There is a financial services-shaped hole in the government’s economic strategy November 24, 2016 Oscar Wilde famously wrote that “there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” For anyone who works in the City, that seems a particularly pertinent quote right now. For Wednesday’s Autumn Statement – one of the biggest events in the economic policy calendar – [...]
Businesses are unwittingly entering the political fray with post-Brexit price rises November 10, 2016 More businesses are justifying price rises by blaming the fall in the pound post-Brexit. Whatever their commercial reasons, this is an extremely dangerous game. Commenting in these ways means entering the political arena at a sensitive time. These firms should be ready for serious scrutiny and hostile comment – now, but more importantly in the [...]
Theresa May must get serious about economic reform for Britain to weather Brexit turbulence October 27, 2016 The Prime Minister must begin to explain Britain’s role in the world outside the EU – something ambitious enough to match the enormity of the public’s decision to vote Leave. But she must also start explaining the need for a more dynamic and competitive domestic economy outside the EU. The two are inextricably linked. Britain [...]
The Tories’ bold pitch for Labour voters isn’t all bad for business October 13, 2016 Businesses are often surprised by government announcements, mistaking civilised interactions with ministers and advisers for their real political intentions. Politicians might sympathise with a particular policy, but it will always be overridden by the political imperatives of the day. And so it is that many businesses have been caught off guard by the government’s shift [...]
The Conservatives are shifting to the left to destroy Corbyn’s Labour September 29, 2016 The Labour Party is in rapid decline. Now Jeremy Corbyn has been confirmed as Labour’s alternative Prime Minister at the next election – and with far-left activists in apparent ownership of the party – it is hard to see anything other than internal resignations, defections and desertions. The party as we know it looks to [...]
The public are far less hostile to high levels of immigration than you think September 15, 2016 During elections, complex issues are radically simplified. Both the campaigns and the media are responsible for it, but this is reasonable – busy people have little time to investigate the merits of complicated policy ideas. As such, the immigration debate that took place during the EU referendum was depicted as a choice between continued large-scale [...]
Businesses must proactively confront how they treat ethnic minorities September 1, 2016 Theresa May has not defined herself as a great defender of the rights of minorities, but in practice she has been taking an active interest in the issue. As home secretary, she reformed stop and search policies because of concerns about their negative impact on minorities. Now she has announced a new audit of how [...]
Sharing economy firms must mobilise the public to fight regulation-hungry politicians August 18, 2016 An increasing number of politicians and commentators are starting to look at the sharing economy as an exploitative one. Once apparently loved by all, it is being portrayed as unregulated and unfair – undermining hard-working people, reducing crucial tax revenue and ignoring the concerns of ordinary people whenever it is necessary. The latest furore in the [...]
What businesses can expect from Theresa May’s self-consciously pragmatic Conservatism August 4, 2016 From what retailers sold in their shops to their advertising, David Cameron seemed to have a view on everything businesses did. While they might not have approved of it all, businesses understood what he was thinking. Not so with Theresa May. May intervenes in public debate sporadically, on bigger issues and with more focus. She [...]
A rising populist politics of envy has the City in its sights: Banks must fight back October 13, 2014 LIFE could become even more difficult for the financial sector in the coming year. The fundamental forces shaping UK politics threaten an aggressive new round of regulation and taxation. These forces derive from a steady growth in envy and parochialism in politics, and the weakness of capitalist voices within the wider conservative movement. After the [...]
