A measure for the forward-thinking December 9, 2012 ONE of the most striking pro-business announcements in last week’s Autumn Statement was the increase in the tax relief afforded to company investment in plant and machinery equipment. A miserly allowance of £25,000 jumped ten-fold to a healthier £250,000. Aimed at smallish businesses, it’s meant to unlock cash for investment. But it comes with some [...]
Lessons from Finland: How we can reform maths teaching in schools December 9, 2012 THE UK’s educational standards remain low. Our pupils have fallen behind those in Germany and have been overtaken by peers in Poland. The last round of OECD tests for 15 year olds showed that the UK’s position in literacy, science and maths has fallen again. The coalition has attempted to reverse this decline and has [...]
Christmas is the ideal time to revive the City’s tradition of charitable giving December 9, 2012 FEAR that the UK could slip into a triple-dip recession heightened last week, as the services sector posted an unexpected slowdown. Yet remarkably, over half of us are still giving to good causes, despite the challenging economic outlook. This encouragingly high proportion of the population, includes many in the Square Mile. Contrary to myth, City [...]
A French scheme that could boost British innovation December 9, 2012 TODAY the UK government will lay before Parliament its future strategy for UK life sciences. It will rightly highlight the success of the Biocatalyst Fund, an initiative which is already helping bioscience small businesses to accelerate the development of future therapies. But existing government support is not enough. That is why we are calling for [...]
As Britain’s economic indicators worsen, are we heading towards a triple dip recession? December 9, 2012 YES Chris Williamson The likelihood of a triple-dip recession has risen. It may still be avoided, but much depends on developments overseas. Official data confirms the disappointing indicators, meaning a contraction in the fourth quarter looks inevitable. Retail, exports and manufacturing all fell sharply in October. To constitute a recession, GDP would also have to [...]
Rapid responses December 9, 2012 Austerity forever [Re: Careful chancellor: there is good austerity and bad austerity, Friday] George Osborne does appear to be slowly realising that his measures aren’t working, but my worry is that it’s now too late. All the international evidence shows that fiscal retrenchment only works if cuts happens quickly, take place across the board, and [...]
For a relaxing retreat without the airport ordeal, give the Lakes a go December 9, 2012 IF YOU look out the window, there is a good chance it’s raining. Unless you’re on the underground, in which case it will just be inky blackness, endlessly rushing by. Anyway, the point is, the weather is bad at the moment, so taking a holiday in the Lake District might not seem like the most [...]
Rio coin storm as City lose December 9, 2012 MANCHESTER CITY 2 vs MANCHESTER UNITED 3 MANCHESTER City last night apologised to Rio Ferdinand and condemned the home supporter who marred a thrilling top of the table derby by throwing a coin at the Manchester United defender. Robin van Persie’s stoppage-time free-kick extended United’s Premier League lead to six points after Yaya Toure and [...]
Old boys return to haunt injury prone Hammers December 9, 2012 WEST HAM UNITED 2 vs LIVERPOOL 3 WEST HAM manager Sam Allardyce urged his team to dig deep for the Christmas period, after losing yet another key player to injury during yesterday’s defeat to Liverpool. Glen Johnson and Joe Cole returned to haunt their former club with two superb strikes, the latter coming after Mohamed [...]
Keep your jungles, dancing and Twitter – Cook is model captain December 9, 2012 ONE thing about Alastair Cook tells you all you need to know about him. He doesn’t do Twitter. He knows that endless hours frittered away on ground-breaking messages such as “Boys did good job today. Beat India” can be better spent in the nets, or reading a few Mike Brearley captaincy manuals. Or just engaging [...]
