London is important, but it can’t go it alone
The UK is making schoolboy errors with its economic development policy.
Green Politics
Britain needs gold standard apprenticeships
This week is National Apprenticeship Week and Britain needs to end poor quality, low-level apprenticeships.
The banks are using their political influence to defend the interests of their highest-paid employees
Capitalism’s legitimacy will disintegrate if a tiny elite are allowed to capture the rewards of growth for themselves.
RBS – the accidental British bailout of the Irish state
Ulster Bank remains the missing part of the RBS story.
HSBC’s mammoth payouts show there is a real case for taxing bankers’ bonuses
This week’s announcement by HSBC of the extent to which they are circumventing European Union rules limiting bankers’ bonuses provoked more than usual outrage.
Labour’s Spending Review starts to pick through the clutter
Emran Mian of the Social Market Foundation looks at the principles that will guide Labour’s spending decisions.
Government’s own anti-red tape committee says zero hour contract consultation too narrow
Employer market power should be considered in the government’s consultation on zero-hours contracts, according to independent assessors working for the government.
Hopeful signs in the labour market, but things remain a long way from normal
Today’s labour market statistics were broadly positive but there are causes for concern beneath the headlines.
Unemployment down 125,000 to 2.34 million
Unemployment decreased by 125,000 between October 2013 and December 2013 to 2.32 million, with the unemployment rate now at 7.2 per cent, today’s labour market statistics reveal.
Britain’s trade deficit persists in spite of sterling devaluation
Quantitative easing and ‘loose’ monetary policy have not been successful in boosting UK export performance.