Policy Institutes :: Issues

BBC News | UK | World Edition

Bank holds UK interest rate at 5%
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:21:48 -0000
The Bank of England keeps its key interest rate at 5% as it weighs up the slowing economy with inflation worries.
BA bosses in price-fixing charge
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:46:01 -0000
Four current and former British Airways executives may face jail if convicted of fixing the price of fuel surcharges.
Beijing protesters return to UK
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:46:35 -0000
Two Britons detained close to the Olympic stadium in Beijing after staging a protest about Tibet have arrived back in UK.
Teenager shot dead in crossfire
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:35:06 -0000
An 18-year-old shot dead in a supermarket was an innocent bystander caught in crossfire, police say.
Fears prompt MMR campaign
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:08:09 -0000
Doctors are urged to offer all children up to 18 the MMR jab amid concern of a growing risk of a measles epidemic.
House prices 'fell 1.7% in July'
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:23:45 -0000
The Halifax says house prices fell 1.7% in July, with the average property price now 8.8% lower than at the same point last year.

The Economist: Britain

Bagehot: ArmaGordon
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
Are the stakes high enough to justify regicide?THE word "fascist" was whispered by some discomforted observers at last year's Labour Party conference: so triumphalist was the mood, so impregnable seemed the new prime minister, so confident his followers of smashing the Conservatives, snuffing out David Cameron and securing near-eternal power. That was then. The Labour conference this September will be a festival of existential angst--and thus, perhaps, of regicide.The political costs of deposing Gordon Brown so soon after Labour ditched Tony Blair would be huge. Almost all Labour MPs endorsed Mr Brown's accession; ousting him would make them look preposterous. His remaining allies point out, menacingly but fairly, that yet another prime minister with no personal mandate would probably feel obliged to hold a general election quickly. Thus a move against Mr Brown this autumn might necessitate a vote early next year--in the middle of an economic slump, with the party almost broke and Mr Cameron's Tories, in all likelihood, still 20-odd points up in the polls. That prospect makes sparing Mr Brown, at least until next summer, seem prudent. ...
Teaching economics: A vanishing breed
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
The dwindling number of those training to teach economics in secondary schools is less worrying than it seemsIN EARLY July Edinburgh belatedly erected a statue, complete with semi-invisible hand, to Adam Smith, thus granting one of the fathers of economics, and Scotland's most meritorious son, long-overdue recognition. Yet there is a good chance that the statue will garner as many glances of blank indifference as of knowing admiration--at least from Britain's younger citizens.According to a report this week from the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, only three of the 16,440 graduates who began training as secondary-school teachers in England last year enrolled to teach economics. In 2006, by comparison, 84 graduates signed up to do so. Not unrelatedly, perhaps, the number of students studying A-level economics has fallen by 29% over the past decade, even though total A-level entries have risen by 9%. ...
Housing market : When the tap turns off
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
Lending has slowed to a trickle. What can be done to change that?WOOLWICH is a down-at-heel working-class port in East London that teeters between gentrification and decay. To the right of the railway station are the money-wiring agencies, mobile-phone shops and African restaurants that identify this as an immigrant neighbourhood. To the left the high street leads to the river, and rows of smart new apartment blocks designed for bankers working in nearby Canary Wharf. The house-price bubble inflated here as fast as just about anywhere in the country. Get-rich-quick investors helped by crafting dubious schemes to get mortgages without paying a deposit and banks seemed happy to oblige them. Instead of making a quick pound, though, many buyers are now losing their shirts. Flats that they bought three years ago for GBP330,000 ($580,000 at the time) are back on the market for less than GBP200,000. One was sold at auction recently for just GBP115,000. In March (the most recent month for which data are available) the average outstanding mortgage in this neighbourhood was 91% of the value of the property it was secured on--the highest loan-to-value ratio in London and the third-highest in the country, reckons Experian, a credit-scoring outfit. With banks virtually on strike and loans approved only for those able to put up huge deposits, Woolwich is enduring a particularly hard landing. New flats in Thamesmead, downriver from Woolwich, are standing half-empty, the overgrown gardens filled with litter. ...
Political vacations: On the beach
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
The leader at bay and at play"BUT where are their policies?", the prime minister yelped, as a graphic of the Conservatives' midsummer poll lead flashed across the television. His jowls creased with sorrow as one of his rivals appeared, professing his loyalty. An arm flexed to hurl the remote control at the screen--then "relax," he told himself, "relax". He flicked through the channels, searching for Scottish football or talent-show reruns. After breakfast he started work on his speech for the Labour Party conference in September. It would be the speech of his life, a speech that would unite his party, silence his rivals, make floating voters swoon and grown Tories weep. It would acknowledge the economic plight of hard-working families while reminding people that the real culprits were nefarious financiers, greedy oil moguls and hungry Asians. It would draw a perfect arc from his childhood in Kirkcaldy to the after-hours opening of doctors' surgeries. ...
Housing market: Rent now, buy later
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
Prices may be tumbling, but rents are still risingBRITAIN is a nation divided by its citizens' attitudes to the housing market. Among investors, estate agents and homeowners with eye-watering mortgages the mood is gloomy: every piece of news about the rapidly deflating housing bubble (prices have fallen by 9% since last October) is pored over and lamented. Among the young and houseless, price falls are a cause for celebration, even if the logjam in the money markets means that at present only those with the fattest piggy-banks can take advantage of cheaper homes. But capital values are only one part of the housing story. Britain's private rental sector has grown enormously over the past five years, fuelled by a vogue for "buy-to-let" schemes that has promoted rental property as a safe, indeed highly profitable, investment. Half a million private landlords now control 2.5m homes, roughly an eighth of the total housing supply. The Association of Residential Letting Agents reckons that the value of rented homes, estimated at around GBP500 billion, exceeds the total value of all the commercial premises in Britain. And although falling capital values will hurt landlords, their gloom is brightened somewhat by the fact that there is plenty of business, and rents are still rising. ...
Terrorism in Northern Ireland: Down but not out
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
Republican dissidents still make life a miseryTELLING terrorist groups you think them dangerous is not a gambit security services favour--especially when the groups are small and unpopular. But as the anniversary approaches of the car bomb which killed 29 people in Omagh on August 15th 1998, police in Northern Ireland admit that they expect more attacks from republican paramilitaries who hate Belfast's power-sharing settlement. Sir Hugh Orde, the chief constable, says that the "dissidents" are now more dangerous than before because "it is their end-game".These republican splinter groups may attract little popular support but they are said to have about 80 people on tap to shoot or bomb--more than enough to cause misery. That estimate comes from a new MI5 base in Holywood, near Belfast, that has been responsible for gathering intelligence on the dissidents since the end of last year. In the ten years since Omagh, dissidents have caused a further ten deaths, several of them the result of internal republican feuding. Dozens of planned bombings have been foiled by their own bungles or by police intervention after tip-offs. But some dissidents, it seems, are now trying to import weaponry: two Irish nationals were arrested in Lithuania in January for allegedly attempting to buy guns and explosives. ...

 

Subscribe to United_Kingdom RSS feed

Industry Group - Helps the Labour Party with policy-making in industrial and economic fields. Describes the organisation and its workings with news and member bulletins.
Meta Description: [ The Labour Finance & Industry Group (LFIG) helps the Labour Party with policy-making and campaigns by arranging seminars and conferences to plan action with senior politicians and ministers in all kinds of industrial and economic fields ]

500 Adam Smith Institute - Developer of free-market policies on health, education, transport, welfare and taxation. Offers on-line publications, details of current initiatives, events diary, recommended reading, and information about Adam Smith.

Age Concern London - Providing information about Age Concern London's work, including campaigns and publications, raising awareness of issues affecting older people in the capital.

500 Catalyst - A democratic socialist organisation set up in 1998 to promote new, practical policies directed to the redistribution of power, wealth and opportunity.

Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion - UK based, independent, non-profit organisation promoting social justice.

Centre for Policy Studies - An independent centre-right think tank which develops and publishes public policy proposals and arranges seminars and lectures on topical policy issues.
Meta Description: [ The Centre For Policy Studies - London UK - (+44) 020 7222 4488 ]

CentreForum - An independent, liberal think tank seeking to develop evidence based, long term policy solutions to the problems facing Britain.
Meta Description: [ CentreForum is the UK's only liberal think tank ]

Citizens Income - Gives on-line access to much of the material held at the Study Centre whilst, in addition, showcasing up-to-the-minute information on current findings, forthcoming events and reviews.
Meta Description: [ Citizen's Income ]

Civitas: the Institute for the Study of Civil Society - A British educational charity and publisher specializing in health, education, welfare, economics and the renewal of civil society.
Meta Description: [ Civitas is an independent think tank that seeks to deepen public understanding of the legal, institutional and moral framework that makes possible a free and democratic society ]

Demos - Independent think tank and research institute, believed to influence the policies of Tony Blair's government.
Meta Description: [ Demos - The think tank for everyday democracy ]

Ekklesia - A web based think-tank promoting theological ideas in the public square.
Meta Description: [ ekklesia's home page, a think tank bringing theology and christian news into politics and public life ]

Fabian Society - A UK left of centre think tank which conducts research into political ideas and public policy reform. The site includes an on-line ordering service for various publications.

Global Research Business Institute - The GBRI is an educational body conducting outreach to business executives, journalists and civil servants, promoting a greater understanding of globalization and its consequences.

Globalisation Institute - Trade and International development think tank, focused on enterprise-based solutions to poverty.
Meta Description: [ London-based think tank developing enterprise-based solutions to poverty ]

Guardian Unlimited Politics: Special Report: Thinktanks - Profiles Britain's leading thinktanks and explains what they are up to. Includes reviews of recent publications and links.

Institute for Fiscal Studies - Research institute which exists to provide economic analysis independent of government, political party or any other vested interest.

Institute for Public Policy Research - Seeks to promote social justice, democratic participation, and economic and environmental sustainability in government policy.
Meta Description: [ ippr is Britain's leading progressive think tank ]

Institute of Economic Affairs - The IEA's goal is to explain free-market ideas to the public, including politicians, students, journalists, businessmen, academics and anyone interested in public policy.

500 Institute of Radical Reform - Seeking to replace all taxes with one new one, abolish elections, to apply technology to allow all decisions to be voted on by everyone, and to train their delegates to win under the present electoral system so as to bring this about.
Meta Description: [ The Institute of Radical Reform ]

Job Ownership - Independent think tank based in London researching, advising and lobbying on employee ownership in the UK and around the world.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation - Independent development and social research charity, supporting a wide programme of research and development projects in housing, social care and social policy.
Meta Description: [ The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a social policy research and development charity, seeking to better understand the causes of social difficulties such as poverty and housing and explore ways of overcoming them. ]

New Economics Foundation - Aims to improve quality of life by promoting innovative solutions that challenge mainstream thinking on economic, environment and social issues.
Meta Description: [ welcome to nef ]

New Frontiers Foundation - A think tank advocating a combination of liberal democracy and liberal markets as the fairest and most effective mechanism for adapting to change.

New Politics Network - The New Politics Network is an independent political and campaigning think tank, concentrating on democratic renewal and popular participation in politics.

Nexus - A virtual Third Way think tank offering papers, discussion forum and mailing lists.

Policy Exchange - The think tank's mission is to develop and promote new policy ideas which will foster a free society based on strong communities, personal freedom, limited government, national self-confidence and an enterprise culture.

Policy Research Bureau - An independent social policy research centre specialising in families and young people.
Meta Description: [ Policy Research Bureau is a social policy research centre specialising in families and young people. ]

Policy Studies Institute - PSI undertakes and publishes research studies relevant to social, economic and industrial policy, employment and the environment.
Meta Description: [ Policy Studies Institute is one of Britain's leading independent research institutes, conducting research to promote economic well-being and improve quality of life. PSI enjoys a reputation for the rigorous and impartial evaluation of policy in the UK and Europe, and the publication and dissemina... ]

Politeia - A forum for social and economic thinking encouraging reflection, discussion and debate about the place of the state in the people's daily lives, from employment and tax to education, health and pensions.
Meta Description: [ Politeia, a forum for social and economic thinking, opened in November 1995 as a focus for thinking on social and economic policy. Its aim is to encourage reflection, discussion and debate about the place of the state in the daily lives of men and women across the range of issues which affect the... ]

Reform - A policy institute promoting new directions for public policy based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, and individual liberty.

Social Affairs Unit - The institute addresses social, economic and cultural issues with an emphasis on the value of personal responsibility.

Social Enterprise London - Exists to promote, establish and develop businesses that have social as well as economic aims. The site features current initiatives, downloadable policy papers and news about the Social Enterprise scene in London.

Social Issues Research Centre - An independent, non-profit organization founded to conduct research on social and lifestyle issues, trends, and human behavior. Campaigns against scares.
Meta Description: [ The Social Issues Research Centre was established to conduct research and promote debate on all aspects of lifestyles and social behaviour. SIRC aims to provide new insights on current social and cultural trends, and to present a balanced perspective on key social issues. ]

Social Market Foundation - An independent think tank, exploring ideas that link the state and the market to create a more just, free and prosperous society. Focuses on health, education, welfare and pensions policy reform.

Social Policy Research Unit - Independent research unit at University of York concerned with the development of policies and the delivery of services to support people made vulnerable by poverty, ageing, disability or chronic illness.
Meta Description: [ SPRU Social Policy Research Unit excellence in research in social policy especially health and social care, poverty, social security and employment ]