CPS director gives housing analysis as cabinet backlash over fall in new homes in England
“There is no issue as toxic for the Tories as housebuilding. Because nothing else pits their present so squarely against their future” writes Robert Colvile, CPS Director. As some Conservative voices blame local election loses on too much housebuilding and others too little, the CPS Director analyses the rate of housebuilding versus need and argues… View Article
Britain’s legal migration numbers matter more than small boats
CPS researchers have estimated that the net migration in 2022 will be at least 700,000, more than double the pre-Brexit record. The numbers were revealed in CPS Director Robert Colvile’s Sunday Times column where he highlights the impact on areas such as housing policy of increasing immigration. Read the full article here.
Britain’s renters are the real victims of this inflation and interest rate crunch
City A.M.’s economics editor Jack Barnett’s weekly column focuses on problems in the UK housing and rental sector, referencing work by the Centre for Policy Studies. The column quotes from ‘The Case for Housebuilding’ by Alex Morton and Elizabeth Dunkley which found real house price increases in the UK have been more than double those… View Article
Should higher-rate pension tax relief be abolished?
Michael Johnson, CPS research fellow and pensions expert, contributed to this weekend’s ‘Big Question’ in The Times newspaper. Michael took the ‘Yes’ side of a debate which asked if higher-rate pension tax relief should be abolished, arguing that the UK needs to encourage a savings culture. Read the full debate here.
Is it time to abolish the 45p rate of income tax?
CPS Head of Tax Tom Clougherty took the “Yes” side of The Times’ ‘Big Question’ – Is it time to abolish the 45p rate of income tax? Debating Arun Advani, associate professor of economics at the University of Warwick, Tom argued that while the politics of cutting the rate would be fraught, the principle is… View Article
Extension of Avanti contract is new low for rail passengers
CPS Research Fellow Tony Lodge wrote the Thunderer column in today’s Times newspaper, calling the extension of the Avanti contract on the West Coast Main Line “a new low”. Lodge writes that “passengers on Britain’s most important railway have been failed consistently for a generation” and the government has consistent failed to extend the open-access… View Article
Britain poised to sign Indo-Pacific trade deal
The Daily Telegraph reports that Britain is poised to join an Indo-Pacific trade pact, becoming the first non-founding member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), giving businesses easier access growing economies in the region. The newspaper highlights the findings of CPS report ‘Looking East’ which made the case for UK membership, highlighting… View Article
How high-tax Britain is fuelling a wave of early retirement that has made us all poorer
The Daily Telegraph reports on how higher taxes are driving a wave of early retirement, something the recent CPS report ‘Where are the Workers?’ focused on in detail. Tom Clougherty, CPS Head of Tax, told the newspaper “paying tax on your income makes work less attractive at the margin and makes leisure more attractive because… View Article
How a Labour capital gains tax raid would make Britain a global outlier
CPS Head of Tax Tom Clougherty is quoted in the Daily Telegraph, responding to calls from some front-bench Labour MPs that a Labour government could align the rates of capital gains tax. Tom told the paper the move would mean “Britain would end up with the least competitive personal tax system in the OECD. Considering… View Article
The UK’s growth stagnation
Douglas McWilliams, a speaker at the CPS’ Budget 2023: The Verdict panel discussion, turned his contributions into a piece for Reaction. In it, he argues the Budget did little for growth stagnation and that “repairing the UK’s growth problems is difficult without addressing the country’s productivity problems.” Read Doug’s article here, or watch the whole… View Article
The Government can build a new consensus on international development by focusing on investment
Gareth Davies MP writes for ConservativeHome following the publication of his new report, published by the Centre for Policy Studies. In the article Gareth compares the ongoing debate over British Overseas Development Assistance vs the lack of awareness about development finance, despite the incredible impact and significant financial returns the latter can generate. Read Gareth’s… View Article
Childcare rules: Why hitting six figures leaves high-flyers in a Parent Trap
New childcare rules announced in yesterday’s Budget are welcome, but cliff-edges for higher earnings need to be ironed out, says City A.M. Jeremy Hunt extended free childcare for one- and two-year-olds but this is withdrawn once a parent earns over £100,000 which the paper estimates could cost parents earning above the threshold £25,000 over the… View Article
The true cost of the teachers’ strike
As teachers across the country walk out for another national strike day, Mark Lehain, CPS Head of Education, has written for the Spectator’s Coffee House. In the piece Mark argues that strikes are “divisive” for the profession and damaging for children who have already had three years of disrupted education during the pandemic. Read Mark’s… View Article
Older people quit workforce ‘because they can afford to’
The Times today covers a new report from the Centre for Policy Studies highlighting the spectrum of causes contributing to increasing economic inactivity. The article leads with the research which shows economically comfortable people over 50 are feeling increasingly able to stop working, contrary to the popular narrative that workers are being driven out of… View Article
House buyers are being short-changed by a government scheme
Tom Clougherty, CPS Research Director, is quoted in the Telegraph backing calls to increase the purchase limit of a new home under the Lifetime ISA. Tom told the paper the Lisa is “increasingly unfit for purpose” and called for the purchase limit to be increased to £600,000. He said: “Lifting the cap in line with changes… View Article
Why anaemic Britain needs an investment shot in the arm
Tom Clougherty, CPS Research Director, told the Daily Telegraph that government should be “as aggressive and bold…within the fiscal constraints that exist” in this week’s Budget. Tom highlighted findings from our recent report ‘Does Britain mean Business?’ which warned Britain would become a significantly worse place to do business when corporation tax rises and the… View Article
