Batteries for Electric Cars: A case study in industrial strategy
Can the UK lead the world in the development and production of batteries for electric cars? This is the stated aim of the government’s support programme for the battery sector. Yet, in the light of the current state of the UK battery sector and the strength of international competition, world leadership in car batteries is almost certainly unattainable. If the demand for electric cars grows as fast as many forecasters expect, investment in battery production should be financed by the private sector, argues Sir Geoffrey Owen, Policy Exchange’s Head of Industrial Policy and a former editor of the Financial Times, in a new paper Batteries for Electric Cars: A case study in industrial strategy.
In Defence of Collective Security
As Putin celebrates another election victory, today’s Labour party should remember that there can be no coherent response to the Russian provocation without an appreciation of how our collective security is underscored by NATO and the role Labour played in its creation. In a new essay, In Defence of Collective Security, Professor John Bew, Head of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World project and an award winning biographer of Clement Attlee, argues that our current system of Western security, based on NATO, was painstakingly put in place by Attlee and Ernest Bevin and that the current Labour leadership betrays that legacy.
Second-Guessing Policy Choices: The rule of law after the Supreme Court’s UNISON judgment
In the UNISON case, the Supreme Court quashed the Government’s use of its statutory power to impose fees for employment tribunal proceedings. It ruled that the fees were unlawful because the level at which they had been set had the effect in practice of limiting access to justice. The judgment has been widely hailed as a victory for access to justice and another case in which courts have defended the rule of law from the executive. In this new paper for Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project, former First Parliamentary Counsel Sir Stephen Laws argues that the Supreme Court went badly wrong in the UNISON case, taking over a policy question that was not for it to decide.
Don’t listen to the doom-mongers – why the UK (including Northern Ireland) can leave the Customs Union, avoid a hard border and preserve the Good Friday Agreement
Graham Gudgin, Chief Economic Adviser to Policy Exchange and a former special adviser to the Northern Ireland First Minister, and Ray Bassett, Senior Fellow for EU Affairs and a former Irish Ambassador to Canada, demonstrate that the UK can leave the Customs Union, avoid a ‘hard’ Irish Border and preserve the Good Friday Agreement.
North Koreans should beware their leader using their traditional negotiating playbook – President Trump is playing a different game
With hopes rising of détente between North Korea and the rest of the world, Lieutenant General (Ret.) I.-B. Chun, Former Commander, South Korea Special Warfare Command warns that if the North Koreans are simply stalling for stalling for time, the Trump administration’s response may be very different from that of his predecessors.
Ignore the straw men, the Commonwealth can still be a big part of our post-Brexit settlement
Ignore the naysayers – the Commonwealth can be a big part of the UK’s future. This is the message from Policy Exchange’s Ralph Buckle, also Director and Co-Founder of Commonwealth Exchange (CX), who argues that numerous straw men have been raised during CHOGM. On trade and co-operation, the UK has many friends outside the EU who will be eager to reinvigorate old ties.
Policy Exchange research on teacher retention highlighted in Parliamentary debate
Policy Exchange’s research on teacher retention was highlighted in a House of Commons debate on schools funding by Rob Halfon MP, the Chair of the Commons Education Committee and a former Minister of State for Education.
Michael Taylor gives evidence to Environment Committee
Farmers should be rewarded for land stewardship and public goods, and removing tariffs will increase consumer choice and keep prices down, helping the poorest most. That was the message Policy Exchange’s Economics Research Fellow Michael Taylor gave to the EFRA Select Committee when discussing Farming Tomorrow, our seminal report on opportunities for replacing the Common Agricultural Policy after Brexit.
Policy Exchange experts dominate MPs’ reading list
Two of Policy Exchange’s experts are among the most read authors in Parliament, a new Freedom of Information request has revealed. Road to Somewhere, by Policy Exchange’s Head of Demography, Immigration and Integration David Goodhart (longlisted for this year’s Orwell Prize) was the second most borrowed book in the House of Commons, behind only ‘How Parliament Works’. The Head of our Britain in the World Project Professor John Bew’s Orwell Prize-winning Citizen Clem was also one of the most borrowed books in the House of Commons in 2017. Both books were named last year by the Observer among their 100 best political books.
Upcoming Events
- Wednesday, 9 May, 2018
12:30 - 14:00
Developing over the last fifteen years, the rise of ‘NewSpace’ and the commercial space industry looks to fundamentally change the business model of the space industry. At the same time as disruptive start-ups are lowering costs, new technologies from reusable launch vehicles to sub-orbital spaceflight are rapidly expanding the industry’s fundamentals. Space matters not just for its scientific or military purposes, but increasingly as a key enabler of other industries from agri-tech to transport. The Government has chosen the space industry as one of the first six key challenges to be targeted by the new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, with £100 million of funding for a new National Satellite Testing Facility. At the same time, the Government has launched a new series of grants to support the development of new spaceports, while the Space Industry Act aims to reduce regulatory barriers to commercial spaceflight.
- Monday, 30 April, 2018
12:00 - 13:30
This will be the first launch of Sir Paul Tucker’s new book Unelected Power: The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State. Sir Paul will introduce the book followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.
Location
Venue: Policy Exchange
Address:
- Thursday, 19 April, 2018
18:00 - 19:30
What can the UK learn, if anything, from the Swiss relationship with the EU? Policy Exchange Head of Demography, Immigration and Integration David Goodhart chaired an event at which this was discussed by Sir Ivan Rogers, Former Permanent Representative of the UK to the EU; Professor Michael Ambuhl, Former Swiss State Secretary and lead negotiator for Switzerland’s agreement with the EU; and Allie Renison, Head of Europe and Trade Policy, Institute of Directors.