Editorial: Risky Rishi’s budget may not taste so sweet if events turn sour October 27, 2021 The poor Labour party. If the job of opposition is to oppose, how to oppose Rishi Sunak’s budget?The truth is that had Sunak’s speech been drafted for Gordon Brown, not many would have batted an eyelid. Spending was replaced with investment; tax cuts a promise, not a reality. There was much to like from a [...]
Was John Lewis’ home insurance ad dressed for success? October 27, 2021 John Lewis’ new home insurance ad – in which a small boy dances in a dress to Stevie Nicks’ Edge of Seventeen – has been described as “a glorious antidote to toxic ‘boys will be boys’ messaging” and “everything wrong with modern Britain”. Data from YouGov BrandIndex UK shows that the public were aware of [...]
How TikTok accounts lure teens into fraud October 27, 2021 When he accidentally became a money mule, “Tom” was only fourteen. A friend transferred him 250£ and asked to withdraw them in cash. Days later “Tom”’s bank closed his account, and he hasn’t been able to open a new one anywhere since. He is now sixteen and believes he has a Cifas marker – meaning [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Budget traditions are traditions for a reason October 27, 2021 Budgets are supposed to be secret. Apart from launch codes and special forces, they’re the most confidential part of government. In 1947, the Labour chancellor, Hugh Dalton, had to resign because he let slip a detail of his budget on his way into the chamber. They’re not just secret from the public. By tradition, the [...]
Letters: Ikea needs more than real estate for high street success October 27, 2021 [Re: Ikea snaps up former Topshop Oxford St flagship for £378m, yesterday] While Ikea’s takeover of Topshop’s iconic Oxford Street store seems like a no brainer in driving footfall and brand awareness, making it a success will require more than stocked shelves and Swedish meatballs. The pandemic has accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar to ecommerce, [...]
Legacy banks don’t deserve a bigger slice of the pie than fintech businesses October 27, 2021 Rishi Sunak plans to slash the bank profit surcharge from 8 per cent to 3 per cent. This is designed to offset the rise in corporation tax to 25 per cent in 2023, but only for the big banks. John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury, outlined the logic behind the move in September, stating [...]
The NHS will continue to be a blackhole of cash until we confront its underbelly October 27, 2021 Can enough money ever fix the NHS? Rishi Sunak is the latest in a long line of Chancellors to promise increased spending for the health service, after the Government committed a further £5.9bn. The investment is welcome for a health service that has suffered enormously. But it only touches the surface of answering the problems [...]
In the end, the Swedes really did have the last laugh with a relaxed Covid approach October 27, 2021 They never give up. The finger waggers who know what is good for the rest of us; the epidemiologists trying to intimidate us with their seemingly terrifying but actually rather trivial models of applied mathematics. The vested interests in the NHS creating excuses for the inefficiencies inherent in the system. If we already have restrictive [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Legislation won’t solve the Facebook problem October 26, 2021 Whistleblower Frances Haugen has revealed troubling details about Facebook’s algorithms and how they foster a polarised environment. While there is a compelling moral case for regulating these harms, legislation will not solve the problem.Facebook already prohibits a wide range of content that is legal but offensive to users. The company uses algorithms to sort through [...]
Letters: making it through the winter October 26, 2021 [Re: Budget 2021] We still need to see strong support for the nation’s 6 million small businesses coming through in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. There has been unprecedented support, yes, but withdrawing this now, all at once, would be a potentially damaging mistake. Firms face a tough combination of higher supply chain costs, higher energy [...]