London is widely regarded as the tech capital of Europe with very good reason. It has seen a phenomenal boom of activity over the past decade. According to Douglas McWilliam’s book, The Flat White Economy, which details the rise of tech start-ups alongside London’s advertising and media sectors, more than 32,000 new businesses have been… [Read More]
Sunday saw another City announcement on Brexit’s danger for the financial services industry, the starkest warning so far. The Sunday Times reported that London’s biggest fund managers, which control trillions in assets and thousands of highly paid jobs, would be ‘forced to quit’ the capital if Britain left the EU. This followed interventions from Deutsche… [Read More]
David Cameron met with opposition this week from EU leaders over his plans to restrict welfare benefits for EU immigrants in the UK. The prime minister had talks with Spanish, Finnish, Belgian, and Romanian leaders, who were unimpressed with his plans to cut benefits for their citizens in the UK. Figures consistently show that the… [Read More]
To use a quote of unknown origin, ‘Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something’. This principle certainly applies to the NHS in its current drive to become more efficient. Today, the Government published a report on an investigation led by Lord Patrick Carter into hospital ‘productivity’. This report’s findings represent the results of… [Read More]
Britain’s economic recovery has been driven by a resurgent London. In place of the financial collapse came the ‘Flat White Economy‘, spurred by highly skilled immigrants and in-migrants coming to work in London’s digital technology and creative sectors – estimated to make up a third of UK growth. While the surge is welcome, it has… [Read More]
‘A European Union without Turkey at its heart is not stronger but weaker… not more secure but less… not richer but poorer… I’m here to make the case for Turkey’s membership of the EU. And to fight for it.’ – David Cameron, July 2010. During an address to the Turkish parliament, Cameron promised to ‘pave… [Read More]
The European Court of Justice has ruled against the UK’s policy of reducing tax rates for certain energy-saving materials. To encourage energy efficiency in the UK, there is a tax rate of 5% when certain energy-saving products, including solar panels, draught insulation, and controls for central heating and hot water systems, are installed in homes.… [Read More]
Emmanuel Macron and Sigmar Gabriel, the economics ministers for France and Germany, have co-authored an article setting out their vision for dramatically extending the eurozone’s integration. For those reformists and sceptics considering David Cameron’s renegotiation ending in a ‘two-speed Europe’, this is very much the higher gear. The ministers’ proposals amount to much greater social,… [Read More]
There is a cruel irony in the government’s decision to abolish the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee (PCRSC), the body responsible for holding the executive to account on democratic representation, especially in the year we celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. Apart from being another insult to the Liberal Democrat’s legacy, the move has… [Read More]
Recent ‘horror stories’, such as doctors being paid £3,500 for a single shift, have prompted the government to announce today that it will clamp down on staffing agencies that are ‘ripping off the NHS’. It will do this, it says, by setting maximum hourly pay rates for the employment of temporary staff, by setting limits… [Read More]