May 15, 2012

The large and the small of it

Vicious circle of poor business confidence needs to be broken

May 7, 2012

The best of times, the worst of times

French lessons for Cameron and Miliband

Apr 23, 2012

Can Salmond out-trump Trump?

Once these men were allies. Now it is a battle between two showmen used to getting their oway

Apr 16, 2012

Boris and Ken: no model for mayors

Rather than aid democracy, executive mayoralties may concentrate power

Apr 10, 2012

Will Britons buy into Royal Mail?

Privatising the postal operator is no easy prospect

Mar 26, 2012

Jinx is not simply on a generation

Age gap opens over who is to shoulder the austerity burden

Mar 19, 2012

Strange timing on local pay move

The chancellor’s plan looks like an odd move for a party that needs to make gains in northern England

Mar 5, 2012

The south, the UK’s industrial hotspot

‘March of the makers’ progresses slowly

Feb 20, 2012

Don’t worry, it’s only fanaticism

Wishing others were less obsessive is futile, writes Brian Groom

Feb 13, 2012

Bonus truce but the war goes on

It is too soon to tell if restraint is taking place

Jan 23, 2012

You are entering Hockney Country

East Yorkshire hopes for a tourism boost on the back of the artist’s latest show

From UK Jan 23, 2012

Cautious Cable leans towards wealth creation

Business secretary passes buck to shareholders

Jan 16, 2012

What could wipe Salmond’s smile?

There are questions about his judgment, an explosive temper is said to lurk beneath his smiling exterior, writes Brian Groom

Jan 10, 2012

Marxism and the Muppets

Some perceive the new film to have a distasteful message

Jan 2, 2012

Thatcher and the state – a coda

Cabinet papers have just been released for 1981, a year like 2011

Dec 20, 2011

A hacking, fracking year of upheaval

An annual round-up of phrases – some clichéd, others less so – from the Arab spring and the squeezed middle to bunga bunga

Dec 12, 2011

The titans hide under the duvet

Majority have been silent after Cameron’s veto

Dec 6, 2011

Time to knock the Shard down again

The office tower block, set to be the tallest building in Europe when it is finished, is seen as out of tune with the times

Nov 29, 2011

Sweet chariot, carry them all away

Rugby is augmenting its reputation for incompetence

Nov 22, 2011

An administration for troubled times?

Technocratic governments are all the rage

About Brian

Brian Groom Brian Groom is the FT’s UK business and employment editor. He has previously held a number of senior posts at the FT, including political editor and Europe edition editor, and is a former editor of Scotland on Sunday.

His weekly Notebook column is a wry take on life in the UK.

E-mail Brian Groom