While Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson isn’t afraid to utter the c-word — that’s “capitalism” — in pleasant contrast to his immediate predecessors, his government seems to be steering away from other longstanding Tory principles, namely those of fiscal responsibility and small government. So […]
Tag: UK
No-deal Brexit will hit global economy hard, UK hardest of all
With Brexit negotiations going down to the wire (again) it looks increasingly likely that the UK will “crash out” of the European Union without a deal if the EU refuses to grant another extension. This would be very damaging to the British economy and […]
Women dying needlessly from heart attacks due to disparities in diagnosis, treatment
Thousands of British women are dying needlessly from heart attacks because women often receive a different standard of care than men, according to a new report from the British Heart Foundation. The difference seems to be due to the mistaken belief, still prevalent among […]
British business confidence going down the tubes
Political chaos is rarely good for business, and the febrile atmosphere prevailing in Parliament as the UK prepares to (maybe) exit the EU on October 31 is no exception. With massive uncertainty hanging over the country about Brexit, including what form it will […]
Reaching UK climate targets will cost up to £20B per year
The UK has set itself the goal of achieving “net zero emissions” by the year 2050 — and that will require some serious new spending, according to a government report cited by The Guardian. The report, authored by analysts at Vivid Economics, […]
EU leaders giving up on possibility of Brexit deal
They always said it was the sensible one — no more! The UK’s whacky spin round the political bend continues, with all all manner of unprecedented nonsense threatening to undermine its unwritten constitution, and the continued volatility is causing its interlocutors in Brussels to […]
UK needs to keep its sugar tax to save lives
The Big Nudge, er, a sugar tax on sweetened drinks is a recent arrival in the UK, but the country needs to resist opposition to the tax in order to combat obesity and diabetes, argues Nina Renshaw in The Telegraph, noting that it […]
Abolishing private schools is a bad idea (and impossible)
Labour’s plan to, in effect, abolish Britain’s private schools is pretty much the definition of pandering — a sensational and nakedly political sop to class resentment that is nonetheless counterproductive, unworkable and oh yes, probably illegal. Sure, nobody likes the British upper class (not […]
Much of “Green New Deal” has nothing to do with the environment
There a couple plans for the “Green New Deal” circulating in the U.S., UK, and elsewhere, all supposedly intended to tackle the causes of climate change with sweeping measures to de-carbonize society. Except as Tim Worstall of the UK’s Adam Smith Institute points out, […]
Don’t hold your breath for EU trade carveouts, unless dying sounds fun
Brexiters still hoping the EU will somehow grant the post-Brexit UK special exemptions from its common regulations governing foreign trade are in for more disappointment, warns FT columnist Wolfgang Münchau. That rules out the possibility of a “Canada-style” trade deal which […]