Capital Shift
Benedict McAleenan and Ben CaldecottIn 2021, the UK will host the G7 and COP26 and take a key part in other major summits, giving it a unique opportunity to lead the global diplomatic agenda. This report argues that he UK should use its position to drive a programme of green finance reforms that will enable a fundamental shift to a sustainable global economy. The paper recommends policies for a nature-based financial disclosures framework, better collection and standardisation of environment-related risks to the financial system, better recognition of those risks within public and central bank policies, new governance measures and a better approach to regulation that would support the shift towards green finance.
What is to be done with the British economy?
Warwick LightfootThe UK needs a modern economic policy that is tailored to the opportunities and constraints of the contemporary international economy. In response to the economic shock of the Covid public health crisis and a decade of slow growth and economic stagnation it needs a confident and audacious policy of macro-economic management and supply-side reform. There should be a realistic appraisal of the principal tools of macro-economic management, fiscal and monetary policy and of the roles assigned to them. The tax system should be reformed and simplified to improve the performance of the supply side of the economy. The objective should be less complexity, a simpler income tax structure, lower marginal tax rates and a more coherent system overall. In the current environment of low interest rates, internationally integrated capital markets and constraints on the effectiveness of monetary policy as a source of stimulus, fiscal policy rather than monetary policy should be used stimulate economic activity. Monetary policy remains important and a potential break that can be used if there is a need to slow the economy down. Tighter monetary conditions and more normal interest rates would improve the micro-economic functioning of money and credit markets. Policy makers must above all be very nimble over the next year, as the economic data being generated in the current climate is less reliable than in normal times. In the future a looser fiscal policy combined with tighter monetary conditions would offer a better overall macro-economic policy mix.
‘The Racial Consequences of Mr Churchill’: A Review
Andrew Roberts and Zewditu GebreyohanesOn 11 February 2021, Churchill College, Cambridge – in collaboration with the Churchill Archive Centre, which is part of the College – hosted the second event in its year-long series ‘Churchill, Race and Empire’. It featured a panel discussion entitled ‘The Racial Consequences of Churchill’, during which a series of factually incorrect and profoundly offensive remarks were made by the three panellists – Dr Onyeka Nubia (Nottingham University), Dr Madhusree Mukerjee and Professor Kehinde Andrews (Birmingham City University) – and also by the Chair, Professor Priyamvada Gopal (Churchill College, Cambridge), about Sir Winston Churchill and concerning several major historical events. This paper analyses and highlight the many historical inaccuracies of the assertions that were made at the conference.
The significance of the Supreme Court’s Begum judgment
In allowing the Home Secretary’s appeal in the Begum case, the Supreme Court has corrected a misconceived Court of Appeal judgment, which had put national security in doubt and undermined the law Parliament made. The Supreme Court’s judgment is a powerful and welcome, if somewhat overdue, affirmation of constitutional principle and the limits of judicial power.
To prevent the break-up of the UK, we must learn from remainers’ errors during the EU referendum
Not a vote has yet been cast in the Scottish Parliament elections, scheduled for May 5th. So confident that a nationalist majority is already in the bag, however, the pro-independence campaign is already planning life after victory. An 11-point plan has been published on how to take forward a referendum. We are told that the as yet un-won majority the SNP expects to win will be evidence of Scotland’s desire to leave the United Kingdom. It shows – or will do, once it happens – that Scots want another referendum immediately. The SNP contend will be a democratic outrage if a British Prime Minister refuses to agree to one.
Andrew Dunlop on the Future of the Union
For many watching, the inauguration of Joe Biden was a moving experience. The COVID crisis has been an unsettling reminder of the fragility of humanity. And with the shocking, lawless scenes of rioters storming the Capitol fresh in the memory, when democracy itself seemed in peril, the 46th US President’s theme of unity offered the uplifting prospect of better times just around the corner. “With unity we can do great things” he promised.
£250,000 Wolfson Economics Prize 2021 seeks hospitals revolution
The 2021 Wolfson Economics Prize, launched today in partnership with Policy Exchange, seeks planning and design ideas that will “radically improve” hospital care in the UK and around the world.
The Prize is evidence of a new focus on the long-term improvement in hospital provision in Britain and globally. The UK Government has already announced £3.7 billion of funding towards new hospitals in England for what it calls the “biggest hospital building programme in a generation”.
Health Accountability
Proposals to strengthen ministerial accountability are long overdue, and will complement the changes underway to consolidate various arm’s length bodies into NHS England, said Robert Ede, Head of Health and Social Care at Policy Exchange, in an article for the Health Service Journal on the significance of this week’s Health and Care White Paper on legislative reform. Read his article re-published on the Policy Exchange website here.
Charging Up
The Energy & Environment Unit at Policy Exchange launched a paper warning that the installation of electric vehicle chargepoints would have to be five times faster during the 2020s to make the petrol and diesel vehicle ban workable. The report was authored by Ed Birkett, Senior Fellow and William Nicolle, Research Fellow at Policy Exchange. The release coincided with the Government’s announcement of £20m additional funding for EV charging infrastructure. Read coverage of the report in The Telegraph, Sky News, Bloomberg and BBC News. Read the report here.
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday, 2 March, 2021
13:00 - 17:00
The way in which history is displayed and taught in museums, in galleries and in public spaces is currently a subject of greater contention than ever before.
There is increasing pressure on institutions, on public bodies and on local councils to remove artefacts from public display, or to explain or rename what is there. Through its fortnightly compendium of evidence, the History Matters Newsletter, Policy Exchange has been leading the way in documenting how our shared history is being contested.
Policy Exchange’s March 2021 History Matters Conference is the first event to bring together leading decision-makers and professionals in the museums and galleries sector and other experts in order to develop new public policy approaches than can be applied broadly.
- Thursday, 18 February, 2021
13:00 - 14:00
‘NATO Challenges and Britain’s Integrated Review’:
with
General Curtis Scaparrotti (USA, Ret.)
former Supreme Allied Commander Europe
in conversation with
Rt Hon Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT
former NATO Secretary General and UK Defence Secretary
Chaired by
Larisa Brown
Defence Editor, The Times
- Tuesday, 26 January, 2021
10:30 - 11:30
The UK’s Net Zero target requires all sectors of the economy to decarbonise, particularly electricity, transport, heating, and industry. At this event, the panel will discuss the main elements of the UK Government’s recent Energy White Paper, including any areas where the Government could have gone further.