Richard Alvin argues Westminster’s vertical drinking clampdown is the scotch egg rule reborn, and the West End pub cannot survive being made to sit down.
Category: Opinion
Some of the UKs leading business leaders and opinion formers share their insight and ideas for growth
Eat up and get out: why dawdling diners are killing UK restaurants
Richard Alvin argues the fastest way to save UK restaurants costs nothing: eat up and go. Dwell times, not menus, now decide who keeps the lights on.
Cabinet on sun loungers? Andy Burnham’s Love Island premiership
There is a particular kind of Monday that is supposed to be boring, and thank God for it. Kettle on, radio grumbling about the M25, the machinery of the country turning over with all the drama of a filing cabinet. That is how it is meant to go. Not this week.
A wish list for Andy Burnham: stop funding failure, fund prevention
As Andy Burnham arrives in Downing Street, City Year UK chief executive Victoria Head sets out five changes the new Prime Minister should make for the million young people now NEET.
Hot tip, guv? Trump, Truth Social and insider trading on subscription
Richard Alvin argues Trump’s Truth Social API, selling traders early access to the president’s market-moving posts, is insider trading with a price list.
Definitely maybe: what PM Andy Burnham means for British business
Richard Alvin argues Andy Burnham’s premiership must be Heaton Park, not the Hacienda: Manchester swagger is no use to UK business without someone on the tills.
The £4.8bn India deal is the starting gun, not the prize
The UK-India trade deal is in force, but Euro Car Parts founder Sukhpal Ahluwalia argues the real £4.8bn prize depends on what businesses build next.
Brown and pleasant land: will 2026 out-drought 1976 for UK farmers?
Richard Alvin argues the 2026 drought could rival 1976 and, with Reeves’s tax raid and wildflower subsidies, asks who will be left to grow Britain’s food.
Would you renew this supplier? Burnham and the Hillsborough Law
Richard Alvin argues Andy Burnham’s first act as Prime Minister must be passing the Hillsborough Law in full, the promise Westminster has broken since 1989.
‘This is just how it is’: the lie driving mothers out of work
One in five UK women sees her career decline after a baby. Founder Zoe Duce says the return to work after maternity leave needs systems, not sacrifice.
Student loans sold like phone contracts open a serious trust gap
Student loan mis-selling has opened a serious trust gap between young people and university, warns Best Student Halls founder. What it means for UK firms.
Red card? What red card? Trump, FIFA and the Biff Tannen World Cup
Somewhere between England’s third goal against Mexico on Sunday night and my second glass of something cold enough to hurt, my phone lit up with the news that FIFA had suspended Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban.
Economists tell Burnham to scrap stamp duty and council tax in radical shake-up of UK tax system
Leading economists urge Andy Burnham to replace stamp duty and council tax with a 1% property value tax as part of a sweeping overhaul of the UK tax system.
Airshow veteran urges Andy Burnham to fly the flag for defence at Farnborough
SME boss Andrew Barnett calls on Labour leadership frontrunner Andy Burnham to attend Farnborough International Airshow 2026 and put defence at the top of his in-tray.
World Cup 2026: Air-conditioned stadiums v 39C heat, is this really a level playing field?
Richard Alvin asks whether World Cup 2026 is judging oranges with oranges when some teams play in 22C air-conditioned comfort while others melt at 39C or gasp at altitude.
