UK migration crisis: How much would it cost the UK to let in all the asylum seekers? August 4, 2015 Nightmarish scenes around the fence bordering the Calais end of the Channel Tunnel in recent days have epitomised what Theresa May has labelled a global migration "crisis". But is it a crisis? What if the UK just gave up and let everyone in? We ran the numbers, and it would cost the UK taxpayer about [...]
Why the NHS needs old-age reserves to mitigate galloping healthcare costs August 3, 2015 Do you remember the time when healthcare professionals used to argue that the NHS was adequately funded, and that further injections of money were not needed? Me neither, because there never was such a time. The NHS has always been “underfunded”, and the solution to its woes has always been just a few billion pounds [...]
London mayoral hopeful Tessa Jowell: City workers would be better off commuting from Madrid July 28, 2015 London mayoral hopeful Tessa Jowell’s team has been crunching numbers – and it turns out capital dwellers might be better off commuting to the City from Madrid rather than living in London. You read that right. Based on the average cost of commuting from a one-bedroom flat in north London to a job in the [...]
Eurotunnel wants €10m compensation from British and French governments as security costs rise to €13m due to migrant crisis July 22, 2015 The operator of Channel Tunnel, Eurotunnel, wants €9.7m (£6.8m) in compensation from British and French authorities, as it has racked up a €13m security bill due to damage caused by the ongoing migrant crisis. The escalating number of migrants coming from the Mediterranean, looking to enter the UK through Calais, has sent security costs up [...]
Supermarket price wars prove a potent aid to popularity July 14, 2015 German discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl hold on to their positions as the highest performing brands in YouGov BrandIndex’s mid-year Buzz Score Rankings, while we have positive news for the Co-Op group in the most improved brand list. The rankings are based on YouGov’s BrandIndex Buzz scores, which measures whether consumers have heard anything [...]
Misconceptions about housing: These five charts show how wrong we are about rent, house prices and deposits July 14, 2015 Hot on the heels of the Ipsos Mori poll showing that most of us have no idea how much raising children, buying a house, or paying for education cost, the research institute has dug deeper into our insights on housing – and it turns out we’re pretty far off. Just over three quarters of British [...]
My mid-life crisis over technology stocks – CNBC Comment June 22, 2015 Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. A couple of years ago I broke a golden rule of mine. I went to a LIFFE market reunion. It was a big mistake. There is nothing worse than a bunch of greying, balding, slightly tubby middle aged men (mostly) banging on about how great times were “back on the [...]
New build or old house? Just one in five prefer new properties dubbed “rabbit hutches” with “zero charm” June 17, 2015 There may be new developments popping up all over London as housebuilders scramble to serve the property needs of an ever-growing capital, but just one in five Brits would prefer buying a newly built house. New builds have been lambasted as too small, poorly built and lacking in character and nearly half of Brits prefer [...]
London house prices: As rents keep rising, here’s how the Monopoly board looks in 2015 June 11, 2015 Click to see table in a new window There has been a shake-up in the London property price hierarchy, and the most profitable places to be a landlord have moved dramatically. That well-established measure of London property values – the humble Monopoly board – has been shaken and stirred by fluctuations in the market, and [...]
How to lose money: Our flawed fixation on the safety of cash is losing us billions every year June 7, 2015 Savers in the UK rely far too heavily on cash. Between us, we have an astonishing £729bn sitting in savings accounts of various kinds, and it’s been earning only around 1 per cent a year on average since 2009. Fifty per cent of that money is in instant access accounts earning less than half that. The [...]