Press Releases
Press Releases from the Policy Exchange team across a range of topics and policy departments.
For all press enquiries, please contact:
Amy Gray, Director of Communications on 0207 340 2650 or amy.gray@policyexchange.org.uk.
Recent Press Releases
Ignore England’s “squeezed middle” voters at your peril, warns Policy Exchange
A major new report, Overlooked but Decisive: Connecting with England’s Just about Managing classes, by leading think tank Policy Exchange examined the values and political attitudes of C1/C2 voters in 119 ‘permanent’ battleground seats in England that are likely to remain critical in future elections. These are the seats that both Labour and the Conservatives need to secure workable parliamentary majorities. 2011 Census data shows that in the vast majority of these marginal seats, C1/C2 voters make up over half of the electorate.
Policy Exchange appoints Charles Moore as a Visiting Scholar
Policy Exchange is delighted to announce the appointment of Charles Moore – the authorised biographer of Margaret Thatcher and one of Britain’s most widely read and respected columnists – as its newest Visiting Scholar. Charles will focus on the lessons of Margaret Thatcher’s career for the current political era.
British troops can’t win if human rights law replaces Geneva Conventions on the battlefield
Policy Exchange paper says judges now threaten the fighting capacity of Britain’s armed forces – not least because enemy combatants have been granted the right to sue the Government for breaching their human rights.
New research shows Free Schools boost performance of local schools
Free Schools are raising standards for other pupils across the local community, especially in some of the poorest performing schools, as well for the pupils who attend them. A new report, A Rising Tide: the competitive benefits of Free Schools, by leading think tank Policy Exchange, sets out for the first time detailed analysis on the performance of local schools where a Free School has opened.
Pay off teachers’ student debt, says Policy Exchange
As part of its Education Manifesto, leading think tank Policy Exchange argues that given the twin risks of already declining teacher numbers and the potential from September 2015 of more highly indebted students graduating from university and deciding to go straight into work and not to undertake further teacher training, all parties should commit to a scheme of student loan repayments for some or all teachers who begin teaching in the state sector.
The police and the courts are turning a blind eye to property crime, warns Labour Mayoral candidate
The police and the courts are turning a blind eye to theft, burglary and shoplifting which makes up three quarters of all recorded crime committed in England and Wales, according to the Rt Hon David Lammy MP, one of the Labour party’s leading Mayoral candidates.
Spread the benefits of a capital-owning democracy to reduce inequality
Policy Exchange proposes mass distribution of RBS and Lloyds’ shares, compulsory savings, the introduction of a Bonus Isa and a new generation of private sector Premium Bonds.
A ‘Living Income’ – not a Living Wage – is the most effective way to end in-work poverty without harming job creation
Aligning National Insurance and Income Tax thresholds with the Minimum Wage would take half a million people out of tax altogether, says think tank. A full time Minimum Wage worker would be almost £2,000 a year better off after tax under the ‘Living Income’.
Wave of new garden villages could create over one million homes
Over one million new homes could be built over the next decade if each of the 353 councils in England built just one garden village of 3,000 new houses.
Pensioners to ‘opt-in’ to receive Winter Fuel Payment under think tank plan
Pensioners should be asked to ‘opt-in’ to receive their Winter Fuel Payment as part of plans to make the welfare system fairer, more affordable and fit for the 21st century. Leading think tank Policy Exchange says that as much as £400million a year could be saved under the proposal.