Publications
All Policy Exchange publications are free to download in .pdf format. You can also purchase hard copies of the majority of our reports – check each individual report page for details.
Recent Publications
Route ‘35
Ed BirkettTransport is now the UK’s biggest source of climate-warming greenhouse gases. While other sectors slash their emissions, cars continue to produce 15% of our annual emissions, and the figure is still rising.
To solve this, the Government plans to ban new petrol and diesel cars by 2035. Here Policy Exchange sets out how this can be achieved, following best international practice.
The art of a US-UK trade deal
Stephen Booth and Dominic WalshLater this month, the UK and the US will conduct the third round of talks on a new trade agreement. The successful conclusion of a deal with the US will be challenging but would provide a major strategic prize for the UK. In a new report for Policy Exchange released today, “The art of a UK-US trade deal”, we examine the challenges and opportunities facing negotiators.
Daylight Robbery
Richard Walton, Sophia Falkner and Benjamin BarnardResearch by Policy Exchange finds that fraud and error during the COVID-19 crisis will cost the UK Government in the region of £4.6 billion. The lower bound for the cost of fraud in this crisis is £1.3 billion and the upper bound is £7.9 billion, in light of total projected expenditure of £154.3 billion by the Government (excluding additional expenditure announced in the 8th July 2020 Economic Update). The true value may be closer to the upper bound, due to the higher than usual levels of fraud that normally accompany disaster management.
History Matters Project: First Edition
Alexander GrayThis compendium, part of Policy Exchange’s History Matters Project, represents a first attempt at drawing together a range of recent developments, which all turn on the place of history in the public square – including the removal of certain statues on public display, the renaming of buildings and places, and changes to the way history is taught in university curriculums. In cataloguing these examples, we do not offer any judgment on the actions of the individual or institution in question, today or in the past. Our aim is simply to provide a clear documentary record of what is happening – which can help inform public debate on these issues. At present, the evidence confirms that history is the most active front in a new culture war, and that action is being taken widely and quickly in a way that does not reflect public opinion or growing concern over our treatment of the past.
Why the Government should spend more on capital
Dr Graham Gudgin, Warwick Lightfoot, Gerard Lyons and Jan ZeberThis paper argues that the Government should spend more on capital investment. The case was already strong before the Covid-19 crisis and has been strengthened since, as its financing has become more affordable. The paper highlights the importance of taking advantage of the present macro-economic environment afforded by low borrowing costs to provide stable – and sizeable – funding for new infrastructure through an increase in capital spending by the public sector. Additional capital spending, in excess of the fiscal rules, would be sustainable and affordable
The Supreme Court’s misunderstanding in the Gerry Adams case
Policy ExchangeParliament must intervene to correct the Supreme Court’s misunderstanding of the process behind the detention of Gerry Adams in the 1970s, says Lord Howell, Minister of State for Northern Ireland at the time, in a research note for Policy Exchange. The paper follows on from Mishandling the Law by Prof Richard Ekins and Sir Stephen Laws.
Planning Anew
Dean GodsonThis collection of essays is published alongside Policy Exchange’s report Rethinking the Planning System for the 21st Century. It brings together economists, architects, urban designers, campaigners, developers, lawyers and researchers to consider how the planning system can be reformed in a way that addresses the challenges of our modern economy and society.
Against Executive Amendment of the Human Rights Act 1998
Richard EkinsOn 20 March 2020, three days before the UK went into lockdown, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) recommended that the Houses of Parliament approve the draft Human Rights Act 1998 (Remedial) Order 2019, which had been laid before Parliament on 15 October 2019. The JCHR concluded that there were no reasons why the draft order should not be agreed to by both Houses of Parliament and recommended that the draft order be approved. This conclusion was unsound. The Committee’s recommendation – and the Government’s draft order – should be rejected.
The Training We Need Now
David GoodhartVocational education and training, especially for those not heading to university, has been one of the biggest public policy failures of the last 25 years. The Covid-19 economic crisis, and how we emerge from it, is an opportunity to do something about it.
The essays in this collection focus on several different aspects of the problem: the lack of decent apprenticeships for school-leavers, the loss of higher manual and technical skills and the decline
A pro-growth economic strategy
Warwick Lightfoot, Gerard Lyons and Jan ZeberThe UK is enduring a health and economic crisis. Despite near-term uncertainties, we believe that a new macro-economic framework can help the UK achieve stronger future growth.
A new macro-economic policy framework is needed, as outlined here, based on the three arrows: of credible fiscal activism; monetary and financial stability based on a new remit for the Bank of England; and a supply-side agenda.
Low borrowing costs create a likely lengthy window of opportunity to emerge from this crisis without being panicked into policy measures such as austerity, but it is possible that inflation and yields could rise, so it is not a risk-free option. Success depends upon a clear and credible policy approach.
