Miscellaneous

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen extraordinary pressures put on the NHS. The impact it has had on those living with long-term conditions in particular has been well documented: increasing waiting times for initial consultations, and in turn referrals, diagnosis and treatment. At AbbVie, we believe all those involved in the healthcare system, including pharmaceutical companies, have a key role to play in working collaboratively to support the NHS’s recovery. Alongside our medicines, we can also identify, develop and implement innovative solutions and practices that can help to ease the burden on services, effectively manage long-term conditions and help achieve the best possible experience and outcomes for patients – this need

At EdenTree, we are committed responsible and sustainable investors in UK equities, despite a challenging few years in which Brexit and the pandemic have weighed heavily on share prices and hampered investor confidence in the market. We believe the UK has a unique opportunity to take a global leadership position as a home for Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) aware investors, driven by a number of sustained industry trends and a more supportive macro-economic picture for UK equities as we move through 2021. A key development is the enormous shift in attitude towards ESG issues that we have seen in the past few years, putting the UK government and capital

So much has been changed by Covid. Science and entrepreneurship have combined brilliantly to mass-produce life-saving vaccines. Working from home, video communication and online retail have become the new normal — perhaps heralding a permanent shift that will leave office towers and city centres searching for new roles. And the responsibility of every business as a corporate citizen as well as a profit generator has come into focus as never before. In 2021 and beyond, innovators have a huge opportunity to make our lives better again. In bioscience and healthcare. In logistics, data analytics and every kind of digital technology. In sustainable housing, transport and agribusiness and all the ways

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov delivered a depressing assessment on the state of U.S.-Russia relations earlier this month. While holding out a sliver of hope that ties between Washington and Moscow could improve, Lavrov said ‘the confrontation has hit the bottom’. His remarks came a fortnight after U.S. president Joe Biden and Russian president Vladimir Putin scolded one another like two children in the schoolyard, with the former calling Putin ‘a killer‘ and the latter hinting that Biden may be suffering from ill health. Relations, in turns out, weren’t at the bottom as Lavrov thought.  We know this because the dynamics between the U.S. and Russia have only gotten worse in the

More than 24 hours after plans for a new ‘European Super League’ first leaked there appears to be no sign of the public anger abating. Boris Johnson, Keir Starmer and virtually every other member of the political establishment have now denounced the proposal which would not allow promotion or relegation to the new division, effectively ensuring a continental closed shop. There are already reports about a Whitehall probe into whether the scheme breaches competition law while the European body UEFA has suggested players in the teams involved ‘could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams’ – denying England some of its best players. Who are the geniuses managing this PR

Education researchers rarely agree. But on one thing, at least, they are unanimous: the pandemic has widened the gulf in educational attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their privileged classmates and exposed deep inequalities in our education system. A study by University College London’s Institute of Education found that during the first lockdown, while a fifth of pupils did less than an hour of schoolwork at home a day, just under a fifth regularly put in more than four hours. The study showed ‘substantial inequality’ between both regions and social groups. All children need these skills for their future wellbeing and disadvantaged children will have least access to them without the

Swiss banks are hardly exciting places. Family names adorn old buildings on alpine lakesides where most of the world’s wealthiest deposit their money. But take a look at what has been going on in Swiss courts this year and you might think again. In late January, two Swiss banking executives were reprimanded in a case of serious money laundering. FINMA, the Swiss regulator, had uncovered CHF9 billion ($10 billion) of embezzled funds from Venezuelan oil company PDVSA stashed in 30 Swiss banks. Swiss newspaper Le Matin Dimanche called it ‘the largest source of suspicious funds in Swiss banks’. In a country whose banking sector is still recovering from the reputational damage

It is wonderful to have pupils back in school. However, we have not returned to life exactly as it was before the pandemic – nor should we yearn to. Schools have been forced to adapt swiftly during this past year and in some areas of school life, this has led to improvements that we will want to retain. Having seen the advantages that remote teaching can bring, why would we pack up these skills and file them away as having been some peculiar quirk of 2020-21? Remote learning and communication are here to stay in some capacity. Not as a permanent replacement, obviously; nothing compares with face-to-face learning in a

Sustainable investing has entered into the mainstream. With issues such as climate change and plastic pollution dominating the headlines, many investors are now much more aware of how their money is being put to use and want to align this with their values. But when it comes actually to investing sustainably, it can be difficult to know where to start. The problem is made worse by the multitude of funds now proclaiming sustainability credentials — the so-called ‘greenwashing’ effect. Fortunately, legislation coming soon should bring greater clarity for investors on this issue, but we believe there are some other, simple steps to help gauge a fund’s commitment to sustainability: Sustainability

White to play and win. E. Pogosjants, Shakhmaty v SSSR 1976. Promoting the a-pawn allows Black a perpetual check. Which move wins the game? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 30 December. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery. Last week’s solution 1 Qa8! If 1…Ra1 2 Qxa1#, while any knight moves are met with Ne2# or Nd3#. Last week’s winner Mark Snell, Hove, Sussex

What seems like an age ago, the Conservatives swept to victory with a stonking majority on a wave of Red Wall seats turning blue, backed by the promise to level up the country. Less than a year on, questions are being asked about whether those promises — like reopening rail lines closed by Dr Beeching — are affordable when Covid-19 has forced public borrowing through the roof. The answers lie in prioritising investments on the basis of how well they level up Britain, and in cutting red tape and enabling private financing to deliver more for less. That way we can stimulate the jobs and post-Brexit growth which will power