Editorial: Time to up MPs’ pay to attract the best and the brightest (yes, really) November 8, 2021 The argument to increase MPs’ pay is perhaps not best made in the immediate maelstrom of a good-old-fashioned Tory sleaze scandal. But the Owen Paterson affair – in which the MP resigned after a most extraordinarily chaotic 24 hours last week – does point, perhaps, to something more substantive. Put simply, becoming an MP is [...]
Business output growth drops once more as firms face rising costs November 8, 2021 Business output growth has fallen for the sixth month in a row as businesses face labour shortages and soaring energy prices. Output growth has hit the lowest level since March, when the country was in the depths of lockdown, according to accountancy firm BDO’s latest output index. The index, which looks at the manufacturing and [...]
Clear targets are needed to make the Square Mile a more inclusive workplace November 8, 2021 If you take a walk through the Square Mile’s streets you will see people coming together from a range of backgrounds, and will hear a vast spectrum of accents and languages. This diversity and openness are major assets for the City. They help create a melting pot of different ideas, encouraging innovation and an entrepreneurial [...]
Why every individual has a personal responsibility to act ethically November 8, 2021 All individuals must take personal responsibility for the important role they have to play in business and society. Individuals have personal values, guided by various factors throughout their lifetime; but, corporate entities also purport to have values defining the culture of the organisation. An individual’s personal values and behaviour will be influenced by peers and [...]
Climate change and the humble auditor – CityAM : CityAM November 8, 2021 The relevance of climate change to world leaders, Royals, activists, Leonardo DiCaprio, chief execs and both former, and current central bank heads, is largely understood, by their presence at Cop26, to be of paramount importance. But what on earth auditors have to do with climate change, is rather more perplexing. One explanation is that audit [...]
Whitehall needs stronger independent regulator, says former top civil servant November 8, 2021 The UK Civil Service is an unaccountable “closed shop” and there needs to be stronger independent regulation of Whitehall, according to a former top mandarin. Lord Nick Macpherson, former permanent secretary at the Treasury, said there needs to be a “dramatic overhaul of the appointments system” to end the era of “personal patronage” in Whitehall. [...]
Whistleblowing reports of minimum wage violations fall thanks to furlough scheme November 8, 2021 The number of whistleblowers reporting businesses for breaking national minimum wage laws has dropped to its lowest in four years, with the furlough scheme considered a key driver of the change. Whistleblower reports of national minimum wage (NMW) violations fell to 2,488 over the year, down from 2,580 last year, according to law firm Pinsent [...]
Labour to pile more pressure on Boris Johnson as Paterson sleaze saga rolls on November 7, 2021 More pressure will be piled onto Boris Johnson tomorrow over the Conservatives’ record on sleaze and corruption as the scandal over Owen Paterson’s lobbying activities rolls on. There will be a debate in parliament that will see Labour given an opportunity to hammer the government over the saga, which saw Paterson resign on Thursday. Labour [...]
BA and rivals cheer return of the $1bn transatlantic route November 7, 2021 The first British tourists and business travellers since the March 2020 Trump White House ban are set to touch down in the US today, in a boost to long-haul airlines such as BA and Virgin Atlantic. The London Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport was said to bring in around $1bn to British Airways pre-Covid, [...]
Musk asks Twitter if he should sell 10 per cent of his Tesla stock, worth $21bn November 7, 2021 Celebrity entrepreneur and the world’s richest person Elon Musk has allowed his online followers to decide whether or not he will pay taxes. Yesterday the billionaire opened up a poll to his 62.5m Twitter followers and asked them to decide whether he should sell off ten per cent of his Tesla stock, a move that [...]
