From Threadneedle Street to the corridors of power September 28, 2014 Business minister Matthew Hancock tells Kate McCann he’s on the side of new challenger firms IF CONSERVATIVE MPs spent the weekend nursing a Ukip-induced headache ahead of their party conference, business minister Matthew Hancock showed no evidence of it yesterday. “It’s relatively cheerful here, in the circumstances,” the former Osborne advisor says with a wry [...]
The creative obsession: Leo Burnett London’s Katie Lee talks heritage and innovative adverts September 28, 2014 Few agencies are as steeped in history as Leo Burnett. One of the godfathers of advertising, Burnett founded his eponymous creative shop in depression-era Chicago, placing a bowl of apples in reception as a marker of the agency’s values: rosiness and hospitality. It quickly became known for bold, image-led work, later creating Tony the Tiger [...]
Young entrepreneurs are holding their nerve while their parents fear failure September 28, 2014 One piece of data that can strike fear into the minds of government officials is the level of company formations. It may not sound like a stomach-turner, but a surge of new businesses could offer reassurance when politicians are rightly keen to see unemployment continue to fall. Right now, there’s cause for jumpiness. While the [...]
O’Shea warning as Quins fall to defeat at Exeter September 28, 2014 FURIOUS Harlequins boss Conor O’Shea last night warned his players that their season is already at risk of collapse after they became only the second team to lose at Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership in 2014. Quins slipped to ninth in the table with four games gone as tries from Thomas Waldrom, Jack Yeandle and [...]
David Cameron speaks out on Mark Reckless Ukip defection ahead of Conservative party conference September 28, 2014 David Cameron has spoken out after his party was hit by a defection to Ukip and a ministerial resignation on the eve of the Conservative party conference. Speaking to Andrew Marr, the Prime Minister said Reckless's decision was "senseless and counterproductive". The defection of a second MP to Nigel Farage's eurosceptic party will be a [...]
Conservative party conference: Tories unveil plans to slash welfare September 28, 2014 Young people out of work for more than six months could be cut off from jobseeker's allowance (JSA) if the Conservative party wins the next election. George Osborne told the Mail on Sunday that young people out of work would have to earn their benefits through activities such as cleaning local parks and other "community [...]
Conservatives: 20pc off house prices for first-time buyers under 40 September 27, 2014 The conservatives have announced that if they are voted in at the next general election in May, people under 40 will be able to buy their first homes for 20 per cent less than market value. Prime Minister David Cameron revealed the plan ahead of the Conservatives' annual party conference starting tomorrow. He said [...]
Ukip policies 2014: Immigration cap “lunacy”, “intellectually and morally bankrupt” and bad for business say economists September 26, 2014 Ukip has announced the immigration policy it will put before the British people at next year's general election. Ukip's spokesman on migration and financial affairs Steven Woolfe told the party's conference in Doncaster that net migration would be limited to 50,000 a year under an Australian-style points based system. The party also pledged to employ a further 2,500 [...]
Film review: Ida September 26, 2014 Ida is a young apprentice nun in 1960s Poland, a chill landscape in every sense of the word, depicted with a stark stillness in black and white by native director Pawel Pawlikowski. His Ida, played by striking newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska, is about to take her vows and goes in search of the parents she never [...]
Our housing crisis will become a catastrophe without a national crusade to fix it September 24, 2014 HOUSING is a basic human right, and we are denying it to our children. If current house price rises continue, babies born today will pay £6.3m in 2048 for a one bedroom London flat. Already, at around £428,000, the average London house price is over 16 times the average national salary. There is a vast [...]