Hello from The National and welcome to the View from London – your weekly guide to the big stories from our London bureau
Making his exit
Herman Narula has built a career on the imagination of alternative worlds. Right now, in the real world, he's looking elsewhere beyond London.
Mr Narula, 37, whose wealth is estimated at £780 million ($1.05 billion), said he has no confidence at all in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, especially since the Treasury let slip it had been considering an "exit tax" in next week's budget.
The chief executive of tech company Improbable, which has been valued at £2.5 billion, has told us he is moving to Dubai, not only because of this threat but also what he sees as a UK government without vision, overseeing a system that takes the incentive away from job-creating risk-takers.
“It's less about the exit tax and more about not knowing what the next five budgets are going to hold, and what random things are going to be placed inside them," he said. "I think in that context, I would rather pursue opportunities elsewhere until the situation improves.”
He believes the UK Treasury “sees only money to pilfer in the short term” from successful entrepreneurs.
Mr Narula joins a growing list of high-profile people to leave Britain and head to the UAE, including property billionaire Asif Aziz, FinTech exec Nik Storonsky and Aston Villa FC co-owner Nassef Sawiris.
Labour's first year in power has seen a broader departure of wealth creators. Until now we had anecdotal evidence of the type above. Now there is some hard evidence. Revised figures released on Tuesday showed 257,000 British citizens emigrated last year, compared with 143,000 who returned.
This is part of a roller-coaster of movement in and out of the UK. Net migration hit a peak of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023. By the year ending December 2024, the net figure is now estimated at 345,000.
Tax changes already introduced, such as the abolition of non-dom status, have fuelled departures. Now there is the expectation of a further toughening of the tax regime by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
NHS recovery
That said, I think the feverish hunt for let-down in the British government shouldn't blind us to change. Today sees the end of the five-day walk-out by resident doctors in the National Health Service.
The figures are showing about 20,000 of the 77,000 doctors joined the walk-out. Across the 50 days of strikes since 2023, the industrial action has diminished in effectiveness. In fact, the Institute for Government estimates that cancelled procedures have dropped from two for each doctor taking part to below 0.7 cancellations in July.
As I found from attending hospital on the first day, Wes Streeting's attempt to keep operations as normal as possible looks pretty realistic.
The headlines may have told a different story.
Protests spread
Farmer Oliver Baines spent Tuesday carrying a banner for Palestine Action in Truro, south-west England. He views the proscription of the group as linking Palestinian solidarity with terrorism, and wrongly so.
Since the proscription was announced in early autumn, nearly 2,000 people have been arrested at mass demonstrations, during which people defied the ban by openly expressing support for the group, and 170 have been charged.
Sympathisers have now embarked on a week-long 'Lift the Ban' campaign to coincide with renewed court cases related to Palestine Action. “We're trying to reveal the violence and repression that comes if you speak out against genocide,” said Tim Crosland, a former government lawyer and founder of campaign group Defend Our Juries, which has been organising the protests.
“This will not be forgotten,” he told The National. “Already 2,000 people have been arrested for holding signs opposing genocide. There has not been anything like this in modern British history.”
World view
David Miliband, the former foreign secretary who now runs the International Rescue Committee, has been in London explaining the impact of the rise of a fractured world.
He points out the result is 60 active conflicts, the number of people living in extreme poverty rising to 830 million, and 125 million refugees and internally displaced people around the world. There are now two famines, and six countries with the highest levels of food insecurity.
His point is that among the jockeying between powers, critical global public needs such as open markets and security are not provided.
Speaking on the quashing of international aid contributions – not only by US President Donald Trump but many rich nations – he counselled that humanitarian relief charities could not wither away.
“Let's not fall for the claim that when the money goes down we go out of business, because the needs don't go away,” he told the launch of Promising Development: The Future of Aid in an Uncertain World, a collection of essays.
“The really big lesson of losing $400 million is that you can stew about it or you can do something about it,” he told an event chock-full of Labour parliamentarians.
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