The public isn’t buying Labour’s growth story February 13, 2025 Today’s growth figures will have elicited a sigh of relief across the government. A meagre 0.1 per cent uptick is certainly better than a recession. Though the news is not all good. The economy is smaller on a per capita terms, and when you dig down into the data, private sector activity is shrinking. An [...]
CMA boss sacking must signal the end of regulatory overreach February 7, 2025 The CMA has damaged business with its trigger-happy approach to blocking mergers and acquisitions. The appointment of Doug Gurr is a good start, but will a new chairman be enough to turn around an organisation set in its ways? Asks Matthew Lesh In recent years Britain’s competition regulator has enjoyed a surge in taxpayer funding [...]
Let’s be honest… Amazon is not to blame for Axel Rudakubana’s crimes January 23, 2025 Focusing on Amazon distracts from the important questions Axel Rudakubana’s horrific murders raise: What was his motive, could he have been stopped and what did the government get wrong? Says Matthew Lesh Axel Rudakubana’s fatal stabbing of three children during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, an act etched in infamy for its harrowing wickedness, led [...]
Our polling shows hope of ‘change’ has turned to despair for Labour January 7, 2025 The inaugural CityAM / Freshwater Strategy poll makes grim reading for Keir Starmer as almost three-quarters believe the UK is heading in the wrong direction The inaugural CityAM / Freshwater Strategy poll makes grim reading for Keir Starmer. As the Prime Minister returns from the Madeira sun to snowy London, he is met [...]
Labour now has the same talking points as the Tories, but fewer ideas December 12, 2024 Labour came into office mocking Tory complains about the civil service, but are now coming up against the reality of an unwieldy bureaucracy unresponsive to their demands, says Matthew Lesh “Dominic Cummings was right“ is not a phrase you would expect to hear from a senior Labour official. But, in less than a few hundred days, [...]
Let’s be honest… public health grinches want to steal Christmas November 28, 2024 Calorie counts on menus have been proven not to work, but nanny-state Scrooges are marching on regardless, says Matthew Lesh The holiday season has begun. Christmas trees are already everywhere. The cities’ shopping thoroughfares are sparkling with decorations. Slow-walking tourists are getting in the way even more than usual. Yet one group simply refuses to [...]
Let’s be honest… this Budget is austerity for the private sector October 30, 2024 Rachel Reeves has introduced a new kind of Marxism with this Budget, where private industry foots the bill for an expanding public sector, and the poorest don’t get better off, says Mattew Lesh Just two months ago, in a speech delivered inside Downing Street, Keir Starmer declared that growth and wealth creation were his government’s [...]
Let’s be honest… feel-good campaigns are ruining Britain October 17, 2024 Every government promises to cut red tape but ends up adding more. The only way to break the cycle is to stop listening to nice sounding arguments, says Matthew Lesh Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt did not mince words at this week’s International Investment Summit. “Maybe you need a minister of anti-regulation?” Schmidt said to Prime [...]
Let’s be honest… the Conservatives are deluded October 3, 2024 The Conservative Party is enjoying the sugar rush of a leadership campaign, but the grim reality of opposition will soon sink in, says Matthew Lesh The vibe at the Conservative Party conference this week in Birmingham was chipper. Well-lubricated members excitedly shuffled between drinks receptions headlined by the four leadership contenders. There were impromptu rallies, [...]
Let’s be honest… the government is gaslighting us on working from home September 19, 2024 Given the public sector’s appalling productivity record , the government should get its own house in order before giving out working from home advice to private businesses, says Matthew Lesh There is an irony in government ministers telling private enterprises how to be more productive. This week, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds claimed that creating a [...]
