Labour’s manifesto shows
Daniel Mahoney and Tim Knox issued a prompt response to the Labour manifesto entitled “Labour’s Economic Illiteracy: A review of three centrepiece “revenue raisers”” which was picked up by a number of national newspapers. Tim also wrote a piece for the Times Red Box. Tim Knox for The Times Red Box: Labour hasn’t accounted… View Article
CPS responds to Labour’s manifesto leak
On 10 May 2017, several news organisations reported that they had received a leaked copy of Labour’s draft manifesto plans for the 2017 general election. Staff from across the Centre for Policy Studies responded to Labour’s hard-left manifesto pledges. Tim Knox was quoted in the Sun: Jeremy Corbyn’s hard left manifesto for Labour has a… View Article
Letter to the Telegraph: Our tax is too high
Daniel Mahoney, Deputy Director and Head of Economic Research at the Centre for Policy Studies, added his name to a letter calling for lower taxes. SIR – The Prime Minister and the Chancellor can insist that theirs is a party of lower taxes all they like; the numbers don’t lie. This year the tax burden, measured as a percentage… View Article
Douglas Flint and Lord Hill named to CPS board
Lord Saatchi, Chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies, announces the appointments of Douglas Flint and Lord Hill of Oareford to the Board of the Centre for Policy Studies. Douglas Flint Douglas Flint is Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc, a position from which he will step down at the end of September. After 18… View Article
Lord Thomas of Swynnerton 1931-2017 (Chairman of CPS 1979 – 1991)
An appreciation by Ferdinand Mount. I first met Hugh in a white suit and straw hat in Malaga in 1960, when he was just finishing his first masterpiece, The Spanish Civil War. His later blockbusters, on the Cuban Revolution, the Conquest of Mexico and the Atlantic Slave Trade, made him the foremost Hispanic historian of his generation,… View Article
CPS reiterates calls for scrapping of pension tax relief and LTA
Professional Adviser published an article, 1 May 2017, which looked at the latest CPS publication “A Pensions and Savings Manifesto”. The paper, published 2 May 2017, sets out proposals to improve, simplify, and equalise the pensions and savings situations of British people. Report author Michael Johnson hopes all political parties will conider these proposals for… View Article
There is still no money left – Robert Colvile for the Telegraph
Robert Colvile, Editor of CapX, wrote for the Telegraph Monday 1 May 2017 on the financial debate at the heart of this general election: save or spend. Robert highlighted the triple lock on pensions as one area where politics and fiscal sense clash and referenced the Centre for Policy Studies report on the cost of… View Article
Chief Secretary to Treasury responds to CPS paper
On 28 April 2017 the Centre for Policy Studies published “Why Corporation Tax Cuts Work” which highlighted the increased onshore receipts from the tax, even after the government cut the rate to aid competitiveness. The paper also analyised Labour’s plans for the corporation tax rate and the 12 different commitments they plan to fund using increased tax… View Article
More than half of Britons are dependent on the state. That is too high
This week, the Office for National Statistics published figures showing the level of net dependency on the UK state. Their figures define net dependency as the proportion of households receiving more in benefits (including benefits in kind) than they pay in taxes. The figure now stands at 50.5 per cent. In the 1980s and 1990s, this figure… View Article
Inequality falls as collapse in unemployment helps poor families
The Daily Telegraph reports on the latest figures from the ONS, showing a fall in the percentage on households receiving more in benefits than they pay in tax, on 25 April 2017. The piece highlighted that although there had beena fall from the 2011 high, the figures were still above 50%. “This reflects the government’s… View Article
Dependency on the state is being turned round – slowly
In response to today’s ONS’ publication “Effects of taxes and benefits on UK household income”, Daniel Mahoney, Head of Economic Research, says: “These statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that net dependency (defined as the percentage of households receiving more in benefits, including in-kind benefits, than they pay in taxes) has fallen by… View Article
Don’t pin hopes on a price cap, stick to guaranteed savings like freezing subsidies
Daniel Mahoney, Head of Economic Research at the Centre for Policy Studies, responds to reports that the Conservatives will include an energy price cap in the manifesto: “Theresa May is, quite rightly, seeking to reduce energy bills for consumers. But the claim that an energy price cap will save households £100 a year is by… View Article
Free trade not aid. Scrap the 0.7% target
Tim Knox, Director of the Centre for Policy Studies, argues for dropping the 0.7% aid target in a piece of the Daily Telegraph today, 20 April 2017. “Where half of all people in the developing world were once comdemned to lives of abject poverty, now only one out of every five is…largerly the result of… View Article
The Conservatives should seize this chance to radically reshape Britain
Giving the current state of the polls, the snap election looks set to give Theresa May a solid mandate to create radical domestic change in the UK writes Daniel mahoney in City AM Wednesday 19 April 2017. “While Continental Europe faces instability from the rise of populist parties and persistent issues with the single currency, there… View Article
Early general election called – CPS response
The Centre for Policy Studies issued the following statement following the Prime Minister’s annoucement of an early General Election. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement she intends to hold a general election on 8 June 2017, the Centre for Policy Studies is calling on all parties to include in their manifestos radical policies, aimed at supporting… View Article
Education Secretary sets out grammar schools plan
Justine Greening, Secretary of State for Education, today spelt out her commitment to grammar schools in a speech at St Mary’s University in Twickenham. In the speech, Ms Greening highlighted latest analysis from the government which showed the majority of selective school places go to affluent families. This is in keeping with the findings of… View Article
