US debt ceiling: Joe Biden expected to sign legislation two days before deadline June 3, 2023 President Joe Biden is expected to sign legislation to raise the US debt ceiling, just two days before the US Treasury warned that the country would struggle to pay its bills. The bipartisan measure, which was approved this week by the US house and senate, eliminates the potential for an unprecedented government default. “Passing this [...]
The UK should care about workers who emigrate to avoid a painful brain drain June 1, 2023 Our government worries so much about immigration, and yet doesn't consider how many Brits might be thinking about leaving our shores. It could lead to a dangerous brain drain, writes John Oxley
Are you asking the right questions about your building’s energy usage? May 31, 2023 Businesses are finally asking the question – ‘how much energy are we using, and how can it be reduced?’. It seems the energy crisis, however you view it, did have one upside. I say ‘finally’ because I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Having spent 30 years in building services, selling energy saving control [...]
A glass of wine with Pink Diesel rosé founder Amy Gatehouse May 31, 2023 Female-founded Pink Diesel rosé began as a pandemic passion project but made speedy waves with its tongue-in-cheek-yet-chic branding. Co-founder Amy Gatehouse is the woman taking it to the top. How did you get into wine? I grew up with it as my father’s hobby, but it was while working in hospitality in Hong Kong, pairing [...]
Government sends Fever-Tree mixers and a cricket shirt down under to celebrate post-Brexit trade deal May 31, 2023 The UK’s trade deals with Australia and New Zealand came into force at midnight, with special shipments of British goods such as signed Beano comics among the first to be sent under the new arrangements. The agreements are the first trade deals negotiated post-Brexit to enter into force and come after the UK, Australia and [...]
Politicians don’t understand housing and asylum seekers will pay the price May 31, 2023 The government wants to temporarily scrap HMO licensing for asylum seekers' accommodation. It risks creating a set of dangerous sub-standard homes unfit for the future, writes Elena Siniscalco
Blur – The Narcissist: A deep-dive into the genesis of (another) hit May 30, 2023 There is a moment in the Beatles’ catalogue of which I’m particularly fond. It comes on the album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band when Paul McCartney, ever the panting optimist, sings: “It’s getting better all the time.” Lennon improvises back: “It couldn’t get much worse.” The essentially dual spirit of the Beatles is encapsulated in that [...]
Sunak to crack down on ‘unacceptable’ targeting of young people by vape market May 30, 2023 A new Government crackdown on vape marketing will prevent the “unacceptable” targeting of children and young people, Rishi Sunak has said. Ministers have pledged to close a loophole allowing retailers to give free samples of vapes to children in England, amid concerns over the proportion of children trying e-cigarettes. The move comes days after the [...]
There’s an app about to do to workplaces what social media did to British politics May 30, 2023 If you haven’t heard of Fishbowl, chances are your colleagues are already using the app - a bizarre combination of LinkedIn and Reddit - to air their workplace grievances, writes Eliza Filby
A tribute to Martin Amis: ‘He wanted time itself to flow backwards’ May 28, 2023 Last weekend Martin Amis died in Fort Worth, Florida at the age of 73 – the same age as his father Sir Kingsley Amis – of a disease I hadn’t known he had, in a house I wasn’t aware he had owned. Why should the death of our heroes be so shocking, being as it [...]