Tag: city grump

finance

What’s To Be Done About The Lilliputian London Stock Exchange?

CITY GRUMP In the decline of this, that, and the other on our little island, can be found the increasingly desperate case of our London-based equity markets, collectively known as the London Stock Exchange. As a participant in the junior of these, AIM (Alternative Investment Market), right from the start thirty years ago, I and others have watched it come down from some 1,200 companies … Continue reading What’s To Be Done About The Lilliputian London Stock Exchange?

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Business, Technology

Hark the Herald, the Goths Rush in

CITY GRUMP An old City colleague led me to a letter in the Financial Times last week. It is an eye-opening wake-up call to our politicians, civil servants and anyone else who professes to be interested in spurring on what the letter writer calls the “UK tech ecosystem”. It concerns the takeover bid for a £1.2bn UK listed investment company you probably have never heard … Continue reading Hark the Herald, the Goths Rush in

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Industry

We Are Paying Way Too Much For Our Cuppa

CITY GRUMP The last time I was in Sri Lanka was in 1981, just before the long, long civil war broke out. I tried again in 2001 but the Tamil Tigers succeeded in blowing up six Sri Lankan Airways planes at Colombo airport, so that was that holiday out the window.  Mission Control and I finally succeeded in getting there last month. It is a … Continue reading We Are Paying Way Too Much For Our Cuppa

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Art

Great Art: Contested and Reconstituted 

CITY GRUMP The world famous work of art by John Constable, The Hay Wain, is to be rehung in a new exhibition at our National Gallery. Dr Mary McMahon, a curator there, explains what’s going on . She declares: “We want to talk about everything that has not been included in this painting. The British landscape was a contested space. We have the Corn Laws, … Continue reading Great Art: Contested and Reconstituted 

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Opinion, Politics

The Case for Proportional Representation (PR) 

CITY GRUMP Today my Editor has produced for us all, as we would expect, a superbly argued piece for retaining our age-old voting system at Elections, often known as First Past the Post (FPTP). In my last City Grump I argued for the opposite, meaning Proportional Representation (PR). Here is an attempt to put flesh on the bones of the PR case:   I admit, … Continue reading The Case for Proportional Representation (PR) 

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Travel

The Flaccidity of Our National Flag Carrier

THE CITY GRUMP At the risk of making you all seethe with jealousy, Mission Control and I are just back from a top hole holiday (including safari) in South Africa. First overseas holiday since I broke free of cancer and a DVT.  But don’t worry because British Airways did their absolute level best to kill the joy as we came into their tender loving care … Continue reading The Flaccidity of Our National Flag Carrier

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countryside, Transport

Gatwick Inspired by the Ministry of Truth?

THE CITY GRUMP Emblazoned across the front of Orwell’s Ministry of Truth is the slogan “Ignorance is Strength”. I was reminded of this the other day, when through the letterbox landed a leaflet from the Gatwick High Command headed “One step closer to a brighter future-for everyone”. And what does this brighter future hold for all of us?  A second runway, by their own calculations, … Continue reading Gatwick Inspired by the Ministry of Truth?

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Europe

Is the Windsor Framework an Act of Treason by Sunak?

THE CITY GRUMP Slowly but surely, as the details of the Windsor Framework are examined it is clear, as Hugh Bennett writes in Conservative Home, that as we “peer behind the press releases and it quickly becomes apparent that the Framework is much less a new car than the same old model with a fresh lick of paint on it and a new tyre or … Continue reading Is the Windsor Framework an Act of Treason by Sunak?

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Opinion

Three Interventions that Threaten the British Way of Life

THE CITY GRUMP Be not afraid, one of the 3 is definitely not the Montecito Moaners. They are but autumn leaves, soon to be blown away into the compost of history. We can rest easy. In no particular order, as they say on Strictly, the first is the sinister David Halpern (now a CBE to boot) who, almost unnoticed during man-child Harry’s media antics, made … Continue reading Three Interventions that Threaten the British Way of Life

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economy

The Castration of Capitalism

THE CITY GRUMP In keeping with the spirit of the times, here is a warning: Some Readers may find some of the following content upsetting and the characters portrayed, disturbing. Having read this article, those readers may wish to seek help but I am unable to say where they may go for such. After the swift ejection of the Truss/ Kwarteng combo, the general consensus … Continue reading The Castration of Capitalism

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Politics

Kate Bingham Reveals Whitehall as a Wasteland Run by Droids & Jobsworths

THE CITY GRUMP The incredibly successful driving force behind the vaccine rollout, Kate Bingham, in an interview with the Telegraph this week, has given us a frightening reveal into the horror that is Whitehall. I suppose I should be pleased, having written the City Grump, “Whitehall: The self-preserving, incompetent master of us all” but I actually feel quite sick as it means there is little hope … Continue reading Kate Bingham Reveals Whitehall as a Wasteland Run by Droids & Jobsworths

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economy

The Trashing of Truss’s Trousseau

THE CITY GRUMP The dowry of goodwill that we would normally expect to endow a new Prime Minister with has been well and truly trashed. The chorus of disapproval for what she and her Chancellor are trying to achieve has been deafening. Is the hue and cry reasonable, logical and justifiable or a Tower of Babel full of noise and confusion? I emphatically believe it … Continue reading The Trashing of Truss’s Trousseau

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Government

Whitehall: The Self-Preserving, Incompetent Master of Us All

THE CITY GRUMP The list goes on. Whether it’s the chaotic NHS, the inflation and interest rate situation, the Afghanistan fiasco or 10 Downing Street partying the pandemic nights away, the guiding force behind these and countless other horrors for at least the last 70 years is Whitehall. You may wish to blame our elected politicians for all and sundry but, for the most part, … Continue reading Whitehall: The Self-Preserving, Incompetent Master of Us All

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Opinion

Freeze All Russian Assets

THE CITY GRUMP The invasion of Ukraine should have provided the perfect scenario for Boris Johnson to attempt to escape from all those currently and potentially demanding his resignation. As the gangster Putin calls for the “denazification” of Ukraine, here is the PM’s chance to cast himself  in the role of the 21st century’s version of his idol, Churchill. What do we get instead? Yes, that’s … Continue reading Freeze All Russian Assets

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economy, Politics

Your MP is a Delinquent

THE CITY GRUMP The dictionary defines a delinquent as someone who “is failing in or neglectful of a duty or obligation”. The conduct of your MP in 2021 almost certainly fits that bill. Why? Because on just about every  single important domestic issue, be it Covid, the NHS, energy, inflation or education your MP has done the square root of nothing in holding the Government to … Continue reading Your MP is a Delinquent

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Government

Nudging Our Lives Away

THE CITY GRUMP This week a public-spirited “leaker” shone a light on the secretive world of the Whitehall Nudge Units when we learnt that the Behavioural Insights Unit (the official term for Nudge) want shoppers to be hit with a meat tax in order to help the environment. Also the nudgers are advocating the increase of the “relative availability” of plant-based food. Indeed children could … Continue reading Nudging Our Lives Away

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Church

Thy Kingdom Come in Face Masks

THE CITY GRUMP A little over a weekend ago I was at that traditional gathering of vintage car racing petrolheads known as the Silverstone Classic. As is also traditional, the weather was dire, with the rain and the wind rolling in across the flat Northamptonshire countryside. Just as I was wondering whether to put on yet another layer of clothing in came a text message … Continue reading Thy Kingdom Come in Face Masks

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The City Grump

You Scratch My Back

THE CITY GRUMP First a quick refresher from the inestimable Dominic Cummings: “Current existing systems massively reward high status, well connected people” We may indeed have much to thank Lex (Luther?) Greensill for employing one David Cameron. Because the aforesaid top toff ex PM has been caught with his proverbial trousers down, and this has encouraged the mainstream British media to use the ever decreasing … Continue reading You Scratch My Back

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The City Grump

Enterprise Oil up against Politicians’ Water

THE CITY GRUMP Why do the leaders of our same old political parties remain clueless when it comes to understanding what enterprise is all about? Last week, the lawyer who now runs Her Majesty’s Opposition provided an epic display of this ineptitude when he laid out his vision for our post pandemic economy. What is even more dotty is the Tories, who used to have … Continue reading Enterprise Oil up against Politicians’ Water

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