Analysis: Sunak’s wiggle room for spending in the Budget is closing in on him October 22, 2021 Next week’s budget and spending review’s tax and spend decisions will determine the government’s economic policies for the rest of this parliament, and the amount that departments have to spend. The spending pressures on the chancellor are intense. However, Rishi Sunak’s room for manoeuvre may well be narrowing. Sunak has already faced down the biggest [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Zuckerberg’s rebrand could give Facebook a new lease of life October 22, 2021 It’s easy to see why Zuckerberg would be keen to introduce a new name to the Facebook group given that the social platform is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s the storefront money maker that finances an entire ecosystem of projects. At present, Facebook sees itself as a tech company, yet consumers don’t really [...]
Britain’s foreign policy rests on a new incarnation of the ‘Anglosphere’ October 22, 2021 Exactly twenty years ago I was one of a very small group of people to formulate the concept of the Anglosphere in international relations. It found that seven out of 10 of the world’s freest economies were former colonies of an eighth. For better or for worse, Bahrain, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, [...]
Siri showed us how much we want speech recognition to work – and how bad it can be October 22, 2021 Ten years ago Apple launched Siri. It was described as a “humble virtual assistant”, using natural language processing to interpret and action voice commands. It was seen as a major step forward for speech and voice recognition, with one analyst describing it as “a powerful harbinger of the future use of mobile devices – not [...]
Hiring ex-convicts to fill shortages could fight prejudice in the workforce October 22, 2021 Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab delighted us with some rare wisdom yesterday. To fill in the pressing labour shortages that have been dominating the news agenda recently, Raab suggested employing ex-convicts. The haulage and food factory sectors are only some of the industries affected by shortages that could welcome ex-offenders as part of their workforce. [...]
Letters: Sadiq Khan is right – London deserves better October 22, 2021 [Re: London mayor Sadiq Khan will use Cop26 to vouch for cities like London, October 20] I read with interest the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will use the upcoming Cop26 summit to vouch for cities like London to have greater powers and funding. This is a welcome step to ensure we make real progress [...]
Opinion-in-brief: Sadiq Khan expansion of ULEZ comes at the ultra-worst time October 21, 2021 Londoners need more time and help to prepare for Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone. Covid restrictions only ended three months ago, and few have had a chance to recover, let alone prepare for the charge. City Hall has offered little help to those who can’t afford to switch vehicles. Only a [...]
Letters: The cost (and profit) of going green October 21, 2021 Re: Green Revolution, costs apply, October 19] The front page “ Green Revolution * Costs apply “ missed out one main point . Opportunities apply too. The City and business globally have been working on the step change required for decades. Many of these innovations are being led by UK plc. This will create and [...]
Sunak’s budget must navigate the Catch-22 of inflation and recovery October 21, 2021 There have been some pretty bleak backdrops to budget announcements over the years. In March 2008, Alistair Darling faced the daunting task of delivering a budget while the world was in the teeth of the financial crisis. Denis Healy’s April 1979 budget was surely the worst, after the government lost a vote of confidence. The [...]
Capitalism has saved us from the pandemic, we need to defend free markets October 21, 2021 In the last few weeks, the news has been flooded with reports about fuel shortages. While the worst of it has waned, it has posed fundamental questions about how we function as a society and how we keep Britain moving. The pandemic certainly saw the return of big government. The state is now a larger [...]