Expanding London airports will help growth take off July 28, 2026 Extra runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton are not just lucrative transport infrastructure projects that will create construction jobs and supply chain benefits in the short-term. They are key to getting overseas visitors into the UK to spend money, says Alex Challoner The summer holidays are upon us. Chances are, at some time in the [...]
Burnham won’t be bold enough to make devolution shift the dial on growth July 28, 2026 Within a year of Cornwall abolishing the 45p additional rate of income tax and reducing corporation tax to 15 per cent, hundreds of entrepreneurs and businesses, including dozens of major financial and professional services firms, had relocated to the county. The influx of private sector dynamism delivered an astonishing economic boost to a region that [...]
Andy Burnham will find there is a limit to tax rises July 28, 2026 Since tax increases are constrained by adverse behavioral responses and public resistance, the government must prioritise improving long-stagnant public sector efficiency, says Paul Ormerod A brand new Cabinet is in place, with ministers eager to introduce new spending plans to demonstrate that they are making an impact. To pay for these, a range of potential [...]
OpenAI’s rogue agent doesn’t scare me – the millions of others do July 28, 2026 The model that broke out of a lab will get the headlines. The millions of agents already inside your banking app, wreaking havoc, are the ones that should worry you more, says Rory Blundell Frontier AI labs are racing to build faster, more capable, more autonomous agents. This week showed what that race can cost. [...]
Andy Burnham must shake Britain out of ‘analysis paralysis’ and get building July 28, 2026 To address the UK’s broken infrastructure delivery model, Arup advocates for a new approach that prioritizes locally-led, outcome-focused projects and creative financing to better connect communities and drive economic growth, says Andrew Nothstine Andy Burnham has already set out his governing philosophy and guiding aims. His ‘north stars’ are economic growth in every postcode through [...]
Screens aren’t the problem, it’s what’s on them that’s rotting our brains July 28, 2026 Technology is just a tool. Like every tool, it can make us better or it can waste our time. So the real question isn’t how much of it we use – it’s what we use it for, says Bhav Singh We’ve spent years arguing about the impact of screen time on kids’ development, but I [...]
Breaking up the science department is a setback for Britain’s AI ambitions July 27, 2026 Spreading AI across four different departments is a mistake Andy Burnham will come to regret, says Eliot Wilson Last Tuesday, on his first full day as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham killed the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. That has set back the UK’s approach to science policy by several years, for reasons which are [...]
The City has the key that can unlock growth in every postcode July 27, 2026 Growth depends on a stable and competitive tax system, streamlined planning and proportionate regulation and the City will work with the new government to create those conditions, says Chris Hayward Now that the Burnham government is in place, the Prime Minister’s new Cabinet inherits a formidable set of challenges: regional inequality, stretched public finances, sluggish productivity and flatlining living standards. Addressing these challenges will require sustainable growth and unleashing entrepreneurial energy across the country. [...]
Bank regulation, not austerity, explains why Britain is poorer than America July 24, 2026 When it comes to Britain’s stagnant growth, we must first diagnose the root cause. That starts in the City, writes Daniel Freeman Britain has never really recovered from the Great Financial Crisis, and we will soon be entering our third lost decade of economic growth. Before 2008, the UK and US economies grew at an almost identical rate. Per [...]
OBR misery makes tax rises inevitable July 24, 2026 The OBR’s dire fiscal risks report portrays a world in which the only possible solution to Britain’s economic state is tax rises, says Emmanuel Igwe In ancient Greece, devotees trekked to Delphi to be told in ambiguous prose by the Pythia that chaos was nigh and only sacrifice to Apollo could hold off punishment. These [...]