Tax system to the rescue: Six policy tweaks that could kickstart the economy June 23, 2020 The past three months have seen a deluge of economic, political, and legal moves that would have been unthinkable at the start of the year. As civil liberties were curtailed on a scale never seen in peacetime and ten million children were turned away from school, new hospitals were built in a matter of weeks, [...]
Brexit vs. Business: Thanks to Covid-19, we’ll never know who was right June 12, 2020 Let’s start with some good news: Unilever has put its faith in Britain. The Dutch-Anglo consumer goods giant, owner of iconic brands from PG Tips to Marmite, announced on Thursday that it was unifying under its UK listing. How times have changed. A mere 18 months ago, Unilever was trying to move its headquarters to [...]
Extending the lockdown could have deadly consequences March 29, 2020 A week into what began as a three-week lockdown, the goalposts have been moved. Government ministers and health officials spent the weekend recalibrating expectations, making it clear that people must be prepared for these unprecedented measures to last into June, perhaps longer. The message from the government is that the measures cannot be lifted until [...]
What does life look like after coronavirus? March 20, 2020 Right now, the priority for all countries must be to confront the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic: ensuring access to healthcare, maintaining the flow of essential supplies, and managing the economic fall-out that risks seeing businesses and individuals devastated through no fault of their own. But historically, periods of national crisis have often been [...]
Trump’s America is heading into twin coronavirus crises March 13, 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic has come to America. As of Thursday, there were 1,376 confirmed cases, up from just 221 a week before. As has been the case in every country that has seen an outbreak, calls for the government to act have been growing. And on Wednesday night, it did. In a televised address to [...]
The coronavirus crisis is a make-or-break moment for globalisation March 6, 2020 The anti-globalisation movement is going viral. A new disease — virtually unknown, fiercely contagious, at times deadly — has put every aspect of modern life at risk. While governments grapple with the domestic realities, urging citizens to self-isolate and wash their hands while reciting Shakespeare, a larger question is looming: is this the end for [...]
Keir Starmer is reminding Labour what winning looks like February 28, 2020 For Labour members, the interminable leadership contest has been a never-ending ordeal. Increasingly desperate pleas from the candidates have been interrupted only by a line of unwatchable TV debates. For everyone else, it has barely registered. Coronavirus, floods, and the internal battles within Downing Street have far overshadowed the question (as Have I Got News [...]
Britain stands to lose more than its Marbles if it folds now February 21, 2020 There’s a new pawn in the game of Brexit chess — 17 pawns, in fact, life-size and made of marble, plus 247 feet of sculpted frieze. The EU sparked a panic this week, when its draft negotiating mandate revealed a clause concerning the need to address “issues relating to the return or restitution of unlawfully [...]
Don’t turn BBC reform into a political football February 7, 2020 Move over Brexit, there’s a new B-word battle: over the fate of the BBC. Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s chief adviser, has had the broadcaster in his sights for some time, with reports from his think tank in 2004 suggesting axing it altogether. Opening shots were fired after December’s election, when Cummings imposed a ministerial [...]
I confronted our bureaucratic tax system — and lost January 30, 2020 “Tax doesn’t have to be taxing,” claim the helpful ducks on the HMRC adverts that urge people to file their self-assessment returns by the deadline of midnight tomorrow. As anyone who has been through the rigmarole of painstakingly filling in a return that always results in a higher-than-expected calculation, the reality is somewhat different. Filing [...]
