Stopping the Small Boats: a “Plan B”
Policy ExchangeThis report outlines a plan of action to address the Channel crisis. Plan A would be an agreement with France to accept the return of migrants and asylum-seekers attempting to crossing the Channel in small boats. If such an agreement cannot be reached, Plan B would be to remove persons attempting to enter the UK on small boats to a location outside the UK – whether the Channel Islands, Sovereign Bases in Cyprus or Ascension Island – where their asylum claims would be considered. Economic migrants (failed asylum seekers) would be returned to their home country, or to some other state willing to receive them. Genuine refugees would be resettled in a safe state other than the UK. No person entering (or attempting to enter) the UK on a small boat from a safe country would be allowed to settle in the UK, even if a genuine refugee.
UK’s Defence Space Strategy in Context
Gabriel ElefteriuThis analysis by Gabriel Elefteriu notes that the UK’s first Defence Space Strategy is an excellent document with an assertive message. It maps out a coherent and logical path towards UK space power. But delivering a range of complex space capabilities quickly within tight budgets will be a major challenge for the MoD: real civil-military integration and a unified space decision & acquisition authority at the heart of Government is required. The Defence Space Portfolio is also an economic tool that can shape the industrial landscape, so the way the new Own-Collaborate-Access framework will be applied should be a matter of wider debate and geopolitical consideration as well.
A New Deal for Drivers
Ben SouthwoodAverage road speeds around the UK’s cities are painfully low, damaging economic growth and forcing people to endure long commutes or to miss out on the best jobs. In this report, Policy Exchange argues that road pricing could improve the lives of drivers as well as commanding public support.
The Queen’s Speech and Deregulation: Who will regulate the regulators? Time for more parliamentary scrutiny
The Government confirmed it will introduce a Brexit Freedoms Bill, first announced by the Prime Minister in January 2022. Plans for the Bill were set out in The benefits of Brexit white paper, which outlined the Government’s broad ambition to make the UK the “best regulated economy in the world”. The Bill will remove the supremacy of EU law and make it easier for Ministers to amend, repeal, or replace retained EU law.
The Queen’s Speech and Health & Social Care Reform: What was not announced may be more significant than what was announced
The passage of the centrepiece Health and Care Act during the previous session of this Parliament meant that this year’s Queen Speech had a smaller offering for health and social care. A number of priority commitments set out in March as part of the Annual Mandate (which sets out the Government’s priorities for the NHS) were repeated. The priorities are well understood: bring down the elective waiting list; deliver additional diagnostic capacity, including 100 community diagnostic centres; and make progress on the hospital building programme.
The Queen’s Speech and Judicial Power: Could the British Bill of Rights make things worse?
The headline measure is the proposed British Bill of Rights, which would supersede the Human Rights Act. A perennial proposal most recently floated under David Cameron, the Bill’s stated aim is to restore “the balance of power between the legislature and the courts”. Among its main provisions are the establishment of the primacy of UK case law over that of the European Court of Human Rights, new limitations on courts’ ability to “read in” provisions that are not present in legislation, and a new burden on the claimant to prove they have suffered “significant disadvantage” before they can bring a human rights claim, with the aim of discouraging frivolous litigation.
Sir Stephen Laws invited to help review the Human Rights Act
Policy Exchange congratulates Sir Stephen Laws KCB, QC (Hon), Senior Research Fellow in our Judicial Power Project and former First Parliamentary Counsel, on his appointment to serve on the independent panel to review the Human Rights Act 1998. The panel, chaired by Sir Peter Gross, former Lord Justice of Appeal, is to consider the Act’s operation over the past twenty years and the case for structural reform. In a lecture on the day of the panel’s announcement, Sir Peter referred to Policy Exchange’s work on Supreme Court reform, noting the foreword written by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, former Chief Justice of England and Wales. Sir Stephen’s many publications for Policy Exchange on constitutional matters include this jointly authored submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Read details of the announcement here.
Saving a lost decade
A new Policy Exchange report published this week, Saving a lost decade, argues that ministers must become directly accountable for tackling the inequalities that have been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper, authored by Richard Sloggett, Health and Social Care Lead, uses modelling to show that the Government is on course to miss a key manifesto pledge to increase healthy life years by five by 2035. Read the report and Foreword by Rt Hon Damian Green MP and Lord Filkin CBE here.
The report featured in The Financial Times, with the recommendations endorsed by Steve Brine MP, former Public Health Minister, during a debate in the House of Commons, which can be viewed here.
David Goodhart joins the EHRC
Policy Exchange congratulates David Goodhart, our Head of Demography, Immigration & Integration, on his appointment as a Commissioner on the board of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. David will sit on the board for a period of four years. This welcome appointment follows the announcement that Baroness Falkner of Margravine has been nominated to serve as the new Chair of the EHRC. David is the author of Head, Hand, Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Centuryand has recently edited a Policy Exchange report on the technical skills revolution, The Training We Need Now. Read details of the announcement here.
Upcoming Events
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Sunday, 3 October, 2021 - Tuesday, 5 October, 2021
14:00 - 19:00
Policy Exchange at Conservative Party Conference 2021
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Monday, 27 September, 2021 - Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
12:00 - 19:00
Policy Exchange at Labour Party Conference 2021
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Wednesday, 15 September, 2021
15:00 - 16:00
As part of its Beyond COP26 programme, Policy Exchange is exploring the contribution that the UK can make to global action on climate change, and how this can contribute to growing the UK’s green economy and to the levelling up agenda.
In this event, four former UK Energy Secretaries will discuss the UK’s progress towards Net Zero, and where next for UK energy and climate change policy.
Venue: Policy Exchange
Address: