THE CITY VIEW

people in communities being changed in front of their eyes that it’s all for the common good, or saying that the pressure on public services in certain areas when the population increases quickly is just a price we must pay. So the question is which of our political parties is going to show the intestinal fortitude to make a compelling argument in favour of immigration, and mitigate the downsides of it. So far the conclusion we can reach is, effectively, neither. Despite Britain’s demographic timebomb and chronic labour shortages across the economy, nobody in senior office seems willing to make the case that without new arrivals Britain simply will not function in the way it does today. The end result of that, as ever, is nativism; by refusing to make the case that immigration is a good thing, the field is open to those who would take the argument in a different direction altogether. There are enough reasons, funnily enough, not to come to the UK at the moment. In London, it is hard to look at our housing market and suggest that anybody arriving here would find it a welcoming environment in which to set

DOG OF THE WEEK It’s not just commuters heading into work this week, with this office pooch enjoying his journey into the office as the temperature finally turns for the better

Every week, we choose a dog of the week to celebrate one of the few good things about the pandemic... the normalisation of dogs in City offices. We want to see your dog in the Square Mile, at your desk or even on your tube on the way into work. The only rules is, sadly, these can’t be remote working pups. While we support the leisurely attitude of these home-office dogs, this is a weekly competition in honour of what was once a novelty.

To enter, all you have to do is send a picture of your dog hard at work to pictures@cityam.co m alongside a sentence or two on why your dog is the best good boy or girl in the Square Mile. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for any other potential entrants strolling through the streets.

Braverman escapes ethics probe into speeding row

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

SUELLA Braverman has escaped an ethics investigation over claims she asked civil servants whether they could arrange her a private speeding awareness course.

PM Rishi Sunak yesterday confirmed no “further investigation” will take place into the row and said he was “reassured [Braverman] takes these matters seriously”.

In a letter to the home secretary, the PM said he had spoken to his independent ethics advisor, Sir Laurie Magnus, who had advised “no further investigation is necessary”.

Sunak did however note “a better course of action could have been taken to avoid giving rise to the perception of impropriety”.

The PM’s decision comes after Braverman was accused of fresh ministerial code breaches over a failure to formally disclose years of work with the Rwandan government despite the UK’s £140m deal to send asylum seekers to the African nation.

Critics decried Sunak as weak, with Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain saying: “He may be in office but he is barely in power.” down roots, for instance. Allowing nasty anti-immigration rhetoric to win the battle of ideas will only weaken the UK’s standing internationally. London’s leaders are doing their bit, but national politicians need to do more. Perhaps it is naive to hope that, when Britain is proving incapable of stopping illegal immigration, anybody would stick their head above the parapet for legal immigration –especially before an election. But somebody has to.

Your Entries In Our Economics For Dummies Competition

Yesterday we invited readers to send in their suggestions for improving the economic forecasting of the Bank of England and the IMF, amongst others, after they horribly botched their recession predictions.

We received plenty of suggestions, with the winner receiving a copy of Economics for Dummies and something bottled to enjoy it with. Our winner was Max Edwards in Stratford, who made us laugh if nothing else.

“My idea to improve IMF and BoE forecasting would be to do it in the style of wheel of fortune. A series of giant wheels with various economic scenarios relating to inflation and GDP growth set out in a line which are spun and when the wheel stops spinning the forecast with the pin in it becomes the prediction,” he suggested. “With Philip Schofield free these days perhaps he could host it for the television.”

PMQs: Keir Starmer, future fruit picker for Britain

KEIR STARMER is not a man known for his quick wit. Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions were a keen reminder of this as the leader of the opposition, so eager to get out his gags about Suella Braverman, was unable to effectively counter the PM. It’s a truism in politics that an open goal is the hardest one, and the combination of Braverman’s attempt to evade points on her licence for speeding by attending a “private” speed awareness course and the sky-high immigration numbers forecast to come out tomorrow, was a goal post larger than Rishi Sunak’s 40-foot swimming pool. Starmer’s heart wasn’t really in it when he opened with a dig at the home secretary’s need for a refresher on “points-based systems” and continued with jokes about her “speeding through the void”.

SKETCH Sascha O’Sullivan

Sunak, however, had a decent attack line after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its forecasts for the UK economy.

“I am very surprised,” said Sunak, a man who is often surprised whenever he stops reading a spreadsheet. “I’ve stood here week after week, when he’s been so keen to quote the IMF, he seemed to have missed their press conference yesterday...”

A rattled Starmer raged: “Is he seriously suggesting that breaking the economy and public services, and losing control of immigration is all a carefully crafted plan?” Quickly, he pivoted: “[There is] no plan for skills growth, or wages. [Braverman’s] big idea for British workers is for them to become fruit pickers... Does the PM support this ‘let them pick fruit’ ambition? Or does he wish he had the strength to give her a career change of her own?”

When Sunak returned to his new best friend, the IMF, Starmer threw out another Suella quip: “[She] may need a speed awareness course, he needs a reality check.” And, just when Rishi thought he couldn’t have a better go of it, Stephen Flynn, head shining in the dimly lit Commons chamber, presented himself as evidence of the PM’s boast that Britain has some of the “best young readers” in the world, by reading the prices of groceries from his local Sainsbury’s.