Insights

The news that the gambling company William Hill is to close 700 of its UK shops, threatening 4,500 jobs, will be no surprise to those following the saga of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). The bookmaker has the largest estate of betting shops in Britain, with some 300 more than their nearest rival, Ladbrokes.

As technology changes every aspect of our economy and society, policymakers across local and national government have set out visions of how they want urban transport to be revolutionised: clean, green vehicles, with significant uptake of public transport and active modes like walking and cycling.

WORLD: Following a breakfast event on the shifting politics of climate change, Practice Lead for Climate and Sustainability, Elizabeth Beall, sat down with our guest Caroline Lucas MP to discuss what's causing a shift, thoughts on a Green New Deal, and what sectors are likely to see the greatest changes ahead.

Global Counsel Senior Director, Stephen Adams, Practice Lead, Tom Smith and Senior Associate, Giulia Corsi discuss her latest blog on the launch of NHSX, its objectives, and its chances of succeeding.

The UK government has just launched a new joint policy unit for healthcare innovation. Though the new unit’s CEO, Matthew Gould, made his unofficial debut in early April, the strategically named NHSX (X meaning user eXperience), will today begin fully operating. It will integrate control of digital policy currently residing across NHS England, NHS Digital, NHS Improvement…

Something that was easy to miss amidst the headlines of net-zero targets and climate emergency is the release of the EU’s Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance’s taxonomy technical report. The name and the length – more than 400 pages – may be off-putting, but this document holds significant implications for the wider sustainability and climate change agendas,…

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Fed are both worried about stubbornly low inflation and a weakening outlook. They are both signalling that they will turn the policy dial back towards a looser monetary stance. But the differences in the political circumstances and the institutional constraints facing each are stark. They suggest the Fed is much better positioned to…

Are consumer preferences the main drivers behind the public policy changes? How should food systems change to meet growing demand, from increasing productivity, reducing waste and changing diets? Listen to Senior Director, Stephen Adams, Practice Lead for Sustainability, Elizabeth Beall and Associate, Mollie Brennan discuss the future of food in the UK, Europe and…

A key challenge for the European Union’s 2019-2024 policy cycle will be to secure a larger share of the economic opportunities offered by new technologies, in a more explicit race with the United States and China. Hopes in the previous cycle that this could be secured by a new generation of start-ups and by establishing the EU as a global regulator are being replaced by a…

There is only one cast-iron certainty in British politics. That is that whoever replaces Theresa May in Downing Street this summer will be faced with the same set of problems. Of course, the identity of the prime minister matters. But it is not likely to change the questions facing MPs of all parties come the autumn.

In his 2018 letter to CEOs, Blackrock’s Larry Fink set some serious hares running in his insistence on the related concepts of “purpose” and “profit”. While a company’s purpose is irrelevant if it is not profitable, he argues, the former must always drive the latter: “purpose is not the sole pursuit of profits but the animating force for achieving them”. These sorts of…

There are few UK political issues like the NHS – beloved, sacrosanct and elaborately celebrated and protected by politicians of almost any stripe. So it is inevitable that political alarm bells ring at the idea that the UK’s national health service would be ‘on the table’ in a possible UK-US trade agreement – an idea that got some airplay during President Trump’s visit to…

WORLD: Following an event with European Commission DG Trade representative with businesses, trade unions and EU member states representatives, Global Counsel Senior Director, Stephen Adams, Head of Europe, Tom White and Practice Lead for Trade, Daniel Capparelli, discuss EU-US trade tensions, including Trump’s trade policy and new trade agreement negotiations, challenges…

Global Counsel Practice Lead for UK Politics and Policy, Alex Dawson, is joined by Senior Director, Stephen Adams and Practice Lead for Public Services, Tom Smith, to discuss the NHS and its status in any future trade talks with the US in a post-Brexit United Kingdom, following on from President Trump's comments this week on his state visit to the UK and Ireland.

With a list of candidates longer than your leg, the Conservative leadership contest is now in full swing. Unsurprisingly, many of the candidates’ public statements – and the questions they’re being asked by the media – relate to the looming question of Brexit. You might think in this context that talking about the details of government, like taxation and public spending,…

The UK stepped back from the precipice of a no-deal Brexit in April by requesting and receiving an extension of the Article 50 period up to October 31st this year. This has provided short-term relief from the immediate risk of a no-deal for many businesses on the continent and in the UK. But political turmoil over how to handle Brexit has again engulfed the UK in the last…

RUSSIA & CIS: Following a lunch event, Practice Lead for Russia, CIS and CEE, Alexander Smotrov and Nicu Popescu, Director of the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, discuss recent elections in Europe and Ukraine, and their potential impacts on EU-Russia relations.

Although official results of the Indonesian presidential and parliamentary elections have not been released, quick count results suggest that incumbent president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), has secured a second term. The latest projections show that Jokowi won with around 56% of the votes, while his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, received 44%. As Indonesia awaits official results…