FEATURED PUBLICATION
How Many Homes Does the UK Need?
Decades of lacklustre housebuilding and recent record migration have left the UK with a shortfall of more than 6.5 million homes. The debut research by Head of Housing Ben Hopkinson shows how the UK has fallen dramatically behind comparable European countries, with British families paying the price through unaffordable homes.
BL: Changing Gear
Between 1975, when the Company became state-aided, and in January 1983, BL received £2,051m from the Government. Except for the loans from the NEB which were subsequently converted into equity and the stake in Wholesale Vehicle Finance Ltd. Neither interest nor dividend has been paid on this sum.
Airports UK: A Policy for the UK’s Civil Airports
This pamphlet offers a new analysis of the problems facing Britain’s airports system. It shows how state control has led to an inefficient use of resources with passenger capacity under pressure in the London area and in excess everywhere else. It explains how the British Airports Authority uses its monopoly position to raise charges to the airlines and their passengers to fund its development programme, including the costly proposals for expansion at Stanstead, and why no positive regional strategy has yet been produced.
Worried to Death
After one of the greatest election triumphs in history, the Conservatives return to Government to attend, we hope, with renewed vigour to some important unfinished business.
What we ought to do about the Soviet Threat
The fundamental reason why the Soviet Union represents a permanent threat to the freedom of the British and other western peoples in the nature of the Soviet regime itself.
The “Right to Strike” in a Free Society
The right of employees to withdraw their labour in an organised fashion was achieved slowly and it must be admitted, sometimes painfully during the nineteenth century and in the first years of this century. The background was one in which employees individually worked at great economic disadvantages vis-à-vis the employer and one in which some employers were willing to exploit their advantage.
The Right to Learn: A Conservative Approach to Education
Any document designed to serve as the basis for discussion of Conservative Party education policy for the mod eighties is unavoidably faced by inherent stumbling-blocks, dating from a long time back.
The Truth about Transport
For a clear understanding of the present situation as regards transport in this country it is necessary to have some knowledge of the historical background. Until the 18th century overland movement was by the common roads which had developed from medieval packhorse trails between villages. The alignments of these had been adjusted over the years to take advantage of dry ground and to avoid the worst sloughs.
Telecommunications in Britain: Switching Direction
This study was undertaken at the suggestion of the Department of Industry. Its purpose is to consider the implications for government policy which are raised by the British Telecommunications Act of 1981. For this act has given the UK a unique telecommunications framework.
Value for Money Audits
In March 1978 the government White Paper on the nationalised industries outlined their significance to the economy in the following terms.
The Giant with Feet of Clay: The British Steel Industry 1945-1981
The history of the British steel industry over the last 35 years is a chronicle of industrial activity being hindered by government interference. The industry has been subject to two nationalisations with all their consequent upheaval.
The Economic Adviser’s Role: Scope and Limitations
There is not much mystery to the job description for an economic adviser. He is expected to give advice on economic matters. But most job descriptions it conceals more than it reveals. Unlike the Emperor, the economist does have clothes of sorts – although views differ as to whether the garb is that of a dunce, a fool or an undertaker.
Second thoughts on regional Policy
To read a book which begins ‘The first sound in the morning was the clumping of the mill-girls’ clogs down the cobbled street’ and then goes on to complain about unemptied chamber pots, is to evoke a vanished world.
The Inner London Education Authority: A Case for Reform
The Inner London Education Authority was set under the London Government Act of 1963. Although it is a “special committee” of the Greater London Council, in practice it is autonomous. Its only contact with the GLC is to inform it once a year what sum to include it in the Money Bull to meet estimated capital expenditure, and to advise on the size of the levy to be raised from inner London boroughs to meet estimated expenditure.
Crisis in the Sixth Form
Increasingly Education Authorities are finding their sixth-forms are not viable.
British Leyland: A Viable Future?
An all-out strike and consequent break-up of BL have just been averted. But this closely argued and thoroughly documented study suggests that so long as BL exists as a single state-owned entity, subject to cross subsidisation, the weaknesses which have made it a burden for the economy and a focus of political contention will remain irremediable.
Against Import Controls
The Prolonged world-wide depression in which we are living is a symptom of profound economic, social nd political change, presenting a challenge of survival and growth to us all.
