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Ross Clark

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Ross is a freelance journalist and columnist on The Spectator, The Times and the Sunday Telegraph.

He is the author of The Great Before, a satire on the anti-globalisation movement, and How to Label a Goat: The Silly Rules and Regulations that are Strangling Britain, published by Harriman House, about the lunacy of red tape.

He has been a regular contributor to Real Business magazine for several years. We like his acerbic, witty style: hope you do, too.

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Westminster: what gives? img 1
By Ross Clark
MPs are adding sash windows and guest loos to their second homes. And we’re footing the bill. 

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Don't civil servants know it's a recession? img 1
By Ross Clark
We’re living on beans on toast while civil servants “build relationships” over three courses and Chablis. 

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"Gissa job, Brown!"
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By Ross Clark
Being an aristocrat’s crony is your ticket to a job in Cabinet. So how do plebs like us get a look-in?

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The fat cats get the cream img 1
By Ross Clark
Private sector workers cling to their jobs, while public sector fat cats lap up the big bucks. What gives? 

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What crackpot scheme will Brown throw our cash at next?  img 1
By Ross Clark
America’s New Deal bought bridges and dams. We get social cohesion websites.

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Who's watching the watchdog? img 1
By Ross Clark
Northern Rock. HBOS. Bradford & Bingley: banks are going bust, but the watchdog’s sitting pretty.  

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Blame government fat cats for sky-high energy prices img 1
By Ross Clark
Forget greedy energy companies. Regulation-happy bureaucrats are behind soaring oil and gas prices.

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"Pay as you throw" tax is a waste img 1
By Ross Clark
There’s only one place for the wasteful and costly “pay as you go” rubbish tax: the bin.

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Double standards on data protection img 1
By Ross Clark

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Jump on board the climate change bandwagon img 1
By Ross Clark
I don’t know about polar bears, but climate change certainly isn’t in danger of driving public sector workers to extinction.

BUSINESS NEWS >>

Dragon Peter Jones says, "Clone me!"

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - July 03, 2009 11:28am GMT

Real Business spent an eventful cab ride with Dragons' Den's tallest investor earlier this week. Here's what he had to say about the recession, James Caan, his search for Peter Jones lookalikes and, most importantly, the next series of Dragons' Den.

Businesses to run in a recession: part three

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - July 02, 2009 4:43pm GMT

Even in a recession, a good entrepreneur is always on the look-out for the next hot spot. Don’t wait around for the upturn. These are the businesses you want to be in now.

Access takes another step towards sales target

By Catherine Woods - July 02, 2009 4:33pm GMT

Access founder Alistair O’Reilly has embarked on a “brand elevation” exercise as he aims to grow turnover at his consulting and software company to £100m.

Tech entrepreneur: "The banks won't lend you an umbrella when it rains"

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - July 02, 2009 4:22pm GMT

At a roundtable hosted by Dell this morning, Real Business heard three technology entrepreneurs talk about the challenges of growing a business during the recession. People aren't the problem, they say. It's the mindset of banks and other financial institutions that needs to change if we're to come out of recession.

Government fund provides a "timely injection of capital"

By Catherine Woods - July 02, 2009 4:06pm GMT

Octopus Ventures, which invests in entrepreneurial businesses, has welcomed the governments’ proposed £1bn innovation fund, saying it will support entrepreneurialism.

Brochures on Saving and investing

BUSINESS COMMENT >>

The first Apprentice wedding!

By Catherine Woods - July 03, 2009 2:35pm GMT

Well, well, well, look who’s engaged.

Sir Alan Sugar: "You're hired!"

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - July 01, 2009 1:12pm GMT

Great piece by The Telegraph's Richard Tyler today about the confirmed appointment of Sir Alan Sugar to the post of enterprise tsar. "A tentative date of July 20th has been pencilled in for his hairiness to don the rabbit fur," he says.

Pre-stained underwear: the next big thing?

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - June 22, 2009 2:54pm GMT

That's right. "Pre-stained". Suspend your disbelief for a moment. Canadian entrepreneur Philip Watson founded Easy Tiger Corp to peddle underwear that has been - ahem - ready-soiled, shall we say. And he reckons these nasty knickers will be a surefire hit with "the dudes".

It can only be... the Friday Funnies

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - June 12, 2009 12:16pm GMT

As swine flu hits the headlines for the second time, the swine flu jokes are just pouring in! Laugh till you oink, readers.

Jokes. Jokes. Jokes.

By Rebecca Burn-Callander - June 05, 2009 12:14pm GMT

Further to popular demand, this week we're devoting a whole section of our jokes blog to our hapless prime minister, Gordon Brown.

Business Comment 

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