Against the Grain: Why expensive renewable energy policies are failing to save the planet October 22, 2013 ENERGY price rises are again causing public anguish. The recent actions of some energy companies can be plausibly described as provocative, no matter how well-founded their decisions might be. They risk provoking the ire of the opposition, the government, and even former Prime Ministers like Sir John Major (who has just called for a windfall [...]
The Immigration Bill risks harming liberty and Britain’s economy October 22, 2013 THE PHRASE “papers, please” once conjured up the image of a totalitarian dystopia, where anyone might rat out their neighbour to the government. Britons have always been allergic to this informant culture – a hallmark of the unlimited state. But “papers, please” could soon become government policy. Whatever your perspective on migration, the Immigration Bill [...]
Letters to the Editor – 23/10 – Nuclear costs, Best of Twitter October 22, 2013 Nuclear costs [Re: Nuclear deal to cost £1bn, yesterday] The proposed cost of Hinkley nuclear plant, and the fact it will not be in working order until 2023, shows that Ed Davey’s plans have failed to address our short-term energy crisis and the issue of power running out by 2015. There should be a focus on [...]
Alternative finance could liberate UK SMEs if regulators lift the speed limit October 21, 2013 THE ARGUMENT about banks and the adequacy (or not) of their lending to small businesses has raged on for about four years. It is a length of time comparable with the duration of the First World War, and this is a depressingly appropriate comparison. For all the thousands of rhetorical shells fired by both sides [...]
China’s astonishing growth trajectory holds few lessons for democratic Britain October 21, 2013 I’VE SEEN the future and it works.” That was US journalist Lincoln Steffers’s message after visiting the Soviet Union in the 1920s. It’s worth remembering how wrong he turned out to be. Why? George Osborne and Boris Johnson have just come back from China, and they’ll be tempted to use the impressive things they’ve seen [...]
Nick Clegg’s guarantee for schools will damage standards in education October 21, 2013 SOMETIMES a minister will say something so straightforwardly ignorant, so uninformed of the history and facts of the issue, that I feel a kind of despair. A good example is Nick Clegg’s comments on schools this week. Clegg claims to have discovered the Holy Grail in state education: to provide a “guarantee” to “every parent” [...]
Letters to the Editor – 22/10 – UK tech failures, Cost of nuclear, Best of Twitter October 21, 2013 UK tech failures [Re: UK efforts to nurture a tech startup revolution are worryingly trivial, yesterday] The world laughs at our abject failure to build global tech companies. Sadly Tech City will go the way of other innovation initiatives like the Cabinet Office’s Skunkworks, the Innovation Launch Pad, the Solutions Exchange and ICT Futures, which have [...]
Defective EU carbon trading scheme is adding billions to UK energy costs October 20, 2013 YOU MAY never have heard of it, but a European scheme, designed to achieve carbon emissions targets that have already been met, is adding billions to consumer energy bills. This year and every year until 2020, the UK government will auction hundreds of millions of carbon credits – called European Union Allowances (EUAs) – into [...]
City Matters: Tangible steps forward in the UK-China relationship will deliver real benefits October 20, 2013 WITH both George Osborne and Boris Johnson flying the flag for British business in China last week, it is worth taking stock of this increasingly important UK-Sino relationship. As the government rightly recognises, the UK and London need to be plugged into fast-growing global markets like China in order to succeed in the global race. [...]
Letters to the Editor – 21/10 – Royal Mail sale, Prince Charles, Best of Twitter October 20, 2013 Royal Mail sale [Re: Cable pens another defence of Royal Mail selloff as shares soar to 500p, Friday] Vince Cable is right to say that it is too soon to criticise the government’s pricing of Royal Mail. Only half of the government’s stake has been sold so far, and the shares have just been trading [...]