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
CPS Director urges government to re-examine green belt housing
Green belt land should not be immune from house building, says Robert Colvile, Monday 6 August. Robert was quoted in The Guardian in response to a new data released by the Campaign to Protect Rural England showing an increase in applications to build on the green belt. Robert said it was “bizarre that greater London is… View Article
Ministers urged to axe huge deposits on home lets as tenants lose out
Ministers should consider a system of rental insurance in order to “rectify an unfair system which is unpopular with hard-pressed tenants”, reports the Daily Mirror, Sunday 5 August. The system, proposed by Brian Sturgess in “Down with Deposits” pulished by the Centre for Policy Studies, aims to make life easier for Generation Rent by removing the requirement… View Article
Robert Colvile discusses water nationalisation on BBC Newsnight
As Michael Gove summoned water companies to a meeting to discuss continued leaks and potential hosepipe bans, Robert Colvile joined Emily Maitlis to debate if the water corporations should be renationalised. Debating Faiza Sheehan, Robert highlighted the cost of such a step would be over £80bn and require additional borrowing – as calculated by the… View Article
The Sun: The true scandal of lifting the public sector pay cap is the Left’s whining
The scandal surrounding public sector pay isn’t the reported pay freeze, but the way left-wing vested interests skew the debate with “hand-wringing rhetoric and statistical sleight of hand”, writes Robert Colvile in The Sun, Friday 27 July. While unions solemnly point out a teacher outside London has a starting salary of only £23,000, they neglect to… View Article
Why you’re better off working for the state
The true scandal surrounding public sector pay is that “left-wing vested interests dominate the debate” and obscure the truth, writes Robert Colvile in The Times, 26 July 2018. While it is obvious that public sector workers deserve decent wages, Robert Colvile points out that we also need to ask why public sector pay was (in 2016) on… View Article
Five housing reforms that we need to implement straight away
Housing needs fixing by 2022, otherwise the Conservatives will lose the next general election, warns Alex Morton in Conservative Home. Alex, Director of Policy at the Centre for Policy Studies, argues there are 5 main areas where action needs to be taken: improving design to reduce conflict with existing residents, change of use, accelerating building… View Article
