Optical Allusions
"The kaleidoscope has been shaken, the pieces are in flux, soon they will settle again. Before they do let us reorder this world around us and use modern science to provide prosperity for all.”
Thus spoke Tony Blair at the Labour Party conference shortly after 9/11. He could have saved it for today. Many probably wish he had, given his reordering of the world in its immediate aftermath probably didn’t lead to much in the way of order or prosperity.
This is certainly not the place for foreign policy analysis – though, incidentally, I would recommend listening to Julia Galef and Matt Yglesias candidly discuss why they (mistakenly) supported the Iraq War at the time – but instead I want to write about the former Prime Minister’s intervention in the vaccine debate, and the impressive work of his Institute for Global Change.
While Blair wasn’t the first to call for the single dose approach, he put his reputation on the line and is being proved right. (I wonder if his next intervention will be calling for smaller doses if pilot trials prove effective.) In addition, Blair’s Institute is proving an increasingly interesting voice in the policy debate around the pandemic.
Executive Director Chris Yiu has an article in The Times on why better data is vital to escape this pandemic – and avoid the next one, although I would recommend reading his longer article on the Institute’s website.
While the creation of vaccines has been phenomenal, we lack key global data. We can’t even reliably compare infection and fatality rates across countries, despite the best efforts of organisations like Our World in Data. Yiu raises the prospect of pooling trial data across counties, passporting approvals for vaccines and the potential of challenge trials. He also states one thing that too few people understand: “it is a significant risk for any country to fully reopen its borders unless the people entering can prove their test or vaccination status.”
As I argued here previously, Blair was right about the need for ID Cards, but should have pushed for a federated rather than a centralised approach. Either way, they would certainly come in handy now. As Yiu says:
“There is a legitimate debate to be had about the right way to implement new proof infrastructure for public health, and it will be critical to get the design, governance and protections right. But make no mistake, safely reopening countries and restoring freedoms will ultimately depend on it. We are used to showing proof of citizenship at passport control, being asked to show proof of age when buying drinks, and being vetted before working with children or vulnerable people; in a post-pandemic world a requirement for proof of test or vaccination status may be little different.”
When I called, prior to the pandemic, for the UK to become a digital state, it felt like an ambitious stretch goal; now it’s vital. It also felt like a way to make the UK more competitive; now it’s a global imperative.
The best time to build a digital state was years ago. The next best time is now.
Serious gains
As any of you signed up to the APPG for Entrepreneurship newsletter will know, last month in the Lords, APPG for Entrepreneurship Vice-Chair Lord Leigh asked the Government “what steps they have taken to ascertain the impact of the equalisation of Capital Gains Tax to income tax on entrepreneurs starting new businesses”. In the debate, he added: “while we all want tax to be as simple as possible, one has to recognise that capital gains tax is different from other taxes: it is to reward capital that is invested and is at risk… we need entrepreneurs, particularly serial entrepreneurs, to start new businesses in the UK.”
Whether or not it happens in the March Budget – and it’s looking unlikely (though not impossible) – there will surely be further changes to Capital Gains Tax at some point.
Many entrepreneurs in our network are understandably worried about this. That’s why we’re hosting Lord Leigh for an Entrepreneurs’ Drinks virtual roundtable with Mishcon de Reya. We also have Shalini Khemka, Founder of E2E, Tom Clougherty, Head of Tax at the CPS and Henry Whorwood of Beauhurst who will briefly discuss their campaigns and research on this.
If this is an issue you’re particularly keen to engage in, let me know. Also, Beauhurst has created a survey to better inform the debate around the potential economic impact of these changes. Fill in the survey here.
Fair COP
In The Times, Elliot Colburn MP cites the finding in our Green Entrepreneurship report with the Enterprise Trust that 61 per cent of SMEs agree that net zero and the green recovery is good for business.
With COP26 around the corner, we’re scoping out more research on this topic and are trying to build a community of people who are passionate about business and the environment. The easiest way to show your interest in this (and other issues) is to sign up through our website (if you’ve not done so already). If you tick the box stating that you’re interested in green entrepreneurship we’ll be in touch when we’re looking for things like case studies for the next report.