The next Tory leader must either open his Red Box or win over the Red Wall July 8, 2022 Six years ago on the eve of the Brexit Referendum vote, I was given the job of following Boris Johnson around the Yorkshire town of Selby. He landed at a former WWII airfield joking that the helicopter pilot should have put on “Ride of the Valkyries” – (think Apocalypse Now) – as he came into [...]
In memoriam: Gove started to crack open a housing crisis paralysed by indecision July 8, 2022 Amid the utter chaos of the last 72 hours – from the torrent of ministerial resignations to Boris Johnson’s own painful almost-exit – there was someone who was ushered out of Cabinet – Michael Gove. A long-time frenemy of the prime minister, Gove had been appointed Secretary of State for Housing – soon after renamed [...]
Shop visits increase as shoppers hunt for cheapest prices but sales growth lags July 8, 2022 Visits to shops have increased as shoppers hunt for the cheapest prices, however this has not translated into sales growth amid the cost of living crisis. According to data from the British Retail Consortium, UK footfall increased by two percentage points in June, versus the prior month. Shoppers were hunting for the best deals as [...]
The cost of living crisis won’t wait – we need a caretaker PM who can deliver stability July 8, 2022 So the farce is over. The term has rarely been more apt after the Education Secretary, one of three in that post this week, resigned in protest of the prime minister who had appointed her a little over 36 hours prior. Indeed, the resignations were happening at such a swift pace, you would be hard [...]
Letters: Facing up to the problem of AI July 8, 2022 [Re: UK should forbid facial recognition tech, report says, June 30] As a business that deploys biometrics to support remote identity verification, we are in full support of Matthew Ryder and the Ada Lovelace Institute’s independent review but with a caveat. Clear legal frameworks offer certainty and consistency for industry and citizens, particularly where security, [...]
UK hiring boom slows as labour shortages and economic uncertainty scupper recruitment efforts July 8, 2022 The UK’s hiring boom is showing signs of coming to an end, according to new research from KPMG, which show the number new hires grew at its slowest rate in 16-months due to a lack of candidates and wider economic uncertainty. The fast-paced growth in the number of new hires has dropped off significantly [...]
Conservative MPs scramble to choose a new party leader July 7, 2022 The race to be the next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland began today as MPs scrambled to organise their Tory leadership campaigns. There is no obvious successor to Boris Johnson, with a wide field of candidates from all wings of the party expected to stand. The 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers will [...]
Boris Johnson’s downfall is a story of wasted potential July 7, 2022 To sum up Boris Johnson’s political career you need only listen to Sir Nicholas Soames – the grandson of the outgoing PM’s hero Winston Churchill. “Boris is a chancer, he is a chancer … but that doesn’t alter the fact he’s extremely agreeable to have dinner with,” Soames once told BBC great Michael Cockerell. This [...]
Russian oligarch backed fund LetterOne files lawsuit against private equity firm that cut ties following war in Ukraine July 7, 2022 The Luxembourg headquartered investment fund founded by sanctioned Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven has filed a lawsuit against the London private equity firm that manages $5bn (£4.2bn) of it’s money. Multi-billion-dollar investor LetterOne is taking legal action against Pamplona Capital Management, in calling on the private equity firm to open its books, after [...]
Delayed: Sizewell C nuclear power plant decision pushed back amid Westminster turmoil July 7, 2022 The Government has delayed making a decision on whether to approve a new nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk.
