Conservative party conference 2015: Race to succeed the PM has just turned nasty – The City View October 6, 2015 When David Cameron finishes his speech at the Conservative conference in Manchester today, he will look down at his cabinet ministers as they clap and smile, and he will know that many of them now picture themselves in his place. The Prime Minister fired the starting gun on the race to succeed to him when [...]
Jamaica reparations and chief executive pay: Two sides of the same rent seeking coin October 6, 2015 David Cameron’s visit to Jamaica last week led to vociferous demands for the UK to pay the Caribbean island billions of pounds in reparations for slavery. Most people here reacted with predictable eye-rolls and sighs. Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833, nearly two centuries ago. Jamaica has been independent for over 50 [...]
UK skills gap: Britain already has a crisis and rejecting skilled migration will only hit future growth harder October 6, 2015 It may sound like just another overused sound bite, but the skills gap is one of the most important issues affecting UK businesses today. With party conference season well underway, speeches about reducing the deficit and accelerating the UK’s economic recovery have been in plentiful supply. Yet while all eyes have been on Jeremy Corbyn’s [...]
Is Theresa May’s claim that mass immigration has “close to zero” economic benefits a dangerous one? October 6, 2015 Philippe Legrain, senior visiting fellow at the LSE’s European Institute, author of “Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them” and founder of OPEN, an international think tank on openness issues, says Yes Theresa May is wrong. Foreign students subsidise Brits. Foreign doctors fill skills shortages. Young, hard-working immigrants do jobs that most Brits spurn, like care for [...]
Conservative party conference 2015: Clouds may threaten George Osborne’s roof-fixing – The City View October 5, 2015 George Osborne has good grounds for painting a bright picture of Britain’s economic future during his speech to the Tory party conference yesterday. The chancellor was always going to talk up the achievements of his five-year tenure at Number 11 Downing Street – and moreover, he is keen to be seen as a man [...]
Conservative party conference 2015: Why the Tories’ infrastructure plans won’t cut the mustard October 5, 2015 Party conference season is in full swing, and infrastructure is at the top of the agenda for good reason. The announcement to restart the electrification of the two key railway lines last week, coupled with the chancellor’s four-point infrastructure plan announced at the opening of the Conservative party conference, show this government’s commitment to overhauling [...]
Conservative party conference 2015: George Osborne’s tax credit reforms are flawed – and his party is beginning to realise it October 5, 2015 Having won a majority, and with Labour’s new leader polling worse than any in history, one might have expected a jubilant Conservative party conference. But scratch beneath the surface in Manchester, and there’s great concern about the recent Budget’s changes to tax credits. With The Sun newspaper now campaigning against the cuts (having waxed [...]
Corporate tax is changing – but new rules will only work if there is worldwide cooperation October 5, 2015 Pressure on governments around the world to tackle corporate tax avoidance and make sure multinationals pay their “fair share” is mounting. The OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) proposals, announced this week and set to be presented to G20 finance ministers on Thursday, have been specifically designed to combat this. In the making [...]
As George Osborne poaches policy from the opposition, have the Tories now won the centre ground? October 5, 2015 Laura Swire, director at Hanover Communications, says Yes George Osborne not only parked his tank on Labour’s lawn; he disembarked, helped himself to their porridge and then settled himself into bed. Labour has spent months telling the nation (the parts of it on Twitter anyway) that anybody who believes in prudent financial management or a [...]
Today’s tech Goliaths can’t rest on their laurels – The City View October 5, 2015 Rentpath. Web.com. PSINet. Wavo Corporation. Netcom On-Line. iStar Internet. Not exactly household names, are they? But these organisations were some of the biggest listed internet companies in the world, just two decades ago. According to research by venture capitalist Mary Meeker, they were all in the top 15 at that time, but have now been [...]