Press Releases
Press Releases from the Policy Exchange team across a range of topics and policy departments.
For all press enquiries, please contact:
Will Heaven, Director of Policy on 0207 340 2650 or will.heaven@policyexchange.org.uk.
Recent Press Releases
UK should double spend on development R&D
The UK should double the proportion of its international aid budget spent on research and development in order to solve the most pressing global challenges and support the Government’s Industrial Strategy, says Policy Exchange in Global Britain, Global Solutions, a new report with a Foreword by George Freeman MP. In 2015, British aid for R&D amounted to £419 million; over the medium term we should increase this both to help the poorest people in the world and to support the UK’s world leading scientists.
Link business rates to energy efficiency to make big changes
The Government should establish a new Energy Efficiency Delivery Unit and Energy Performance Certificates should be linked to business rates to incentivise landlords to invest more in energy efficiency, according to Clean Growth, the new report from Policy Exchange’s influential and expert Energy and Environment team.
Public demands action against internet companies in war against online extremism
74% of the public want the big internet companies to do more to locate and delete extremist content and 65% believe that they are not doing enough to combat radicalisation, Policy Exchange finds in its new report The New Netwar: Countering Online Extremism published today (Tuesday). Exclusive new analysis of jihadist activity online, published ahead of the Prime Minister co-chairing a meeting with web giants, shows that we are not winning this war and that Isis’s online output has not fallen – even while they have been losing territory on the ground.
Parliament can play a greater role in foreign affairs
In a new report published today, Foreign Policy in the New Parliament, Policy Exchange stresses the vital role of Parliament in debates about Britain’s place in the world. Against the backdrop of a hung parliament, and with Brexit-related legislation likely to be divisive in the House of Commons, the government will very much hope to avoid a major House of Commons vote on a controversial foreign policy issue. A new database of MPs’ voting records, as well as their constituency positions on Brexit, also demonstrates the dangers of internal division facing both main parties.
UK must tread lightly in Asia
Following the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan last week, Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World project publishes UK Strategy in Asia: Some Starting Principles. The authors David Martin Jones, Visiting Fellow at Policy Exchange and author of Asian Security and the Rise of China, and Professor John Bew, Head of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World Project advise that:
GCSE reforms were needed – and are on track to achieve their aims
Welcoming the first results in the new GCSE exam system, Policy Exchange’s Head of Education John Blake said: “We needed these reforms to increase the amount of content being studied and make the qualifications more demanding. The results show that the new GCSEs...
Farming Tomorrow: Free trade puts consumers first
Farming Tomorrow, a major new report from Policy Exchange, sets out the once in a generation chance we have to reform Britain’s environmental policy and approach to farming after Brexit.
Wolfson Economics Prize polling shows 69% of road users say Britain’s roads not good enough
A new poll commissioned by the 2017 Wolfson Economics Prize has revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the state of Britain’s road network. The poll of over 2,000 adults has been released as five finalists compete for the £250,000 2017 Wolfson Economics Prize which will be awarded this week for the best idea for paying for better roads.
It’s not just the size of your aid budget but what you do with it that counts
Policy Exchange today publishes ‘Global Britain, Global Challenges: How to make aid more effective’. The report makes a strong case for the importance of overseas aid and supports the Government’s commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of national income on aid. However, it also argues strongly that aid can and should be spent more effectively and that the development community should embrace trade and capitalism as vital to reducing poverty and disease.
Official estimates of Brexit impact were overly pessimistic
The models used to assess the economic impact of Brexit were misleading, according to new analysis published today by Policy Exchange. At the time, the projections made by the Treasury, OECD and IMF were used by the then government and Remain campaign to argue that the British economy would face a significant and permanent loss of income in the event of a vote to leave. A careful analysis of the gravity trade economic models used to generate these pessimistic projections suggests that the impact of Brexit on our economy will be much less significant than the economic consensus constructed at the time of the referendum.
