Place Matters
Samuel HughesPlace matters profoundly to people. We invest more resources in our homes than in anything else, and by some measures we spend more time gardening than we do on any other pastime. This is no less true of our shared home. Protecting the countryside from suburban sprawl has substantial costs in terms of foregone economic growth, but green belts are widely supported, and were introduced only after a huge grassroots campaign for them.
Immigration, Strasbourg, and Judicial Overreach
John Finnis and Simon MurrayThis paper traces the history of several judicially demanded or created obstacles to preventing unlawful entry or removing illegal migrants. The decisions to create these obstacles, it argues, were well-motivated but unauthorised and even unprincipled. This is a story in which European courts and our own courts all have a part.
Protecting local heritage
Zewditu GebreyohanesSince the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020, a number of councils across England and Wales have stated their commitment to reviewing local street names and—where these are deemed to have a contentious history—to considering renaming them. In several instances, the decision-making process with regards street name alteration has excluded residents and locals, in spite of the immense direct impact street renaming has on a street’s residents.
A life of public service: William Shawcross pays tribute to HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has been a hugely important part of the modern history of our Kingdom and the success of the monarchy.
Princess Elizabeth fell in love with him as a child after meeting him at Dartmouth College in 1939 and never doubted that this handsome, brave and young man with strong views was the only one for her.
Why Sterling is the UK’s silver bullet
In a few weeks’ time, the Scottish electorate will vote a new parliament into Holyrood with all the pundits predicting a majority for the incumbent Scottish National Party led by Nicola Sturgeon. She will campaign on the basis that a majority gives the SNP a mandate for a second Independence Referendum to be held early in the new parliament. This is despite constitutional matters being reserved to the UK Government in Westminster and despite previous SNP assurances that they would respect the democratic result of the 2014 IndyRef1 “for a generation”.
Fight over grants for EVs shows that climate policies need an endgame.
Last month the Government announced a surprise cut to the grants available for buyers of new electric vehicles (EVs) and restricted eligibility to only the cheapest models.[1] The cut is the Government’s response to the growing popularity and falling prices of EVs, which threatens to blow the budget of the UK’s grant programme. The design of the grant programme sets up the Government to fail – to be seen as the climate Scrooge in the same year it hosts COP26, constantly intervening to cut support for EVs just as more drivers look to take the plunge.
Policy Exchange appoints Peter Clarke and John Larkin QC as Senior Fellows
Policy Exchange is delighted to announce the appointment of two Senior Fellows, Peter Clarke and John Larkin QC.
Peter Clarke – who will be working on counter-extremism, prison reform and wider criminal justice policy – recently stepped down as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons. He is a retired senior police officer, who served with the Metropolitan Police for more than three decades.
£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.
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday, 13 April, 2021
15:00 - 16:00
To launch Environmental Affairs, a new policy journal, General David Petraeus will deliver a keynote speech presenting a framework for approaching geopolitical risks in an age of climate change. As environmental issues rise up the political agenda throughout the world, they increasingly touch on all areas of public policy. Environmental Affairs explores the emerging implications of these challenges, especially climate change and ecological decline.
- Thursday, 8 April, 2021
17:00 - 18:00
Policy Exchange hosted Admiral James Stavridis (USN, Ret.) former Supreme Allied Commander Europe in conversation with General David Petraeus (USA, Ret.) former Commander of United States Central Command to discuss ‘2034: A Novel of the Next World War’ by Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman
- Tuesday, 23 March, 2021
15:00 - 18:00
Designing the Hospital of the Future was a half-day conference which explored the themes of this year’s Wolfson Economics Prize with panel discussions from members of the government’s hospital building programme, front-line clinicians, patient advocates and experts in the built environment.