Tuesday’s Times brought news that the Financial Conduct Authority has managed to land itself in some hot water with the Chancellor. The FCA—set up by the Coalition Government to draw a line under the Brown-era Financial Services Authority—has been accused of “precipitating a disorderly market in insurers’ shares” by leaking to the press that it intended to review whether closed […]
Selby & Ainsty MP Nigel Adams talks to Paul Nizinskyj about falling unemployment, Nigel Farage’s real motives and why coal should make a comeback. There are an abundance of myths about Britain’s coal industry, most of which have about as much credibility as the Iroquois myth that North America grew out of the back of a giant turtle. One of […]
Young people today have become used to an insecure world: global security events, economic shocks and pervasive uncertainty are all their ‘normal’. But what effect has this had on those young people? Are they pessimistic, worried, scared? No. Multiple pieces of research into the attitudes of Millennials (those aged 18-33) has found rising levels of optimism and a sense of […]
Ahead of our panel event on public service reform on Tuesday, Paul Nizinskyj speaks to John Redwood MP about the tangled web of public and private delivery in the UK, why fuel bills are high and that EU referendum. You never get a straight answer with John Redwood. It isn’t because he’s evasive or pushing a line or bound by […]
Jonathan Galbraith on why Osborne’s big Budget idea on annuity reform should be welcomed. The big surprise in George Osborne’s Budget last week —the proverbial rabbit in the Chancellor’s hat—is the change in pensions rules which will remove the requirement to purchase an annuity at retirement from April 2015 onwards. An annuity is an insurance product that allows you to […]
Ross Matthewman explores the flaws in the EU’s response to Russian action in Crimea Angry words, handwringing, special summits, and vague threats of intangible “consequences” if an undefined series of events were to take place…at some point, somewhere. The European Union’s approach to foreign policy has never exactly been decisive and inspiring. And for all of their grand statements (“The […]
By Clare Ambrosino Last week Parliament Street revealed alarming new figures on the rising crime rates linked to social media. According to research, crimes on Twitter have soared by 390 per cent and there are currently no real measures to prevent a further rise in the future. This week I spoke to my former boss Sean Kelly MEP, who is one […]
Hereditary peer, classical liberal and climate realist, Paul Nizinskyj speaks to Matt Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley, about Tony Benn, eurocrats and the future of the House of Lords. I should probably declare an interest here. As well as being a member of Parliament Street I also wear hats for Conservatives for Liberty and the Friends of the Hereditary Peerage. So, as […]
By Jonathan Galbraith After what feels like an eternity, the referendum on Scottish independence is now less than six months away, and as each camp now seeks to consolidate its existing support and capture new territory. The Scottish Conservatives held their annual conference last weekend in Edinburgh – a three-day affair that also served as a rally for the European […]
By Craig Rimmer Brussels The last week was all about doing business in Europe for me. I was at a Brussels Business Association dinner on the Tuesday and the American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, and the starting gambit in the debate on both occasions was that labour costs in Belgium are too high. Belgians on average pay the highest […]
