The writer is the FT’s architecture critic The Isle of Dogs was never an island but a peninsula, though it has often felt like one. It suited London’s docks to be separate, an isolated city of warehouses and wharves stuffed with valuable cargo. A place with a culture of its own. Transformed since the 1980s
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Years ago, before he took the Russian petrodollar, Gerhard Schröder was the guest speaker at a conference of Britain’s Labour party. In the lag between each sentence and its translation, members of the audience competed to laugh (if he had made a joke) or cheer (if he had made a solemn point) to show they
Bankers and traders are hoping that a flurry of listings in the US heralds a long-awaited revival in initial public offerings after the longest downturn in decades. Three companies started trading on Thursday after each of them raised more than $100mn in IPOs, marking the busiest day for listings since November 2021 and the latest
In 1989, as the end of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership drew near, her government became the first in the world to privatise its entire regional water system. Utilities in England and Wales were handed over to private enterprise, free of debt, in a bold move that proponents said would bring financial discipline and better management to
One of the largest investors in Thames Water has given its support for the utility as other industry figures sought to stave off any possible nationalisation of the sector. The £90bn Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which has a near 20 per cent stake in Thames Water, said on Friday: “We have given our backing to
France is facing a spiralling crisis after nights of unrest sparked by the police killing of a teenager of North African origin, in a fresh hurdle for President Emmanuel Macron as he was seeking to move on from months of protests over pension reforms. Mass union-backed demonstrations since the start of this year against Macron’s
Former chancellor Alistair Darling says Sir Adrian Montague’s four decade career at the intersection of business and government makes him well equipped for his next mission: fix Britain’s largest water utility. Montague, who was appointed chair of Thames Water this week, “understood how government works while also understanding the private sector, which is essential in these
At a summit in Tianjin this week, the Chinese premier Li Qiang took the opportunity to make the foreign executives in attendance feel welcome. Li, seen as the most business friendly member of President Xi Jinping’s inner circle, wrapped up a talk at the World Economic Forum’s New Champions meeting with a play on words
The writer, an FT contributing editor, is chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts The chorus of consensus on UK inflation and interest rates has risen several decibels recently. Economists, financial markets, commentators and politicians have been clear in their conviction that UK interest rates need to continue marching north to curb price pressures. With
Three nights of rioting across France have once again exposed the country’s acute social tensions at a time of growing political polarisation. The latest protests demonstrate that France’s impoverished, ethnically-mixed neighbourhoods remain a powder keg, riven with a feeling of injustice, racial discrimination and abandonment by the state. The criminal disorder, though shocking, is not
Global stocks rallied on Friday, putting the Nasdaq Composite on course for its best first half performance in 40 years, after lower than expected inflation data gave investors hope that interest rates could soon peak. The tech-focused index gained 1.3 per cent, leaving it set for its best first half since 1983, according to data
The US Supreme Court has thrown out President Joe Biden’s student loan relief scheme in a fatal blow to one of the administration’s flagship programmes that would have wiped out billions of dollars in debt for millions of Americans. In a 6-3 decision penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court’s conservative majority held that
Asked by a sceptical reporter whether his “Bazball” strategy will work against Australia in the Ashes, England cricket captain Ben Stokes was blunt. “That’s the English mentality”, he retorted, “of turning something into a negative straight away”. Stokes has transformed his team’s performance with his positive mindset. He may have something to teach a nation
Apple’s market valuation is set to surpass the $3tn mark again as shares in the US tech giant hit a fresh record in pre-market trading on Friday. Shares in the company rose about 1 per cent to $191.74 in pre-market trading in New York. Its market value has rebounded 45 per cent this year, adding
I arrive a quarter of an hour early at the Tick Tock Diner to discover that Chris Christie is already there. “You can find him at the back,” says a waitress. It is hard to think of a more atmospheric setting to meet the former governor of New Jersey, who is running for the second
Film director Shawn Levy was hard at work in London on Deadpool 3 with his close friend Ryan Reynolds when news broke this week that the Hollywood actor and entrepreneur had made yet another splashy investment. Reynolds and other investors, including AC Milan owners RedBird Capital Partners, had taken a 24 per cent stake in
More than a dozen Republicans have declared that they are running for president in 2024, in an increasingly crowded field of contenders vying for their party’s nomination for the White House. Here is a rundown of the leading Republican hopefuls, along with several long-shot candidates. Donald Trump Former US president Trump, 77, is the frontrunner
In the eighth, concluding part of Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece, Count Alexei Vronsky, lover of the novel’s tragic heroine, joins thousands of Russian volunteers fighting in the Balkans for the liberation of fellow Slavs from Ottoman rule. “He’s taking a squadron at his own expense!” exclaims one character. Tolstoy, a pacifist, depicts Vronsky’s behaviour
Lawyers and conservative activists are warning of a wave of legal challenges to US companies’ diversity initiatives following the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action in university admission programmes. Opponents of affirmative action fought for years in the courts to end its use in college admissions. Now that they have won that battle, thanks to
Investment bankers’ advisory fees have plunged to the lowest level in almost a decade as the industry suffers from a wave of job cuts because of a prolonged slowdown in deal activity. Fees for completed mergers and acquisitions globally plummeted 35 per cent in the first half of the year to $12.8bn compared with 2022,
Rumours of the demise of Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko were swirling just over a month ago, when he cut short an appearance in Moscow and was reportedly rushed to hospital. His statesmanship had been roundly derided since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year — in which Belarus served as a launch pad — and