FEATURED PUBLICATION
Shaping the Debate
This booklet, celebrating the Centre for Policy Studies 50th anniversary, showcases the range and importance of the work done by the CPS over 50 years, and its absolute centrality to the conservative tradition.
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The Language of Freedom
We are all obsessed with which party is getting what share of the vote- both now and the next UK polling day – but what are the fundamental values driving British public opinion? In a major new survey Dr Frank Luntz, the world’s leading expert on political language and communication, has worked with the Centre… View Article
Opportunities for Special Development Orders
Special development orders (SDOs) grant permission for specified kinds of development in a given area. The Government can designate an SDO without fresh legislation. Though used successfully in the Cardiff Bay area in the 1990s, they remain in relative obscurity. However, the powers to designate them have not lapsed. SDOs could never be a normal… View Article
The Future of Driving
In 2021/22, drivers paid £33bn in fuel duty and vehicle excise duty. But the Government spent only £5.4bn on national roads and £6.4bn on local roads in the same period. This system is not fair for drivers or the general public, who suffer the consequences of polluting vehicles through negative health outcomes. ‘The Future of… View Article
Drop the Crops
Every time a motorist refuels their vehicle, they are paying for the UK’s biofuels mandate, the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). This is buried in the per litre cost at the pump, so public awareness is low, but 6% of the total fuel bill in fact pays for biofuels blended into petrol and diesel. While… View Article
Investing for Prosperity
Reforms made to British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, have made it one of the great success stories of British policy-making in the last decade. BII has created a million jobs and generated tens of billions of pounds in economic activity in some of the poorest countries of the world in the… View Article
Where are the Workers?
Economic inactivity has become a huge issue in politics – and is expected to be a key area of focus in this week’s Budget. But many of the most common claims about inactivity turn out to be mistaken, or capture only part of a more complex picture. ‘Where are the Workers? A new diagnosis of… View Article
Does Britain mean Business?
Britain is about to become a significantly worse place to do business, as corporation tax rises and the super-deduction expires. Modelling by the CPS and US-based Tax Foundation suggests that the corporation tax rise will reduce long-run GDP by 1.2%. The combination of the two will be even worse, seeing us fall from 10th to… View Article
Cashing in our Chips
A secure supply of high-end semiconductor chips underpins the modern world. Ahead of the Government’s long awaited semiconductor strategy, a new CPS report ‘Cashing in our chips’ sets out how the UK can support the industry without entering into a subsidy arms race. While the UK develops its policy, the US, the EU and Taiwan… View Article
‘An NHS Royal Commission’ republished
More than 70 years after it was established, the NHS is facing arguably the worst crisis in its history. The impact of the coronavirus, lockdowns and inflation has seen waiting lists soar and staff take to the streets. The Government has poured in billions to fix the problems. But even without the current crisis, an… View Article
The Case for Housebuilding
The report was updated on 24th January 2023, shortly after publication, to correct discrepancies in some of the data. In recent months, housing has become an increasingly contentious issue A major new CPS report, ‘The Case for Housebuilding’, takes on and demolishes many of the most common myths about Britain’s housing crisis It shows that… View Article
The Morality of Growth
The economic turmoil of recent years has seen a renewed focus on Britain’s failure to grow. A new essay by CPS Director Robert Colvile sets out how this is a much longer-term problem than we think – that the growth ceiling of the British economy has been getting lower and lower for decades, driven in… View Article
Stopping the Crossings
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has welcomed a report jointly written by Nick Timothy, a former Home Office adviser and Downing Street chief of staff, which calls for a raft of tough new policies to stop the illegal Channel crossings. The report, published by the Centre for Policy Studies, proposes: Indefinite detention of all asylum… View Article
The Online Safety Bill – What’s Changed?
The Centre for Policy Studies has today released a new briefing note, ‘The Online Safety Bill – What’s Changed?’, in response to the announcement earlier this week by the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport of amendments to the Online Safety Bill. The bulletin analyses some of the most noteworthy changes and takes into… View Article
Giving Back Control
Housing has recently become one of the most controversial issues in British politics. The Government has recommitted to its target of building 300,000 homes per year. But it has also promised to do more to give local communities control over the planning process. A new report by the Centre for Policy Studies examines the leading… View Article
The UK’s International Tax Competitiveness 2022 Update
The US-based Tax Foundation think tank this week published its annual International Tax Competitiveness Index, which showed the UK coming in 26th out of 38 OECD countries However, with corporation tax rising to 25% in April and Rishi Sunak’s super-deduction set to expire without replacement, calculations by the Tax Foundation for the Centre for Policy… View Article
A Censor’s Charter? The case against the Online Safety Bill
As the Government weighs up its options on the Online Safety Bill, a new report from the Centre for Policy Studies urges ministers to fundamentally rethink the proposals While having noble intentions, the OSB is a major threat to freedom of speech, as it will incentivise firms to remove much legitimate and legal content for… View Article
