Is Twitter becoming a broadcaster? September 15, 2016 Twitter is moving heavily into the broadcast space, making a bet that its strength lies in real-time news. The joy of Twitter has always been its stream of pithy commentary around current events, with Twitter Moments the latest attempt to curate and editorialise those stories. Certainly, Twitter has always been able to break and spread [...]
What a summer: George Osborne’s epic fall from high office September 15, 2016 At the end of July, former Chancellor George Osborne delivered the annual Margaret Thatcher memorial lecture. Her legacy is mighty. What would his be? As he attempted to define it in front of a City audience in the magnificent Guildhall, he concluded that he had “much more to contribute to our nation's discussions in the [...]
The chancellor faces four daunting tasks in preparing his Autumn Statement September 14, 2016 Say your prayers for the chancellor of the exchequer. Most people think David Davis and Liam Fox have a tough enough job over the coming months, but Philip Hammond also faces a daunting challenge. Consider some of the questions in his in-tray: Question One: Is the UK economy slowing down? The received wisdom is that [...]
It’s time for long-term fintech to break into pensions and mortgages September 14, 2016 Certain areas of fintech have experienced an entrepreneurial frenzy over recent years. Sectors once dominated by traditional providers have become hotbeds of startup activity, with most of the action occurring in payments, foreign exchange, short-term lending and, more recently, current accounts. As is often the case, where entrepreneurs have led, money has followed. This has [...]
Shooting the messenger: Rent controls have always and everywhere ended in failure September 14, 2016 Rent controls are back on the political agenda. Their reintroduction is now official Labour Party policy, and the Conservatives will probably follow with a somewhat milder version in due course. It is easy to see why: according to a recent Survation poll, two thirds of the public support rent controls, with most of the remaining [...]
The Green Belt is standing between young people and the homes they need September 14, 2016 Imagine a race in which the finishing line moved further away, faster than you could run. Rigged against you, no matter how hard you tried, the finish line would always move faster. That’s the housing market in London and the South East for most young people, where the dream of homeownership remains just that, a [...]
With Theresa May expected to give it the green light, is Hinkley Point just a colossal white elephant? September 14, 2016 Ruth Lea, economic adviser to the Arbuthnot Banking Group, says Yes. There is little doubt that we need more electricity generating capacity – and the sooner the better. So the government’s determination to expand capacity is welcome. But Hinkley Point is flawed. Putting aside security fears over Chinese finance behind the proposed EDF nuclear power plant, [...]
A desire for micro management will only serve up political pain for the PM September 14, 2016 With party conference season just around the corner, how can one tell if the new PM is something of a control freak? Look no further than her actions over the summer break. Hot on the heels of announcing three new committees to oversee the work of ministers, including one for Brexit, civil servants appear to [...]
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct needs a solid gameplan to rise from the ashes September 14, 2016 Sports Direct is back in the news, this time for what should be more positive reasons than their other recent appearances. We have covered how consumer perception of the brand has fallen over the past year as investigations uncovered damaging practices within the organisation. This culminated in owner Mike Ashley’s appearance in front of a select [...]