Barristers remain bullish despite threats to fees January 20, 2020 Nearly three-quarters of barristers said their practice has grown or remained stable in the last three years, according to research published today. The growth comes despite challenges facing the independent bar, including government cuts to legal aid and a move towards fixed costs in private cases, both of which are driving down fees. The survey [...]
Fintech can be the silver bullet to banking the UK’s unbanked January 15, 2020 Can new technology help the 1.23m people in the UK who don’t have a bank account? And could it improve the lives of the 10–12m who still struggle to access affordable loans? New research suggests that the answer to both those questions is yes. It is all thanks to London’s booming fintech sector — one [...]
Barrelling towards conflict: How the oil market reacted to Iran-US tensions January 14, 2020 For good or ill, oil remains the lifeblood of the global economy. It is essential to industrial production, to how we transport goods (as well as ourselves) around the world, and how we heat our homes and generally go about our everyday lives. Rising oil prices can therefore act as a handbrake on global growth, [...]
Home is where the heart is: how to revolutionise the house buying process January 9, 2020 For too many people, home ownership is a distant dream. In today’s Britain, only about 27 per cent of people aged 25 to 34 own their home — a huge dip compared to 1990, when ownership for this age group was 50 per cent, according to the Resolution Foundation. Sky-high property prices, the need to [...]
America and Iran are sleepwalking towards disaster January 9, 2020 I well remember that I kept putting my hands to my head as I read, terror-stricken, Christopher Clark’s provocative The Sleepwalkers, which boldly posited that World War I was not part of anyone’s grand strategic design. Instead, Armageddon came about through a number of countries and statesmen making lesser errors, which compounded somehow produced the [...]
We can make this the decade of purpose-driven capitalism January 6, 2020 As we enter the 2020s, capitalism is suffering a crisis of confidence. Populists around the world are putting a simple spin on globalisation as against the interests of ordinary people. By contrasting the growth in developed economies with a simultaneous squeeze on living standards, they argue that the link has been severed between a profitable [...]
Meet Beam, the social enterprise crowdfunding training for homeless people December 12, 2019 Charitable giving is one of the hallmarks of the festive season. And with the weather getting colder at Christmas, it’s important to highlight the desperate situation facing London’s homeless population. Estimates vary, but it’s believed that roughly 170,000 people are homeless in the capital. The vast majority of these are living in homeless shelters, hostels, [...]
The brain-dead era of Angela Merkel is limping to a finish December 9, 2019 The always interesting French President Emmanuel Macron got it precisely wrong in November when he airily derided Nato — the most successful alliance in the history of the world — as experiencing “brain death”. Brazening it out, Macron doubled down, defending his remark at the Nato summit of last week. As I never tire of [...]
How can banks factor in climate change without damaging the economy? December 5, 2019 In a few weeks, we will get the results of the UK bank stress tests, which is a measure of our biggest banks’ ability to withstand the toughest of economic shocks. In 2021, these tests will include a scenario on climate change. The regulator wants to know that our biggest financial institutions really can weather [...]
John McDonnell: A Labour government would save families thousands December 3, 2019 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell will tomorrow tell families that a Labour government could save them thousands of pounds a year as he seeks to shrug off criticism of his spending plans. In a speech in Birmingham ahead of the 12 December polling day, McDonnell will attack the Tories for overseeing a “cost of living crisis” [...]