It is crazy that high speed rail will fail to integrate with our airports June 25, 2012 THE Government has got High Speed Two (HS2) wrong. As one of the architects of Britain’s first high speed railway, HS1 – connecting London with the Channel Tunnel – I am in a unique position to write this. Whatever the truth behind the rumours and denials that the project is to be abandoned, the focus [...]
Anti-austerians don’t want a temporary stimulus – they want a bigger state June 25, 2012 WHEN Paul Krugman – the spirited New York Times columnist – was in London recently, he accused the coalition of having a hidden agenda. Krugman believes that many British politicians want a smaller state, and are using the recession as an excuse to bring one about. But Krugman is wrong. It’s the anti-austerians who aren’t [...]
After the Muslim Brotherhood won Egypt’s presidency, should liberals be concerned? June 25, 2012 YES Samer Libdeh Although the Muslim Brotherhood stated that it will support and defend civil and minority rights, it remains to be seen whether this will happen in practice. The first test will come over the formation of a new government and whether Freedom and Justice, the Brotherhood’s party, will reach out to all sectors [...]
RAPID responses June 25, 2012 A perfect IT storm [Re: Customers should vote with their feet to punish bad service, yesterday] NatWest has blamed a failed IT upgrade for upending its systems and leaving customers inconvenienced and angry. Many will complain about a failure to reward IT staff, inappropriate offshoring or a lack of concern for customer service. But what [...]
City 2050: Build tall and verdant June 24, 2012 WHAT will the City look like in 2050? Since the Gherkin was completed just under 10 years ago, prompting a new wave of signature architecture, the City’s future skyline has been a subject of much debate. As part of The Developing City exhibition, New London Architecture has commissioned three groups of architects, developers and property [...]
Brics defended us from anti-growth greens at Rio+20 June 24, 2012 THE OUTCOME of the UN Rio+20 conference last week was a welcome surprise. The conference was held to review the progress of the UN’s global programme to manage environmental issues, adopted in Rio de Janeiro 20 years before. Rio+20 rejected calls by green NGOs to endorse green economics and restated the need for an open [...]
Russia’s potential in financial services is a prize the City should unwrap June 24, 2012 IT’S ASTONISHING that you can travel by train from the heart of Canada right to the Pacific at Vladivostok, crossing nine time zones and an eighth of the world’s landmass on the way. Sadly, the pace of business doesn’t allow such journeys anymore, so I will be taking my business delegation to [...]
Is Ed Miliband right to propose restrictions to immigration to protect British workers? June 24, 2012 YES Andrew Harrop Ed Miliband is trying to avoid being typecast as an urban liberal with a relaxed attitude to migration numbers. So his speech was grounded in two other dimensions of his political personality – he worries about people struggling on low incomes and he wants more responsibility in how people and businesses operate [...]
RAPID responses June 24, 2012 Return to O-levels [Re: Cameron must back Gove for the sake of Britain’s children, Friday] Michael Gove’s proposal isn’t perfect, but it’s an improvement on the failing system we have today – a de facto two-tier system of double-digit top grades and a long list of failures. Let’s hope Gove can defeat his third-rate political [...]
Gove’s exam reforms will confront wasted potential in British schools June 21, 2012 OUR EXAM system should be up there with the best in the world. It should push bright kids and be renowned for its academic rigour. At the moment, GCSEs simply don’t do that. Every year, GCSE results day is accompanied by accusations of “dumbing down” and respect for them is diminishing among employers and universities, [...]