Brexit shows it’s time for an economic shake-up from the Tories January 28, 2019 The Brexit weather forecast remains distinctly foggy in all areas as we enter yet another crucial week in Westminster. Will we ever see daylight and opportunity out of this sickening political morass? As I said to the BBC Question Time audience last week, I think this parliament ranks as the most dismal in living memory. [...]
No Boris, springing aimless policy promises on the public is not the way to make change January 21, 2019 The tax burden in the UK is at a 50-year high, accounting for over 34.5 per cent of GDP. Nevertheless, MPs from across the political spectrum like to propose new and higher taxes – the implementation of which increase the burden on families, who are already struggling from Britain’s cost of living crisis and lackluster [...]
London needs micro-homes to solve the housing crisis January 21, 2019 Size doesn’t matter. When it comes to property at least, it’s all about location, location, location. Everyday, thousands of city workers (yes, I’m talking about you) are forced into excruciatingly long commutes from the outskirts of London, because living in the city centre – and, frankly, most of the capital – is simply unaffordable. Micro-housing would [...]
Opinion: Property raffles are 500 times easier to win than the EuroMillions but they’re not going to go mainstream until they’re transparent January 18, 2019 Property raffles have certainly generated national media column inches over the past few years. There has been a huge buzz around the concept and it’s easy to see why – the thought of owning a multi-million pound home for the small cost of a ticket could turn an ordinary person struggling to get a foot [...]
A year on from Carillion: 12 months that brought outsourcing to its knees January 15, 2019 On the anniversary of Carillion’s dramatic collapse, two more public sector outsourcing giants, Interserve and Kier Group, are up against the ropes. In the intervening 12 months, outsourcers have lurched from one crisis to another, with profit warnings, massive project failures and revelations of systemic late payment of suppliers. City A.M. charts a year which [...]
Off road: Is the car industry in reverse? January 14, 2019 The automotive industry faces recession and decline. Driverless cars are on the horizon, but has the moment for motors already passed? The first Model T Ford rolled off the production line in 1908. Available in “any colour… so long as it is black”, in the words of magnate Henry Ford, the car marked a breakthrough [...]
There’s only one way to fix the housing crisis: build more January 9, 2019 From free marketeers on the right to proponents of central planning on the left, cries to fix Britain’s broken housing market have become deafening. The solutions, of course, differ greatly depending on where along the political spectrum you stand. Yesterday, for example, Shelter issued its latest call to action, proposing three million new social homes [...]
Confronting the Robots December 13, 2018 Professor Peter Fleming, formerly of Cass Business School, wrote an article for Demos Quarterly which argued that the age of automation is unlikely to lead to a utopian world of play, but doesn't necessarily mean a proliferation of rubbish jobs. You can read the article in full here. Dr Simone Stumpf, Senior Lecturer in the Department of [...]
Mayday: PM delays crucial parliament vote on her Brexit deal December 10, 2018 Theresa May has confirmed a highly-anticipated vote on her Brexit deal will be delayed, following threats of a huge rebellion from within the Conservative Party. The Prime Minister confirmed the delay in the House of Commons this afternoon, saying she believed she could still win a vote after winning further reassurance on the Irish backstop. [...]
Transport secretary Chris Grayling could have done more to avert May timetable chaos, say MPs December 4, 2018 Transport secretary Chris Grayling should have been "more proactive" in averting the crisis that unfolded from the timetable upgrade in May, MPs have said. The Transport Select Committee said it was "not reasonable" of Grayling to "absolve himself of all responsibility" in the May timetable change, which resulted in widespread cancellations, delays and overcrowding. The committee [...]