The Independent View: Vince needs to consider his legacy
Plan A is looking shakier than ever. After a slow climb out of recession, growth is now stalling and unemployment rising again, the approach taken thus far – cutting the deficit, and waiting for a...
View ArticleOpinion: Dr. Balls makes the right diagnosis, offers the same old failed...
Leading commentators on the political economy must have been flattered to hear many of their principles and policies given lip service by Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls this week in his speech to the...
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Housing: six things that could be done
As Tim Leunig pointed out last week, housing plays an important role in most people’s concept of social mobility, a point highlighted in Stephen Gilbert’s piece over the summer recounting his own...
View ArticleOpinion: Will fixing the planning system improve the housing supply?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Britain has a housing problem. There are problems of shortage and, consequently, access and affordability. There are three principal mechanisms for dealing...
View ArticleLabour’s stance on high pay leaves the ball firmly in Vince Cable’s court
The appearance of cross-party consensus in politics usually makes me welcoming and wary in equal measure – welcoming as it signals a weakening of the fierce discord between political tribes, wary...
View ArticleIPPR: making the Third Wave of Globalisation work for us all
A new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), headed by a foreword by Lord Peter Mandleson, takes an in-depth look at the positive and negative impacts of the increased...
View ArticleLabour leaning think-tank IPPR backs Osborne on ‘granny tax’
George Osborne has received support from an unexpected source: the Labour leaning think tank, the IPPR. In an article entitled “Why Osborne’s ‘granny tax’ makes sense“, Senior Research Fellow at the...
View ArticleThe True Cost of Energy: why Ed Davey must act
A poll out yesterday showed that action to address high energy bills is now the top priority for voters, so Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey has a political interest in new research on the...
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Housing: the IPPR’s answer
Over the last week I’ve highlighted how the Britain’s love of home ownership is not based on any evidence that high home ownership brings economic success (if anything, the opposite is true), that the...
View ArticleIndependent View: Housing Benefit reform needs liberal principle of localism
The Prime Minister’s recent suggestion that young people under the age of 25 might be barred from receiving Housing Benefit has re-ignited the debate about welfare reform. Talk of a further ‘benefits...
View ArticleIndependent View: What now for housing policy?
As the coalition approaches the halfway point of the Parliament, Liberal Democrats are in search of policies that demonstrate their distinctive contribution to government – especially on the crucial...
View ArticleIndependent View: two cheers for Vince
Landlords and punters across the country should be raising a glass to Vince Cable today after he announced new rules for pub companies (or pubcos) which will help local publicans in these difficult...
View ArticleWhat would a liberal, progressive migration policy for the UK look like?
As the next election begins to loom into view, the issue of immigration continues to pose a challenge for liberal progressives of all political persuasions. A new report published today by the...
View ArticleThe Independent View: Clegg should champion ‘everyday integration’
Nick Clegg’s speech later today will remind us of how crucial an effective immigration policy is to Britain. One of the areas that has been the least developed by previous governments, as well as the...
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The Independent View: Early years reform – should Clegg take another stand?
With a childcare announcement expected imminently, early years is shaping up to be both a key battleground for the next election and a major coalition split. All agree on wanting to bring down prices...
View ArticleThe Independent View: Is the Coalition is doing enough to help Britain’s...
The Chancellor looks set to announce a new tax break for married couples in next month’s Autumn Statement, while universal credit continues its slow and increasingly painful roll out. Both are heralded...
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Time for Nick Clegg to ditch the “Great Britain not Little England” line
“Great Britain not little England” – it was a line Nick Clegg used in his recent Spring conference speech, setting up the new political dividing lines between those who are optimistic, outward-looking,...
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The Independent View: Lessons for Clegg – we need to be more innovative on...
Last week, Nick Clegg gave a speech at the launch of the Cityfathers, a network of working dads based in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf. In it, he focused in particular on changes to parental leave...
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Ed Miliband’s speech: tricky message, poor timing
I’ve quite a lot of time for Ed Miliband. Politics needs intelligent, thoughtful folk with their hearts in the right place. I respect, for example, that he held out last year against the superficially...
View ArticleDecentralisation decade – Nick Clegg responds
Last Friday Nick Clegg was speaking about devolution at an event organisation by the Institute for Public Policy Research. It marked the launch of their publication entitled ‘Decentralisation decade: A...
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