Gender equality has become an election issue – but progress remains painfully slow April 20, 2015 Gender equality has been highlighted as an important electoral issue in the political manifestos. All of the main parties want to see better conditions at work for women and they welcomed progress on female representation on boards – vouching to do more, though shying away from embracing quotas. But what is holding women back when [...]
Forget small ideas for big challenges: This is the economic manifesto Britain needed April 20, 2015 Distance sometimes gives you a better perspective. What became clear to me abroad last week was that, in an age of big economic challenges, the ideas in the parties’ manifestos are very small. In fact, we’re seeing a depressing resurgence of misguided giveaways, interventions and price controls. We’d hope a politician would be handsomely rewarded [...]
As a UN official blames anti-migrant rhetoric for boat rescue failures in the Med, is he right? April 20, 2015 Will Jones, lecturer in politics and member of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, says Yes Our politicians are fighting to prove who can be most vicious to foreigners. Who can stop them from claiming benefits for longest, or face the tightest admission requirements, or deported fastest. Our government deported a 31 [...]
Google’s mobile friendly algorithm change: Why businesses could rue “mobilegeddon” April 20, 2015 Google is about to embark on a major algorithm change which could leave businesses who have yet to adapt to mobile see their customer base shrink overnight. Billed as “mobilegeddon” in some quarters, the search engine will tomorrow start to roll out what is expected to be the biggest change to its search results in [...]
Don’t bank on Hillary: Why a second President Clinton is far from inevitable April 19, 2015 I have been immersed in American presidential politics since at least 1992, when I briefly volunteered in New Hampshire (a pivotal early primary) for the whirlwind that is William Jefferson Clinton. I was present at the creation of his national legend, where – despite almost daily revelations of womanising and draft-dodging that would have sunk [...]
Manifestos are pure symbolism: It’s the post-election horse trading that matters April 19, 2015 The saying that there are two things you should never see being made in public – policy and sausages – is somewhat apt at the moment. As the parties publish their manifestos, we really are approaching the finish line in the race to the door of No 10. But do these collections of documents actually [...]
Why robust regulation of retail trading is a competitive advantage April 19, 2015 Since the financial crisis, regulation has been debated extensively; as financial markets have become more accessible to retail consumers, protecting them has never been more important. The decision by the Swiss National Bank to remove the cap on euro-Swiss franc in January 2015 caused turmoil in currency markets, and given the impact this had on [...]
With the election a dead heat, is a minority government now the most likely outcome? April 19, 2015 Charles Lewington, managing director of Hanover Communications, says Yes. The polls currently show the most likely outcome of the election is a deal between Labour and the SNP, both of which have ruled out a coalition with the other. The only party which could possibly provide enough seats to get one of the major parties [...]
A sharing economy must be a trusting economy April 18, 2015 Trust is the foundation stone of all transactions. We traditionally rely on meeting people and building trust over time, but in an on-demand world, we don’t have the luxury of being able to wait. We’re moving from a world where people tend to know each other and interact with a few individuals, to a world where we are constantly interacting [...]
A sharing economy must be a trusting economy April 18, 2015 Husayn Kassai is CEO and Co-Founder of Onfido. Trust is the foundation stone of all transactions. We traditionally rely on meeting people and building trust over time, but in an on-demand world, we don’t have the luxury of being able to wait. We’re moving from a world where people tend to know each other and interact with a [...]