Under TheThe RadarLabour Leadership A dive into the news youContest might have 2020 missed Summary & Analysis Alphabet unsheaths a factors are nowhere near what Google could theoretically bring to the table. double-edged sword Let’s dream up some totally hypothetical scenarios. You say you don’t drink? Well What happened? why does your GPS show you down at the local pub four nights a week? Say you Late last month Verily Life Sciences, don’t engage in risky behaviour? Well an Alphabet company, rolled out a new why does your data show you were at a subsidiary called Coefficient Insurance skydiving company four times over the Company in partnership with Swiss Re past year? The data doesn’t lie, nor can Corporate Solutions, the commercial you hide from it in today’s world. insurance unit of the Swiss Re Group. “It doesn’t require much of According to Coefficient, the new entity will combine “innovative health an imagination to see how technology solutions” with “novel Alphabet will stretch their insurance and payment models”. In other data into other insurance words, the data from Google is now going to be informing your insurance plans. areas” What does it mean? In some ways Alphabet is merely keeping up with the Joneses. In the recent past, The initial focus for Coefficient will be companies like Apple, Amazon and on so-called ‘stop-loss’ insurance, a niche Deepmind (another Alphabet company) segment of the insurance market which have also made forays into the healthcare seeks to protect employers from health space. For its part, Alphabet argues it will cost volatility. But it doesn’t require much finally be able to bring a long-needed of an imagination to see how Alphabet specificity to the otherwise generalised will stretch their data into other insurance insurance market. areas. And while that sounds like great news for While this is in many ways a natural those of us in robust health, it could turn evolution for the insurance world - why out less well for those of us who are less wouldn’t you want your insurer to have well off in all things medical. We should accurate information - it will make some proceed with care. nervous. Insurers might have always scored risk, but their inputs were vague and their ability to detect disease or risk How do you solve pro-Europe SNP. Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives have stretched ahead of a problem like Scottish Labour and are becoming a more palatable choice of party for those who Scotland? oppose Scottish independence. What happened? While the absence of a coherent strategy that wins back SNP voters without backing independence or remaining in Scottish Labour MSPs have ramped up the EU is hurting the party, a severe talent their efforts to remove Richard Leonard deficit north of the border ultimately as leader of the struggling party ahead of means they are struggling to oust a weak next year’s Scottish Parliament Election. leader. Leonard rose to prominence on Corbyn’s coattails and has proven to be The mutiny is being led by the party’s just as inept. But despite credible calls for justice spokesman, James Kelly, who a change in leadership, there’s no obvious announced that he had lost all confidence candidate for his opponents to coalesce in Leonard’s leadership. The social around. security spokesman, Mark Griffin, and respected backbenchers Jenny Marra Failing to restore the Labour Party and Daniel Johnson also echoed Kelly’s to a respectable position in Scottish criticism. politics will prevent Keir Starmer from ever forming a majority government. At last year’s European elections, And while this seemingly benefits the Scottish Labour won just 9.3% of the Conservatives, they too want to see a vote, finishing behind the SNP, Scottish resurgence in support for Scottish Labour Conservatives, Brexit Party and Liberal – without that happening, the SNP will Democrats. At the subsequent General win another stonking majority, making Election, Leonard saw his party lose it increasingly difficult for Number Ten the six seats it had gained under his to deny calls for a second referendum. predecessor, Kezia Dugdale. The break-up of the Union would sound the death knell for Conservative unionist credibility. What does it mean? Starmer has wisely chosen to not publicly Despite making headway in the intervene, given widespread Scottish Westminster polls, Keir Starmer and the distrust of Westminster politics, but for Labour Party are facing a huge headache the sake of the Union and competitive in Scotland, with no obvious solutions. electoral politics Labour must start producing talented politicians in the ilk Scottish Labour have been punished at of Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling consecutive elections running on a soft again. Brexit platform against the vehemently The only way is up Agritech is often held back by a combination of high entry and operating costs. Firms have entered the sector only What happened? to retreat after realising their financial position had deteriorated. That said, The booming ‘vertical farm’ industry several recent upstarts globally are was profiled in the New York Times, making great strides in taking the sector demonstrating the sector’s wide range of forward and they include UK operators growth and distribution strategies, from Intelligent Growth Solutions and tie ups with online platforms to direct Vertegrow. sales to customers. As food producers look to ways of guaranteeing future On paper, the practice looks to alleviate supplies, the vertical farming industry environmental headaches such as the continues to improve and expand, amount of water used by traditional positioning itself as part of the solution to agricultural methodology and seasonal problems such as climate change and soil problems such as labour and extreme contamination. weather, however there remains the unsolved question of how it is powered. Each stack of produce requires artificial What does it mean? lighting to replicate sunlight and if the electricity is generated by fossil fuels, A global movement - companies are set then the environmental benefits could be up everywhere from Kuala Lumpur in cancelled out. Malaysia to Invergowrie on the east coast of Scotland - vertical farming strives Consumers are increasingly conscious of to provide technology driven solutions how far food travels from source to their to an age old problem: how to provide plate and access to personal allotments enough food for everyone with available is limited in the UK. In this regard, resources, whilst combating seasonal vertical farms operate in small spaces; a headaches such as the intense labour firm in Malaysia, for example, runs an required for harvest. entire farm within a shipping container on an industrial estate. Direct sales to The farms work by stacking produce consumers could address the issue of air on top of one another in temperature miles and carbon emissions. controlled trays and the towers tend to be up to nine metres high. According to Covid is forcing us to reimagine supply industry professionals, very little human chains and what we are living through - in labour is required and much can be done addition to the looming food and water day to day by software and robotics. shortage (sorry) - means the transition Usually the extent of human labour may happen sooner than we think. required for the process is maintenance Vertical farming will not solve every every few months. problem however you can bank on it being part of the solution. This Weeks Must Reads The experience of Covid-19 shows how easily catastrophe can befall our species The Guardian “For generations, we’ve been spared an experience of general, worldwide calamity, one that warps the horizon of our normality. Then came coronavirus.” - Raghu Karnad on the need to understand the destructive power of humanity from previous generations. Donald Trump Jr. Is Ready. But for What, Exactly? The New York Times “Of all the president’s children, he has the strongest connection to the politics, voters and online disinformation ecosystem that put his father in the White House. What will he do with it?” - Jason Zengerle on Donald Trump Jr. Wirecard and me: Dan McCrum on exposing a criminal enterprise Financial Times “This is the tale of what it was like to unravel and expose the reality of a criminal enterprise that relied on a network of professional enablers to keep in motion one of the biggest corporate frauds of the modern era.” - Dan McCrum on the FT’s five-year investigation into Wirecard. The Trump show: he could just win again The Spectator “Is the American President about to pull off his greatest trick yet?” - Freddy Gray looks at how Donald Trump might be about to defy the odds again and win the 2020 Election. What we do For more information about Trafalgar Strategy and our services, get in touch: Email: Phone: [email protected] +44 (0)207 043 1308 Or visit: www.trafalgar-strategy.co.uk Twitter: @trafalgarstrat.