Going for growth is a game of risk that ministers must embrace Opinion In the words of the Lord Mayor of London, “the only way you get growth is via risk.” Alastair King made this observation early in November last year, before it was fashionable. These days, it seems everyone’s discovering their appetite for risk. The notion that professional regulators could magic up some pro-growth policies has attracted [...]
The Week in Business, with Christian May: anyone got any growth ideas? Business This week, City AM Editor Christian May looks at the government's search for growth and asks whether the UK's army of regulators are best placed to help.
Reeves has dodged a bullet but she’s surrounded by landmines Opinion After all the excitement of a ministerial resignation, it’s time to check in on the government’s growth agenda. After all, the fate of individual politicians is of no significance when viewed against the major economic challenges facing the government, and the country. Talking to City CEOs, particularly those in the pension and investment sectors, it’s [...]
Tulip mania was only ever going to end one way January 15, 2025 Yesterday, I asked whether Tulip Siddiq would still be the City minister by the end of the day, and just as the sun went down we got an answer: nope. Here in the City AM newsroom we shall miss the standing agenda item in our editorial meetings, checking the latest twist of an international corruption [...]
It’s hard to see how City Minister survives the week January 14, 2025 Will Tulip Siddiq still be the City minister by the end of this week? It’s an important question, for a number of reasons. Siddiq’s fate matters a great deal to Keir Starmer and the government, because nobody wants to lose an anti-corruption minister to a corruption scandal. It matters to the wider Labour party because [...]
Disastrous school reform agenda is a solution in search of a problem January 9, 2025 A long time ago I got involved in a battle to help a school leave council control and become an academy. This was shortly after Michael Gove, as education secretary, continued the reforming efforts of his Labour predecessors to inject more choice and freedom into the state education sector. The local council, faced with losing [...]
Zuck rediscovers love of free speech – just in time for Trump 2.0 January 8, 2025 Will Mark Zuckerberg’s drastic policy changes tempt me back to Facebook? Nope. I quit the platform in 2010, after a friend request from an uncle made me realise it was no longer just a safe space for sharing morning-after-the-night-before photos and gags with university pals. Having left the party 15 years ago, it’s been interesting [...]
With expectations so low, Starmer might just carve out a win January 7, 2025 From a news perspective, the Christmas break was more Deck the Halls than Silent Night. Keir Starmer ended last year with approval ratings so low that critics were never going to call off the dogs in the spirit of good will to all men. The PM couldn’t even enjoy a toboggan run in Madeira without [...]
Starmer’s diplomacy downplays “epic scale” of Chinese spying December 17, 2024 Yang Tengbo insists that he is not a spy and that he would “never do anything to harm the interests of the UK.” He was speaking yesterday after instructing his legal team to disclose his identity following the “high level of speculation and misreporting in the media and elsewhere.” Much of that reporting focused on [...]
Growth is easier to destroy than to build December 16, 2024 Missions, milestones, foundations and pledges; Keir Starmer has unveiled them all since winning the election in July, but no amount of visionary rhetoric can compel an economy to grow. Since Labour’s election victory the British economy has whimpered to a halt. GDP flatlined in July and achieved a barely perceptible nudge up in August before contracting [...]
