Whenever I think about Boris Johnson, the old French proverb ‘après moi le déluge’ comes to mind. It means a blithe, even nihilistic disregard for whatever ruination ensues after one’s own time. For many years, it was thought to have originated with Louis XV or his mistress Madame de Pompadour in the 1750s. It thus […]
During the 1979 general election campaign, Margaret Thatcher famously said: ‘I can’t bear Britain in decline. I just can’t.’ If you’re a seasoned research professional who shares that sentiment, and who wants to fight for a high-growth, low-tax, small-state Britain built on personal and economic freedom, then I have just the job opening for you. […]
Shabana Mahmood will be pleased. New Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that net migration fell to 171,000 in 2025, the lowest level (outside of Covid) in any calendar year since 2008. On the current trajectory, it will fall below 100,000 for the first time since 1997 this year or next. Job done, then? […]
Fresh off the plane from Denmark, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has embarked on another Scandi-inspired immigration and asylum policy blitz, much to the consternation of some of her parliamentary colleagues. Among her announcements is a deceptively simple plan to impose visa bans on several countries whose nationals are abusing study visas to gain entry and […]
The inability to secure our borders against large-scale illegal migration is arguably the most acute failure of the British state in generations. Certainly, it is the failure that is uppermost in the minds of voters. It played a major part in burying the Conservatives in the 2024 general election and could easily do the same […]
The economic governance of Britain has been woeful for at least a decade now, and arguably we haven’t had a truly successful Chancellor of the Exchequer since the 1990s. As a result we have a low-growth, low-productivity, low-wage economy, but a high-spend, high-tax, high-borrowing state. We are sinking deeper into a hole of our own […]
Norman Tebbit, one of the greatest prime ministers we never had, has died at the age of 94. An MP from 1970 until 1992, for many people, Norman Tebbit will be remembered – for good or ill – as the hardman of the Thatcher regime. As Margaret Thatcher’s Secretary of State for Employment and then […]
The best thing about this Government – perhaps the only good thing at all – is the ambition to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this Parliament. Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner could and should increase this target, and lean on Sadiq Khan to get a lot more building in London, […]
In a twist few would have expected in recent years, Labour are attempting to position themselves as the party to successfully control migration. Today, the Prime Minister launched his white paper on the topic, promising to ‘take back control of our borders’ and warning that the UK risks becoming an ‘island of strangers’. Labour’s turn […]
It’s a familiar story: pro-migration propagandists, fears of manpower shortages, a humanitarian crisis in Europe, an ambitious but nebulous foreign policy and a government riven by factionalism – all combining to create the perfect conditions for an unprecedented migrant inflow and a swift public backlash. Stand aside, Boris – I am of course referring to […]
One of the most common misconceptions in the immigration debate is that cutting back on numbers means cutting back on skilled migrant workers. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Two-thirds of the public think immigration has been too high over the last decade, but one type of migration a narrow majority of voters […]
Net migration this Parliament has exceeded two million, equating to immigration-driven population growth of 3% in just four years – twice the rate of the 2010s, and seven times the rate of the 1990s. Clearly, despite pledges that ‘overall numbers will come down’, the Australian-style points-based system in operation since 2020 is not having the […]
This piece was originally published on the Centre for Policy Studies’ new monthly newsletter, which you can sign up to here. UK GDP figures have been in the headlines again recently, with initial estimates pointing to unexpectedly firm economic growth of 0.6% in Q1 2024 – twice the rate recorded in the Eurozone. While undoubtedly good […]
Imagine a future 50th anniversary: April 2nd, 2032. A resurgent Argentina has just landed troops on the Falkland Islands. The UK Government scrambles to respond. But after eight years of Labour rule, Britain is divided and impoverished, its Armed Forces cut to the bone. There aren’t enough ships and there aren’t enough men. No help […]
This piece was originally published on the Centre for Policy Studies’ new monthly newsletter, which you can sign up to here. Since the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was founded in 2010, the net migration projection informing economic modelling at each Budget has, compared to reality, fallen short by an average of 23% in the […]
Revised migration figures show that, as predicted in May this year, net migration in 2022 was radically higher than the already steep 606,000 figure published at that time. In fact, according to the latest ONS data release, net migration in 2022 was 745,000 – well within the range of scenarios modelled by the Centre for […]
There are many long-term challenges facing Britain’s policymakers. But the ageing population is surely the most intractable. The demographic tide is constantly tugging us towards a world of lower economic growth and higher taxation. But those same trends also give the elderly an enormous amount of political power – which leads to policy being set […]
More clarity, more scrutiny, more long-term thinking – Rishi Sunak’s attempt to inject some realism into the Net Zero debate is a welcome development. But in his Downing Street address yesterday, he did not entirely escape the wishful thinking and cakeism which have characterised UK energy policy since the Climate Change Act of 2008. Certainly […]
Keir Starmer might talk tough on illegal immigration, but Labour’s plan for stopping the small boats can be summed up in one word: surrender. Surrender on principles, and surrender in practice. It is all too clear that Labour’s anti-Churchillian, Merkel-esque approach is only going to deepen the crisis in the Channel and entice more migrants […]
Polling consistently shows that while people like net zero in the abstract, they turn sour on the idea when they realise it is going to hit them where it hurts – in the wallet. We saw this dynamic play out in the recent Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election over Ulez expansion (even though the policy […]
