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Recent Blogs
The Prime Minister says online extremism must be tackled – and here’s how
Policy Exchange’s Co-Head of Security and Extremism, Hannah Stuart, looks at what more can be done to counter extremism online following Theresa May’s pledge to prevent the internet being used as a safe space for extremism. She proposes a new regulator to work with Ofcom to ensure that technology companies take responsibility for extremist material published on their platforms and provide more support and funding for the police’s online security teams
America cedes ground in the environmental and diplomatic race
Joshua Burke — Policy Exchange’s Energy and Environment Research Fellow — responds to President Trump’s decision to exit the Paris climate treaty. Considering the decision in relation to the ‘tectonic plates of geopolitics’, he claims that ‘it is hard not to envision gleeful faces in China’, and concludes that America’s withdrawal will ‘no doubt weaken their geopolitical standing’
Why it’s all about the policy
Writing in Financial World magazine, Warwick Lightfoot — Policy Exchange’s Director of Research, and Head of Economic and Social Policy — casts a critical eye over the role of central banks, their accountability and their long-term effectiveness in dealing with financial crises
Merkel’s harsh words on Brexit played to her German audience – but the UK should still take note
Germans have elections, too. It was at a campaign event in Bavaria that the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, made a statement that has been interpreted as having grave implications for the cohesiveness of the Euro-Atlantic alliance. “The times in which we could...
After the general election, we need to re-define our national interest for a changing world
John Bew — Head of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World project — argues that as the world changes around us, Britain needs a serious debate about what constitutes its national interest that goes beyond the Brexit negotiations
Police can’t stop terror alone – we must do more
Last week’s attack in Manchester confirms that jihadist terrorism poses the greatest threat to British national security. Much of what has emerged so far about the bomber, Salman Abedi, fits a typical profile: a man in his 20s, raised in an immigrant family in the UK...
Manchester attack brings renewed prominence to debate around Britain’s counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent
Last week’s terrorist attack in Manchester has brought renewed prominence to the debate around Britain’s counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent. A concerted campaign to discredit Prevent has seeped into both elements of the public sector and prevailing thinking on the political left. The success of the ‘Preventing Prevent’ campaign, however, depends on a misunderstanding of the distinction between theology and ideology as well as the radicalising impact of an Islamist ideology, one to which many of the strategy’s most prominent detractors adhere. Understanding the anti-Prevent campaign is one way in which the authorities can more effectively disrupt extremists – a fundamental component of counter-terrorism work.
The Importance of Bilateral Collaboration in International Counter-Terrorism Investigations
Writing for Policy Exchange, Richard Walton — former Head of the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command — dissects recent statements that Brexit has left Britain more vulnerable to terrorism. Contrary to claims by his former colleague Sir Hugh Orde and the former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Walton observes that international bodies such as Interpol and Europol are far less important to “upstream” international CT investigations than bilateral collaboration between nations. Walton’s analysis for Policy exchange featured on the Today programme and in The Sun.
Wealth in the UK
Policies proposed in the parties’ manifestos have directed attention towards the issue of wealth. In this article, Rebecca Lowe Coulson — Policy Exchange’s State and Society Research Fellow — provides clarification about what we know about wealth in the UK.
What would WTO mean?
Policy Exchange’s Head of Trade Policy Geoff Raby and Visiting Fellow Andrew Stoler argue that “While a high-quality FTA with the EU is the preferred outcome and in the best interests of both parties, the UK need not fear a world in which trade in goods and services and the regulatory disciplines that apply are those of the modern WTO.” They set out in an article for ConservativeHome how even in sectors with relatively high WTO tariffs, any challenge is likely to be greater for EU exporters to the UK than for UK exporters to the EU
