Northern Powerhouse is ‘not firing on all cylinders’
“Has the Northern Powerhouse run out of steam?” Emma Revell, Communications Officer at the CPS, takes on the “Yes” side of this discussion in City A.M.’s debate pages. Emma argues that the departure from government of Northern Powerhouse architects, cancellation of various rail infrastructure upgrades, and party politics are getting in the way of the… View Article
Electoral Commission echoes CPS report calls for digital imprint on election materials
The Electoral Commission is proposing non-print election materials be required to carry an imprint which states who is behind it, reports The Sun, Tuesday 16 October. The proposal matches one of the recommendations made by Matt Warman MP in his recent report ‘Who Governs Britain?’, published by the Centre for Policy Studies back in May. The report… View Article
Robert Colvile: The boost to home ownership that would come from Help to Own
“We need to ensure that those properties that are being sold end up being owner-occupied rather than rented – because a society based on mass ownership is one that is more prosperous, more content and more secure”, says Robert Colvile in a piece on ConHome, Monday 15 October. Robert wrote following the publication of ‘From Rent to… View Article
Landlords should be given cash boost if they sell to tenants – The Sun
“Thousands of young people feel stuck renting so a change to offer landlords incentives to sell to their tenants could help them get on the property ladder”, says The Sun on Sunday, 14 October 2018. Reporting ahead of the publication of ‘From Rent to Own’, the new housing report from CPS Head of Policy Alex… View Article
The countryside is not a religion, we must build more homes
“Nigel Lawson once claimed that the NHS was the closest thing the English have to a religion. But the green belt surely runs it a close second”, says Robert Colvile in a column for The Telegraph, Sunday 6 October. However, the houing crisis is pushing voters to reconsider. Polling released by the Centre for Policy… View Article
The death of nimbyism? Brits now support building in their back yard
Brits suppose home-building in their areas, and think that local house prices are too high, according to new polling released by the Centre for Policy Studies. 47% of people agreed that while some countryside should be protected “some ought to be used for new housing”, reports City A.M. Planning restrictions on Green Belt land also have… View Article
The purpose of education is to give people skills for life. And we have lost sight of it.
The purpose of education is to give people tools “with which they can make their own way and support themselves” which requires “a range of schools that suit aptitudes – whether academic or technical.” Writing following the publication of ‘Technically Gifted’, a new report from Toby Young published by the Centre for Policy Studies, Alex highlights the need for… View Article
CPS makes big impact at CPC18
The Centre for Policy Studies has a long history of attending Conservative Party Conference, and our presence at 2018’s conference in Birmingham was bigger than ever before. We had a large, dedicated and prominent events space within the secure zone where we hostesd a vast array of fringe events, including receptions, panel discussions and one-on-ones…. View Article
Jeremy Corbyn has stolen Margaret Thatcher’s best lines – Robert Colvile
Labour Party leaders are “cribbing not just from Marx, but also…Margaret Thatcher”, writes Robert Colvile in the Mail on Sunday, 30 September 2018. Robert Colvile notes Labour are packaging their left-wing policies in the language of Thatcher, speaking about ownership and localism while promising policies that “the only workers given this ownership will be members of hard-Left… View Article
If Theresa May wants to keep the keys to No10 — she must make housing her top priority
77% of the vote swing from the Conservatives to Labour in the 2017 election is attributable to the housing crisis, says Robert Colvile, CPS Director. Writing in The Sun newspaper, Robert highlights the various avenues available to easing the housing crisis – including easing Green Belt restrictions, reform of the planning system, and making it… View Article
A Commons with no majority – so no radical Conservative measures? You’ve forgotten about EVEL
“The received wisdom is that the Conservative Party cannot put forward any truly radical policy proposals”, but Alex Morton disagrees. In his regular column for the Conservative Home website, Morton highlights how English Votes for England Laws (EVEL) could allow the government – unable to command a majority of the Commons as a whole –… View Article
CPS Director slams McDonnell after speech to TUC conference
Labour’s plans to force employers to give gig economy workers full employment rights “isn’t backed up by the facts”, says Robert Colvile in the Mail Online, Tuesday 11 September. Colvile highlighted the fact that many gig economy workers value the flexibility, seeing it as “a fair trade-off for lack of job security”, and said “Labour need to join the… View Article
Graham Brady: Let technical and vocational schools fulfil their potential by allowing them to select
Allowing technical schools to select pupils will give children “of every kind a better chance of ending up in the school that is right for them”, says Sir Graham Brady MP in Conservative Home, 16 August 2018. Sir Graham, who is the Deputy Chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies, was responding to Toby Young’s… View Article
Education industry publications cover new report on technical schools
Government should reform technical education and allow schools to select pupils to send the message that this type of eudcation is “a valuable pathway for those with a real flair for it”, reports Schools Week. The recommendation comes from ‘Technically Gifted’, a new report from Toby Young published by the Centre for Policy Studies, in which… View Article
Only competitive selection can save Britain’s ailing technical colleages
University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are being used as “dumping grounds” by neighbouring schools, writes Toby Young in The Telegraph 15 August 2018. In ‘Technically Gifted’, his new report for the Centre for Policy Studies, Young argues allowing UTCs to select students with an aptitude for practical subjects will improve the standing of vocational and technical education. Young… View Article
Robert Colvile urges Hammond to reconsider vape tax proposal
A number of think tanks and organsiations have written an open letter to Philip Hammond and Matt Hancock, urging them to reconsider a proposed vape tax. The letter – signed by CPS Director Robert Colvile along with representatives of the Taxpayer’s Alliance, the Adam Smith Institute, and the Institute of Economic Affairs – calls a… View Article
