Macron and Le Pen rematch over France’s global voice: in the choir or a monologue April 12, 2022 As Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen prepare to face off in the final round of France’s presidential election, most French voters (like voters anywhere) will probably be thinking more about their own economic situation than events in other countries. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may still be in the headlines, but after a month it [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Energy strategy won’t push prices down for years to come April 11, 2022 When asked about the effect the newly unveiled energy strategy would have on prices, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng replied“the impact could be very soon”. By very soon, he specified, he meant three or four years. Now, we know a transition to sustainable energy produced here takes time. No government could simply do some magic and [...]
Rishi stole the crypto thunder with an NFT as Whitehall fights to go digital April 11, 2022 Last week, away from the grinding tragedy of the war in Ukraine and the ongoing fears over rising costs of living, Rishi Sunak unveiled an eye-catching plan. The Royal Mint is set to launch its own non-fungible token (NFT), marking the beginning of the government’s plans to wade into the cryptocurrency sector. NFTs have been [...]
We need green jobs to build bridges between net zero and the cost of living crisis April 11, 2022 London urgently needs a larger specialist workforce to decarbonise its commercial buildings and meet net zero targets. And there is growing evidence that employees in the capital’s built environment industry itself believe that the sector’s workforce lacks the skills required to achieve the UK’s ambitious climate goals. With concern over a widening “green skills gap”, [...]
Global economies distracted by crypto must be alive to advanced security threats April 11, 2022 Cyber security isn’t just about somebody reading your email; it has nation-sized implications. Before Russia’s invasion began, a wave of cyberattacks hit Ukraine’s banks and government departments. Now, the US is modelling how it would respond to escalations, including major cyberattacks on financial institutions, according to the New York Times. It’s clear that cyberattacks are [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Downing Street’s non-domicile resident April 8, 2022 The latest in a string of bad news for the chancellor’s PR team post-spring statement is, unfortunately, his other half. Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian billionaire, has apparently been claiming non-domicile status since she moved to the UK in 2015. This means Murty pays tax on money earned in the UK, but not [...]
Big Tech’s fast-and-dirty employment honeymoon is over as Amazon unionises April 8, 2022 COULD you imagine a better name for someone making their mark out of being the Little Guy than Chris Smalls? It’s a story ready-made for a Netflix series. So it’s curious its success has taken Amazon – the company borne out of peddling cheap books – by surprise. Smalls is the leader of the tech [...]
Life must imitate art as pop culture learns the magic of diversity at the top April 8, 2022 Pop culture is usually the first to pick up on zeitgeists. Take Disney, and its front-of-house overhaul. Once upon a time, a Disney heroine would be found longing wistfully for a knight in shining armour to come to her rescue. But Disney princesses are now nuanced individuals with ideas and ambitions of their own. This [...]
As housing targets wither away, it’s time for councils to join us in the digital age April 8, 2022 At the end of last year, over 1.1 million people were on local councils waiting lists for affordable housing in England alone, according to ONS figures. At the same time there were 52,100 additional affordable homes provided across England, according to figures from the Department of Levelling Up, Homes and Communities. This was a decrease [...]
As we loosen Russia’s grip on energy, we mustn’t hand the reins to Beijing April 7, 2022 As the much delayed energy strategy is set to come out today, one thing is clear: the rhetoric has been centered around the need to phase out Russian oil and gas, and increase British self-reliance. Reaching both of these aims won’t be possible in the short-run, as an energy revolution of such Herculean proportions takes [...]