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Westminster, UK
Joined April 2014
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Has Britain become ashamed of its own history?
Cambridge historian Robert Tombs joins The Capitalist to challenge the prevailing narrative of empire, slavery and national guilt – and explain why Britain needs a better story.
Discussing his new book with @NigelBiggar.
Watch the full interview:
Politicians and think tanks that promoted free enterprise and lower taxes helped to make Britain prosperous
Read more: capx.co/how-britain-became-t…
ICYMI: @matthewlesh on new research that finds UK data regulation is costing British tech businesses an estimated £5.3 billion a year
🧵New research, conducted by Freshwater Strategy and commissioned by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), finds that UK data regulation is costing British tech businesses an estimated £5.3 billion a year in compliance costs alone. This includes time spent building systems and tools, training staff, and hiring data and legal advisers.
✍️@matthewlesh
Importantly, the survey found that compliance is only one slice of the ultimate cost to the British economy. Half (52%) of the technology businesses surveyed reported not undertaking a business activity due to data regulation, including avoiding a beneficial use because of uncertainty, scaling back analytics, not adopting new technology like AI and delaying products, features and services. Businesses are also diverting technical staff, changing product roadmaps, and holding back AI features because of uncertainty around data protection.
‘The issue is that business are very frightened of falling into the trap of breaching regulations, so they do not pursue a project because of the risk,’ explained one respondent. ‘Overzealous regulation means that taking that route is simply not worth the risk capital to get the feature up and running – better to place bets elsewhere,’ said another.
Read more: capx.co/data-regulations-are…
And while pylons last for 50-70 years, underground cables need replacing after 40 – and replacing them requires doing the same intrusive processes all over again.
But there’s a bigger issue at stake here: Andy Burnham seems to genuinely believe that devolving power will lead to faster approval, more development and faster growth. Almost every edition of Nimby Watch tells the opposite story: the more devolved the authority, the likelier it is to say ‘no’ to development. Absent a plan, the devolution strategy risks becoming the Nimby Supremacy.
Read more: capx.co/andy-burnhams-devolu…
Businesses’ compliance costs in the last 12 months have increased by 21% – thanks to 140 tax changes
New research finds that UK data regulation is costing British tech businesses an estimated £5.3 billion a year
✍️@matthewlesh
Over half of the technology businesses surveyed reported not undertaking a business activity due to data regulation
Read more: capx.co/data-regulations-are…
Labour say they want growth but almost never act like it
Labour says it wants growth and jobs.
So why make it so much harder for family-owned firms that employ so many workers across Britain to survive?
CPS director @LiamHalligan on the tax changes facing family firms.
Plaid Cymru want to use devolved powers to lay underground cables instead of new steel pylons
✍️@jamesrbuk
The Welsh proposal would push up bills and slow down the modernisation of our grid
Read more: capx.co/andy-burnhams-devolu…
In fact, had the old PSND target been kept, the October 2024 Budget would have broken the debt rule by £5.8 billion. Under the new PSNFL target, it passed with £15.7bn of headroom.
This ultimately allowed the Government to spend more. Needless to say, PuFins have become the Government’s favoured instrument.
Read more: capx.co/labour-need-to-stop-…
