The UK should consider setting up a new Space Council “along the same lines as the USA”, according to Chris Skidmore, Science Minister, in order to help create a “joined up government policy towards space”.

He was speaking at the launch of Policy Exchange’s Space Policy Unit – the first of its kind at any UK think tank – before a keynote address by the Secretary of the US Air Force Heather Wilson, in which she warned that the next generation of satellites must be built with defensive and offensive capabilities. Watch a video of the event here and visit Policy Exchange’s Space Policy Unit homepage.

“Policy Exchange is doing wonderful work on trying to rethink capitalism in the light of growing concentrations of wealth, and social policy in the light of growing public alienation,” said the Economist’s Bagehot column. “Its work on reviving a sense of place and trying to improve the built environment is particularly valuable. After a couple of decades of Audit Commission-style utilitarianism it is wonderful to have policy thinkers addressing issues like ‘belonging’ and ‘beauty’.” Read the full column here.

Policy Exchange’s proposal for a new law of treason, which would help prosecute returning Isis fighters, has been discussed in the House of Commons and House of Lords and received coverage in The Sun. Responding to a question on a new treason law from Tom Tugendhat MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, in the House of Commons, Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, the Home Secretary, commented: “These are issues that I am taking very seriously. We are looking at this and I would be happy to meet with him and discuss this further.” In the House of Lords, Baroness Williams said: “I commend the Policy Exchange paper, and I think that the noble Lord would agree that the Home Secretary has said that he will review all the laws we have at hand.” Read the recent Policy Exchange paper, Aiding the Enemy: How and why to restore the law of treason.  

“Beauty may have been neglected for years, but now decision-makers are moving in the right direction,” says Clare Foges in The Times. She praises Building Beautiful as “a superb collection of essays published… by the think tank Policy Exchange” and mentions contributions from the celebrated Syrian architect and author Marwa Al-Sabouni and Sir Terry Farrell, whose essay (and Times column) argued for a new generation of mansion blocks. Read the column here and the essay collection here.

At the prestigious annual Prospect Think Tank of the Year Awards, Policy Exchange has won best UK think tank in the Energy and Environment category. The unit’s research has ranged from the role of future nuclear modular reactors to cleaning up vehicle emissions in Britain’s cities. The judges recognised that our work paid “particular attention to the economic drivers behind environmental policy”. The same week as winning this award, the Unit published a major new report setting how the UK can reduce carbon emissions and make UK heavy industry more competitive through an economy-wide carbon tax. The work and convening power of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World unit was also recognised at the awards, with the visit by US Defense Secretary James Mattis thought particularly notable.