Explainer-in-brief: fintechs face-off with the watchdog for legitimacy April 23, 2022 New challenges have arisen for the fintech world, as the Financial Conduct Authority warned of the inadequacy of some of the online banks’ securities against financial crimes. The financial watchdog stressed the importance of striking the right balance between providing effortless and speedy banking services with strong guarantees against fraud. The FCA is worried that [...]
Has British politics finally become a meme? April 21, 2022 Is an Islington suit an Islington suit if it was bought in Camden? Does Keir Starmer have more “posh north London” vibes than Jeremy Corbyn? After all his time in politics was “a tiny brain” the best slur Boris Johnson could come up with for the Leader of the Opposition? Yesterday’s PMQs was an old-school brand of entertainment.
Explainer-in-brief: Safety in numbers lures Nordics to Nato April 14, 2022 Finland’s Prime Minister said yesterday the country would decide “within weeks, not months” if the nation would apply for Nato membership. Sweden is expected to follow swiftly as the war in Ukraine forces the Nordics to look at their allies. In Finland, a margin of six to one voters backed membership of the defensive alliance. [...]
Rishi Sunak’s weak stomach for a scandal could spell the end for Johnson April 13, 2022 When Boris Johnson catapulted a young upstart from Treasury minister to Chancellor of the Exchequer, he likely envisaged Rishi Sunak would be pliable and amenable to his insatiable desire for spending rather than the thin-skinned thorn in his side.
Explainer-in-brief: As NHS chiefs call for more rules, is Covid-19 back? April 12, 2022 Just as many of us were beginning to feel like the worst of Covid-19 was behind us, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation has warned that Easter could be ‘as bad as any winter’ in the health service. In the last week, around 20 NHS trusts issued divert warnings, telling ambulances to take patients [...]
Big Tech’s fast-and-dirty employment honeymoon is over as Amazon unionises April 8, 2022 COULD you imagine a better name for someone making their mark out of being the Little Guy than Chris Smalls? It’s a story ready-made for a Netflix series. So it’s curious its success has taken Amazon – the company borne out of peddling cheap books – by surprise. Smalls is the leader of the tech [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Calorie-counting has never worked – why should it now? April 7, 2022 Boris Johnson wants to preside over a healthy nation, fair enough. But he’s buying into a diet culture that reached its zenith in the mid 2010s with the prevalence of MyFitnessPal and other calorie-tracker apps. Guilt-tripping people about the calories in their Sunday roast might work in the short-term by convincing people to resist extra [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Fed up with the emoji offerings? Time to shine April 6, 2022 Ever felt like you needed a more specific emoji to caption your aperol spritz Instagram with? Frustrated at not being able to express every single emotion with a little yellow face? No, this isn’t an advert for an emoji self-help group or a Boomer’s guide on how to use the Other Keyboard. The Emoji Subcommittee [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Rishi is rich – he needs to stop pretending otherwise March 30, 2022 Rishi Sunak is, to put it simply, loaded. During the pandemic we chuckled at his £180 smart mug which kept his tea warm, we mocked him gently for his confessions-of-a-Peloton addict-style foibles. Many were a little taken aback when his wife, Akshata Murthy, headed to Loulou’s in Mayfair on the night after lockdown ended – [...]
Explainer-in-brief: The real showdown at the Oscars March 29, 2022 While all eyes were on the punch Will Smith served up to comedian Chris Rock, there was another brewing tension at the awards ceremony of the year. Apple and Netflix had been fiercely vying to become the first streaming service to win the Best Picture award, as the number of people turning to online platforms [...]
