Again, it is undecided voters who are more hawkish on immigration. The issue’s high salience with swing voters is why it will be an important battleground in the next election.
People believe in their local place and community, but they want to feel that national government is backing them too. These are the lessons from our focus groups.
Despite representing one of the greatest threats to public health, responsible for up to 43,000 deaths in the UK each year, efforts to reduce England’s air pollution have proven either politically fraught, ineffective or failed to consider the needs of those from deprived areas.
Those at the bottom of the economic pyramid do often have both the least control over their children’s educational experience – and could benefit the most from it.
Electoral desperation is never a good place from which to make major decisions on the future of our tax system. There are better, more cost effective, ways to show the Government is aligned to the public’s priorities.
All of our existing nuclear plants are scheduled to close by 2036 in the UK, so this government and the next must demonstrate urgency on this.
Of course, children have a right to a voice, but protests should be occurring at the weekend or in holidays – not on school time.
Our analysis shows that children in receipt of Free School Meals are three times more likely to be severely absent than their more affluent classmates, meaning elevated absence levels will serve to compound disadvantage.
The idea that public bodies are a last resort must be replaced with the aim of using them well when they are the form best suited to the task.
Far better that councils do all they can locally – raise taxes locally to deal with crime, health, education, and the rest – and leave national governments to deal with national issues.
New rules threaten to give England a generation of houses that are uglier and less popular than those we have built historically.
New research from Onward suggests that despite their reputation, this generation has plenty of small-c Conservative instincts.
DEFRA should aim to produce, based on a representative sample of farms, estimates of the welfare status of each farmed animal in the UK.
The Conservative Party must not get locked into thinking that improving the efficiency of the public sector will make the sums add up either. We need to move away from ‘The Crisis Management State’ to ‘The Preventative State’.
It is important not to mistake the salience of high-profile controversies as a sign that the system is failing; indeed it often is the exact opposite. As a sign of the effectiveness of the current regime, look no further than the premiership of Boris Johnson.