Spectator Briefings

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Where next for pensions auto-enrolment?

Since its introduction just over a decade ago, automatic enrolment has undoubtedly transformed retirement savings in the UK, allowing millions of workers to effortlessly save for their future.  Some 22.6 million people now contribute to a workplace pension, an increase from 47 per cent prior to auto enrolment’s inception in 2012. That is a significant

Adani Green Energy accelerates decarbonisation of India’s grid by developing world’s largest renewable energy project

With India’s economy due to grow almost 7 per cent this year and an environmental necessity for clean energy, the country urgently needs to decarbonise its energy system at scale. The dual challenge of satisfying the rising demand for energy while ensuring a cleaner and greener future requires extraordinary ambition and scope. Adani Green Energy

Joining forces

It is a cold evening in the picturesque Dorset town of Sherborne. The Sherborne Astroturf pitch twinkles, diamonds of condensed fog glinting on its blue surface. Through the mist drifts the low chatter of girls and boys, smartly attired in military fatigues and readying for the sternest test of their cadet lives. This evening is

The vaping industry: time to step up

You may have recently seen billboard or newspaper adverts calling for better regulation of the vaping industry, to help combat the levels of underage vaping and the sale of illegal vapes. These are the work of BAT, the biggest vaping manufacturer based in the UK. As a FTSE 10 UK company, our call for the

It’s Time for Major Exam Reform

A complete overhaul of the UK’s examination system is needed urgently, argues Samantha Price, headmistress at Benenden School. Clearly, the age of handwritten exams will soon come to an end – but we owe it to future generations to be far bolder than simply filling exam halls with laptops. This should be the moment that,

Half a million and counting – will the government see the potential role of nicotine pouches in getting SmokeFree 2030 back on track?

It is estimated there are more than half a million nicotine pouch users in the UK. That’s roughly the equivalent of the population of Manchester, up from zero just four years ago when nicotine pouches first became available in the UK. The increasingly popular product offers adult smokers and nicotine users an oral, tobacco-free and

Does AI help or hinder ESG investors?

At Charles Stanley, we are being asked if investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is compatible with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing. How does AI affect ESG in companies and can it help investors for the good? These are important questions that go the heart of the accountability and transparency issues which the adoption of

Valencia with Kirker Holidays

Spain’s third city is a fascinating short break destination, which combines wonderful Spanish cuisine (this was the birthplace of paella), with a historic old town, excellent museums and a world-class cultural complex in the striking modern architecture of the City of Arts and Sciences. The summer months are perfect for enjoying a morning on the

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The Anne Jenkin Edition

33 min listen

Anne Jenkin was born in Essex to quite the political family, three of her grandparents were in the House of Lords, and two of them in the Commons as well. Her career in Westminster began in the 1970s and in 2005 she co-founded Women2Win with future Prime Minister Theresa May to encourage more women to

Humza Yousaf isn’t cut out to be SNP leader

It is now exactly a year since Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s First Minister, rose to the pinnacle of Scottish politics. Pretty much everything that has happened since entitles those who doubted his leadership skills, political judgment and basic competence to mutter ‘I told you so’. Even his most diehard supporters within the SNP must be starting

How to stop Afghan migrants coming to Britain

Spring is here. For Afghanistan that means more violence by the Taliban and other terrorists – and more refugees leaving our country on small boats for the United Kingdom and elsewhere.   As a proud patriot it gives me nothing but shame to see the name Afghanistan ever more prominent in British Home Office data

Where have the West’s liberal values gone?

Russia is ramping up preparations for a ‘large-scale’ war with Nato. That’s the verdict of the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, which reports several indications that Moscow is preparing for war with Nato ‘not imminently but likely on a shorter timeline’ than many Western analysts believed. Is the West ready for war? Its

Who would trust Holyrood with legalising euthanasia?

Would you trust this lot with assisted dying? The Scottish parliament’s record on issues of personal liberty has been pretty dire. Yet MSPs seem mustard-keen to introduce medically-supervised suicide as proposed by the Liberal Democrat MSP, Alex Cole-Hamilton. His Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, published today, is the third such Bill to hit Holyrood