On BBC Breakfast yesterday morning Boris Johnson declared that “it’s not for Government to step in and save companies that simply run into trouble.” The Prime Minister was quite right, which makes the Government’s announcement that it will “review” domestic air passenger duty in response to struggling short haul carrier Flybe all the more confusing. Reports have also […]
A political leader who has just secured a large majority has rarely regretted doing too much, too quickly. Boris Johnson’s extraordinary opportunity for radical reform of the structures of government and economy must not be wasted. The challenge of delivering a successful economy for everyone is immense. So here are five ideas for the new government […]
Scotland’s ‘other national drink,’ Irn Bru, was stockpiled in January by fans who disapproved of the impending reformulation to halve the amount of sugar in favour of sweetener. The ‘Hands off our Irn Bru’ campaign, which had over 53,000 supporters, declared that they “would far rather pay more for a bottle than have an altered […]
As part of the Queen’s Speech this week, Trade Secretary Liz Truss has announced the Government’s target to have 80% of trade covered by free trade agreements by 2022, starting with deals with the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. This will make us all better off. Free trade is good for consumers, who get access […]
It’s cool to hate tech companies these days. From the Home Secretary’s description of the internet as a “hunting ground for monsters” to Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson’s call to break up tech giants, our politicians have their eyes on the whizz kids. Even more regulation is on the horizon: the Government’s Online Harms White […]
The long-anticipated online harms white paper launched by the Government yesterday is an historic attack on freedom of speech that will only serve to entrench the tech giants and stymie innovation. The white paper calls for the imposition of a broad and unspecified “duty of care” on internet companies to prevent “illegal and harmful activity”, placing liability […]
The European Parliament’s approval of the Copyright Directive today is the end of the internet as we know it. This new regulation creates substantial new controls on what we can share online which threaten freedom of expression, undermine creativity, and cement the dominance of technology giants. The Copyright Directive will create two internets. The first, […]
In last week’s Spring Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the government would “undertake a review of the international evidence on the employment and productivity effects of minimum wage rates” led by Professor Arin Dube of the University of Massachusetts. There is nothing inherently wrong with an evidential review. What is concerning, however, is who […]
The creation of a market in air could help solve London’s housing crisis. Yes, I’m saying we should privatise the air. Don’t tell the Corbynistas. In 1961, New York City established “transferable development rights” as part of limiting density for each block. Transferable development rights allow property owners to sell the space between an existing […]
Dame Frances Cairncross’ government review of the media industry is calling for a “news quality obligation” on online platforms overseen by a powerful new regulator. The likes of Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Apple would be obliged to “to improve how their users understand the origin of an article of news and the trustworthiness of […]
The increasing focus on executive pay reveals the politics of envy at the heart of the contemporary British left. The High Pay Centre, an odd name for an organisation that hates people getting paid well, and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), have announced that the average FTSE100 CEO has now earned the […]
