The Sun has published a list of award winning restaurant closures . This has become a bit of an obesssion with the Sun which has run similar stories over the last few weeks. It immediately caught my eye because of a mistake. It listed 1 Michelin starred Hjem in Northumberland as closed. Hjem isn’t closed, … Read more
At long last, the student loan system is being debated seriously. It should be. Few policies impose marginal tax rates that politicians would tolerate anywhere else: 37% on incomes over £25,000, 51% over £50,270, and 71% over £100,000, before you even factor in interest and postgraduate add-ons. The Conservatives have proposed scrapping interest rates of … Read more
Are Pubs Really in Trouble? Reform are proposing a package of support for pubs — or possibly the whole hospitality sector. It’s not entirely clear. Robert Jenrick says one thing, Lee Anderson another. But before we get into subsidies, it’s worth asking a basic question: Are pubs actually in trouble? A Sector Caught in a … Read more
Britain has a grooming gang problem — but it isn’t the one you’ve been told to worry about. Advances in technology and the dominance of online platforms have transformed the scale and nature of child sexual abuse. Offenders no longer need to operate in physical groups or specific locations. They can access victims anywhere, at … Read more
I don’t normally write about football, least of all Newcastle. As a Sunderland fan, I’m not entirely neutral. But something is happening in football that reflects something much bigger. Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly unhappy at his Saudi club despite being paid eye-watering sums, frustrated that no major new signings have arrived. Meanwhile Newcastle United — … Read more
The Government is in chaos. Keir Starmer hangs by a thread. A General Election is imminent as the administration approaches collapse. If you spend too long online, or read certain newspapers, that is the story. From bot accounts to Daily Mail columnists hyperventilating into their keyboards, the narrative is constant: crisis, scandal, imminent implosion. And … Read more
Are UK House Prices Really Falling? Testing the Claims Over the last few months I have been talking about a potential fall in house prices. The logic behind this is simple – quantatitive easing and cheap money boosted the supply of funds to buy houses, while the Government restricted new house building. Both of these … Read more
Oil, Renewables and the Slow Unravelling of Petro‑States With Venezuela back in the headlines, another oil state is once again under pressure for regime change. This time the focus is Iran. Iran has faced mass protests against its authoritarian regime before, but the current moment feels more brittle. The country is not only grappling with … Read more
On the morning of January 3, U.S. forces struck Caracas, seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and flew them out of the country. Once again, the United States has undertaken a military operation that was efficiently executed in pursuit of an uncertain political objective. A dramatic first step has been taken, while the … Read more
Ending HIV: How Public Health Quietly Delivered One of Britain’s Biggest Successes For most of my adult life, HIV has been treated as a permanent fact of modern life: tragic, manageable, but ultimately ineradicable. Something you mitigate, not solve. That assumption is now wrong. The UK is on track to eliminate new HIV transmissions by … Read more