Governments can’t ‘tax for growth’ – they need to get out of the way May 8, 2026 You cannot tax your way to growth and prosperity, and Labour’s track record suggests any extra revenue would go toward expanding benefits rather than productive investment, says Anne Strickland Amid the local elections, some MPs think they’ve cracked the code to win back voters – by raising taxes. Jeevun Sandher MP, parliamentary aide to the [...]
Drill baby brill: Why the UK must develop it’s North Sea oil fields May 8, 2026 In light of international crises like the war in Iran and the resulting energy price spikes, the UK’s fundamental energy vulnerability – its dependence on a volatile international market – can be solved by immediately approving further drilling in the North Sea, says Brandon Lewis Moments of crisis have a clarifying power that peacetime politics [...]
This accidental Finnish defence startup can teach the UK some lessons May 7, 2026 The UK is home to some of the world's most significant defence companies, but also its most inefficient procurement systems, writes Eliot Wilson.
However London votes today, not enough will change May 7, 2026 Whether Labour, Tory, Lib Dem, Greens, or Reform – all local politicians are all incentivised by the system that elects them. Every party promises to protect “green spaces”, all councillors perform lip service towards supporting affordable homes, while campaigning vociferously against what they arbitrarily determine to be “inappropriate development”, says Tom Harwood While London (and [...]
Time to network the rail May 7, 2026 Five London stations are being redeveloped – let’s combine these projects to get London’s growth back on track, says Peter Hogg Railway stations define London. From the first family trip out of Euston to the countryside, to passing through the market at King’s Cross, for many Londoners they are as integral to life here as [...]
Labour’s plans for rent control by stealth will cost £4.2bn a year May 7, 2026 An upward-only rent review ban on commercial property, which has been shoehorned into a devolution bill, will have massive unintended consequences, warns Martin Beck Last year, the then-housing and local government secretary, Angela Rayner, quietly and unexpectedly inserted a rent control policy for commercial property into the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The measure [...]
How are prediction markets like Polymarket more accurate than Wall Street analysts? May 7, 2026 Prediction markets like Polymarket are more accurate than Wall Street analysts in forecasting corporate earnings, but it's not for the reason you think.
Why democracy needs the rich May 7, 2026 A new book argues that, in a democracy, an intellectual class that holds homogeneous, anti-capitalist views demands a counterweight of the wealthy contributing to politics, says Rainer Zitelmann In 2021 and 2022, a representative survey on attitudes toward the market economy and capitalism was conducted in 34 countries. Among other things, respondents were presented with [...]
Let’s create new hereditary peers and put them to work – just not in the Lords May 7, 2026 The government was right to abolish hereditary peers, but it would be a mistake to lose the custodians of the memories of great Britons of the past, says Bartek Staniszewski In the 70s, during a debate in the House of Lords, one of the peers quoted a Lord Chief Justice from the reign of King [...]
Big Tech wants a slice of the fashion world. But why? May 6, 2026 From Amazon to Meta, Big Tech is snapping up Met Gala tables and Vogue covers, but why, asks Anna Moloney.