London will come to a standstill if we delay Crossrail 2 March 26, 2014 LONDON will start grinding to a halt if Crossrail 2 – the proposed new north-south rail line for the capital – isn’t built by 2030. That’s why London First, the business promotion body, has recommended a firm plan for Crossrail 2, including significant property developer contributions so that London could directly pay for a large [...]
These numbers show why commuting in London isn’t as bad as you think March 26, 2014 Some comforting news for those of us who live in the Big Smoke. Londoners have the shortest commute to work in the country – travelling an average of just 11km to get to work. According to new data from the Office for National Statistics, which compares 2001 census numbers against those from 2011, when the [...]
Tube closure means you probably shouldn’t plan any trips to Uxbridge this summer March 24, 2014 Good news: Transport for London has found a way to cut down on weekend Tube closures this summer.Bad news: This means parts of the Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines are going to be shut down for three and a half weeks. Between 19 July and 10 August, the two lines on the Uxbridge branch will be [...]
Budget at a glance: Osborne’s plans for Britain’s economy March 19, 2014 As growth bounces back, the focus turns to reforming savings THE ECONOMY UK growth for this year is now expected to be 2.7 per cent, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said yesterday – up from its previous estimate, made in December, of 2.4 per cent GDP expansion. A year ago the OBR expected growth [...]
What does the chancellor’s Budget mean for you? March 19, 2014 Catherine Gannon, 51Managing director of law firm Gannon The business continues to perform extremely well, but new legislation for LLPs means that it is being restructured. Profits and earnings are up on last year but the cost of living has increased rapidly. She doesn’t have much by way of a traditional pension plan but hopes [...]
Big projects on back burner but London backed March 19, 2014 LONDON housing and transport projects got the chancellor’s blessing yesterday, though shovel-ready projects across the rest of the country were thin on the ground. George Osborne said the government will help “develop proposals” for an extension to the Gospel Oak to Barking Line to reach Barking Riverside, a 11,000-home scheme, and support regeneration at Brent [...]
Introducing: the designs of the year March 18, 2014 The ingenious creations that are set to define tomorrow’s world MOST museum shows look back to the past. With flying cars, floating schools and wheelchairs that grow with the owner, this one is all about the future. Next week the seventh Designs of the Year exhibition opens at the Design Museum, and the broad selection [...]
High Speed 2 to lose a link from North to Europe March 17, 2014 BUSINESS groups broadly supported plans to shake up the High Speed 2 project yesterday, though concerns remain about the benefits of the railway and the loss of direct trains from the English regions into Europe. Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin yesterday agreed to scrap plans for a £700m link between HS2 and the Channel Tunnel route, [...]
Paris calls off car curbs after pollution eases March 17, 2014 A BAN on half of the cars in Paris has been lifted after just one day after pollution levels fell back below those in Beijing. Motorists with even-numbered licence plates were ordered off the roads in the French capital yesterday, though nearly 4,000 drivers were fined €22 each for breaching the limit imposed to try [...]
How the UK could cut public spending Singapore-style March 17, 2014 TOMORROW’S Budget will make it all too clear that, to get Britain’s public finances into a healthier state, further tight control of spending will be necessary. But as I’ve shown in my Gresham professorial lectures on how the West must adapt to cope with globalisation, recent spending restraint has been nowhere near enough to keep [...]