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Chris Blackhurst

@c_blackhurst

Chris Blackhurst is a renowned business journalist who has held senior positions across Fleet Street. He was the editor of The Independent from 2011 to 2013 and now writes on a wide range of business-related issues.

<p>That sinking feeling: the City spoke of Britain paying a ‘moron premium’ for the craziness caused by Liz Truss, </p>
UK Politics

Going for broke: the tragicomedy of Trussonomics

<p>Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says a crackdown on tax avoidance could raise £5bn a year by the end of the next parliament </p>
Voices

Good luck closing tax loopholes – the rich will always find a way

<p>Nigel Farage at his birthday party with Aaron Banks and finger-flipping ex-minister Andrea Jenkyns </p>
Voices

Cheers, Nigel! Brexit pain gets worse – and shoppers pay the price

<p>Donald Trump during a press conference in New York this week</p>
Business Comment

Will Trump’s Truth Social flotation dig him out of a financial hole?

<p>Apple argues that people are free to purchase the smartphone of their choice </p>
Business Comment

Is Apple really ripping off its customers – and can anyone stop them?

<p>Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Old Trafford</p>
Sport

Ratcliffe needs to win on the pitch – not just the Man Utd PR battle

<p>Mark Zuckerberg has recently ditched $500m of Meta stock... and he’s not alone </p>
Business Comment

Why are billionaires selling off shares – and should you do the same?

<p>Investors must stop with the lip service and refrain from funding firms with a history of discriminatory behavior </p>
Business Comment

Why we must do more to tackle sexism in the boardroom

<p>Jacob Rothschild died earlier this week </p>
Business Comment

Rothschild instilled respect, fear and excitement

<p>Stuart Haire says ‘homes and money are vital for individual prosperity'</p>
Business News

Relax planning laws and build more homes, says building society chief

<p>Many people see the crisis in the NHS and are frustrated by those in charge refusing to fix the problems. Instead of solutions the government chooses obfuscation </p>
Business

Why I’ve had enough of performative public service posturing

<p>David Cameron was among those courting the attention of Bill Gates at Cop28 in Dubai </p>
Business Comment

Bill Gates is leaving us behind on green tech – it could cost us dear

<p>Kansas City Chiefs during the 2023 Super Bowl </p>
Sport

Why watching sport on television is about to shift forever

Sport

Why watching sport on television is about to shift forever

Head shot of Chris Blackhurst
Chris Blackhurst
<p>Kansas City Chiefs during the 2023 Super Bowl </p>
<p>Starmer’s reign in opposition has been characterised by woolliness, an unwillingness to commit – why would business be any different? </p>
Business Comment

Labour’s big plan for business? Even more talk

<p>Former subpostmistress Kathleen Crane (centre) outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London after judges quashed her fraud conviction</p>
Business Comment

The Post Office scandal shows the perils of putting our faith in IT

<p>The Congress Centre at Davos where the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum was held, 15 to 19 January</p>
Business

It’s shameful that Davos delegates ignored the Post Office scandal

<p>Birmingham’s HS2 station is still going ahead, with the construction site at Curzon Street</p>
Business Comment

A TV drama forced Sunak to act over the Post Office. Can HS2 be next?

<p>Birmingham’s HS2 station is still going ahead, with the construction site at Curzon Street</p>
Business Comment

A TV drama forced Sunak to act over the Post Office. Can HS2 be next?

<p>KPMG is one of the so-called ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms that between them earned 98 per cent of audit fees from FTSE 350 companies last year </p>
Business Comment

We need a regulator with teeth to control ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms

<p>As with our foreign policy, the commercial interests of the UK are being quietly subsumed into the US </p>
Business Comment

Companies are deserting the UK – where’s the vision to stem the flow?

<p>The highest-value euro banknote, the €500, became known as the ‘Bin Laden’, as it was popular with money-laundering terrorist organisations. It was phased out in 2016 </p>
Voices

As the euro reaches its 25th anniversary, is it now invincible?

<p>Foreign secretary Douglas Hurd, left, and prime minister John Major, centre, with Jacques Delors at the EC summit in Birmingham, in October 1992</p>
Voices

A single-minded visionary… and the UK’s public enemy number one

<p>Billionaire Richard Caring may be smiling, but many other restaurateurs are struggling just to keep their business open </p>
Business

Restaurant owners have too much on their plate

<p>Alison Rose left her job as Natwest CEO amid the furore over Nigel Farage having one of his bank accounts closed </p>
Business Comment

Everyone lost in the Coutts bank scandal... except Nigel Farage

<p>The London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market has come under fire for its performance</p>
Business Comment

London Stock Exchange’s AIM is a zombie market not fit for purpose

<p>Sellafield plant in Cumbria was formerly known as Windscale</p>
Business Comment

I pray the Sellafield nuclear leak fears are being taken seriously

<p>Alison Rose left her job as Natwest CEO amid the furore over Nigel Farage having one of his bank accounts closed </p>
Business Comment

Everyone lost in the Coutts bank scandal... except Nigel Farage

<p>The London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market has come under fire for its performance</p>
Business Comment

London Stock Exchange’s AIM is a zombie market not fit for purpose

<p>Sellafield plant in Cumbria was formerly known as Windscale</p>
Business Comment

I pray the Sellafield nuclear leak fears are being taken seriously

<p>Mohamed Mansour describes himself as ‘one of the luckiest people on the planet’ </p>
Business

How waiter ‘Mo’ survived trauma to become a billionaire and Tory boss

Business

How waiter ‘Mo’ survived trauma to become a billionaire and Tory boss

Head shot of Chris Blackhurst
Chris Blackhurst
<p>Mohamed Mansour describes himself as ‘one of the luckiest people on the planet’ </p>
<p>Israelis fleeing for their lives after gunmen opened fire at the Supernova festival</p>
Business News

Did someone in the City know what was going to happen on 7 October?

<p>Cristiano Ronaldo is being sued for promoting Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange </p>
Business Comment

Forget Cristiano’s crypto court woes, NFTs are here to stay

<p>Musk may soon discover to his cost that the world’s richest person still needs the little people</p>
Voices

Elon Musk’s ‘F*** you’ attitude may be the death of his empire

<p>A wildfire rages near Fort McMurray in Alberta in May 2016</p>
Business Comment

Sunak is putting Tory populism above the climate crisis. It’s shameful

<p>A wildfire rages near Fort McMurray in Alberta in May 2016</p>
Business Comment

Sunak is putting Tory populism above the climate crisis. It’s shameful

<p>Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in Barbie, which was partly filmed in Watford and contributed £80m to the economy</p>
Voices

‘Barbie’ in the autumn statement? Yeah, I’m confused about that, too…

<p>John Lewis deliberately sets out to surprise with its Christmas ads... hence this year’s production centred on, of all things, a mischievous Venus flytrap</p>
Business Comment

The supermarket boss ignoring the Christmas TV ad race

<p>David Cameron back in Downing Street on Monday after being appointed Foreign Secretary</p>
UK Politics

David Cameron and the lobbying scandal that tarnishes his reputation

<p>Bankman-Fried leaves a Manhattan federal court in February</p>
Voices

How did ‘crypto king’ Sam Bankman-Fried get away with it for so long?

<p>Dominic Cummings, a former chief adviser to the prime minister, was accused of misogyny at the Covid inquiry this week</p>
Business

Blame the pale, male and stale club for Covid chaos and the 2008 crash

<p>The Glazers did not have the money but they had swooped in and borrowed and borrowed, using the club as security</p>
Football

Fear, fury and the Glazers: the battle for Manchester United’s soul

<p>The ONS has revealed the latest GDP data for July dropped by 0.5%</p>
Business Comment

Government is blind and stubborn when it comes to helping business

<p>What would Jim Hacker and his ingenious permanent secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby, make of current Big Tech deals? </p>
Business

Call of duty? Why yes, prime minister

<p>Bernie Ecclestone arrives at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday </p>
Business Comment

Bernie Ecclestone fraud case shows HMRC must net the bigger fish

<p>‘Girls don’t realise or know that without maths, especially for many of the careers of the future, their options are severely limited’ </p>
Voices

Why maths for girls still isn’t adding up

<p>Prime minister Rishi Sunak delivers his keynote speech at the Conservative Party annual conference</p>
Business Comment

Businesses combed Sunak’s speech for good news. They searched in vain

Business Comment

Businesses combed Sunak’s speech for good news. They searched in vain

Head shot of Chris Blackhurst
Chris Blackhurst
<p>Prime minister Rishi Sunak delivers his keynote speech at the Conservative Party annual conference</p>
<p>Customers queue to withdraw money from the Northern Rock Bank in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, in 2007 </p>
Business Comment

Don’t be surprised if there is another run on a UK bank

<p>Sharon White with Rishi Sunak</p>
Business Analysis & Features

Why change at the top might not be enough to save John Lewis

<p>Rishi Sunak’s political expediency is being made at the expense of trust </p>
Business Comment

If HS2 is scrapped, spare a thought for the victims no one talks about

<p>Traders will no longer have to provide paper forms of some key documents </p>
Business Comment

Buying or selling goods overseas? Pop those corks for a great new law

<p>Traders will no longer have to provide paper forms of some key documents </p>
Business Comment

Buying or selling goods overseas? Pop those corks for a great new law

<p>Rupert Murdoch will retire as chairman of his Fox and News Corp businesses after almost seven decades at the helm of his sprawling media empire </p>
Business Comment

Murdoch has left the stage but not the building

<p>What Kwarteng put forward as chancellor made a lot of sense, it was the execution that was lamentable</p>
Business

It’s time we took a different view of the Kwarteng catastrophe

<p>While he was editor of <em>The Spectator</em>, Boris Johnson had a secret four-year affair with Petronella Wyatt, who was one of his columnists</p>
Voices

If philandering Boris was in business, he’d have been ousted years ago

<p>Kim Kardashian was among those who rushed to try the drug </p>
The Longer Read

The €400bn fat cat behind the Wegovy wonderdrug that helps Kim slim

<p>HSBC was fined $1.8bn (£1.4bn) for facilitating the laundering of money by the Mexican Sinaloa drugs cartel</p>
Voices

Economic crime is big business – and it’s your money they’re using

<p>Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen met this week to confirm the deal </p>
Voices

Why Rishi’s EU Horizon deal is a lifesaver for my mate Matt

<p>Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss finance minister, said that ‘Money laundering harms the economy and jeopardises confidence in the financial system’</p>
Business

Switzerland to clean up its dirty money? I’ll believe it when I see it

<p>Foreign secretary James Cleverly, left, and Chinese vice president Han Zheng meet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, 30 August </p>
Voices

Sinister threat or best friend? We must stop flip-flopping on China

<p>In no time at all, we’ve gone from world number one – ahead of New York – to a city of fading importance </p>
Business

Dark days in Canary Wharf: Are the City lights going out for good?

<p>As Xi Jinping arrives at the Brics summit in Johannesburg, China’s economy could also be heading south</p>
The Longer Read

A different China: how the superpower seems unable to steady itself

<p>Many people are uncomfortable with digital banking, and for them cash will always be king </p>
Business

The government says ‘cash is here to stay’ – but I wouldn’t bank on it

Business

The government says ‘cash is here to stay’ – but I wouldn’t bank on it

Head shot of Chris Blackhurst
Chris Blackhurst
<p>Many people are uncomfortable with digital banking, and for them cash will always be king </p>
<p>The Bank must get tougher </p>
Voices

Cork the champagne: our inflation problem is worse than we thought

<p>Bruce Robinson wrote the screenplay for ‘The Killing Fields’ starring Haing S Ngor and Sam Waterson</p>
Business Analysis & Features

Film director’s despair at epic saga of ‘duplicitous’ energy bills

<p>Zoom has become such a fixture in our lives, it is unlikely we will see a return to the office for the whole five-day working week </p>
Voices

Computer says no: Is the Zoom boom really over?

<p>Rishi Sunak during his visit to the Shell St Fergus gas plant in Aberdeenshire this week, where he pledged to back more than 100 new licences for oil and gas fields </p>
Business Analysis & Features

In a climate crisis, this government has just made pollution cheaper

<p>Rishi Sunak during his visit to the Shell St Fergus gas plant in Aberdeenshire this week, where he pledged to back more than 100 new licences for oil and gas fields </p>
Business Analysis & Features

In a climate crisis, this government has just made pollution cheaper

<p>There’s good news and bad</p>
Voices

Sunak may hit inflation target – but that’s where the good news ends

<p>A freedom of information request revealed that 71 per cent of serious retail crime was not responded to by the police</p>
Voices

Britain is in the grip of a retail crime frenzy

<p>How do supposedly intelligent people manage to get it so wrong? </p>
Voices

It’s time politicians got tough on banks’ thumping profits

<p>When someone pays on a Coutts card now, instead of being impressed – as they and the bank would like you to be – you’re likely to snigger</p>
Voices

After the Farage scandal, it’s right for the Coutts CEO to stand down

<p>Elon Musk is taking a colossal gamble, but then that has always been his style </p>
Voices

Elon Musk is no fool - there’s a reason he’s the world’s richest man

<p>No multinational is going to take the CMA seriously if they see that all you need to do is talk to the government instead</p>
Business

Modern warfare: how big business operates covertly

<p>The hidden Masonic Temple inside Andaz hotel at Liverpool Street </p>
Business Analysis & Features

Chris Blackhurst: Hyatt chief eyes demand for ‘being with each other’

<p>Edwards had been an image of integrity and dignity </p>
Media

The Huw Edwards saga has no winners, us included

<p>How you measure success in business is much more than just counting profits</p>
Business

Leave your CV at home: the business leaders who do things differently

<p>Farage has said that a ‘high-end’ institution closed his account without explanation </p>
Voices

A bit rich: Why I back Nigel Farage in his battle with the banks

<p>The only thing missing is a crystal ball: geopolitical uncertainty means different answers to the same question </p>
Voices

Unclear and present dangers: market predictions for the near future

<p>So anxious were Thatcher and her colleagues to dismantle the public sector that they were clearing the debts, writing them off – and flogging the industry cheaply</p>
Voices

Great British water crisis: From Thatcher’s pipe dream to busted flush

<p>Greenpeace campaigners outside the High Court to challenge the government’s decision to announce a new round of oil and gas licensing </p>
Voices

Rise of ‘greenwashing’ lawsuits a big worry for business

<p>We have an independent Bank of England but the governor, Andrew Bailey, must have his spine stiffened</p>
Voices

The cure for runaway inflation? We need to trigger a recession

<p>Tim Cook doesn’t have to sift through thousands of emails – a machine can do it for him</p>
Business

How AI could end the strange morning rituals of tech bosses

<p>The children of the UK’s baby boomer generation can expect to inherit an estimated £1.2 trillion</p>
Voices

Why should we baby boomers be duty bound to bail out Gen X?

<p>We have an independent Bank of England but the governor, Andrew Bailey, must have his spine stiffened</p>
Voices

The cure for runaway inflation? We need to trigger a recession

<p>Tim Cook doesn’t have to sift through thousands of emails – a machine can do it for him</p>
Business

How AI could end the strange morning rituals of tech bosses

<p>The children of the UK’s baby boomer generation can expect to inherit an estimated £1.2 trillion</p>
Voices

Why should we baby boomers be duty bound to bail out Gen X?

<p>Sir Frederick Barclay, right, and twin brother Sir David after receiving their knighthoods in 2000</p>
Long Reads

Succession and selling up: can the Barclay brothers’ empire survive?

<p>Shoppers have felt the pinch from high prices </p>
Business

Greedy food firms have themselves to blame for price threat

<p>Musk has valuable interests in China that require nurturing and protecting</p>
Voices

Elon Musk’s visit to China should worry Western governments

<p>Karan Bilimoria says recruiting foreign students for higher education is essential </p>
Business

Ministers should listen to British firms who need foreign students

<p>Any temptation on Sunak and Hunt’s part to cut taxes must be resisted</p>
Voices

The Tories have averted disaster – but can they stay the course?

<p>Half the world is still open to trade with Russia </p>
Voices

Are the economic sanctions on Russia yielding desirable results?

<p>Prime minister Rishi Sunak on his way to the G7 meeting in Japan </p>
Business

It’s clear voters want Britain to take a harder line on China

<p>One group puts the tax loss imposed on the world by British overseas territories at £152bn</p>
Business

Will King Charles take the lead over action on tax havens?

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