Italy’s banks won’t destroy the Eurozone – in the short term July 20, 2016 The euro crisis appears to have moved on. If the newspapers are to be believed, a crisis once centred on Greece has now crossed the Adriatic to Italy. The Economist recently ran with a leader article entitled The Italian Job, which argued that “at best Italy’s weak banks will throttle the country’s growth; at worst, [...]
It’s time to end the scandal of hidden holiday money charges July 20, 2016 Holidays are expensive. Last year British families spent £26bn on holidays abroad. That’s around £2,000 each trip. Some were all inclusive, but many, perhaps even most journeys will have seen people change money to pay for things overseas. As we all get ready for our week in the sun this year, I decided to look [...]
As a surge of supporters sign up to vote in the leadership contest, can Owen Smith save Labour? July 20, 2016 Atul Hatwal, editor of Labour Uncut, says Yes. Labour is in a very deep hole, and Owen Smith is the man to haul it out. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the party has slumped to being over 40 points behind the Tories on the economy and leadership. There has been a total breakdown of its ability to [...]
Post-Brexit uncertainty won’t derail our commitment to the UK July 20, 2016 Today, the world’s largest international cable company has announced a significant vote of confidence in Britain. The company I run, Liberty Global, the parent of Virgin Media, has announced the next phase of a programme to connect 450,000 additional London premises to the fastest widely-available broadband speeds in the UK by the end of 2018. [...]
Britain hasn’t lost Arm: Its acquisition is the start of a new Great British tech story July 19, 2016 A week ago, many were wondering whether the UK’s tech sector would become less relevant in a post-Brexit world. The news of Arm’s acquisition by SoftBank for £24bn means many things for UK tech – but irrelevance is not one of them. This acquisition is positive and timely news. Following the referendum, it’s an immediate vote [...]
Sorry, Prime Minister: Legislation won’t end excess in the boardroom July 19, 2016 A key element of our new Prime Minister’s platform is to curb what she perceives to be boardroom excesses. “It is not anti-business to suggest that big business needs to change”, she said. One of her proposals is to allow employee and worker representatives to sit on company boards, a suggestion which has not gone [...]
As the IFS finds pensioners are the big winners post-crisis, has policy protected the old at the expense of the young? July 19, 2016 Ben Southwood, head of research at the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. The government is unfairly protecting the old over the young in two main ways. First, by an excessively generous pensions policy that is steadily diverting more and more to already well-off pensioners. And second, by tight planning policy that drives up rents and house [...]
The Brexit vote should spur business on to ensure everyone has the digital skills to succeed July 19, 2016 Growing up, if I wanted to speak to someone, I would meet them face to face; if I needed to learn something, I would look it up in a book; and when I needed to get somewhere new, I would unfold a map. Back then, I would never have guessed that, one day, all this [...]
An independent Scotland inside the EU would be an economic powerhouse July 18, 2016 Some people seem surprised that Theresa May flew to Edinburgh to parley with Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, only three days after arriving at Number 10. Britain’s new Prime Minister is acutely aware that Scotland voted decisively (62:38) to stay in the EU. Brexit is precisely the “material change of circumstance” cited in the SNP’s recent [...]
Britain has a moral duty to lead the world on free trade July 18, 2016 It really could happen. Republican candidate Donald Trump might win the presidency of the United States on an overtly protectionist, anti-trade ticket. In a recent speech he slammed globalisation, and threatened to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement. In the absence of the leadership of the United States, who will stand for free trade? [...]