Largest trade gap on record
14 November 2013September’s trade gap was dire. The recovery would be a whole lot healthier if we could make the things ourselves that we are so happy to buy.
The Blog
During UK export week: How Singapore became a net exporter
13 November 2013Given that this is Export Week, it feels appropriate to re-examine the UK’s position as an exporter. Exporting – it may seem a little obvious to point out – is of paramount importance for UK business simply because there are billions more people to sell to across the world than in Britain. Britain, however, is… [Read More]
Threatened walk-in centres can relieve A&E pressure and foster competition
12 November 2013In June, I wrote that the NHS competition regulator, Monitor, was to launch a formal investigation into the recent closures of NHS walk-in centres, which could be exacerbating the growing A&E crisis and compromising patient choice. Since then, speculation over further closures has continued. Monitor’s investigation, published this weekend, has noted that there was “some… [Read More]
The EU’s transatlantic chumocracy
11 November 2013Round two of negotiations for TTIP, the transatlantic trade deal between the EU and America, kicks off this week. On Friday former Prime Minister John Major spoke of the ‘truly shocking’ state of Britain, in which ‘the upper echelons of power in 2013 are held overwhelmingly by the privately educated or the affluent‘. Nowhere is… [Read More]
Snowden affair overshadows EU-US trade deal but the real secrecy is in Brussels
8 November 2013The EU-US trade deal, hailed as the biggest bilateral trade agreement in history, and referred to by Obama as the ‘economic NATO’ is facing possible delays after anger in Europe over US mass surveillance. Whistle-blower Edward Snowden leaked information showing that the US was spying on 80 embassies and consulates worldwide, including German government offices… [Read More]
Water needs scarce resource pricing too
7 November 2013However costly it is to provide London’s water, a modest level of usage needs to be kept inexpensive for all. Scarce resource pricing is the solution.
Britain’s shipyards are the latest victims of a rudderless industrial policy
6 November 2013BAE Systems, one of the world’s biggest defence, security and aerospace companies, is to announce today that 1,775 workers will be made redundant from three of its shipyards: Portsmouth, Govan, and Scotstoun yard in Glasgow. Portsmouth shipyard, the last place in England that can build advanced warships (something to bear in mind in the lead… [Read More]
Lamb fleshes out NHS integration pioneer plans
5 November 2013In an interview on Friday with the Health Service Journal, Care Minister Norman Lamb outlined more about the plans he announced in May for “integration pioneers”, which will seek to forge ways to bring about service integration. Up until now, only Torbay and handful of other localities have provided working case studies, and the wider… [Read More]
Business split on EU stance, but all support reform
4 November 2013The last week has seen studies and counter-studies from different Eurofactions. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) released a report today arguing ‘EU membership is the best vehicle for achieving these open, global ambitions in the 21stcentury’. The CBI’s study is hefty at 187 pages, and concedes that there are numerous areas in which the… [Read More]
France to impose 75% tax on French football clubs
1 November 2013French President Francois Hollande has refused to back down on imposing a 75% tax on French football clubs, despite planned strike action at the end of this month. After a meeting yesterday with French football officials Hollande insisted that the tax was necessary to reduce France’s public deficit. France needs to raise tax revenues after… [Read More]