Policy Exchange Agenda

Our Newsletter

Sign up to our mailing list to get news, updates and event invitations straight from Policy Exchange to your inbox.

Our newsletter, the Agenda, will give you a weekly round up of everything you need to know from “Westminster’s leading think tank” (Daily Mail, 2026).

Newsletter >> Policy Exchange Agenda

2026

Policy Exchange Agenda – 11 September

CHANCELLOR’S GROWTH SPEECH 2026 The Chancellor of the Exchequer — Rt Hon John Healey MP — delivered his Growth Speech this week at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 4 September

THE SPECIAL AIR SERVICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND Policy Exchange this week published a groundbreaking new report, ‘The Special Air Service in Northern Ireland: What they did, why it matters, and what is being done to them now’ (2026), with a Foreword by former Labour Armed Forces Minister Al Carns DSO OBE MC MP and an endorsement from Labour Peer Lord (Maurice) Glasman.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 28 August

THE HOME SECRETARY INTERVIEWS Policy Exchange this week published a groundbreaking new report, ‘The Home Secretary Interviews’ (2026), containing a series of unique on-the-record interviews with fourteen of those who served as Home Secretary over the last three and a half decades.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 21 August

AI AND ASSESSMENT IN UNIVERSITIES A new Policy Exchange report ‘Evidence of Learning Through Assessment: Protecting the Value of a Degree in the Age of AI’ (2026), exposes that university assessment mechanisms are increasingly vulnerable to cheating by students using generative AI.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 14 August

A-LEVEL, T-LEVEL & BTEC RESULTS DAY Iain Mansfield — Policy Exchange’s Head of Education — was quoted in The Times (here and here) and The Telegraph — responding to the publication of A-level, BTEC and T-level results.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 7 August

BRITAIN CAN’T AFFORD BURNHAM’S SOCIAL CARE REVOLUTION In his Telegraph column, Roger Bootle — Head of the Policy Programme for Prosperity at Policy Exchange — argues that “…the pressure on public spending is already enormous: yet the Prime Minister seems determined to add even more.”

Policy Exchange Agenda – 31 July

“WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR”? AN ASSESSMENT OF “ANTI-RACISM” IN POLICING TODAY Policy Exchange this week published “Without Fear or Favour?” The state of “anti-racism” in policing today (2026), the first systematic assessment of “anti-racism” and Diversity, Equality and Inclusion policies in British policing.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 24 July

THE END OF THE STARMER YEARS — AND THE ADVENT OF BURNHAM Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP entered Downing Street as Prime Minister this week.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 17 July

HOW TO MAKE TAXATION LESS TAXING A new paper from Policy Exchange this week argues that the UK tax system is stunting growth and calls for fully costed radical reform, with Stamp Duties, Inheritance Tax, the 45% additional rate of Income Tax and National Insurance to ultimately be abolished — alongside cutting public sector spending.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 10 July

LITIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE Policy Exchange this week exposed how an unprecedented International Court of Justice advisory opinion on climate change could open the doors to claims by foreign states against the UK for greenhouse gas emissions — going back to the Industrial Revolution.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 3 July

A MATTER OF CHOICE: GIVING PARENTS BACK CONTROL OVER CHILDCARE Policy Exchange’s new report, ‘A Matter of Choice: Giving Parents Back Control over Childcare’ (2026), argues that ‘free’ childcare is not working and proposes replacing the current system with a system of flexible vouchers alongside increased child benefit payments for parents of those aged 2 and under.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 26 June

EVENT: THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND AND THE FUTURE OF THE LABOUR PARTY On the day the Prime Minister — Rt Hon Keir Starmer KCB KC MP — resigned as Leader of the Labour Party, the Future of the Left Project at Policy Exchange hosted Jonathan Hinder, a leading member of the Blue Labour group of MPs, for an address entitled ‘The Condition of England and the Future of the Labour Party’, followed by an in conversation with Jason Cowley, Sunday Times columnist and former New Statesman Editor.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 19 June

BURNHAM WINS MAKERFIELD: WHAT NEXT? Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP was victorious in the Makerfield by-election yesterday, holding off a challenge from Reform UK, which came second — but more than 9,000 votes behind Labour.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 12 June

WHY JOHN HEALEY HAD TO RESIGN Writing in The New Statesman, Air Marshal Edward Stringer CB CBE — Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange and a former Director-General of the Defence Academy —argued that Rt Hon John Healey MP has no option other than to resign as Defence Secretary this week.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 5 June

POLICE RESPONSE TO THE MURDER OF HENRY NOWAK There was widespread outrage this week after bodycam footage showed police officers putting Henry Nowak in handcuffs as he lay dying in Southampton. Policy Exchange’s Head of Crime and Justice and former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector — David Spencer — has led the debate in terms of the wider policy questions arising from the case.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 29 May

FROM PROJECT TO PROGRAMME A new report for Policy Exchange’s Nuclear Enterprise Commission – written by Commissioner Dr Won-Pil Baek, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute – argues that South Korea provides a blueprint for nuclear success for the United Kingdom as it embarks on an ambitious journey to revitalise its own nuclear landscape.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 22 May

RESTORING DETERRENCE CREDIBILITY A new report for Policy Exchange’s Nuclear Enterprise Commission – backed by Franklin C. Miller, former special advisor on nuclear issues to President George W Bush – argues that, in an uncertain age, the UK must restore the credibility of its nuclear deterrent or risk losing its vaunted role as a leading member of the NATO alliance.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 15 May

WHAT NEXT IN NO.10? Assessing a dramatic week in Westminster which has seen the position of the Prime Minister put under huge pressure, Jonathan Rutherford — co-leader of Policy Exchange’s Future of the Left programme — shared his thoughts on what to expect next.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 8 May

THE LOCAL ELECTIONS: A CLARIFYING MOMENT — OR NOT? As results from local elections across the country continue to come in, Policy Exchange provided immediate analysis.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 1 May

EVENT: PROJECT 2029: A PLAN TO RESHAPE BRITAIN Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Shadow Minister for Equalities. Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Chair)

Policy Exchange Agenda – 24 April

EVENT: THE DEFENCE WE HAVE CHOSEN Keynote address by Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP Member of Parliament for Tonbridge, former Security Minister

Policy Exchange Agenda – 17 April

STILL ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL: A FURTHER EXAMINATION OF GENDER AND SAFEGUARDING IN SCHOOLS On the first anniversary of the For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers judgment — and during the Government’s ongoing consultation on the draft statutory guidance — Policy Exchange exposes in a new report this week that many schools are handling cases of gender distress without upholding their safeguarding duties.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 10 April

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE RESIDENT DOCTORS’ STRIKE Gareth Lyon — Head of Health and Social Care at Policy Exchange — was featured in a short video on X in relation the ongoing Resident Doctors’ strikes which are set to cost the NHS £50 million per day.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 2 April

GROTIUS PRIZE ESSAY Lord Verdirame KC received Policy Exchange’s Grotius Prize last week.Writing in The Sunday Telegraph with Professor John Bew — Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange and former No 10 foreign affairs adviser — Lord Verdirame considers how the Government’s maximalist interpretation of public international law leaves Britain unprepared for the emerging world.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 27 March

SICKFLUENCERS AND AI: HOW TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING THE HEALTH AND DISABILITY BENEFITS SYSTEM A new report from Policy Exchange finds evidence of large-scale online communities dominated by posts about what health and disability benefits people can claim, how to describe symptoms and what to include in forms, including explicit encouragement to “lay it on thick.”

Policy Exchange Agenda – 20 March

EVENT: THE GROTIUS PRIZE 2026 Policy Exchange hosts The Grotius Prize Wither the rules-based order: what comes next? Lord Verdirame KC, Barrister and Professor of International Law

Policy Exchange Agenda – 13 March

CURATE’S EGG: THE GOVERNMENT’S NEW COMMUNITY COHESION STRATEGY Last week Policy Exchange analysed a leaked copy of Protecting What Matters, the Government’s new social cohesion strategy that creates a “special representative on anti-Muslim hostility” and provided immediate analysis in ‘Curate’s Egg: The Government’s new community cohesion strategy‘ (2026) and in an article for The Spectator.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 6 March

WHY IRAN IS NOT IRAQ One of the most prominent arguments made against the US strikes on Iran in recent days has been that we must ‘learn the lessons’ of the 2003 military activity in Iraq.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 27 February

PUTTING BUSINESS BACK IN THE DRIVING SEAT: COUNTERING THE RISE OF EDI IN THE WORKPLACE A new report from Policy Exchange this week exposes how businesses have come under pressure from activist groups, staff networks, regulators and courts to adopt radical EDI policies and develops a taxonomy of the costs imposed — including £10 billion from an enlarged HR sector.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 20 February

EVENT: THE GROTIUS PRIZE 2026 Policy Exchange hosts The Grotius Prize Lord Verdirame KC Barrister and Professor of International Law

Policy Exchange Agenda – 13 February

FROM RATES TO RUIN: THE ONGOING CRISIS IN LOCAL AUTHORITY SEND SPENDING In advance of the Government’s long-anticipated White Paper on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), new Policy Exchange analysis shows SEND spending by councils has risen in real terms by 58.5% in just six years — with half of all new schools spending since 2015 going on SEND.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 6 February

EVENT: FREE SPEECH IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD First keynote since his release from prison in Algeria — by the Algerian-French prize-winning writer and newly-elected member of the Académie française.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 30 January

PUBLIC SECTOR PENSION REFORM: MODELLING A SHIFT TO A FUNDED DEFINED-CONTRIBUTION SCHEME A new Policy Exchange paper published this week proposes that new public sector employees should be moved on to funded, defined contribution schemes, with a standardised employer contribution of 10%.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 23 January

AGAINST CHEAP RHETORIC: WHY ECHR WITHDRAWAL WOULD NOT PUT THE UK IN COMPANY WITH BELARUS AND RUSSIA A new paper from Policy Exchange this week dismantles the claim made repeatedly by senior Parliamentarians from across the political divide that the United Kingdom cannot withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because this would put it in the same camp as Russia and Belarus — two authoritarian countries guilty of gross violations of human rights over many years.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 16 January

THE SAY-DO GAPS IN DEFENCE A new Research Note from Policy Exchange, written by Air Marshal Edward Stringer (Ret’d) CB CBE — Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange and former Director-General of the Defence Academy — reveals the reality of defence spending in the UK.

Policy Exchange Agenda – 9 January

THE DETERRENCE THEORY OF SIR MICHAEL QUINLAN A new Policy Exchange paper — co-authored by Marshal of the RAF and former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Stirrup KG GCB AFC — warns that the Government has not seriously reconsidered Britain’s nuclear deterrence doctrine since the end of the Cold War.

Agenda