The debate over inheritance tax is not a new one. Some Roman Emperors levied a form of it, and the concept was first implemented in Britain in 1694. David Cameron and George Osborne famously made cutting the tax their big-ticket pledge ahead of ‘the election that never was’ in 2007, and the latest uproar from […]
Party conference can be a tricky thing for an incumbent Government. It offers a rare opportunity to play pure politics to teams of ministers who spend the majority of their time surrounded by civil servants and dealing with the boring and difficult reality of governing. Used well, a conference can lift the mood of your […]
Yesterday our Prime Minister wrote in the newspaper of record that he will ‘kick down the barriers to building, clear out the regulatory weeds and allow a new era of British growth to bloom’. The Chancellor of the Exchequer later stood in front of a TV camera and promised ‘to grow the supply-side of our […]
Reports on the Chancellor’s family finances have given fresh impetus to the debate on the fairness of the ‘non-dom’ system. Leaving aside the political ramifications for Rishi Sunak, the Government should consider all the implications for the British economy before making any knee-jerk decisions about reforming the system. First, a brief history. Non-domiciled status is […]
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is the latest to come forth with her department’s plans for putting meat on the bones of levelling up by announcing a major pivot in arts funding outside of London. On top of a new £43m from the Treasury ear-marked for spending beyond the capital, DCMS is also asking Arts Council […]
There are a lot of things that left-wingers do better than right-wingers. They write better songs, make better art, and are far better at protesting. Many of those protests are small and relatively inconsequential, as the person who used to spend his days standing outside Defra dressed as a badger could attest. But others are […]
The Labour leadership race is now well underway, and while the opposition continue the difficult election post mortem, the rest of us have the luxury of watching from a distance. It is not uncommon in a leadership contest to see the other side egg on the candidate that they feel is the most easily defeatable […]
This weekend the Champions League final played out between two English teams, four days after the Europa League drew to a close with another all-English final. This is the first time ever that both finals of the two major European competitions have been contested by four teams from the same nation. In other words, English […]
As Brexit draws nearer, it’s time to put domestic policy back at the top of the agenda. Whatever form Brexit takes, the Government needs to show a vision for the future of the UK. The Centre for Policy Studies has been engaged with how to achieve just that, hosting a series key policy debates over […]
The Edinburgh Festival, which is nearing its end for another year, is both a cultural triumph and an economic asset. It’s an important reminder that arts and culture don’t just represent an important, job-rich industry, but also go a long way to making the UK a world-leading soft power. However, the current system of public […]
