Osborne may have sounded the death knell for private pensions April 10, 2014 THERE is a scene in The Italian Job in which the gang is testing how to gain access to the contents of a security van. The resulting explosion destroys the vehicle, prompting Michael Caine to comment, “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” Similar sentiments could be expressed about the Budget’s consequences [...]
Why Britain needs a culture secretary who cares about liberty – not art April 10, 2014 A CULTURE secretary from the Treasury – it is what John Maynard Keynes, the founder of the Arts Council, would have wanted. That hasn’t been the mainstream reaction: Sajid Javid, newly-appointed to the Cabinet in the wake of Maria Miller’s departure, has been given a cool reception from arts quarters. A former banker, an economic [...]
The boardroom debate needs to move beyond gender April 10, 2014 WEAK and ineffectual boards are a risk to the health of their companies and to the whole UK economy. As the Flowers chairmanship of Co-op Bank showed, a board that does not contain the right mix of skills and experience will not be able to prevent mistakes from happening. We need financial and technical experts [...]
Why Britain’s changing economy needs a fresh monetary strategy April 9, 2014 THE PICK-UP in UK economic growth, which started last year, has continued into 2014 and appears to have gathered further momentum. Earlier this week, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Economic Survey painted a picture of strong demand at home and abroad in both manufacturing and services industries. The survey also showed that companies are [...]
Trust the people: Whitehall really doesn’t know best April 9, 2014 THE GOVERNMENT is relaxed about people cashing in their pension schemes to buy a Lamborghini. But the left-leaning liberal commentariat is certainly not. Abuse has been heaped onto George Osborne’s Budget measure of removing the requirement for people to buy an annuity. The main thrust of the attacks is that individuals may act irresponsibly, by [...]
Let voters kick out MPs between elections and watch standards soar April 9, 2014 MARIA Miller’s claims on taxpayers’ cash towards her second home between 2005 and 2009 have been scrutinised in a variety of quarters. First, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards investigated the case after a complaint was submitted and came to her conclusions. Then the House of Commons Standards Committee deliberated and published its verdict. Numerous other [...]
How London can smash through the brick ceiling limiting housing supply April 9, 2014 OVER four days, 300 people queued in a field by Heathrow to buy a home. It was 1964, and for £50 people could fulfil their homeowning dream in the soon-to-be-built suburb of Sunbury-on-Thames. The first 187 people did. Those odds don’t feel dissimilar to those faced by Londoners in today’s booming property market. The answer [...]
Blueprint for Brexit: Why post-EU prosperity isn’t unthinkable April 8, 2014 IT WOULD be easy to think that the debate about Britain’s membership of the EU has been done to death. Yet there has been relatively little serious discussion about the alternatives to EU membership – an urgent issue given the possibility of an in/out referendum in 2017. Outlandish claims that exit would be utterly catastrophic [...]
Why only a liberal vision will prepare Britain to compete globally April 8, 2014 HOW CAN Britain prepare to compete with fast-growing emerging economies? Jeremy Browne thinks he has the answer. Race Plan, released yesterday, is refreshingly radical for a book written by a former Lib Dem minister. Browne argues that Britain must not only learn to cope with globalisation, but embrace it wholeheartedly. And it is only through [...]
How Britain can unlock private capital for infrastructure April 8, 2014 WALK into China’s state planning agency in Beijing and you can pick up a 40-page guide to potential investment opportunities in the UK. That may seem like a small thing in itself, but it's yet another smart move by a commercially-savvy Treasury team bent on banging the drum for inward investment. Chinese investors have never [...]
