The results of the primaries of the French presidential elections are not a huge surprise in as much as the two expected candidates will be present in the second round, and that the Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande, is likely to be the next President of the French Republic (the polls predict a 54% majority).
However beside this facade, some undercurrents of French society are becoming more apparent.… Read more »
The last time the UK was afflicted by high unemployment, Margaret Thatcher’s government introduced the Youth Opportunity Programme, where unemployed youngsters were provided to employers at little or no cost.
Companies at the time had no qualms about taking on staff for which they paid very little. What a difference in the reaction of today’s more reputation-conscious businesses, who recently rejected the current government’s scheme to shift young people off the unemployment figures through its Back to Work scheme.… Read more »
Last month, we posed the question of whether the natural gas boom is serving as a bridge to a carbon-fee energy future or in fact impeding the progress of new, clean technologies. The panelists at the Wall Street Journal’s ECO:Nomics forum tended toward the former perspective. At this week’s Fortune Brainstorm: GREEN conference, we heard a similar point of view.… Read more »
Let’s see, now. Mitt Romney wasn’t conservative enough for Republican primary voters, “they” say. The right-wingers were rejecting Mitt, to the point that Rick Santorum – let me repeat that – RICK SANTORUM — was the alternative to Mitt Romney. To be president. Of the United States. Of America. But Romney is the presumptive nominee now. And the Obama folks, of course, are trying to paint him into the farthest corner in the room, as a screaming wing nut, defender of the wealthy, enemy of the middle class.
So now we head into the general election, where the left and right wings aren’t as dominant in the voting booth as moderates (or swing voters, as they’re called in the general election).… Read more »
Every year for a week in May, a kind of floral madness overtakes London with the staging of the Chelsea Flower Show. More than 100,000 visitors enjoy a visual feast of spectacular show gardens, marquees full of exotic blooms and every sort of greenery at the world’s most famous horticultural event.
The exciting news for 2012 is that APCO will be the first communications company to sponsor a garden at the Show. The theme of the APCO garden will be the role of the garden through history as a setting for important conversations and decision making.… Read more »
UK Politics: Mid-Term Blues
For the Tory side of the coalition government, the last few weeks have been especially trying, and the Parliamentary party at least seems to be suffering from mid- term blues. The Budget has thrown up a series of issues which have exercised all sides of the House, and the press has seized with delight on pasty, granny and caravan taxes alike.… Read more »
Categories Government UK Politics | Tagged coalition, collapse, UK mid-terms | Leave a comment