The Budget: Bring back George Osborne – we need a long-term economic plan March 15, 2023 The Tory benches cheered, the Labour frontbench booed, the SNP reminded us they were there: yes, it was pantomime in Parliament yet again yesterday, with a budget pre-trailed to the point that many of us could have had a stab at announcing it ourselves. What was more interesting was what wasn’t in it: a genuine [...]
What Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in the UK should tell the biggest banks March 13, 2023 It is, as they say, rather awkward timing. On Wednesday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was expected to deliver a paean to the tech industry – with investment incentives aplenty and no doubt lots of promises regarding our “world-leading” sectors. After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank UK, though, it is more likely that the industry needs [...]
Britain needs to rediscover the joy of risk and reward March 8, 2023 This time next week, no doubt, your fingernails will be bitten to the quick in anticipation of Jeremy Hunt’s budget. Should you be able to wait no longer, we offer you our best informed prediction: don’t get too excited. In some ways, a muted ‘fiscal event’ sums up Britain and Westminster at the moment. There [...]
Sniffy frustrations at Solvency II reforms betray Bank’s out-of-touch approach March 6, 2023 Regulation is a risky business – pun intended. Reducing the possibility of something going completely Pete Tong is at the heart of the work of all of the City’s rulemakers, but it should not be the be-all and end-all. It is this trap into which the Bank of England and its Prudential Regulation Authority appear [...]
Arm listing failure shows occasional weakness of UK’s tech ecosystem March 5, 2023 In truth, it was always highly unlikely that Arm would list in London. From the moment a proposed takeover by Nvidia collapsed, any other result other than a Wall Street debut was almost a non-starter. But the British firm’s decision to cross the Atlantic for a public offering should not be ignored just because it [...]
City A.M.’s awards a celebration of the best and brightest of the Square Mile March 2, 2023 Tonight at the Guildhall, City A.M. will once again host its annual awards night – a celebration of the best and brightest of the Square Mile and beyond, and the contribution of enterprising private businesses, CEOs and entrepreneurs to our national life. It will, as it always is, be a fantastic occasion. The competitive advantage [...]
Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal could be the making of the Prime Minister February 27, 2023 The Brexit deal signed by Rishi Sunak today may well be the moment that he is able to take charge of his party Rishi Sunak is a funny old Prime Minister. He was vaulted up the political ranks almost by accident; his accession to Chancellor coming years before he could reasonably have expected it as [...]
Sunak must face down the vocal ‘hard Brexit’ minority within his own party February 27, 2023 The terms of our Brexit deal are too important to become mired in the internal politics of a divided Conservative party “We have to stop thinking if there is a deal that is about to be done, it means we’ve been done over in some way.” So said the rational Eurosceptic George Eustice over the [...]
Football regulator may help deliver long-term sustainability for beautiful game February 22, 2023 This paper of free markets and liberal economics may not, you might think, be in favour of a new regulator. But a new referee for the business side of the beautiful game is not one to be dismissed out of hand. In fact, it has plenty going for it. At first principles, the best results [...]
Our post-Brexit relationship cannot be left in the hands of ideologues February 22, 2023 Cast your mind back to Christmas 2020. As most of us settled into the sofa for a Christmas behind-closed-doors, shuttle diplomacy saw the UK finally secure a Brexit deal with the EU on the country’s future relationship with the trading bloc. Boris Johnson hailed it as “glad tidings of great joy.” To all the world [...]
