Uber
How to bottle Britishness
The US crackdown on trade finance for Russia from international banks – designed to impede imports needed for the continuing…
The Uber scandal highlights big tech’s big failure
A few years ago the Conservatives were excited about the march of the tech giants. Uber was offering an alternative…
The car industry is accelerating towards an electric future
Back in November, when Downing Street’s pandemic responses looked daily more incompetent, the announcement of a ban on sales of…
The problem with the Supreme Court’s Uber ruling
They are monitored by the firm. They don’t have the option of working for other companies. And they are entitled…
Who started America’s presidential debates?
Word for word US presidential debates are often traced back to the first televised debate, between Richard Nixon and John…
Letters: Why have the Conservatives decided Chesterfield is a lost cause?
Given up on Chesterfield? Sir: Matthew Parris makes some interesting and accurate points about growing Tory support in the north…
Portrait of the week: Chief Rabbi speaks out, Uber loses its licence and police draw tasers at the cinema
Home The Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, intervened in the election campaign by declaring that anti-Semitism was a ‘poison — sanctioned…
There’s no need to mourn the loss of Uber’s London licence
Early experiences of Uber in London did not encourage me to become a regular user. My first driver thought I…
Helen Lederer: The day I went viral in the Claridge’s lavatory
The best moment of my Easter ended up being an impromptu debate with the delightful comedian Sarah Millican about the…
What Uber rides taught me about immigration
It was blessedly cool inside the Romanesque nave, its massive arches resisting the heat as they had done everything else…
Raising the threshold crappiness
I love anything open late at night. Never mind ‘the sigh of midnight trains in empty stations’; even mundane activities…
Uber was the ugly snowplough that cleared the path but its dominance is bound to fade
An Uber insider tells me not to write off the ride-hailing giant too soon, because it’s a very smart company…
Warning: rationality could be bad for your health
Almost every popular commercial product owes its success to two different qualities. First, it does the job it is ostensibly…
Life gets faster — as the Earth slows down
Modern life is too fast. Everyone is always in a hurry; people skim-read and don’t take the time to eat…
Would you like to buy an American’s vote?
Killing time in a Heathrow first-class lounge, I notice how many men adopt an unmistakable ‘first-class lounge’ persona. They stand…
Online feedback frenzy is killing the art of complaint
Internet surveys have killed the art of complaint
The unforeseen dangers of Uber and Airbnb
In Silicon Valley, renting out is the new selling —and renting out stuff that belongs to other people can be…
Why the greatest innovations do only one thing, but do it well
McDonald’s got rid of cutlery. Uber does not allow you to pre-book taxis. Amazon began by selling only books. Conventional…
Powder to the people: the new deal for the cocaine market
Fierce competition is forcing drug dealers to adjust their sales methods
A Budget to show how it should be done – as the Greeks show how it shouldn't
George Osborne’s Budget was good politics: not so much in terms of tactical point-scoring, though there was plenty, but in…
That’s not a ‘sharing economy’: that’s an invitation to sell your whole life
The sinister, manipulative side of Uber and Airbnb
The joys and sorrows of two-way ratings systems
‘J’ai failli attendre’ — ‘I almost had to wait’ — allegedly said by Louis XIV when his carriage drew up just a…
Yes, Wonga lent at shocking rates – but it was customers who lied
‘Payday Lady is not trading at this time,’ says her website, sounding a little like La Dame aux camélias. Indeed (since…
