Monzo? I’d rather invest my tuppence in the bank August 10, 2020 “Railways through Africa. Dams across the Nile. Fleets of ocean greyhounds. Majestic, self-amortizing canals.” So enthuses Mr Banks to his dubious son Michael. An investment in the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, in the words of director Mr Dawes, “fires the imagination”. And tuppence is all you need to open an account. Never has the promise of [...]
London calling: Why it’s time to bring life back to our city’s streets August 10, 2020 Despite a tentative easing of the national lockdown, the lingering economic and social consequences of this policy are frighteningly obvious to anyone venturing into central London. While social life and economic activity has, to a large extent, returned to the outer zones and suburbs, the offices and shops of London’s professional districts remain eerily and [...]
Back to Business: Jack and Charlie Stein on coming together as a family amid the corona crisis August 8, 2020 We talk to top chefs and restaurateurs about how they are dealing with the strange ‘new normal’. Rick Stein restaurants’ Jack and Charlie Stein talk about the relief of seeing cutsomers again and why the industry needs to go back to basics. Who are you and what do you do? Jack Stein: I’m chef director [...]
Wanted: A plan to save London August 7, 2020 The motto of the City of London is “Domine dirige nos”: Lord, direct us. But who is directing the capital as we struggle to comprehend the future in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic? In the UK, we are notoriously poor at strategic planning (except, perhaps, in times of war). Partly, this is an ideological [...]
The City View: Rachel Cunliffe on why working from home isn’t great for everyone August 7, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian is joined by City A.M.’s comment and features editor, Rachel Cunliffe, who talks about her recent column on why working from home doesn’t suit everyone. Rachel talks about young people in houseshares in particular, as well as those who don’t have the luxury of a separate work [...]
Property industry reacts to planning system overhaul August 6, 2020 The government has launched a consultation on England’s planning system, as it seeks to slash red tape for new developments. In the planning White Paper, published this morning, the government said it wanted to cut the number of planning cases that are overturned at appeal by creating a “clearer, rules-based system”. Every area will have [...]
For young Londoners, working from home is a cramped and dismal experience August 5, 2020 Ah the great British work from home experiment: levelling the playing field, redressing work-life balance, enabling millions of people to work when and where best suits them. After a brief period of chaos at the end of March when the nation struggled to get to grips with Zoom and Amazon sold out of laptop stands, [...]
Britain cannot stand by in the face of shocking human right abuses across Hong Kong August 4, 2020 On 9 March, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hong Kong, of which I am a vice chair, launched an inquiry into human rights abuses perpetrated by the Hong Kong Police Force against medical and humanitarian workers during the 2019 protests. One thousand submissions later, we are ready to publish our findings. Our report, published [...]
Mushrooms could be a magic cure for depression, if our draconian drug regulations weren’t stuck in the past August 4, 2020 It should come as no surprise that months of lockdown and social isolation has impacted our mental health. Medical professionals are predicting a “tsunami” of mental illnesses relating Covid-19, while earlier this month, The Lancet published a study showing that young people and women’s mental health has been hit particularly hard during the pandemic. What’s [...]
German regulator examines EY over Wirecard audits August 3, 2020 The German auditing regulator is reportedly examining EY in connection with its involvement with the disgraced payment services firm Wirecard. A document from the Economic Ministry, seen by German newspaper Handelsblatt, states that regulator Apas is examining all of EY’s audits of Wirecard from 2015. The Big Four firm has been Wirecard’s auditor for over [...]