Sketch: PMQs falls flat – do Sunak and Starmer not get the rules? October 9, 2024 With the Tories immersed in a leadership contest and Labour emerging from weeks of freebie headlines and internal drama, Westminster watchers will have turned to this week’s PMQs for a much needed injection of drama. Grab your popcorn, it’s box office time. Surely the acting leader of the Conservative Party could at least muster up [...]
Will the last millionaire to leave Britain please turn out the light? October 9, 2024 More millionaires are leaving Britain than any other country in the world, taking with them investment, jobs and insights. And our loss is the rest of the world’s gain, says James Price Britain is due to suffer the biggest flight of millionaires out of any country in the world over the course of this next [...]
The Notebook: Less of the doom please. Business is spooked! October 9, 2024 Business optimism is plunging and no wonder. With all the doom and gloom, has Labour forgotten its mission of growth? Asks Kiki McDonough
Americans do it better (investing, that is) October 9, 2024 British companies are often accountable to passive shareholders, such as pension funds, leading to risk aversion and short-termism. The US invests differently, with much better results, says Tom Focas The UK economy is in dire need of a rejuvenation. Growth is still stagnating, productivity lags behind global competitors, and industries that once anchored the nation’s [...]
Craft beer fear: Who can save Britain’s breweries? October 9, 2024 Local brewers are shutting up shop. What will come of that local pint of craft ale?
The threat of higher taxes is already harming growth October 9, 2024 An important reason why there was zero growth in June and July is that households are saving bigger proportions of their incomes, says Paul Ormerod The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, had made no secret of her desire to make economic growth her top policy objective. She reinforced the message this week in an interview with the [...]
Listen to business when it comes to workers’ rights October 9, 2024 The government must remember that employers need flexibility to thrive, writes John Dickie
A ‘New Deal’ for fewer jobs and worse pay? October 8, 2024 Labour’s promise of a ‘New Deal for Working People’ is deliberately worded to evoke the era of Roosevelt, when major federal interventions supposedly shook America out of the Great Depression and conclusively demonstrated the benefits of Keynesian economics. But even Keynes knew it was more complicated than this. Alongside stimulus, he wrote that reversing a [...]
A wake up call: Why a talented public sector is key to protecting democracies October 8, 2024 Democracies rely on governments running a public sector that can attract the country's top talent, writes Shmuel Chafets
Chancellor’s tightrope walk will leave us holding our breath October 8, 2024 By tradition, Chancellors are allowed a stiff drink at the despatch box as they deliver their Budget. Parliamentary records tell us that Gladstone enjoyed sherry and beaten egg while the most recent Chancellor to indulge in this ancient right, Ken Clarke, opted for a straight whiskey. Since then, there’s been nothing but water in the [...]