Podcasts

Tayo Dada was introduced to computing when he was child, on an old Commodore 64. In his teens, he was a hacker, who started out hacking his friends’ Sony Walkmans, before successfully hacking into Citibank and Lloyds of London. He was offered a role with KPMG to set up the UK’s first ‘ethical hacking’ team. He is now a leading cybersecurity expert, working with FSTE listed companies and latterly, specialising in private equity.

As banks went kaput a decade ago, the safety of our savings was thrust into the limelight. Most had never considered that cash in the bank was at risk and knew little about the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. When Icesave blew up a year after the Northern Rock collapse things changed dramatically. We should all be up to speed now, but how safe are your savings? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Tanya Jefferies and Georgie Frost we look at savings protection but also how you could end up losing money by sticking with cash. Ironically, worries about banks a decade ago triggered a flight to safety and more people stashing money in savings accounts rather than investing. But had people invested as Lehman Brothers collapsed they would have more than doubled their money by now. Taking the risk as the world appeared to be falling apart would have been the right move. Yet, at that point the stock market was already down 20% and fell by that again before it hit the bottom, so how many would have been brave enough? Also on this week’s show, we discuss how easy it might be to hit the £1million pension lifetime allowance sand whether your car might fail its next MOT.

The New Labour government introduced a national minimum wage (NMW) in 1999. At first this was opposed by the Conservative party, but they have since joined a growing political consensus. The Low Pay Commission (LPC) are tasked with recommending NMW rates that 'help as many low-paid workers as possible without any significant adverse impact on employment or the economy’. The LPC’s apparent success in achieving this, may be one reason for growing political census, so it is perhaps worrying that a National Living Wage (NLW) is being set without these considerations. Len Shackleton, Professor of Economics at the University of Buckingham and Editorial and Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, sets out these issues and more in a recent IEA paper on Restructuring Minimum Wages. Prof. Shackleton argues that the system has become overly complex and recommendations made by the Taylor Review will only add to this complexity. In this interview we consider his proposals and what the future may hold for UK minimum wages.

Mike Indian, political commentator and author of The Groucho Tendency blog, discusses with Simon Rose the outcome of the EU summit in Salzburg where leaders of the 27 other member states discussed Brexit. With the head of the European Council Donald Tusk saying that May’s Chequers plan would not work, what does that mean for the Prime Minister and her plan. Is a no-deal Brexit now more likely. Mike also highlights the leaked Tory dossier about who might replace May, which gives pitchy comments on the chances of the possible candidates. Ahead of the Labour Party conference, he looks at Labour’s democracy review and the possibility of the party endorsing a call for a second Brexit referendum.

Steve Caplin looks at the latest developments in drone technology, explains why he won't be buying the new iPhone but does recommend updating iOS, marvels at the Bristol scientists producing a real-life version of The Wrong Trousers, is impressed by a 3D-printed US army barracks, wants to try a deeper-water snorkel and applauds Carlsberg for fastening its beer cans together without plastic.

James Cameron-Wilson looks at the UK box office, reviewing the weeks new films, The Predator, Crazy Rich Asians and King of Thieves, as well as Puzzle, clocking in at No. 40 in the chart. He also looks at the home release of Apostasy before he and Simon Rose consider the 50th anniversary home release of Mel Brooks's film challenging the taste barrier, The Producers, which won the novice director a Best Screenplay Oscar.

Graham Spooner of The Share Centre looks back at announcements from Ocado and Kingfisher. With the retail sector still much to the fore, he looks at what the recent hike in inflation might mean and at Tesco's response to the success of Lidl and Aldi, the launch of budget chain Jack's. He also looks ahead to forthcoming numbers from Next, United Utilities and Tui.

Want to keep up with the latest earnings updates from the States? Well join Chris Hill and the Motley Fool Radio Show team here on Share Radio, direct from Washington DC, for news, views and analysis of the US stocks that matter. In this week's show: Hurricane Florence makes landfall; Apple unveils new phones; Nike hits a new high; Dave & Buster’s delivers; Sears surprises; And Volkswagen kills a bug; Motley Fool analysts Matt Argersinger, Ron Gross, and Jason Moser delve into these stories.

Adam talks to Destiny Onisile and Jessica Tonwe, two millennials, about their attitudes to saving money to coincide with British Savings Week. They discuss how ignorance and confusion lead to a reluctance to save and how student debt create poor financial habits that can make debt attractive and saving something they believe is for older generations. They also explore if there’s anything that would encourage young people to save or learn about finance.

Ahead of the European Council summit in the Austrian City of Salzburg on the 20th of September, we ask what’s next for Brexit. Can the Government stick its beleaguered Chequers proposal? Could the UK take the Norway option whilst negotiating a more comprehensive Free Trade Agreement? To discuss these issues the IEA's Digital Manager Darren Grimes was joined by Stephen Booth of the Open Europe think tank. Stephen argues that Chequers is the only game in town because it’s the only deal that meets the EU’s tests, and because the Government simply does not have the numbers or political capital to move any further away from the EU through a Canada-style Free Trade Agreement. Also joining Darren is Victoria Hewson, Senior Counsel at the IEA’s Trade Unit. Victoria argues that the EU’s demand for backstop could lock the UK into the EU’s orbit in perpetuity. For Victoria, the prospect of a our future trading agreement being determined by parliamentary politics is why Brexiteers are so worried about Chequers. There’s a feeling that if we don’t seize the momentum, the pro-Remain majority within Parliament will win the day and the opportunities of an independent trade policy and regulatory autonomy will be lost. The pair give their analysis on what’s next, how we got here and how all roads lead to Ireland.