Letters: London as the golden child May 25, 2022 [Re: London shines as top tech hub in Europe – again, yesterday] Nearly six years on from the EU referendum, fears of Brexit derailing London’s standing as a global capital for tech and innovation are being routinely challenged. This new research from the Z/Yen Group shows London reigns as Europe’s most technically advanced city, second [...]
Explainer-in-brief: A bill to fight off a dangerous global grain shortage May 24, 2022 This week, a bill to accelerate the manufacturing of genetically edited crops will be brought to Parliament. As the world faces a potential food crisis in the aftermath of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the government hopes the bill will allow it to shore up the country’s reserves of wheat. Genetically edited crops are more resistant [...]
We must celebrate and support more women-led firms in venture capital May 24, 2022 All investors are judged on the quality of their decision-making. Where we get it right, companies thrive; where we make mistakes, the consequences are obvious. Success and failure are both easy to measure – we can be frank about what works and what doesn’t. When it comes to venture capital’s record for investing in women, [...]
The government should look beyond a windfall tax to see the merit of insulation May 24, 2022 Labour leader Keir Starmer taunted the prime minister at the dispatch box last week, gloating that a windfall tax – the flagship proposal from the opposition to cut down energy bills – was now “inevitable”. Such confidence from Starmer is not unearned, as it has been fuelled by a litany of u-turns from Boris Johnson’s [...]
Only a semiconductor revolution can save the flagging British automobile industry May 24, 2022 In 1974, a failing New Mexico calculator maker took a gamble. Laden with debt after a brutal price war and a botched IPO, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems decided to enter the microcomputer market. Its offering was the Altair 8800, the first commercially successful personal computer that would spark the microcomputer revolution. Inside each device [...]
Letters: Some Parisian inspiration May 24, 2022 [Re: Woo investors to make Britain like France, Boris told, yesterday] The Centre for Policy Studies’ (CPS) conclusion that the UK needs to emulate the policies of France to attract investors offers interesting insights. This argument, however, must be put into context. Financial markets are in a precarious position with rising inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, and [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Could Musk back out of the $44bn Twitter deal May 23, 2022 What’s the most expensive mistake you’ve ever made? Booked a holiday for the wrong dates? Added an extra zero to the £260 you owed? Well, for Elon Musk, he thought it would just be $1bn to get out of the $44bn Twitter takeover. But strict merger laws, brought in after the financial crisis, could force [...]
Johnson could use the meal deal moratorium to finally find some values May 23, 2022 A week ago the government announced that it was delaying the introduction of a ban on so-called BOGOF (buy one, get one free) offers on food and drink high in salt, fat or sugar. The prohibition, intended to help reduce overconsumption and therefore obesity, was deferred, according to the Department of Health and Social Care, [...]
The City should be a 24/7 destination outside of the Thursday evening drinks rush May 23, 2022 Tomorrow, Londoners will get their first chance to ride on the Elizabeth line as it finally opens in a major boost for the capital. Coming hot on the heels of the reopening of the Northern line’s Bank branch, the Elizabeth line will provide an economic shot in the arm – bringing an extra 1.5 million [...]
Want to really be Australian-style? Time to move our elections to a Saturday May 23, 2022 Australian elections are always held on a Saturday, meaning more people can get to the ballot booth