Time to talk about the price of milk: artisan cheese could save our dairy industry April 21, 2022 Milk has always held a curious place in the political psyche. It has long been used as a measure of affordability of everyday goods – and our leaders’ understanding of the challenges facing many Britons. As inflation, pressures on transport and the war in Ukraine have triggered a spike in prices, the price of milk [...]
Balancing the budget won’t win voters hooked on Sunak’s years of spending April 20, 2022 On a balmy September day eight years ago, Ed Miliband strode onto the stage at Labour Party Conference and proceeded to deliver a marathon 66-minute speech without notes. Unfortunately for the then Labour leader, he managed to forget a key chunk of his prepared remarks – the bit about tackling the deficit. Cue glee from [...]
Our high streets need a new lease of life but forced auctions could be fraught with uncertainty April 20, 2022 This week, the government unveiled plans to revitalise high streets up and down the country. Under the new policy – which will only be revealed in full during the Queen’s Speech next month – landlords will be forced to rent out shops that have been vacant for more than six months. The aim is to [...]
Letters: Stop paying out without result April 20, 2022 [Re: Deloitte wins £9m contract with government, April 12] Last week, Deloitte won a new £9m contract with the government, having previously won a £4.8m deal, for work on One Login – a type of digital identity system for across government services. Currently, around half of the 370 different services on gov.uk have their own [...]
Explainer-in-brief: a social tariff to keep the heating on April 20, 2022 Energy bosses yesterday called for a social tariff to try and ease pressures on those hit hardest by the spike in energy prices. Such a plan would require the government to implement legislation for a tariff below the Ofgem price cap – which is subject to variability in energy prices. It would require each provider [...]
It’s time to salvage rational thought when we look at immigration plans for refugees April 20, 2022 Priti Patel’s proposals to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda has sent the usual suspects into a veritable lather. Not since the peak days of the pandemic, have we seen such a number of people indulge in virtue-signalling. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury has joined in, cornering the headlines on Easter Sunday. He seems to have [...]
Boris Johnson’s political survival could come at the cost of Britain’s rule of law April 20, 2022 Last week epitomised a favourite phrase of political pundits: it was a “bruising week” for the government. This one, so far, isn’t shaping up to be much better, after the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis compared fines handed out to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to speeding tickets. The partygate fines have been fraught [...]
Letters: Traders, what’s up with WhatsApp? April 19, 2022 [Re: Whatsppp messages expose “Essex Boys” traders to multi-million US lawsuit, April 14] The lawsuit against eight “Essex Boys” traders”, accused of colluding to drive the price of oil down in order to make huge profits selling futures contracts, reinforces how it is possible for any message to get out over Whatsapp. All recorded in [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Johnson gets his own version of Denmark’s Aliens Act April 19, 2022 Last week, Boris Johnson unveiled a deal with Rwanda on migration. People coming to the UK to claim asylum can now be relocated there while their request is processed. The UK is not the first country to do this. Last summer, Denmark passed the controversial Bill L 226 – the “Aliens Act” – that allows [...]
Could the NHS lose its halo as waitlists push people towards private practice? April 19, 2022 Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, NHS waiting times have increased sharply. In early 2020, there were about 4.4 million people on some kind of NHS waiting list. In early 2022, that figure had soared to 6.1 million. In early 2020, fewer than one in five patients waited for longer than 18 weeks. Now, [...]