Construction firms lose hope but businesses are ‘showing resilience’ April 30, 2025 Construction firms have grown despondent about their business prospects despite signs of resilience across the UK economy, a new survey has found. The sector is key to the housing secretary Angela Rayner’s plans to build 1.5m homes by 2030 though early signs suggest the ambitious target will not be met. Construction saw a bigger drop [...]
Tony Blair is right to call for ‘reset’ of ludicrous Net Zero debate April 30, 2025 If energy secretary Ed Miliband still believes that critics of his dash to Net Zero are peddlers of “nonsense and lies” he has a new name to add to his list of dangerous misinformation merchants: Tony Blair. I do appreciate that some people believe that his name belongs on exactly that kind of list, but [...]
Libby’s Naked Wines Diary: Quaffing Spanish wine in the Parisian Pulitzer April 29, 2025 Paris has often been described as “magical” but I experienced my own miracle this weekend. The Significant Other and I were dining at Le Patio, the restaurant of Hotel Pulitzer in the Opera Quarter of Paris. Over squidgy, crispy croquettes and pesto laden burrata, I realised I had lost an earring. An earring my late [...]
Rate setter calls for market digitalisation and touts Bank of England’s flexibility April 29, 2025 Bank of England rate setter Dave Ramsden has called for bold action on digitalisation in a rebuke of concerns that the Bank’s prescriptive rules were stifling innovation. Speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit on Tuesday, the central bank Deputy Governor said widespread innovation in wholesale financial markets from authorities and industry would boost the [...]
Mark Carney’s Canadian win presents an opportunity for UK businesses April 29, 2025 Mark Carney’s victory in Canada presents a unique opportunity for UK businesses willing to seize it, writes Michael Martins.
Can a Young Driver training course reduce accidents by 80 per cent? April 29, 2025 On the 18th of June 1996, I passed my driving test. On the 19th of June 1996, I wrote off my Mini City E by parking it in the back of a BMW. For a 17-year-old who aspired to be a motoring journalist, it wasn’t the most auspicious start. To prevent my son from suffering [...]
The Return review: Uberto Pasolini’s take on The Odyssey April 29, 2025 Uberto Pasolini’s new drama comes to cinemas with the curious fate of being compared to a filmthat isn’t even out yet. Christopher Nolan is currently filming his next project The Odyssey, based on Homer’s epic poem. The Return is an adaptation of the final parts of that same poem, meaning scrutiny will be paid to [...]
One To One: John & Yoko: John Lennon’s life after the Beatles April 29, 2025 Do we need another film about The Beatles? Hollywood certainly thinks so. Last week the castwas revealed for a four-film series of biopics on the band, directed by Sam Mendes andexpected in 2028. As speculation builds towards those dramatic endeavours, director Kevin MacDonald (The Last King Of Scotland) shines a light on the later years [...]
Paradise ploughed: Laferm Coco is a pastoral oasis in Mauritius April 29, 2025 Wandering through Laferm Coco, you pass through neat little fields packed with guava and papaya and bananas and coconuts and turmeric, all hemmed in by jagged volcanic mountains, the splashes of colour from the produce impossibly saturated beneath a clear blue sky. Elsewhere farmyard animals flap and graze and squabble. There’s a duck pond that [...]
Bezos takes on Musk as Amazon launches Starlink rival April 29, 2025 Amazon has launched 27 satellites for Project Kuiper, its long-planned broadband network designed to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink. The satellites lifted off aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket from Florida last night, after an earlier attempt was postponed due to bad weather conditions. The launch marks the beginning of Amazon’s deployment of over 3,200 [...]