The Debate: Should we scrap the ‘table tax’? April 8, 2026 Pavement licenses mean restaurants have to pay to put tables and chairs outside. Is that fair or is it a tax on enterprise?
Londonmaxxing could save the capital’s jobs market April 8, 2026 Can Londonmaxxing help revive the capital's flailing job market? Employment expert Kevin Fitzgerald thinks so.
M&A in a time of geopolitical turmoil April 8, 2026 Dealmakers are being more selective and concentrating their bets to cope with AI, tariffs and instability in the Middle East, says Jerome Pottier A trillion dollars of dealmaking in under three months should feel like a boom. By the numbers, it is. Activity is up 27 per cent year on year, and the megadeal is [...]
A generation risks being put off university just when we need graduates most April 8, 2026 Current public debate, with headlines about student debt, graduate underemployment and a supposedly collapsing graduate jobs market risk the impression that university is no longer a worthwhile investment When Daniela Amodei, co-founder of world-leading AI firm Anthropic, was asked recently whether she regretted her English literature degree, her answer was unequivocal: no. In fact, she [...]
We talked to 12 permanent secretaries about how to rewire the state – here’s what they said April 8, 2026 The path to an integrated digital state must be problem-led, not tech led, says Yatin Mahandru The UK government has an ambitious vision – a ‘rewiring of the British state’ powered by digital and AI. Leadership is clear that “no person’s substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do [...]
Anti-establishment? Reform’s triple lock pledge proves they’re more of the same April 8, 2026 If Reform is truly committed to being an anti-establishment party, a party that is serious about solving Britain’s economic woes rather than merely performing opposition then pledging to scrap the triple lock is not something that is optional – it is imperative, says Oliver Dean Just weeks ago, Reform were finally getting serious about the [...]
Workers’ rights laws couldn’t come at a worse time for businesses April 8, 2026 The government’s Employment Rights agenda is becoming a reality, and the timing could scarcely be worse. As the first provisions of the Employment Rights Act come into force, Britain’s economic outlook is darkening rapidly. Growth is faltering under the weight of an energy shock, inflation is stirring again and businesses are staring down a period [...]
Zack Polanski’s public spending plans are pure fantasy April 8, 2026 Advisors to the Green Party are advocating Modern Monetary Theory, It’s been tried before and proved a disaster, says Paul Ormerod The Green Party is riding high in the polls – a recent survey puts them joint top, with Labour in fourth place. On the economics front, this raises once again the spectre of Modern [...]
Barclays’ high street U-turn exposes a divide in British banking April 8, 2026 Bank have ditched the high street over the last decade but is a comeback on the horizon? Samuel Norman explores the changes in this week’s column. In Westminster, the news cycle is never short of drama over U-turns. Subtle tweaks or direct bait-and-switches on policy are batted away by government spokespeople as mere “pivots” as [...]
Graduates are the canary in the coalmine for a failing welfare system April 7, 2026 The welfare state is a Ponzi scheme that’s dependent on an ever shrinking cohort of taxpayers, says Anne Strickland Discussion about student loan unfairness has dominated the headlines over the last month, after a freeze in the repayment thresholds led to a backlash about the student loan system in general. With fiscal drag pulling more [...]