New rules incompatible with the AI-driven supply chain systems that support our modern life will cause an industrial splutter. Lorry parks at the border are merely a symptom of systemic dysfunction. Expect price rises and  goods shortages. Strawberries and salads may fall off the menu. Prompt action could alleviate the situation, but ignoring it will result in long term damage.

When the UK finally quits the Single Market  on 1 January,  rule changes will come into effect for businesses.  With or without a ‘deal’, new trade barriers will be erected.  Customs declarations will be needed for goods going in or out of the country, traders will have to demonstrate compliance with standards and ‘rules of origin’,  and depending on the outcome of the negotiations with the EU, a tariff payment will be required.  The latest UK -EU discussions about 'cabotage'  - rules for pick up and drop off in the EU27-  underscore how deep the changes will run. In all likelihood, it will lead to  uncertainties of supply, price hikes and

Read more: Disrupting supply chains: how leaving the Single Market means systemic breakdown

As policy-makers on both sides of the Atlantic seek to curb the power of the ‘big tech’ leviathans, is anti-trust the best tool to address speech online?

When the four titans of tech testified at a recent hearing in the US Congress, it was meant to be about anti-trust and market abuses. The technology companies were indeed put on the defensive about their monopolistic practices,  but some of the most difficult exchanges were about content and censorship. It raises the issue about their power over  speech, which presents a far more complex question for lawmakers than

Read more: Big tech and anti-trust: an ill-fitting suit?

What does the Schrems case mean for UK post-Brexit data flows? At the heart of the Schrems case is a conflict of laws - a conflict between EU  privacy  law and US surveillance law.  After 31 December, the question about surveillance law turns around to point at the UK.  Whichever way one looks at it, deal or no deal with the EU, UK surveillance law will be the determining factor. 

Overnight on 31 December 2020, the rules governing data flows from the UK to other countries will change. As the UK pulls out of the pan-European GDPR regime, it simultaneously rips

Read more: Schrems ruling puts a spoke in UK data flows from 2021