Amazon

Thursday

Martin Vander Weyer

Will retail giants outsmart the online sales tax?

When I worked in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur long ago, my office looked across Jalan Tun Razak, a boulevard named in honour of the country’s second prime minister and ‘father of development’. This week his son Najib Razak, its sixth prime minister (2009-2018), was convicted of charges relating to the disappearance of $4.5 billion from a sovereign wealth fund called 1MDB which he once controlled. More trials await, but 1MDB may go down not only as the world’s biggest corruption scandal but also the most vulgar — proceeds that might have helped Malaysia’s poor having been frittered on private jets, penthouses, parties in Las Vegas and the financing of The Wolf of Wall Street.

Tuesday

Robert Jackman

What’s new to watch on Amazon Prime

While the coronavirus might have delayed filming for now, the big streaming services are still managing to put out new content – at least for the time being. Here are eight new releases on Amazon Prime to keep you entertained on those lazy summer evenings: Dating Amber, available now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVU_e0Kq4A8 Fans of Sex Education and Derry Girls will likely be charmed by this kind-hearted semi-romcom about two nerdy misfits – one male, one female – coming to terms with their sexuality in 1990s Ireland. As a ploy to hide their real preference from homophobic bullies, the two friends decide to pretend to be a couple. But it’s when they escape to Dublin for a weekend of underage partying that their divergent coming out journeys begin.

Wednesday

James Delingpole

The best Independence Day films to watch on 4th July

Jaws, Amazon (To rent or buy) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fu_sA7XhE Nothing says ‘Murica’ quite like insisting the beaches stay open – killer shark or no – because it’s the 4th July weekend. It’s why – during his brief libertarian phase – Boris Johnson once declared that Larry Vaughn, the Mayor of Amity, was the movie’s true hero. Apart from the now rather obvious clunkiness of ‘Bruce’ the mechanical great white, the film still stands the test of time – the jump scare when they investigate the sunken fishing boat; the memorable scene where Quint describes his experiences after the USS Indianopolis was torpedoed; the literally explosive climax.

Thursday

Martin Vander Weyer

Tinkering with VAT won’t make us trust the government

Should Chancellor Rishi Sunak cut VAT as an emergency stimulus to the consumer economy? When Labour’s Alistair Darling made a 2.5 per cent £12 billion cut after the 2008 crash, I called it ‘an unconvincing and expensive gambit’, on the basis that shoppers would barely notice and that ‘far more significant will be the general level of confidence as it is affected by business failures and job losses… and the general grimness of global economic news’. The same applies today only more so, given that inflation is dormant, households’ pent-up spending power has in many cases been boosted by lockdown and the top VAT-cut winner would likely be Amazon. By all means relax Sunday trading laws and restrictions on outdoor food and drink service.