A bird? A plane? It’s time to turn to railways to solve fraught supply chains November 9, 2021 Last month, shipping giant Maersk was forced to divert container ships from Felixstowe because of backlogs caused by the HGV driver shortage. It reignited fierce debates around Brexit, Covid and other woes. But the truth is Britain’s freight infrastructure has long faced such problems – and this was just another symptom of a wider malaise. [...]
Plans to shift GPs around the country will do little to restore the health of the NHS November 9, 2021 Fresh proposals to relocate GPs to poorer areas have added further fuel to the ongoing political controversy about patient access to medical care. It sounds radical and could well be necessary – but it’s only a short term solution for the “levelling up” agenda, which should mean wholesale transformation for the entire country rather than [...]
International trade should be a friend -not a foe- to the UK’s green ambitions November 8, 2021 Considered by many as the enemy of environmental action, international trade is often vilified as the polar opposite of buying local and reducing one’s carbon footprint. Yet, although the movement of goods and services around the globe can be a significant contributor to environmental degradation, it also holds the key to its protection. As the [...]
COP26 one week down: Optimists and cynics on the climate summit’s progress so far November 8, 2021 The first week of the climate summit has brought some major commitments but critics say they are just more hot air. A range of high-profile climate activists have already labelled COP26 “a failure” but other voices are warning their message of doom could be as bad as denying climate change altogether. Here is a guide [...]
University students could be key to solve the hiring crisis November 8, 2021 As the UK hopes for a more normal Christmas this year, businesses fear they’ll be left understaffed as job vacancies total over one million. Companies are scrambling to solve the short-term hiring crisis with various incentives, but a long-term solution could be the under-utilised workforce of hundreds of thousands of students. Students tend to have [...]
Letters: We need your help, Sajid Javid November 8, 2021 [Re: Backbench Business Debate, 4th November] Three years ago, the then Home Secretary Sajid Javid took steps that saved my daughter’s life. Now I need his help again. My daughter, Jorja, was born with a severe form of epilepsy, which left her suffering more than 30 seizures a day. She was admitted to intensive care, [...]
Editorial: Time to up MPs’ pay to attract the best and the brightest (yes, really) November 8, 2021 The argument to increase MPs’ pay is perhaps not best made in the immediate maelstrom of a good-old-fashioned Tory sleaze scandal. But the Owen Paterson affair – in which the MP resigned after a most extraordinarily chaotic 24 hours last week – does point, perhaps, to something more substantive. Put simply, becoming an MP is [...]
Clear targets are needed to make the Square Mile a more inclusive workplace November 8, 2021 If you take a walk through the Square Mile’s streets you will see people coming together from a range of backgrounds, and will hear a vast spectrum of accents and languages. This diversity and openness are major assets for the City. They help create a melting pot of different ideas, encouraging innovation and an entrepreneurial [...]
Letters: SMEs need cash for climate November 5, 2021 [Re: Small businesses look to Cop26 for fiscal support, 2nd November] The Federation of Small Business (FSB) report stated SMEs want more financial support and policy to help them become more sustainable. We agree, but financial products that marry both commercial competitiveness and ESG-related benefits have not been forthcoming. Not addressing this could derail the [...]
China’s coal addiction is an obstacle to real progress on climate change November 5, 2021 China’s love affair with coal has drawn the chagrin of the West. The most fitting analogy for coal and China is one where coal dependence is an ex from which Chinese officials just can’t quite let go. When the going gets tough, coal is a reliable fallback. Despite knowing better, China’s leaders never seem to [...]