Tag Archives: Comment

Perhaps that explains why management struggled to face up to the severity of the crisis. An emergency rights issue came too late and secondary sites were sold off in dribs and drabs, when there should have been a giant “for sale” sign over every asset it owned Sure, the covenant …

The folk at Royal Mail must wince whenever Rico Back makes a delivery. There’s only ever bad news in the chief executive’s postbag. The latest warning is that a three-year turnaround plan is in danger of being blown off course. What’s more, the UK arm of the business is expected to …

It seemed like a good idea. Up until now, the Government had produced three special 50p pieces – in 1973, 1992 and 1998 – marking key stages in Britain’s membership. So why not a fourth to commemorate its exit? I called Craig Mackinlay, a Eurosceptic Conservative backbencher, and asked him …

As the increasing dominance of passive investing demonstrates, share tipping is a mostly a mug’s game. Just ask the former Labour MP Adrian Bailey, who as chairman of the business select committee in 2014 published a scathing report on the privatisation of Royal Mail. According to Bailey and his colleagues, …

From the moment Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell took the reigns of the Labour Party in 2015 and jerked it leftwards, nationalisation has been touted as an ointment for all the nation’s ills. Energy bills high? Nationalise the suppliers. Trains delayed again? Scrap the franchise model. 70p too dear for …

Political promises should be taken with a pinch of salt. Investors can make expensive mistakes if they change their plans around a pie-in-the-sky manifesto pledge. Take, for example, Labour’s promise to privatise a handful of companies. Many DIY investors took these seriously and sold out, avoiding the risk of any government meddling. On …

This is beginning to look like an election the Conservatives should not lose. The party has gradually squeezed the life out of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. As many as two-thirds of those who voted Leave are now backing Boris Johnson and his Brexit deal. That has given the party a …

Some elections are a clash of ideas, others a personality contest. The 2019 general election is shaping up to be a process story. Mountains of newsprint and swathes of commentary taken up with questions over the result. Will there be a hung parliament? Which parties could do deals with each …

BT has gone further to demonstrate its value to wider society by building its strategy around the restoration of its “national champion” status. There’s a bitter irony, then, that this is the moment that Labour has chosen to attack it Despite significant misgivings, a little over three years ago, I went …

Battle for soul of capitalism: This election is the most stark choice for the economy since Mrs Thatcher came to power, says RUTH SUNDERLAND By Ruth Sunderland for the Daily Mail Published: 21:50, 17 November 2019 | Updated: 21:58, 17 November 2019 This election presents voters with the most stark …