Business
Has Macron shot France’s energy industry in the foot?
Gas prices are soaring. Europe could be about to witness electricity shortages. Power companies are collapsing by the day, and,…
Hunterston’s closure is the nuclear accident no one noticed
So farewell, Hunterston B, the nuclear power plant on the Firth of Clyde that shut last week after 46 years’…
Gastro-nomics: a foodie’s guide to a changing world
Twice recently I’ve been asked my opinion of ‘Doughnut Economics’. The first time, I was tempted to cover my ignorance…
My COP26 message: pay more dividends to save the planet
Climate emergency demands action, not rhetoric. So, on the eve of COP26, which UK news item promises to deliver the…
Dirty green giants
What’s really behind the net-zero zealotry of big businesses?
Business rates reform: for once, a useful Labour idea
A worthwhile policy proposal amid the Labour conference dogfight? Now there’s a surprise. But shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves’s scheme to…
We’ll all pay the price for reckless energy firms’ gambling
You know that mate of yours who is always boasting they pay way less for energy than you because they’re…
Trouble ahead if we run out of pigs in blankets
This is getting serious. Never mind global shortages of microchips, plastics, copper and container ships; now we’re running out of…
Your country needs you at the wheel of a lorry
Here’s a patriotic proposal: let’s form a Dad’s Army of lorry drivers, of which the Road Haulage Association reckons there’s…
Signal failure
Why does virtue-signalling matter? It’s a fair question. After all, if people display virtuous behaviour, need we care about their…
Beware foreign money on the hunt for fast bucks
The snatching of a 12 per cent stake in BT by French entrepreneur Patrick Drahi, last seen here when he…
Top pay restraint may persist over here – but not in the US
‘Consider a temporary cut in executive salaries’ was the Confederation of British Industry’s advice to members at the start of…
Customer disservice
The insidious creep of corporate friendliness
Talking point
Gossip appears to be good for the mental health. That should make the females of the ancient world some of…
This tangled tale of Greensill and Gupta may hide systemic dangers
Historians of unforeseen crises talk about ‘chaos theory’ and the ‘butterfly effect’, in which a small perturbation far away —…
Spacs and the City: if London won’t, Amsterdam will
This column generally takes a sceptical view of financial novelties and gimmicks. So my antennae have twitched in recent days…
The case for keeping business taxes low, simple and competitive
Why should business pay tax at all? That’s a provocative but forlorn question to ask in Budget week. Business pays…
The Covid recovery Budget
Barely a year has passed since Rishi Sunak’s first Budget. Its centrepiece was a £30 billion stimulus designed to calm…
Dumb and dumber
Here’s a worried question I want to plant in your head: when is TV drama going to start depicting the…
The City is losing its battle with Brussels and Amsterdam
No sign of progress towards a workable deal with the EU for financial services, on which news is due next…
Barometer
Best before The government plans to introduce labels on domestic appliances informing consumers how long they are likely to last.…
Life in the fast lane
DeLorean: Back from the Future was one of those documentaries — for me at least — that takes a story…
Amid the mayhem of today, an upbeat tale from 50 years ago
The online fashion retailer Boohoo is buying Debenhams without its stores and staff, confirming the demise of the high street.…
A salute to the ‘inessential’
A common sight across Britain these past ten months has been those rainbow flags fluttering in urban and village streets:…
Abolish stamp duty? Not if the next step is a wealth tax
On the Wednesday in early July when Rishi Sunak announced a temporary increase from £125,000 to £500,000 in the stamp…
