Hiscox finance chief: London’s AI adoption is too slow August 6, 2026 Hiscox group chief financial officer Paul Cooper takes us through his career in insurance in this week's Square Mile and Me.
Andy Burnham is on course to rack up the second highest debt interest bill on record August 6, 2026 Britain’s national debt has reached £3 trillion. We can’t go on like this, says Anne Strickland Andy Burnham has been Prime Minister for just over a fortnight and in that time, Britain’s national debt crossed the unimaginable £3 trillion mark, according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance Debt Clock. It took us 11 years to go from [...]
Think your tax affairs are settled? Think again. August 6, 2026 If you think your tax affairs are settled with HMRC, you may need to think again – a small error from years ago could come back to haunt you, says Fiona Fernie HMRC have just issued a consultation called Modernising the Correction of Errors which includes a proposal that requires taxpayers who become aware of [...]
‘Social value’ procurement rules are an absurd waste of time and money August 6, 2026 Procurement is not a sexy topic, but stay with me here. The public sector spends around £400bn a year buying goods and services from the private sector. You can imagine the scale: NHS equipment and Ministry of Defence gear, police cars and IT infrastructure, immigration processing centres, security guards, construction projects and fax machines. It’s [...]
Is it ever ok to wear shorts to the office? August 6, 2026 During a long, hot summer in the capital, an age- old debate has reared its head: should men ever wear shorts to the office? James Ford explains why it is never, ever ok. No. It isn’t. Not even in a heatwave. End of. Full stop. At the risk of incurring my editor’s ire, I’m tempted [...]
In Jason Arday, Cambridge is discovering the dangers of DEI August 6, 2026 The row over Jason Arday, Cambridge’s “youngest black professor”, raises serious questions about the corrosive role Diversity, Equality & Inclusion (DEI) has come to play in institutions, businesses and society at large, says Ike Ijeh Plagiarism is older than Ancient Greece but, unlike imitation, it is the least sincere form of flattery. However, until the [...]
Give London power to level up the rest of the country August 6, 2026 If Andy Burnham is to make a success of his devolution agenda he must give London more powers and money to invest in the main drivers of the whole country’s international competitiveness, says Patrick Diamond The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has put devolution and economic growth at the heart of his government’s narrative. London [...]
Britain needs a new Richard Branson August 5, 2026 Richard Branson continues to be the best champion the UK has as a place to do business despite founding his first business decades ago. Branson is a global success, but he should have a successor by now, says Philip Salter A few months after England lifted the 1966 World Cup, Sir Richard Branson started working [...]
On this day: the birth of press freedom August 5, 2026 On 5th August 1735 John Peter Zenger was acquitted of seditious libel on the basis that the criticisms of the government he has printed in The New York Weekly Journal were true. It was a judgement that established the basis of press freedom on which western democracy still depends, writes Eliot Wilson By the end [...]
The only answers to over-tourism are prices or queues August 5, 2026 Major tourism sites are becoming over crowded as a result of rational herd behaviour. The inevitable result will be charges or queues, says Paul Ormerod Peak holiday season, and the media is full of stories and pictures of popular sites across Europe being overwhelmed by the crowds of visitors. Shots on social media show the [...]