From Mongolian camels to Tibetan verbs: the absurdity Ed Miliband’s aid spending plans July 24, 2026 Ed Miliband want to increase aid spending to 0.7 per cent of GDP, but the history of aid spending is one of waste, corruption and cost to taxpayers, says James Price Last year, a 23-year-old in Ulaanbaatar proposed to his girlfriend. There was a helicopter ride, an expensive ring, and designer handbags, all lovingly documented [...]
The 24-hour news cycle is ruining politics July 24, 2026 The relentless 24-hour news cycle and social media landscape have fundamentally altered political discourse by prioritizing quick, performative reactions over thoughtful deliberation, says Emma Revell If there’s one thing we can count on in the perma-crisis that is British politics, it’ll be that our screens will be filled with updates from weary political correspondents and [...]
Here’s how to fix London listings July 23, 2026 We need a whole of government effort to halt Britain’s companies falling prey to overseas bids, says Andrew Griffith Mitie’s takeover by rival facilities management group OCS marks the London Stock Exchange’s eleventh £1bn takeover so far this year. That’s before the Prologis bid for Segro. The cry will go up about the London Stock [...]
The physical capital paradox: why the best performing asset class is the least owned July 23, 2026 Investors are ignoring the superior performance of commodities despite their critical role in the AI buildout, says Jeff Currie The best performing asset class of this decade is also the most under owned. Since October 2020, when we first called for a decades-long super-cycle in commodities, the broad commodity indices like the S&P GSCI are [...]
Get ready for new energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh’s war on London’s drivers July 23, 2026 You may not have heard of Miatta Fahnbulleh, but she has a long history of writing bonkers papers for lefty think tanks proposing more low traffic neighbourhoods and ultra low emmissions zones all across London, says Arthur Reynolds If you thought Ed Miliband’s departure from the energy department marked the end of Labour’s eco-lunacy, I’ve [...]
On this day: the birth of Michael Foot July 23, 2026 On 23rd July 1913, Michael Foot was born. He would go on to become a Labour leader known for his eloquence, his rigid socialist ideology and his jackets. What lessons does his career offer for Andy Burnham? Asks Eliot Wilson Michael Mackintosh Foot was born on this day in 1913 in Plymouth. He would rise, [...]
Andy Burnham should show London he cares by funding this one transport project July 23, 2026 The ascendancy of the ‘King of the North’ has spooked London. James Ford outlines that this can easily be fixed by greenlighting the West London Orbital Railway London is anxious. The new Prime Minister is not just something of an unknown quantity, but – worse still – he is (whisper it quietly) Northern. Now, we’ve [...]
Business will be the judge on whether Andy Burnham can “regain stability” July 23, 2026 If Andy Burnham is serious about being a friend to business he should commit to no new business taxes, says Alan Vallance When every new government begins – and there have been a few in recent years – the goodwill they start with is already a diminishing return. Businesses understand that no Prime Minister can [...]
Aspire’s David Collyer: my curry catastrophe at the Cinnamon Club July 23, 2026 Square Mile and Me: We dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, David Collyer, global senior vice president at Aspire, on being a Ferrari fan and a curry catastrophe What was your first job? A paper round – I used to dread Sundays because of the broadsheets but it’s where [...]
Sovereign AI is no longer a nice to have, and with open source, more achievable than ever July 22, 2026 Driven by rising costs and concerns over data sovereignty, enterprises are increasingly pursuing “AI sovereignty” by diversifying their AI supply chains with open-source alternatives, says Lewis Liu “Every single enterprise in this country… these people are livid. They’re saying: ‘I am paying for tokens that create no value. These people are stealing the weights and [...]