Editorial: After months on the sidelines, it’s time for the Bank of England to enter the inflation fight February 1, 2022 After months on the sidelines, the Bank of England’s rate setting committee should finally enter the inflation fight at their meeting on Thursday. Arguably, governor Andrew Bailey has inherited not just Mark Carney’s role as Bank chief, but also his propensity to act like an “unreliable boyfriend” after keeping rates unchanged in November despite the [...]
Putin’s war mongering in Ukraine must serve as a lesson against complacency February 1, 2022 As Ukraine faces down a mounting threat of a Russian incursion, Nato has reinforced its Eastern borders in Romania and Estonia. There is a chorus of international voices calling on Putin to stand down the 100,000 troops he has stationed on the border, and we are being forced to reckon with our own complacency. But [...]
As London’s tech industry surges ahead we must protect our capital’s competitive edge February 1, 2022 Yesterday new analysis revealed another record year for the London Stock Exchange with firms at the forefront of the UK’s tech revolution going public in 2021. Last year, UK tech represented more than a quarter of London’s new listings. The sector generated some of the most successful IPOs on the stock exchange including homegrown health-tech [...]
Boris Johnson’s survival will be a test of endurance February 1, 2022 Margaret Thatcher is oft quoted on the green benches of the House of Commons. But it is not often that it is a Labour leader taking the words of the architect of many modern ideals of Conservative politics and using them against a Tory prime minister. In the wake of an “update” from Sue Gray’s [...]
The Online Safety Bill’s noble objectives won’t save it from disastrous outcomes February 1, 2022 For months, technology experts and digital rights advocates have voiced concerns about the Online Safety Bill — namely, that the bill in its current form will not be able to curtail harmful content, as the Royal Society recently claimed. The conversation is finally starting to shift in their favour. Last month, the House of Commons [...]
Letters: Music to my ears – if I want it January 31, 2022 [Re: Competition watchdog shines spotlight on music streaming, Jan 28] Leah Montebello wrote last week that the UK competition watchdog will “look at the roles played by record labels and streaming platforms” and decide if the market leaders hold excessive power. Music streaming has been around in some form for decades and even before the [...]
Opinion-in-brief: A day in the life of Nadine Dorries Twitter January 31, 2022 Clearly, Nadine Dorries is jealous of Rishi Sunak’s social media stardom. The Culture Secretary, famed for telling a reporter she would nail his testicles to the wall, has decided to do what every jilted lover has considered doing, and posting passive aggressive, vaguely amusing jokes on twitter. After the discovery of the “pork pie plot” [...]
Spotify faces the music amid Rogan row January 31, 2022 How the streaming giant may have taken its podcast push too far
Wanted: A new culture war chair of the watchdog Ofcom. Anyone? Anyone? January 31, 2022 It’s been a busy time for news, as Russian forces mass on the border of neighbouring Ukraine and the British political establishment grapples with the mental image of being ambushed by a cake. So you may be forgiven for failing to notice that the government is once again advertising the position of chair of Ofcom, [...]
National insurance doesn’t deserve its dishonest name nor the money of the poorest January 31, 2022 National Insurance is misnamed. It is not an insurance, nor is it hypothecated for any specific welfare benefits. It is a tax, the proceeds of which go into the general revenues that finance government expenditure. At its outset in 1911 it was regarded as insurance against sickness and unemployment, and even when enlarged in 1948, [...]