Everyone knows that the Greek economy is in meltdown and has been for some time. Frankly it is a scandal that Greece was ever allowed into the Euro. At the time everyone knew that the figures provided could not be right, but unlike the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, there was no little boy [...]
Before I continue let me make it clear that the above is not an accusation but a genuine question, and one which I think needs to be answered urgently. By now there can be few people who have not heard that Sir Paul Stephenson, the Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police force, resigned last night. In [...]
Anyone with even a passing interest in the relationship between politician and newspaper publishers has knows for many months that it was only a matter of time before the inept cover up of the illegal practices carried on by, or on behalf of, the News of the World would unravel. So it has proven this [...]
It’s over a year now since I pointed out that it is actually in the best interest of the British taxpayer for banks (or any other business) to pay large bonuses to their staff. It isn’t hard to see why this should be so and so I’m rather surprised that neither the media nor Government [...]
It has been obvious for many months now that the Irish economy was in deep, deep trouble and no one really believed that the Irish government could possibly manage to get the country out of the mess without the sort of help that Greece was forced to accept earlier this year. So it is that [...]
I think most people accept that the comments made by Lord Young, that the majority of UK citizens had “never had it so good” were in fact true. Despite the recession most people are benefitting from low interest rates but if you are one of the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost or [...]
As more businesses take steps to move their tax residence from the UK and as many workers in the financial sector leave these shores because of high levels of personal tax, the UK Chancellor must urgently review the competitiveness of the UK tax system or risk prolonging the recession. Almost all commentators, economists and tax [...]
In recognition of the increase in life expectancy which we all know will have a serious effect on the UK economy – people will draw retirement benefit for longer and will need more health care for example – the government has proposed to abolish the Default Retirement Age (“DRA”) of 65. On the surface there [...]
In a new paper contributing to the debate about higher education funding, the Institute of Directors (IoD) argues that a graduate tax is the wrong policy solution and would damage the UK’s tax competitiveness. Nor would it solve the problem of widening participation. The IoD urges the Government to opt for an extension of the [...]
The last Labour government introduced the Time to Train scheme which enabled any employee with more than 26 weeks service to request time off work to undertake training of any sort. Whilst on the surface that seems reasonable in practice the new right raised a lot of issues not the least being the fear that if a [...]
Before the general election the business community made it clear that from their point of view the three areas of prime importance that any new government had to address were Deficit Reduction, School Competition, and Regulatory Reform. They expected action on these during the first 100 days of a new government so as to demonstrate [...]
I think it’s imperative that people get off their butts and travel. I say this because I believe the old dictum that travel broadens the mind. And what this world needs more than anything else right now is “mind broadening”. Travelling to a country gives you a chance to experience life as others live it, [...]
The UK Coalition Government have today proposed a number of initiatives designed to reduce the burden of bureaucracy and red tape for business. Proposals from the Department for Business include the re-publicising of the Your Freedom website, a “beefing up” of the Regulatory Policy Committee’s role and the provision of greater detail on the nature [...]
Following the unseemly debacle surrounding Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury (and some of us remember similar issues many years ago in the Guinness/Distillers takeover) the Takeover Panel have launched a review into certain aspects of the regulations concerning takeovers and have invited comments. Here are mine. Any changes to the Takeover Code must ensure that the [...]
Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, has today launched the coalition government’s consultation paper A Strategy for Sustainable Growth. In doing so he stated: “This government has put decisive action on the fiscal deficit at the centre of its agenda. Business in the UK cannot prosper while the risk of a [...]
University tuition fees could be replaced by a new “graduate tax” under new proposals put forward by business and skills secretary Vince Cable. He proposed that the government would pay fees directly to universities instead of lending money to students to cover the cost and then having them pay these loans back by an extra [...]
Despite all his tough talk when he was in opposition as the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, since becoming Business Secretary in the Coalition Government Vince Cable has been singularly unable to get banks and building societies to open their wallets and start lending to businesses or individuals. There is no doubt that Dr Cable is [...]
In the latest edition of Pulse – UK Economic Outlook, the IoD forecasts Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of only 0.9 per cent in 2010 and 1.8 per cent in 2011. The IoD describes this as “one L of a recovery”. The L shaped cycle does not mean there will be continued zero quarter-on-quarter growth [...]
As criticism of Tony Hayward grows and with President Obama throwing his toys out of the pram with increasing regularity, many people are wondering what this shows us about the leadership qualities – or lack thereof – of both men. But who is to blame for this disaster? This post has grown from several comments [...]
The Institute of Directors has today called on George Osborne to consider and adopt seven “keys to success” which they say will need to be delivered by the Chancellor in the forthcoming emergency Budget. By adopting the 7 keys to success the IoD say that the Chancellor would help accelerate economic recovery. However failure to [...]
