Inline Insights

We are delighted to be hosting fringe events at both the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences this year. We have assembled a panel of leading thinkers on the sharing economy to discuss everything from the economic opportunity for the UK, to some of the emerging regulatory trends. Panellists and event details for the Labour Party fringe event can be found below. The full Conservative Party fringe line-up will be announced early next week.

The American business magazine, Forbes, recently crowned London ‘the world’s most influential city’, paying special attention to the role it plays in leading innovation in technology. The accolade comes on the coattails of Chancellor George Osborne announcing the launch of a major new trade body for the UK FinTech industry, in London’s Canary Wharf.

On 28 July, the British Government announced its first licensing round for six years for companies who wish to prospect for onshore oil and gas. The announcement was top of the news agenda, and there was no mistaking the excitement in UK ministerial (and Conservative) voices as they claimed that the speeding-up of exploration for shale could boost jobs, economic growth and national energy security.

But a deeper analysis suggests that it would be wise to temper this enthusiasm with some realistic appraisal of the obstacles that will have to be addressed before we reach the ‘promised land’. 

Now that the dust has settled a little, it’s worth examining Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent reshuffle in more detail, and what it might mean for the coalition’s policies on climate change and energy between now and next May’s General Election.

Price Comparison Websites (PCWs) are popular tools amongst tech-savvy consumers, especially in the consumer goods, energy and financial sectors. The key to their attractiveness is that they allow consumers to quickly search for and compare the best deals in the market. PCWs usually operate on either a flat-fee, or a commission-based model and attract new customers via online and offline advertising. Some of the biggest players have become very profitable, thus attracting new companies to enter the market.

Cabinet reshuffles under David Cameron have been noticeably less dramatic than those of his predecessors. This all changed yesterday. The news on Monday night that William Hague was resigning as Foreign Secretary, to be replaced by Philip Hammond, was the first bit of news to make waves well beyond the Westminster village. Arguably the biggest surprise was the news that Michael Gove was being replaced as Education Secretary by Nicky Morgan.

Goldman Sachs received an $800,000 fine from US regulators a fortnight ago for failing to meet the guidelines for trading within a private forum. Private trading platforms, commonly known as dark pools, now account for 15% of all US trading over 40 closed exchanges. Regulators are beginning to take note and see how they can limit the risk involved.

About a year ago, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon were testing unmanned drones – called Octopers – to start delivering packages to customers in five years’ time. This announcement gave Amazon a PR boost; and was perhaps also initiated in the hope of raising awareness around businesses being given authorisation to use drones commercially.

According to the US drone industry, regulation is necessary for it to be profitable, as current regulations in most jurisdictions prevent unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from flying over densely populated areas.

The inaugural London Technology Week comes to a close today. Featuring over 200 events, the week-long showcase has shone a light on many of the innovative companies who are thriving in London. More broadly it has underlined the growing sense that London is fast becoming one of the leading tech centres in the world. Former Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, who joined London Mayor Boris Johnson in launching the event on Monday, went as far as declaring that London is now a real challenger to Silicon Valley. Beyond the fanfare, an important thread of this week has also been the growing discussion about the challenges which need to be addressed if London is to truly cement its place as a global tech leader.

The Government would be advised to eschew a fracking at all costs approach in favour of a more carefully weighted public strategy.

One of the more eye-catching measures announced in the recent Queen’s Speech was the UK Government’s proposal to change the trespass laws and allow fracking companies to drill under people’s homes without their permission.

Tomorrow's protest against Uber, by an estimated 12,000 London taxi drivers, looks set to cause considerable disruption and have a significant negative economic impact too.  Figures suggest that the protest could cost London’s economy as much as £125 million (see tonight’s London Evening Standard).  The controversy centres on an app provided to Uber's drivers - separate from the one used by the public - that calculates the journey distance and time taken, and then relays this information to remote computer servers to determine the fee.

The last number of months have seen a swathe of new legislation regulating short-term rental across the globe. There are varying reasons for this and, consequently, many different approaches are being taken by policy-makers.  

Last week the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is responsible for UK financial regulation, outlined plans to launch a policy hub for start-up companies including those in the virtual currency sector. Head of the FCA, Martin Wheatley (pictured), stated “it’s an imperative for the regulators to be standing on the right side of progress”.

This post is a guest blog from Charles Perry, Director at sustainability group Anthesis-SecondNature.

This month sees the fourth anniversary of David Cameron’s promise that the coalition would become ‘the Greenest Government Ever’. But, as Charles Perry argues, blue and yellow have not made green, and those promises of action on climate change have dropped from sight.

The 2014 European Parliament (EP) elections have seen a marked rise in eurosceptic representatives from right across Europe. In Britain, France, Denmark and Greece populist, anti-establishment political parties have all received a significant share of the vote, to the detriment of established political parties in government.