Fears of privatising the NHS are stopping us from saving our health service – and lives December 2, 2021 The United Kingdom is becoming a health service with a country attached. The National Health Service is on track to command almost half of all state spending. For all that, British healthcare outcomes come in at the bottom of the pack among comparable western European countries. Waiting lists are the biggest issue facing the NHS, [...]
Another Labour reshuffle to forget December 1, 2021 Opposition reshuffles are difficult to manage: no one really cares, they make little impact and can distract your party with days of infighting. It is all the more unfortunate, therefore, that Sir Keir Starmer is so bad at them. His attempt at a shakeup in May was designed to clip the wings of his fiery [...]
The supermarket wars are in full swing and Tesco is beefing up to fight its turf December 1, 2021 I last saw Sir Terry Leahy in 2013, two years after his messy divorce from Tesco. He agreed to a chat about retail on the condition he wouldn’t have to talk about the supermarket juggernaut he helped to create or his successor, Philip Clarke, who’d begun to question the state of the business he’d been [...]
Unchallenged inflation will make strike action the norm in a new labour market December 1, 2021 Last Friday, London once again muddled through the inconvenience of yet another Tube strike. Another one is planned for the middle of December. They are just as much a feature of the metropolitan scene as Big Ben. Until more of the trains are automated, Tube staff will retain the capacity to cause disruption. But this [...]
Omicron Covid measures show our politicians still don’t know how to take risks December 1, 2021 According to the government, the Omicron measures are “proportionate and responsible”. This may be true when compared to the pinnacle of pandemic command-and-control, when scotch eggs were served with every pint, outdoor gyms were taped up, and hikers were pursued across moors with drones. But make no mistake, with these new restrictions the state is [...]
D’oh! Hong Kong and the extradition of Homer Simpson November 30, 2021 Streaming platform Disney+ was launched in Hong Kong this month, but something is missing. To be specific, it is episode 12 of season 16 of the beloved cartoon The Simpsons. In the episode, the Simpsons go to China and visit Tiananmen Square in Beijing. In the square stands a sign saying “on this site, in [...]
There is a wealth of talent in disabled entrepreneurs – if only we can harness it November 30, 2021 If you want to invest in someone with resilience, ingenuity and the ability to adapt to change, find an entrepreneur with disabilities. We are just as passionate about a great business idea as the next start-up founder. But having a physical or hidden disability , like I do, adds a daily need to innovate and [...]
When the chips are down: the tiny piece missing from our supply chains November 30, 2021 If you haven’t already bought your tech gifts this Christmas you may have to come up with some more primitive alternatives for your loved ones. Chronic shortages of chips, the tiny semiconductors that are essential to a myriad of technologies, as well as high labor and transport costs, mean that Christmas gifts this year such [...]
London’s transport system must not be sacrificed on the altar of ‘levelling up’ November 30, 2021 Dare to dream: Crossrail might be about to arrive. Delay after demoralising delay pushed back the original 2018 opening, but Transport for London has hailed the “significant milestone” of the start of trial operations. Thousands of volunteers will help TfL test the £19bn railway over the coming months, with the aim of finally opening the [...]
New EU data rules must not inhibit new challengers November 29, 2021 From the moment they are founded, startups have giant ambitions to disrupt, challenge and grow. They need laws that are designed with them in mind. The EU’s draft Digital Services Act and draft Digital Markets Act have passed through the legislative layers at lightening speed. And there is lot in the proposals that startups will [...]