Andy Burnham will crumble like a biscuit he can’t even name June 18, 2026 Andy Burnham’s record and character will not withstand the national scrutiny that will come with a bid to become Prime Minister, says Alys Denby Once, when asked which was his favourite biscuit, Andy Burnham replied “beer and chips and gravy”. If the Mayor of Manchester wins the Makerfield by-election today and graduates from local celebrity [...]
Politics and football have more in common than you think June 18, 2026 If politics is showbiz for ugly people, it might also be seen as sport for the unathletic. It often carries the same partisanship, the obsession with obscure statistics, and the familiar pattern of renewed hope, only to be dampened by reality, says John Oxley By the time you read things, two things will have happened [...]
On this day: “God’s Banker” found dead, suicide or murder? June 18, 2026 On 18th June 1982, Roberto Calvi, a banker with close ties to both the Vatican and the Mafia was found hanged under Blackfriars Bridge. Eliot Wilson asks what happened The temperature was climbing by 7.30am on Friday 18 June 1982 and had reached 14°C, but London remained cloudy and wet. A postal clerk was walking [...]
Cruxy founder: The worst advice I’ve ever had? Stay in your lane June 18, 2026 Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, Carrie Osman tells us about going from mucking out stables to building a tech start-up in Square Mile and Me CV What was your first job? Helping out around stables from when I was about three! Horses teach accountability faster than [...]
John Healey’s principles will cost UK defence companies June 17, 2026 Defence secretary John Healey supposedly quit for British industry, but he has inadvertently handed the main win to its competitors.
Small businesses can help solve defence procurement June 17, 2026 A neutral vendor model for defence procurement will solve issues of scale, reduce bureaucracy and reduce the risks of engagement for all sides, says Rob Levene John Healey and Al Carns may have quit, but the final answer to the question that triggered their exits as defence secretary and armed forces minister has been left [...]
It’s time to scrap the Equality Act June 17, 2026 Pernicious New Labour legislation is distorting the jobs market and costing business, says Joe Dinnage It’s a golden rule of good writing to invoke George Orwell as little as possible. Chronically overused, the term ‘Orwellian’ is to newspaper columnists what ‘obviously’ is to football pundits. Occasionally, however, rules must be broken. We at the Prosperity [...]
Burnham’s focused on spending but at least Streeting’s thinking about growth June 17, 2026 So, what’s it going to be? An end to 40 years of neoliberalism or a future shaped by progressive capitalism? That, at least, is the choice represented by Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting. The former health secretary delivered an impressive speech yesterday, offering an alternative economic vision to the more left-leaning instincts of Labour’s candidate [...]
Catalytic capital is the next phase in philanthropy June 17, 2026 Increasingly, philanthropists and the businesses and investors who think like them are asking how we move beyond responding to crises and start addressing their causes? says Jane Thompson As the UK enters one of the largest intergenerational wealth transfers in its history, a new generation of business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs has an opportunity to [...]
Belu Water CEO: What does business as a force for good actually look like? June 17, 2026 Social enterprises prove that a morally good economy is also a prosperous one, says Charlotte Harrington What does “business as a force for good actually look like? The phrase is thrown around all the time. Is it about growing the economy? Helping vulnerable communities? Making sustainable choices in the middle of an environmental crisis? I’ve [...]