Compared to their grandparents, the effects of Covid-19 on our children will be relatively small. But only in the short term. In the longer term, the effects of the pandemic – or more accurately its economic consequences – are likely to resemble those experienced by children who grew up in …
Read More »Royal Bank of Scotland needs to overhaul its behaviour – not just its name
“What’s in a name? A rose by another name would smell as sweet,” argued Shakespeare. But is it true of company names? Do monikers matter in the world of business? One corporate Rose – Alison, the new boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland – thinks so. She’s hoping that …
Read More »Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces a bleak Christmas in an Iranian cell, no thanks to Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson has spoken of Christians around the world who are facing persecution: “For them, Christmas Day will be marked in private, in secret, perhaps even in a prison cell … As prime minister, that’s something I want to change.” Fine words indeed. Let’s see that change. Download the new …
Read More »We must resist division and work together to bring about climate action
The government’s recent decision to temporarily halt shale gas production on geological safety grounds, although sound in itself, must surely highlight what is wrong with the world today. In discounting the climate emergency as a reason it must be among the most selfish decisions made by any UK government. The …
Read More »Women alone can’t solve the scourge of pay inequality
Money: it’s a thorny subject, a sticky wicket. Put simply, it’s not “the done thing” to discuss in polite company. In the UK and Ireland, huge dichotomies exist when it comes to talking about money. We are all seemingly obsessed with house prices, the slightest increase in the monthly cost …
Read More »The Top 10: Things that are not ‘the’
This list was suggested by Dean Bullen, after a pedant pointed out that the metal-detecting TV series is Detectorists, not The Detectorists. Just as it is Bodyguard (thanks to Andrew Raeburn). I have done countries that used to be “the” (Netherlands, Ukraine and so on) but here are 10 other things. …
Read More »Celebrating the author with a coin isn’t the same as reading her books
Increasingly, people on the right seem to think their sharpest weapon against liberals is to slander them with incongruous slurs that they are “too PC”, that they are “snowflakes” or even “overzealously woke”. You know your arguments are running dry when you try to insult people by claiming they’re too …
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