General Election 2019: Boris Johnson urges UK to ‘let healing begin’ December 13, 2019 This was a live blog, thank you for following along Read more: UK stocks and sterling surge as Tories triumph at pollsRead more: Election live: Who were the big MP casualties?Read more: UK housebuilders rejoice as shares rise after Tory win 04.30pm: Over and out! That’s it for today – we’re off to get some [...]
Iain Duncan Smith: ‘We don’t have champagne socialists here’ December 4, 2019 On the campaign with… Iain Duncan Smith Labour has made no secret of its plan to unseat former Conservative leader and minister Iain Duncan Smith in favour of Corbynite candidate Faiza Shaheen. Hundreds of the hard-left Momentum group’s activists have been diverted into Chingford and Wood Green in the past few weeks in the hope [...]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s British broadband speech in full November 15, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn has laid out plans to provide free full fibre broadband to every UK household and part-nationalise BT this morning. Labour said that the policy, the cost of which was estimated at £20bn, would be funded by taxing multinational tech giants. The policy announcement sent BT’s share price down over two per cent this [...]
To speak or not to speak: The battle for free speech November 1, 2019 I remember the excitement of setting up my first Personal Computer and being able to get email. The potential to connect with people from around the world in an instance was inspiring, as was the sense that the Information Superhighway and World Wide Web were going to transform our world forever. I also remember being [...]
DEBATE: Last year’s winter fuel allowance for pensioners cost almost £2bn – should the benefit be means-tested? October 10, 2019 Last year’s winter fuel allowance for pensioners cost almost £2bn – should the benefit be means-tested? Imogen Farhan, a researcher at the independent think tank Reform, says YES. It is vital that those struggling to heat their homes receive support, but handing out cash to wealthy pensioners is a waste of taxpayers’ money. Age alone [...]
Fintech is all the rage, but is the bubble about to burst? September 5, 2019 Fintechs are all the rage. Scarcely a day goes by without a new challenger bank or money app making headlines about how it seeks to disrupt traditional banking and solve personal finance problems. As a result, capital is pouring into the sector – last year, global investment into financial technology ventures more than doubled to [...]
How to end the injustice of the skewed university degree system September 4, 2019 Imagine a world where Eton awarded its own A-levels. No one else could take them and, if you got an A grade in, for example, chemistry, it was worth more than an A grade in the same subject from any other exam board. It would be hideously unfair. Etonians would have a huge, inbuilt advantage [...]
Government proposals to fix the NHS pension crisis still miss the mark August 14, 2019 It has been an unfortunate theme over recent years that public services have to reach crisis point before the government is stirred to take action. And here we have the mother of all crises (that is, the NHS crisis) made worse by a desperately confusing pensions system. When a tax rule is effectively stopping doctors [...]
Businesses vent fury at handling of Brexit after economy shrinks August 9, 2019 UK business organisations have condemned the continuation of Brexit uncertainty after it helped push the economy into contraction in the second quarter. They called for “decisive action” to turn the situation around. Read more: UK economy shrinks for first time in six years GDP fell by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter, data from [...]
Kier shares soar 40 per cent as it chips away at debt pile August 1, 2019 Kier Group investors rejoiced this morning as they were treated to a rare piece of good news: that the firm is regaining control of its debt. The firm also said it had attracted “significant interest” in its house building arm, which it is trying to sell to reduce its debt. Read more: Kier shares plunge [...]