiefdom: Now his reputation hangs by a thread July 25, 2016 Our new Prime Minister has promised to get “tough on irresponsible behaviour in big business”. The report today of our joint Select Committee on the collapse of BHS offers a case study of what can go wrong at a company almost 90 years old and why she is right that government must react. After over [...]
As the chancellor plans a policy “reset”, would jettisoning austerity be grossly irresponsible? July 25, 2016 Dr Madsen Pirie, president of the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. The economies that have emerged best from the financial crisis are those that have combined curbing spending with having a looser monetary policy. Those that have sought to cut back spending while also providing a stimulus have prospered, and have bounced back faster than those [...]
Prepare for the augmented reality workplace: The tech behind Pokemon Go will be in offices sooner than you think July 25, 2016 With the launch of Pokémon Go in the UK this month, augmented reality (AR) – the technology behind the game – has successfully broken into the mass-consumer market. But right now very few people are thinking about the applications of the technology beyond the world of gaming. Our 2016 Tech Trends research reveals that the biggest [...]
Beware the unintended consequences of Theresa May’s flawed executive pay proposals July 21, 2016 Theresa May is absolutely right to ensure that the UK does not work for just “the privileged few”. But her suggestions for reforming executive pay – while well-intentioned – are not backed up by evidence and may well backfire. Before addressing the specific suggestions, let’s first ask whether the government should be intervening in the first [...]
Provincial England has taken over Westminster – and it’s put state intervention back in vogue July 21, 2016 The EU referendum paved the way for the industrial strategy now defining Theresa May’s first weeks in office. Why? Because the provincial English working class and lower middle class forced the country out of its status quo and administered a huge shock to the system. Politicians are realising that options they never previously considered are [...]
Trump won the nomination battle – but Ted Cruz’s remarkable speech kicked off the war for the soul of conservatism July 21, 2016 "Vote your conscience”, senator Ted Cruz asked of the crowd at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday night. That’s when the boos started rolling in. “Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution,” the former candidate for the [...]
Leaving the Single Market would blow a £14bn hole in the public finances July 21, 2016 Before the referendum, George Osborne claimed a Brexit vote would require an emergency Budget of tax hikes and big spending cuts. While the new chancellor has said that he will wait until the Autumn Statement before he makes any changes to fiscal policy, it is unclear what he will choose to do. But what is [...]
Melania Trump’s speech was too banal to be plagiarised: Political wives excel at vomit-inducing cliches, but business is worse July 21, 2016 When Melania Trump claimed that she wrote her infamous speech at the Republican National Convention herself, I believed her. So bad was that speech. Apparently, Ms Trump’s mother had taught her to work hard, be true to her word and respect other people. To paraphrase Janan Ganesh’s recent article on Theresa May’s first speech as [...]