The Blog
16 February 2018As much as the impact of Brexit on growth is the focus of debate at the moment, the UK’s disastrous productivity growth and persistently low levels of investment pose a much bigger on-going threat to our economy. Indeed, the IMF notes this week that ‘over the medium term, growth prospects [in the UK] will depend… [Read More]
13 February 2018A decade on from the financial crisis, household debt relative to income is almost as high as it has ever been. After several years of deleveraging, since 2015 mortgage lending and especially consumer credit have begun to rise again. The debt-to-income ratio reached 138 per cent at the end of last year. This is lower… [Read More]
22 October 2017Sajid Javid made some encouraging noises on the Andrew Marr Show today but, as well as the constant disconnect between the briefing and the substance in this particular policy area, there remains a contradiction in the government’s approach to housing that remains troubling. On the plus side, he sounds more ambitious than ever in terms… [Read More]
23 June 2017By now, it is a well-established fact that acts of Islamic violence against Western targets are swiftly followed by local surges in reported incidences of anti-Muslim hate crime. The cities of Manchester and London, both of which lately suffered Islamic attacks, have proved no exception. In the wake of such a spike in anti-Muslim hate… [Read More]
18 May 2017There has been an intriguing change of tone in the government’s housing policy since the publication of the white paper in February. That document focused strongly on the progress of private-sector housebuilding, with measures designed to free up more land for developers, and to encourage those developers to then build homes faster. The role of councils was… [Read More]
29 April 2017The housing market is ‘broken’, the government acknowledged in the housing white paper. In precisely what way it is broken, however, it was less clear. When Sajid Javid was asked by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee recently what had been meant by this, he pointed to the problem of high and still rising… [Read More]
21 April 2017The housing white paper is still out for consultation but one key, little-noticed measure has already been incorporated into legislation. An amendment to the Neighbourhood Planning Bill, accepted by the government, will enact the promise to ‘allow locally accountable New Town Development Corporations to be set up, enabling local areas to use them as the… [Read More]
29 March 2017As the UK kicks off the Article 50 negotiations, it remains the case that relatively little attention has been paid to the role of the European Parliament, which will accept or reject the agreement between the UK and the EU setting out the arrangements for Brexit. If the European Parliament rejects the agreement, the UK… [Read More]
10 March 2017The Budget was meant to boost the UK’s economic resilience, thereby strengthening the prime minister’s hand in the upcoming Brexit negotiation, and get the UK match-fit for its global role post-Brexit by investing in infrastructure, innovation and skills. The most effective way of achieving these goals would be via a new and fairly comprehensive industrial strategy.… [Read More]
17 February 2017Tony Blair’s intervention in the Brexit debate today will inevitably invoke anger amongst those who campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union. Already Iain Duncan Smith branded his comments as ‘undemocratic’ and ‘arrogant’. But Blair has not asked for the will of the people to be ignored. He has simply said it is… [Read More]
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