Business is the wealth generator of the UK, and small and family businesses are the often neglected heart of the UK economy, with family businesses alone employing nearly four in ten of the UK’s workforce. We propose ways to make the UK an economy all businesses can thrive in.
National Insurance: A Plan to Blunt the Pain
With every week that goes by, the depth of the cost of living crisis becomes clearer – and the impact on households worsens. So the Government’s planned 1.25% rise in National Insurance Contributions, set to come into force in just two weeks, could not come at a worse time. The Centre for Policy Studies has… View Article
Trading Up
SMEs make up 99.9% of UK businesses, employing 16.3 million people. They are at the heart of the UK economy. Yet historically, they have been far more reluctant to export than their international rivals. Only one in 10 British businesses export; far fewer than many of our European counterparts. In a major new paper, CPS… View Article
Economic Bulletin: Is there any money left?
With Covid restrictions finally lifted, the country’s attention is turning from public health back to the economy. Cost of living pressures, the balance between tax, spending and debt, and the pressing need to raise Britain’s mediocre long-term growth rates are once more at the forefront of the policy debate – and rightly so. Britain faces… View Article
Clearer, Fairer, Better: The case for UK subsidy transparency
A joint paper by the Centre for Policy Studies and Centre for Public Data, backed by the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion, John Penrose MP, argues that the Government should slash the new threshold for declaring subsidies from £500,000 to £500
Looking East: The Case for UK Membership of CPTPP
In a new report for the Centre for Policy Studies, Anthony Mangnall MP makes a robust case for British membership of the CPTPP trading area
Levelling Up and Zeroing In
A new report by the Centre for Policy Studies says the Government can level up and decarbonise the economy simultaneously by introducing a carbon border tax, alongside a selection of other policies
Budget Briefing: The Age of the Trillion-Pound State
In a comprehensive briefing note, the Centre for Policy Studies’ research team set out the most important takeaways from the Budget – including the fact that Boris Johnson is set, by 2025-6, to usher in the age of the trillion-pound British state.
Pricing Pollution Properly
Britain has made impressive progress on decarbonisation – but the most painful part of the process lies ahead The consensus behind Net Zero could fracture if decarbonisation is perceived as unfair, or if it raises costs for consumers excessively Evidence shows that market mechanisms such as carbon pricing have been successful at delivering decarbonisation cost… View Article
History Repeating? The lessons of the postwar recovery
History Repeating? The lessons of the postwar recovery
Public Sector Pay: The Case for Restraint
Public sector pay freeze could save up to £23 billion by 2023
The Case Against Raising the Minimum Wage
The generosity of the impulse behind raising and expanding the National Living Wage can only be applauded. But going ahead with the current plans will harm the very people it is designed to help.
After the Virus: A plan for restoring growth
Major new report by Sajid Javid MP and Centre for Policy Studies sets out a vision for economic recovery after the pandemic. Report stresses vital importance of Bank of England independence but argues that the Government and the Bank should consider a shift in its remit from targeting inflation to nominal GDP, in order to better deliver sustained growth.
How Hydrogen Can Fuel A Transport Revolution
The new report from the Centre for Policy Studies, the leading centre-right think tank, argues that the approach to transport decarbonisation must not leave certain vehicles behind, and in doing so forfeit significant future economic opportunities.
Borrowing could hit £300bn as costs of coronavirus rise
New Centre for Policy Studies ‘cost of coronavirus’ counter estimates a total direct and indirect cost to Government this year of £246 billion. This could bring total borrowing this year to approximately £300 billion. This total figure is roughly equivalent to double the UK’s current level of healthcare spending – in other words, enough to fund the NHS twice over
A Rising Tide: Levelling up left-behind Britain
A new Centre for Policy Studies report, launched today by the Communities Secretary, the Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, sets out the full extent to which wealth, talent, trade and investment are concentrated in London and the South East – and offers a detailed blueprint to spread prosperity more widely.
