Back to the future: Private enterprise has got us racing into space again April 26, 2012 IT TOOK less than one human lifespan, just 66 years, for humankind to go from our first powered flight to landing a man on the moon. But in the last decade we’ve given up on supersonic flight and grounded the space shuttle forever. There are no jetpacks zipping across the City skyline. Whatever happened to [...]
Tackling football too hard over tax nets an own goal April 26, 2012 IT SEEMS that barely a week goes by at present without a dispute between Premier League football and HMRC. High-profile stories have included HMRC sending detailed questionnaires to all Premier League clubs on employment tax compliance, Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United settling outstanding image-rights liabilities, the ongoing football creditor case at the High Court [...]
Today Barclays puts its pay report before investors: Are you intending to support it? April 26, 2012 YES Guy Jubb We are pleased that our key concerns over last year’s executive bonuses have been addressed. The decisions demonstrate that robust stewardship engagement by long-term institutional investors does work, especially when it is undertaken in a “comply or explain” governance environment. The result is a much better alignment with pay for performance than [...]
RAPID responses April 26, 2012 Bonus control Andrew Haldane, a Bank of England official, has suggested that bonus deferral and claw-back periods should be extended to 10 years or more for bank executives. While we sympathise with the view that regulation is not sufficient, this proposal is unworkable and counterproductive. Who would work on that basis? 10 years is a [...]
A rollicking outing for Marvel fans April 26, 2012 FILM AVENGERS ASSEMBLE Cert: 12A ***** A team of super heroes being brought together from three different blockbuster movie franchises. An alien invasion. A shadowy Chancellor Palpatine-style intergalactic villain. A shady government organisation with dubious plans. Various back stories and sub plots. Joss Whedon has a lot of plates to keep spinning with Avengers Assemble. [...]
Drama starring Glenn Close as a man is a sad but brilliant oddity April 26, 2012 FILM ALBERT NOBBS Cert: 15 **** What a queer treasure of a film this is. Starring Glenn Close in an Oscar-worthy turn as a woman disguised as a man in 19th century Dublin, the film is based on a book by George Moore, an Irish novelist and poet of the late 1800s, and directed by [...]
An Orwellian whorl of a film that’s unsettling and original April 26, 2012 FILM CLONE Cert: 15 **** Matt Smith, who plays Clone’s hero Tommy, is kinda handsome in a kooky way. More Easter Island statue than Michelangelo’s David. People fancy him, but they’re not sure why. It probably accounts for why his CV beyond Doctor Who is sparse to say the least. You feel he is going [...]
It’s just too close to call in title decider April 26, 2012 It is likely to be a hard fought contest between the two Manchester rivals GAMES simply don’t come any bigger than this. Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Monday’s Manchester derby is the most important in his 26-year reign as Manchester United boss. The cross-city rivals have dominated the Premier League this season and whoever [...]
Tidal Bay and Knighton Combe are the value calls in Bet365 Gold Cup April 26, 2012 ANOTHER season of National Hunt racing draws to a damp end at Sandown tomorrow and the Bet365 Gold Cup (3.10pm) looks set to be run on bottomless ground. At the time of writing, the going at the Esher track was described as heavy and I am not sure that the meeting would survive another deluge. [...]
Saha: I’m playing for my Spurs future April 26, 2012 4 Goals scored by Saha, who has made just six starts for Spurs TOTTENHAM’S Louis Saha admits he could be forced out of the club in the summer, just four months after his arrival, but is nevertheless desperate to ensure they claim the Champions League spot he insists they deserve. The much-travelled French striker only [...]
