2013-05-24T23:35:19-04:00 Marcus Liddell http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=marcus-liddell Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Marcus Liddell Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2199803 2012-11-27T15:29:16-05:00 2013-01-27T05:12:01-05:00

Marcus Liddell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-liddell/
The government too has reason to be unhappy. The treasury desperately needs to increase tax receipts if it is to hit its borrowing targets. Just last week the ONS announced the government had borrowed more than expected in the previous month, meaning even with the help of some creative accounting George Osborne may not meet his Autumn Statement borrowing targets.

But what can be done? Despite avoiding millions of pounds in tax companies like Amazon, Google, Starbucks and Vodafone are not breaking the law.

At the moment the government's strategy seems to consist of little more than bullying senior company executives during select committee meetings. Which although entertaining achieves little but emit an anti-business message which the UK - desperate for investment and growth - could do without.

The only way the government can really tackle the problem is through proper international cooperation. Leading economies need to come together to shut down tax havens and create rules forcing companies to pay tax on their income where it is earned. But this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Perhaps then we should just accept the current situation. As many leading multinationals are quick to point out they already contribute a lot to the UK economy through employment, national insurance and VAT. In addition there are good economic reasons for lower corporation tax in order to attract business.

But these arguments hold little sway with most voters. After all if a mere individual tried to avoid income tax on the grounds that they pay a lot of VAT they would soon find themselves in court. Likewise although the rate may be too high that is not a reason to allow it to be flagrantly avoided.

And when it comes down to it are companies that make substantial profits here like Google really going to up and leave us all to use Bing just because they are forced to pay corporation tax?

Perhaps ultimately the responsibility falls on us as consumers to vote with our wallets, at least that is what Sainsbury's boss Justin King suggests. After all as convenient as it is no one is forced to buy their coffee from Starbucks.

But companies that do pay their tax in this country can also help. I recently contacted nearly 40 retailers and manufactures to comment on corporate tax, only four were willing to speak out on the issue. Perhaps if more followed the lead of John Lewis, Brompton Bikes, Morrisons, Fullers Brewery and Sainsbury's, there would be a clearer alternative for those who want to buy from businesses that pay their fair share.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1888636 2012-09-16T17:09:45-04:00 2012-11-16T05:12:02-05:00

Marcus Liddell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-liddell/
There was barely room to move on Guildford High Street as fans lined the road. People made use of every available vantage point, leaning out of windows, and standing on bins to get the best possible view of their heroes.

They were not disappointed. At the finish there was a Mexican wave of sound as Mark Cavendish sprinted towards the line. The roar as he crossed it was deafening. The win is likely to be Cavendish's last as world champion and he looked absolutely delighted to take victory.



Cavendish celebrates after crossing the line

Meanwhile Jonathan Tiernan-Locke rode an excellent stage to ensure he kept the overall leaders jersey. The 27 year old rider from Devon is said to be close to joining Team Sky for next season. And Dave Brailsford , head of Team Sky and British Cycling, was certainly pleased with the result. After the stage he said, "I think it's terrific, With my British Cycling hat on this is the best result we could have. Sure, it'd be nice for Wiggo to rock up and win the Tour of Britain, but it's better for Tiernan-Locke to do it with Endura who have raced fantastically well...I just think it's such a healthy thing for the first British rider to win the Tour of Britain to come from a British team."

Following his win Tiernan-Locke said it was a fairly straight forward stage but he was 'just glad he didn't throw it away'. He admitted that he had felt under added pressure having been widely tipped before the race as a possible winner.



Jonathan Tiernan-Locke of Endura Racing

His only major scare was when riders from American team NetApp led out their leader Bartosz Huzarski for an attack on the final categorised climb. The NetApp man was two mins off Tiernan-Locke but the British rider did not want to give him any freedom so went with him, neutralising the danger.

Tiernan-Locke said the win was the highlight of his career so far. When asked about his future he said he was close to coming to an agreement with someone and that an announcement could come in a few days.

There was more good news for British Cycling with Kristian House of Rapha Condor winning the King of the Mountains classification and Peter Williams of Node 4 - Giordana taking the sprints jersey.

After the race Kristian House said his King of the Mountains victory ranked above his previous top ten finishes in the Tour of Britain. House was modest enough to say he knew he was not the best climber in the field and had instead planned to get in breaks and take points that way.

There were no less than six British teams riding in the race. Yanto Barker rode for Team UK Youth, finishing 21st overall. One of the team's more experienced riders, Yanto said.

"It's been excellent, today has been one of the most impressive days with the crowd and support. Bar a world championships, of which I've done five, this was up there with anything I've experienced".

It has been a ground breaking year for British cycling, and the Tour of Britain has given the public a chance to see their new passion up close. You could see all the riders enjoyed the atmosphere

Organisers will surely be hoping this can lead to the continued growth of the race which this year attracted big names like Ivan Basso, Samuel Sanchez as well as of course Bradley Wiggins.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1854384 2012-09-04T11:26:22-04:00 2012-11-04T05:12:01-05:00

Marcus Liddell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-liddell/
The decision came after Greening re-affirmed her opposition to a third runway at Heathrow following Tim Yeo's call for a change of policy last week.

There are clear reasons why the government might want to change its policy on Heathrow. The economy remains in recession and there no sign of imminent recovery. The government desperately needs to be seen to taking action to improve competitiveness and aid recovery. Moves to increase air capacity in the south east would please business groups, who have long been eager for expansion, and want to see London retain a hub airport.

The need for a hub is a crucial part of the debate. Heathrow currently provides the majority of the UK's long haul flights but is operating at 98% capacity. Gatwick and Stansted could still expand but that would not necessarily stop London from being overtaken by Paris and Amsterdam as a European hub.

Expensive solutions such as building an airport in the Thames Estuary have been flouted. Boris Johnson is known to support this option. But such a project would be prohibatively expensive. One design proposed by architect Norman Foster would cost around £50 billion. Five times more than it cost Britain to host the Olympics!

Building a new runway at Heathrow, although unpopular among West Londoners, would be a vastly cheaper way of solving this problem. And by bringing in Patrick McLoughlin David Cameron may be laying the groundwork to make this decision.

It would always be difficult for Greening, MP for Putney in West London, to countenance expansion at Heathrow. McLoughlin as MP for Stafford has less baggage in this area. He has also shown signs of supporting expansion at Heathrow in the past. Whilst Minister for Aviation and Shipping in the early 1990's he refused to rule out expansion at Heathrow.

Boris Johnson has already reacted to McLoughlin's appointment. He argued that it showed the government intends renege on its promises over Heathrow and restated his personal opposition.

Though not everyone is so sure that Greening's departure means that an estuary airport is on the back burner. James Forsyth, Political Editor of the Spectator, suggested on twitter that Greening was moved out because lots of Kent MP's do not want an estuary airport, and it is hard for her to tell them to accept it.

Despite it's enormous cost there are good reasons to build an airport in the Thames Estuary. There would be less air and noise pollution for London residents. It would aid the continuing redevelopment of East London which would gain exceptional links to the world. And it would provide massive investment at a time when the country is languishing in recession. Investment that would not only boost the economy, but leave the country with a world class air hub at the end of it.

So perhaps David Cameron is playing a clever game by bringing in a Transport minister that allows all options to be considered.

Any U-turn on Heathrow is unlikely to come soon, the coalition agreement rules it out. Nonetheless is clear that the South East's aviation debate is back on the agenda. And in Greening, it's already claimed it's first political casualty.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1704033 2012-07-25T18:58:39-04:00 2012-09-24T05:12:25-04:00

Marcus Liddell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-liddell/
Cavendish's speciality is sprinting. When it comes to getting the line before any other cyclist he is the best in the world. If he is to lose on Saturday it is unlikely to be because he is outsprinted. The biggest danger he faces are the nine climbs up Box Hill that must be negotiated before they ride on towards The Mall.

The climbs themselves are not anything Cavendish has not faced during this month's Tour de France, but this is different. Team GB will have to contend with other teams attacking on the climbs, knowing their only chance of gold is to prevent a sprint finish against Cavendish. Team GB will undoubtedly lose time on the climbs but the crucial question is how much.

There are 40 kilometres between Box Hill and The Mall so there is a chance to regain time. Team GB are likely to get help from Germany and possibly Australia who want to set up a sprint for Andre Greipal and Matt Goss respectively. They combined with the power of GB's David Miller, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Ian Stannard could regain a decent amount of ground. But even so, if Cavendish really struggles there is a real chance he won't be on The Mall in time to contest the finish.

This challenge has been well recognised by Cavendish. He has lost around five kilos this year, reducing his top speed, specifically to improve his climbing ability. But even so this is not a stage naturally suited to him. Furthermore he faces some dangerous competition.

Peter Sagan was the sensation of this year's Tour de France, where he won the Green Jersey and three stages. Just 22, he already looks set to become one of the sport's greats. The Slovak combines top class sprinting, although not quite Cavendish pace, with good climbing ability. He has the power to breakaway from Team GB on Box Hill and then outsprint the rest on The Mall. His one disadvantage is his nationality. He will be the only representative of Slovakia so will have no support. He may also be tired from his Tour exertions.

Another danger will be Tom Boonen. He dominated this year's classics, prestigious one day races similar to Saturday's, and missed the Tour de France specifically to focus on his Olympic chances. Unlike Sagan he will have a strong Belgian team to assist him. He is the kind of rider capable of breaking away from the field and keeping them at bay until the finish.

Of course Cavendish still has a good chance. But all will depend on how well he climbs on Box Hill. As long as he does not lose too much time, the power of Millar, Wiggins, Stannard and Froome should deliver him to The Mall in time for the sprint. At which point you would be brave to bet against him taking gold.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1691468 2012-07-21T05:57:14-04:00 2012-09-20T05:12:04-04:00

Marcus Liddell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-liddell/ Great Depression of the 1930s is remembered as one of the worst economic periods in modern history. But statistics show that our current slump is in someways worse.

Britain's slow recovery has led economists like Paul Krugman to argue that the coalition has failed to learn the lessons of the Great Depression. But at the same time others have argued history shows the coalition is doing the right thing.

In the past the debate around the economic lessons of the thirties might be an irrelevance. Not now, today these arguments flow into crucial areas of policy; such as whether Britain should be continuing to reduce the deficit.

During the thirties the British government's economic priority was to balance the books. This was crucial to maintain confidence in the British economy and help the country remain on the gold standard. Large cuts to unemployment benefit and civil service pay were made to achieve this. And although the UK crashed out of the gold standard in 1931, a neutral budget was maintained until the start of rearmament at the end of the decade.

John Maynard Keynes, who wrote his great text The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money in response to the slump of the thirties, argued that the decision to maintain a balanced budget unnecessarily prolonged the depression. Today, Duncan Weldon, the TUC's senior policy officer, believes we are repeating the same mistake. He says "beyond a certain point austerity becomes self defeating and we're beyond that point in Britain now".

Effect of spending still subject of debate

Despite Keynes there is a lively debate over the ability of government spending to create growth. Kent Matthews a former advisor to the Bank of England and author of the IEA report No Case for Plan B says "I think the evidence is against it ". He states that research has not found much support for the conventional Keynesian multiplier.

Ann Pettifor chief executive of PRIME, a macroeconomic think tank, disagrees. She co-authored a study into the history of state spending in slumps called The Economic Consequences of Mr Osborne. She says "in slumps when governments spent the deficits fell...its proven".

Although popularly remembered as one of the worst economic periods in modern times. It is worth noting that although bad, the Great Depression in Britain was not as severe as it was in other countries. Following Britain's fall from the gold standard, the UK was in fact the first major economy to recover, recording strong growth figures and budget surpluses in the mid thirties. As then chancellor Neville Chamberlain was proud to announce in his 1935 budget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPWINW0OptA

But the policies of the thirties were not all about cuts; they used monetary policy to stimulate the economy. Monetary policy controls the amount of money in the circulation. It can be used to boost the economy by increasing the money supply. This is achieved through lowering interest rates to encourage borrowing, reducing the amount banks hold in reserve or printing money. Britain's recovery in the thirties has been used as evidence by some that austerity works. Especially when combined with loose monetary policy.

Coalition has imitated policies of the 1930s

So who's right, did the economic policies pursued in the thirties prolong or shorten the Great Depression. Both sides have points; Britain did recover from the depression quicker than other nations with strong growth in the mid thirties. But unemployment persisted throughout the 1930s and it was not until the Second World War that the economy returned to full capacity.

The economy today is very different to how it was then. The state is almost twice the size, and we are more globalised making us vulnerable to exterior problems like the eurozone crisis.

Today the coalition has to some extent imitated the government of the 1930s. It has attempted to balance the budget albeit gradually. And monetary policy has been used through quantitative easing (basically printing money) and low interest rates in an attempt to stimulate the economy. But for now at least they do not look like bringing about a recovery adding legitimacy to those calling for a plan B.

Of course another lesson of the 1930s might be that there is no quick fix. At least that's what Kent Matthews says "it's going to be a long time to get us back to where we were in 2006 and 2007. I just need to point you to the 1930s and show you that is how long it took then".

http://soundcloud.com/marcus-liddell/economic-lessons-of-the-1930s]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1683610 2012-07-18T13:53:16-04:00 2012-09-17T05:12:07-04:00

Marcus Liddell http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-liddell/ Tour de France tradition of rest day drug busts. Schleck himself denies taking any banned substance and withdrew from the race awaiting the result of his 'B' sample. But it was a reminder of cycling's darker days ahead of this year's showpiece. A punishing 197 km stage combining four substantial climbs, including the Col du Tourmalet, one of professional cycling's great arenas. If there was ever a stage to truly test Bradley Wiggins this was it.

But, like every big challenge in the tour so far it was one Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky passed. In fact there was a sense of anti-climax as the British team almost turned the crucial stage into a procession. There were attacks from Vincenzo Nibali on the final climb. But Bradley Wiggins was able to shut them down, first with the help of teammate Chris Froome, and then by himself. And on neither occasion did Wiggins look troubled.

The battle for the yellow jersey may have been a disappointment, at least for neutrals. But that is not to say there was not any action. Thomas Voeckler ensured there was plenty of excitement. The Frenchman's riding is a throwback to a black and white era. He is a cyclist who simply wants to attack and win stages whenever possible. And that is what he did on the summit of the Tourmalet when he left the break along with compatriot Brice Feillu before going it alone with 22km to go. He crossed the line 1'40" ahead of any other rider having given everything he had to take the win.

If Frank Schleck's positive test and Voeckler's heroics were reminders of cycling's past both bad and good. Wiggins and Sky are cycling's present. Their achievements thus far have been an advert for modern training methods and ruthless efficiency. Team Principle, Dave Brailsford, recently attributed their dominance to 'intellectual doping', and it will be interesting to see how other teams respond in the future. But for now they are on a slightly different level.

In fact, it could be argued that the only person who could really put the brake on Wiggins is his team mate, and fellow Brit, Chris Froome. A future tour contender he has occasionally looked even stronger than leader Wiggins. But it should be remembered that it is arguably easier to ride without the pressure and expectation of the yellow jersey.

Froome's time may come but for now Wiggins is leader. He epitomises what Team Sky are all about, a rider who has shown incredible discipline over the last two years to transform himself into a world class all round cyclist. And as long as he can survive the last mountain stage on Thursday, the road will be clear for Wiggins to take his place in history as the first Briton to win the Tour de France.]]>