Shop small and shop online: changed consumer habits are powering micro-businesses June 27, 2021 It comes as no surprise the nation’s GDP shrank by 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year. The third lockdown took its toll on businesses of all sizes. As the economy recovers, we need to steer the nation to smoother waters by supporting even the smallest of small businesses. Micro-businesses make up [...]
Bolster trade with Indo-pacific June 27, 2021 Amidst high inflation and a difficult economic outlook, it would be easy for our country to turn inwards in search of a panacea. But to echo the sentiments of John Donne – a famous poet born in Canada – “no man is an island, entire of itself”. The same is also true [...]
Ex-KFC Director: Junk food ad bans won’t move the needle on obesity June 26, 2021 The Government is pushing forward with its commitment to ban “junk food” ads – one measure within its obesity strategy which will impose strict regulations on how brands can promote “unhealthy food items”. The move has been roundly criticised by the food industry, which is to be expected. One in three children are overweight or [...]
Venture capital has resisted the push towards diversity and remained an elitist club June 25, 2021 We can thank the television programme Dragons’ Den for popularising the process of entrepreneurs pitching for investment. Since its inception in 2005, 18 deep-pocketed dragons have appeared on the show, all vying to secure a piece of the next world-beating venture. Of those 18 dragons, seven – or 40 per cent – have been women. [...]
Screenshot: Is the Netflix documentary craze coming to an end? June 25, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Proper propaganda **Is the Netflix documentary craze coming to an end? **Adland bins plans for junk food ad ban Media Moment of the Week: Proper propaganda Nothing screams flourishing democracy like a video of flag-waving children singing a patriotic anthem, right? That seems to be Gavin Williamson’s policy, [...]
Investors should have a duty to investigate links to modern slavery June 25, 2021 While slavery might sound like an egregious crime of the past it is still commonplace in modern society. It is a crime that exploits and dehumanises individuals and sees them as property to be bought, sold or traded. While it is prevalent, it is not public, and across the world acts of modern slavery take [...]
Council tax fails every rule of good taxation and is blowing back holes in local government budgets June 25, 2021 It won’t surprise anyone to hear local governments are in crisis. A decade of austerity has forced councils to cut essential services to the detriment of ordinary people across the country. The pandemic took that gap in funding and turned it into a black hole — one with the potential to force the Government to [...]
Deliver us from Evel: Whitehall is gearing up to fight Scottish Independence June 24, 2021 Six weeks on from the Scottish election defined by a campaign for a second independence referendum and the Nationalist camp has been eerily quiet about indyref2 since the ballots were cast. Nicola Sturgeon and her party’s commitment to a second independence vote remain undimmed, but they know Scots are wary of rushing into another campaign [...]
Democracy is full of powerful symbolism, but is it still functional in modern Britain? June 24, 2021 “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried,” Winston Churchill famously said. While any reasonable democrat is willing to concede democracy is imperfect, few are willing to accept change is necessary. The idea of democracy is often lost in bold, symbolic rhetoric. It is, after all, [...]
Banks need to stand up for human rights abuses in Hong Kong and hit China where it hurts – their wallet June 24, 2021 Since the introduction of the National Security Law last year, Hong Kong has seen a shift in its population. Specifically, that its citizens are leaving. Hong Kongers in their droves are taking stock of this new draconian normal and choosing to say no to further human rights abuses. More than 34,000 have fled to the [...]