Cutting affordable housing quotas is a slap in the face for Labour voters October 20, 2025 If Labour is no longer in favour of building affordable housing, what exactly is the party for, asks James Ford.
Is Sadiq trying to gaslight Londoners about crime? October 16, 2025 The Mayor is desperate to convince Londoners that crime is falling, despite all the evidence to the contrary, writes James Ford London does not have a crime problem; it has a misinformation problem. That is the assertion of the capital’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan. Clearly wounded by President Trump’s recent claim that “crime in London is [...]
High Court showdown: Mercedes, Ford and Renault stand accused in Dieselgate trial October 13, 2025 Car manufacturing giants, including Mercedes, Ford and Renault, are set to face a lengthy trial at the High Court over allegations they cheated emissions tests. Knicknamed Dieselgate, the largest group claim ever brought in the UK, is set to kick off at the court on Monday morning for a 10-week trial in front of Lady [...]
Motor finance: Lloyds, Barclays shares jump as FCA softens blow October 8, 2025 Shares in motor finance lenders rallied on Wednesday morning after the Financial Conduct Authority dropped a major update on its industry-wide redress scheme. Lloyds Banking Group – which owns the UK’s largest motor finance provider, Black Horse – was up over two per cent to 85.06p. Meanwhile, Close Brothers, which just last week set aside [...]
FCA orders lenders to pay £11bn in motor finance compensation October 7, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it expects lenders to make 14.2 million payouts to individuals affected by unfair motor finance agreements, totalling around £11bn in compensation. The FCA estimates people would receive around £700 per agreement, on average. It has also been calculated that around 85 per cent of eligible consumers would [...]
Regulators target motor finance CMCs amid redress costs concern October 6, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority is teaming up with a fleet of regulators to crackdown on misleading claims firms in the motor finance saga – even as the sector’s displeasure on the redress scheme rumbles on. The City watchdog will join the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Information Commissioner’s Office and the Advertising Standards Authority to tackle [...]
Digital ID cards are a sign of a Groundhog Day government that’s out of ideas October 2, 2025 Digital ID cards – or ‘Brit cards’ as Starmer calls them – are a Blair-era policy being recycled at the worst possible time, says James Ford It has been estimated that there are no fewer than 138 movie sequels currently in production. By any estimate, that is a lot of sequels. Even Homer Simpson is [...]
Horner leaves Red Bull with £80m pay-off as F1 return touted September 22, 2025 Former Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner officially severed all ties with the Formula 1 team on Monday, insisting his two decades at the team had been “an honour and privilege”. Horner, married to Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, was sacked by the team in July and leaves the Milton Keynes outfit amid rumours he [...]
London needs a shadow Mayor September 19, 2025 The Conservatives weak response to last week’s tube strikes proves the party needs to select their candidate for City Hall sooner rather than later, writes James Ford The recent tube strikes should have taught Londoners three important truths: that tube drivers really love Legoland, that Lime bikes are not for the feint hearted, and that [...]
The only way to make HS2 cheaper? Build HS3 September 18, 2025 It’s a basic fact of economics that the more efficiently you make something, the easier it is to bring down the price. Among the best-known examples is the Ford Model T, one of the top-selling cars in the 20th century with more than 15 million produced. The manufacturing process became so efficient, and each car’s [...]