Letters: Stop spying on me, boss September 16, 2022 [Re: UK civil servants to have computers monitored to get people back to office, September 13] The UK Civil Service should reconsider whether the surveillance of employees is the appropriate approach to get the most out of their staff and encourage their return to the office. It is important that employees feel accountable and acknowledged [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Another royal drama brewing for the queen’s funeral September 15, 2022 Royal drama is brewing this week – and not only in the UK. The former Spanish King has announced he’ll show up to Queen Elizabeth’s II funeral, much to the opprobrium of the Spanish government. Juan Carlos has held the title of former King since 2014, when he abdicated after a public outcry over his [...]
Liz Truss is determined to ignore reality and push inflation up with price freezes September 15, 2022 It is hard to believe only a week has passed since Liz Truss made the announcement that was set to immediately define the start of her premiership; a blanket cap on energy bills so that the average household pays no more than £2,500 a year. After being harried for weeks by the opposition parties, she [...]
As we redefine levelling up, don’t ignore the poverty in London for political points September 15, 2022 London is also home to some of the most deprived areas in the country. There are pockets of poverty in practically every borough of London, including some of the most affluent.
King Charles III must find the balance of being a modern royal, following in his mother’s path September 15, 2022 In his mother, King Charles III has a model, but it will be a constant balancing act ahead.
Letters: When the going gets tough September 15, 2022 [Re: Tax cuts are not enough to help the small businesses facing crippling energy bills, Sept 2] Businesses are facing soaring costs and weakening demand which threatens their existence. From the start of April to the end of June, there were over 5,600 registered company insolvencies in the UK, an 81 per cent increase from [...]
The Queen and the prime ministers, a weekly meeting to hold the Union together September 14, 2022 Over the 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, she met and dealt with thousands of government ministers, from the United Kingdom and from the Commonwealth. While she would deal most regularly with the British prime minister, with regular weekly meetings, she interacted with ministers in other ways, such as at Privy Council meetings. Commonwealth [...]
Explainer-in-brief: A Northern Irish deadlock, continued September 14, 2022 This week saw a new development in the Northern Ireland Protocol row, as Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission Vice President, said the EU was willing to reduce the physical checks on goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland to “a couple of lorries a day”. It sounds minor, but when Northern Ireland is concerned, any [...]
Game on: Why Big Tech is betting big on gaming September 14, 2022 When Bill Gates said “content is king” back in 1996, he opened a can of worms that has become increasingly hard to contain. This content obsession has evolved in different ways in the last two decades, with the latest bet from Big Tech being on gaming. While the evolution of video games has been progressing [...]
As we pay for Putin’s energy war, we must also protect our future supplies September 14, 2022 Liz Truss’ government has finally arrived as the country heads towards a pivotal winter. There’s been ceaseless debate about what its much anticipated support package should include, but the fundamentals were always clear. First, it is expensive to protect ourselves from Russian manipulation of gas markets we rely upon. Second, we must put all efforts [...]