Boris Johnson has forgone Conservative party principles with his climate change tactics September 7, 2021 Governments that set ambitious targets — with no intention or realistic plan to meet them — are fundamentally deceptive and intrinsically anti conservative. This is especially apparent when it comes to UK efforts to combat climate change. A true conservative is pragmatic and has realistic plans for the future. They understand gradual change is preferable [...]
From McDonalds to supermarkets: The slow-motion car crash of Britain’s labour shortages September 6, 2021 World trade in toys is a highly cyclical business. Every year, just as everyone is putting their Halloween masks away, Chinese exports of toys drop back, and by March the following year they will typically be nearly 60 per cent lower. For the last four years, October’s peak has been getting progressively lower. Since the [...]
How much is that window with the doggie? An end to no-pets leases September 6, 2021 We are a nation of animal-lovers. 45 per cent of UK homes have a pet, of which the most popular is man’s best friend, the dog (7.3 million), followed by man’s most inscrutable observer, the cat (7.2 million). But we also keep rabbits and rats, hamsters and horses, snakes and salamanders. These numbers have swollen [...]
9/11 tribute: America and Britain have always bound together in adversity and will help solve future crises September 6, 2021 Twenty years ago on this coming Saturday, almost 3,000 people were killed in an act of barbarism. As the world marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Canada will remember all of those who fell. Trinity Church Wall Street, at Ground Zero in New York, and it’s twin in the Square Mile, the [...]
How worker shortages are cleared will determine UK economy’s trajectory September 4, 2021 You would be forgiven for forgetting we are currently amid one of the best runs of economic growth in living memory with all the negative news about supply chain snarl ups, worker shortages and soaring inflation flying around. A slew of data published this week, alongside a raft of announcements from supermarket, retail and food [...]
A requiem for Afghanistan and America’s nation-building foreign policy September 4, 2021 The past two weeks have left me, like so many others, sick to my stomach, looking at the unnecessary, tragic chaos accompanying America’s panicky withdrawal from Kabul. As heart-wrenching as pictures of the suffering and chaos are, they are largely beside the strategic point. Worse, they are being used by the very US foreign policy [...]
National Insurance hikes for social care are a reverse Robin Hood picking the pockets of the young and poor September 4, 2021 The Health Secretary Sajid Javid is pushing for a 1% to 2% rise in national insurance to fund social care and the NHS. The Cabinet are reportedly split on the size of the increase, but not on the idea itself. A manifesto-breaking tax rise of some proportion is expected to be announced next week. The [...]
Amazon’s department store incursion onto the high street will force retail to transform September 3, 2021 Last month, it was reported Amazon was looking to open a chain of large department stores. The online shopping behemoth has always had a reputation for disrupting the high-street, keeping bricks-and-mortar stores and traditional retailers on their toes with a tireless ability to reinvent itself. These are not Amazon’s first in-real-life stores. It already operates [...]
A carbon tax will allow capitalism to save the climate September 3, 2021 The Extinction Rebels are back at their barricades. This week, they smashed windows at JP Morgan’s offices and blockaded London Bridge. Speaking to LBC in the aftermath, Sadiq Khan worried they are alienating the public from their cause. They are certainly an uncompromising lot. Arla, the milk-maker, was a target of their ire. Even the [...]
Whitehall’s patchy record on tech is letting down Britain’s innovative spirit September 3, 2021 The UK is a hub for innovation, yet the government has a patchy record when it comes to the implementation of technology. We are living in an increasingly integrated world and, at least in the realm of international trade, it is essential we have a clear strategy for areas such as the digital economy. The [...]