Badenoch must beware flirting with Trump’s national conservatism December 11, 2024 Kemi Badenoch’s recent trip to North America seems to have gone well, but she should be wary of taking too much inspiration from Donald Trump and JD Vance, says Joseph Dinnage It hardly evoked Beatlemania, but Kemi Badenoch’s recent North American jaunt seemed to go pretty well. During her trip, the Tory leader met with [...]
The Notebook: Is it time for the City to embrace behavioural science? December 11, 2024 When Rachel Reeves laid the groundwork for deregulating the finance sector last month, the City’s behavioural scientists spied an opportunity. After all, you don’t need an encyclopaedic knowledge of the City’s post-crisis rap sheet to understand that relying on regulation and controls to influence financial workers’ behaviour has its limitations. Whereas if there were a [...]
Should libertarians fear digital ID cards? December 11, 2024 The government is introducing digital IDs that will enable young people to prove their age when buying a pint, but is it worth giving up your privacy to the state to make you life a little easier? Asks James Price In my favourite movie, 2007’s Hot Fuzz, the village pub allows the underaged children of [...]
Labour’s tax bombshell for high streets December 11, 2024 The government is rushing through business rates reforms for private schools without considering the wider implications for sectors we all rely on, says John Webber Twelve months ago, the Labour Party was still talking about scrapping business rates if it got into power. Whether that was a genuine plan or whether the £22m blackhole discovered [...]
The state is nothing like a start-up December 11, 2024 Pat McFadden wants the state to be more like a start-up, but the ‘move fast and break things’ mentality has no place in public services on which so many depend. There is, however, a better model… The government’s announcement of a £100m innovation fund to embrace a “test-and-learn” mindset is undeniably ambitious. Speaking at University [...]
The rise of the regulators December 10, 2024 Regulators have expanded massively over the last 50 years, in terms of headcount, expenditure and scope. This has created a risk aversion ratchet which is hampering growth and damaging democracy – there is another way, says James Vitali Over the past fifty years, a silent revolution has taken place in the British constitution. While central [...]
All hail Rayner, destroyer of NIMBYs December 10, 2024 Since Christmas is a time for hope, it’s worth appreciating the good news when we see it. The business community’s frustrations with Labour are well documented and easy to understand, but even its fiercest critics tend to concede that one area stands out as a bright spot in an economic landscape marred by tax increases: [...]
Starmer’s ‘tax-take’ Britain will see us take a back seat in the looming tech revolution December 10, 2024 Starmer’s tax hikes and half-baked policy aims are squeezing the last drop of entrepreneurial zeal Britain has, just as the world embarks on the greatest technological revolution for two centuries, warns billionaire tech VC and philanthropist Tej Kohli. The Prime Minister’s refusal to rule out further tax hikes on top of those he’s already imposed [...]
Gary Lineker won’t be the last celebrity to fall foul of HMRC December 10, 2024 With the government’s efforts to close the tax gap, high profile individuals like celebrities, athletes and entertainers, are increasingly finding themselves under HMRC’s scrutiny, says Phil Clayton Gary Lineker is making the headlines once again – this time as a result of HMRC’s continued efforts to overturn the First Tier Tribunal’s (FTT’s) decision on £4.9m [...]
The Notebook: Doom spending, girl math, and the impact of financial social media trends December 10, 2024 Many of us have heard the term ‘doom scrolling’ – where you feel like you’re mindlessly scrolling through social media, and I think we can all agree that you never feel better after it. But I hadn’t heard of the term ‘doom spending’ until recently. It’s a newer trend on social media which essentially glamorises [...]