Social Market Foundation
@SMFthinktank
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Britain’s leading cross-party think tank, with a mission to enable markets and government to work together to benefit society.
London, UK
Joined July 2009
Does living wage make up for tax credits cuts? We find that by 2020/21 families will still be worse off #Budget2015
http://t.co/dokqlweR59.
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🚨OUT NOW: Housing makes Brits worse off than Americans, research shows. @jwhandley17’s new briefing shows that Brits spend more on housing than Americans but get much smaller homes for their money, contributing to a stark gap in living standards.
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Here is the final report of the SMF's Commission on Inequality in Education, chaired by @nick_clegg #SMFeducation
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🚨OUT TODAY: Stronger protections for renters won’t drive landlords out of the market. Fears that stricter regulations - like those in the Renters (Reform) Bill - will reduce the supply of rental properties are overblown. 👉
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For the full speech by Rt. Hon David Gauke MP, Secretary of State for Justice, calling for an evidence-led approach to sentencing to tackle reoffending . @jameskirkup @DavidGauke @MoJGovUK.
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🚨OUT TODAY: Immigration at 1 million could become new normal for UK. In this new report, @JTmigratory argues that British politics and policy need to be better prepared for an era of high migration flows. Read the report here:
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🆕 Could "giving cash" be a more efficient and more dignified alternative to providing benefits in-kind?. 💡 In a new briefing, @aveek18 makes the case for cash benchmarking across Whitehall, following the food parcel delivery scandal last month.
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🚨OUT NOW: New Towns can help solve the UK housing crisis, says Labour PPC @chriscurtis94 . In his new essay, Curtis calls on his party to build more places like his constituency and home town Milton Keynes - to unlock new and genuinely affordable homes.
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NEW | 1.7 million low paid workers will miss out on the new National Living Wage
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🚨OUT NOW: Politicians must overcome ‘nanny state’ worries to improve public health. 1/5 New research shows interventionist public health policies restricting access to harmful products, such as taxes or bans, are more effective than educational campaigns.
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🚨 Decades of reforms have failed disabled people, their families & communities. ⚠️ There are 1.8 million more people in poverty living in a family with a disabled person than 15 years ago. 📕 Read our new report, from @MJ_Oakley, supported by @scope ▶️
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🚨OUT TODAY: First-of-its-kind research exposes glaring inequalities in young people’s access to knowledge of the education system and careers, threatening equal opportunity for all. 🧵For the first time, we have identified 'assumed knowledge' among young people.
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"An update of the Gambling Act is long overdue in order to protect individuals and families that are harmed by gambling. The evidence is mounting that there is no economic case against radical action." SMF's @jake_sheps writes for today's @timesredbox .
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At least 50% of all #startup ideas come from past employment. We'd ban non-compete clauses to help #entrepreneurship
http://t.co/BQAasqxZjU.
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📚NEW ESSAY COLLECTION📚. With Labour Party vowing to achieve the fastest growth in the G7, the SMF has brought together leading economist to run the rule over Labour's economic policies – and the gaps it still needs to fill. Read the essays:
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New paper from our Education Commission - chaired by @nick_clegg - looks at role of parents in children's #education
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🚨OUT NOW: 5 million people driven into poverty by transport costs. New research using a first-of-its-kind model shows that 8% of the UK population is pushed into poverty by transport costs.
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1/4 🚨OUT TODAY: Ahead of the Government’s anticipated gambling white paper, SMF senior fellow Dr James Noyes looks at the question of freedom, failing markets and the role that the state can play in society through regulation. Read the essay:
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🚨OUT TODAY: Over half of Britons (52%) support increasing tax on online gambling. Doubling Remote Gaming Duty could bring in as much as £900 million to the Exchequer, as speculation mounts ahead of the Budget.
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🚨OUT TODAY: Three-fifths of British people have tried to cut down on meat. New research shows that politicians are lagging behind public opinion on the need to reduce meat consumption and promote animal welfare.
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“You can’t have a light touch approach to regulating gambling” - @mattzarb shares his views on how gambling regulation can be better
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🚨 OUT TODAY 🚨 major new report from the SMF sets out a roadmap for reforming gambling industry practices and regulation, ahead of the Government's anticipated review of the 2005 Gambling Act. ▶️ Read the report in full -
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🚨OUT NOW: Labour must straddle the education divide to achieve victory. New research from @robfordmancs shows the extent to which Labour’s hopes of achieving power depend on overcoming recent divisions between school leavers and graduates.
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🤔Sound familiar? In early 2022, SMF Chief Economist @aveek18 had recommended that @hmtreasury send one-off 'cost-of-living bonus' cheques to all households. ICYMI: how does it compares to the Govt's bill rebate scheme:
@GeorgeOsborne: "I would send households on low incomes and middle incomes a cheque in the post" #AndrewNeilShow
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🚨 NEW DIRECTOR 🚨. We are delighted to announce the appointment of Theo Bertram (@theobertram) as SMF's new Director. Read more:
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Prof Ellen Townsend @SelfHarmNotts says:. "Self harm is a signal of emotional distress and pain. This is still not taken seriously in frontline services across the board. What can be done?" #SMFASk
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🚨NEW BLOG: Police pay fell by 17% in real terms between 2000-2022. ‼️ Amidst soaring inflation, a retention crisis, and reports of officers turning to foodbanks, police pay is an issue that is only likely to increase in salience.
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🚨OUT TODAY: Eating less cheap chicken is the key to animal welfare. 🧵1/9 Reducing Britain’s dependence on cheap, factory farmed chicken would therefore be the most significant boost to overall animal welfare the country could achieve in the next decade.
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In March 2022, SMF's Dr James Noyes, Prof. @HBowdenJonesOBE, & Dr @mgaskell12 made the case for introducing a statutory levy on the gambling industry. Today, Carolyn Harris discusses the need for a statutory gambling levy, calling for it to be at 'the centre of Government's plan'
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🚨 (Adult) education, education, education! A new report from @aveek18, @ScottCorfe, @amye_norman - sponsored by @jrf_uk . ⚠️ £1.3bn a year needed to end the 50% cut to adult education since 09/10 & support workers through the #COVID unemployment crisis.
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🚨 NEW REPORT from @aveek18 & @jake_sheps, sponsored by @Deliveroo, reveals nearly 2 million children have gone short of food during the pandemic. ▶️ Explore our new data on child food insecurity by local authority -
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Join the next #AskTheExpert Event . With #suicide being the leading cause of death among men under 50 in England and Wales, there has, rightly, in recent years, been a rising #awareness of #mentalhealth issues that affect young #men and #boys. #SMFAsk
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🚨 New SMF report, supported by @FETforL, explores public attitudes to vocational learning. 💥 Political & media neglect of FE is out of touch with public opinion. ⚡️ 48% would rather their children gain a vocational qualification than a degree (37%).
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🇸🇬 NEW BRIEFING - Seven lessons from Singapore 🇸🇬. 💡 What exactly should Britain seek to emulate from the "Singapore model"? SMF Senior Researcher Richard Hyde outlines seven reasons behind Singapore's success (but not the ones you think. ). THREAD 1/⤵️.
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🚨SMF at Labour Party Conference 2024.🎲Bad money: the economics of gambling harm. Hear gambling minister Baroness @fionatwycross, @SarahCoombesWB, Dr @shwardle, SMF's Dr @jranoyes, Prof @AdrianPabst1 & @williamnhutton exploring the relationship between gambling and the economy.
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💰 The US consumes more per person than the UK in almost all categories – the only exception being clothing and footwear. The four biggest drivers of this gap are health, housing, transportation and miscellaneous goods and services (mainly private insurance)
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Cabinet Secretary for Finance @KateForbesMSP writes on financing Scotland's transition to Net Zero. She says that COVID-19 has given greater urgency for the state and private sector to work together to secure a just transition that is fair for all.
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.@ChukaUmunna says we need to change voting system in this country if we are to deal with public's political frustration #PoliticalTribes.
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📣 Join our next #SMFask @UKRI_News event to hear about brand new research from @ERC_UK on small business futures after the pandemic. ⏲️ Tue 19 January, 15:00. 👤 @scullyp, @abridulac, @effie_kesidou, @jameskirkup . Register below ⤵️
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OUT TODAY: Gambling industry should pay for harms, decided by a levy. There is currently no clear target for gambling harm reduction. @HBowdenJonesOBE, @mgaskell12 & senior SMF fellow James Noyes call for a statutory gambling levy led by a new health board.
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🚨NEW EVENT🚨. We're launching new research with @FairByDesign on the poverty premium in the insurance market - joined by @TulipSiddiq, @NickyMorgan01, Matt Brewis (@TheFCA), @martin_coppack, @MJ_Oakley & @jameskirkup to discuss the report. RSVP:
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"If we are to stand any chance of becoming the high-value, high-wage economy that Brexiteers promised we’d be outside the European Union, we need better skills and training, which should mean a bigger, better FE sector" - @jameskirkup for @thetimes.
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"I am a conservative because I believe people make better decisions about their lives than the state"- @RuthDavidsonMSP #SMFRuth #cpc17.
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🗓️3 DAYS TO GO 🗓️. We're launching new research with @FairByDesign on the poverty premium in the insurance market - joined by @TulipSiddiq, @NickyMorgan01, Matt Brewis (@TheFCA), @martin_coppack, @MJ_Oakley & @jameskirkup to discuss it. RSVP:
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🚨 NEW BLOG: Is the UK's childcare system inefficient or just underfunded? . Hari Menon shows that, while the cost of providing childcare is lower in the UK than in Sweden, it is more expensive for British families because the state foots less of the bill.
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🚨OUT TODAY: Over 90% of Brits want alternatives to fireworks, new polling reveals . As UK's firework season begins, this is an opportunity to to try alternatives and safer kinds of firework use to protect animals, environment, and vulnerable people.
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⚡️Families who can't afford the basics are being failed due to inadequate welfare support. Our new report calls for a standardised social tariff to help struggling households access essential goods and services. Read more in @pollytoynbee's column here👇 .
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⏪ If you missed our latest #SMFask virtual event, supported by @UKRI_News, you can watch back now on our website ⏯️ Labour's @TulipSiddiq sets out three ways to ensure vulnerable children are better protected beyond the Coronavirus crisis 👇
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TODAY | Nick Clegg and our Commission on Inequality in Education are in #Sheffield meeting school leaders
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@CitizensAdvice @ClareMoriarty @MrNickPark @Laura_Sandys @jameskirkup @ThePLSA @PeoplesPension @alexburghart @GarethDavies_MP @ScottCorfe @ScottishPower @Alex_Stafford @SPRKeith @KatieJWhite @samrichardswebb @jrf_uk @GuyOpperman @DarrenBaxter @lisa_haseldine @james_kirkup @UoMPolicy @halfon4harlowMP @lynnanneperry @ola_demk @aveek18 6⃣ SMF at #CPC22 – The Gambling White Paper and the future of reform. Our event will feature Sir @MPIainDS, Prof. @HBowdenJonesOBE, @RaviNa1k, @mattzarb & chair @Martha_Gill
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🚨 SMF rates Labour manifesto🚨. "The Ming vase manifesto: change but with caution; great determination, little detail." - @theobertram. 🧵👇Full reaction:
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⏲️SUNDAY 26th Sept, 16:30 - Hilton Brighton Metropole, Gloucester Room (🔒 secure zone). 🔴 The future of gambling reform, in partnership with @SME4LABOUR . 👤 @carolynharris24 .👤 Prof @HBowdenJonesOBE .👤 @mattzarb .👤 Dr James Noyes.👤 @Andrew_Adonis
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🚨 NEW BLOG! Lead poisoning is a silent epidemic that the UK can no longer afford to ignore. @leecrawfurd makes the case that the UK should learn from the likes of the US and take more decisive action to protect us all from lead poisoning and exposure.
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🚨OUT TODAY: Are gig workers satisfied with their work decisions & situations?. 'Rides and responsibilities', by @aveek18 & @jake_sheps, builds a picture of gig workers' experiences & how it compares with traditional workers. 👇Follow 🧵for highlights .
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Today, Public Health England publishes a long-awaited study, putting the annual cost of gambling harm at £1.2bn in England. The SMF has consistently argued that future regulatory reform must account for the societal and economic costs of gambling harm. ⤵️
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In @TheScotsman, @aveek18 debunks popular arguments against rules on restricting alcohol marketing. 🔑 point? Whisky is certainly important to the Scottish economy, but 99% is sold abroad so won't be affected by Scottish marketing regulations.
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🚨OUT TODAY: One in five UK employers has hired a Ukrainian, SMF report reveals. 🧵1/8 New evidence on Britain’s effective integration of migrants (no matter their route of entry) shows a need to significantly simplify our migration system.
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🚨"68% of industry revenue comes from people drinking above the CMO guidelines according to the @SMFthinktank. That's a big blow for your members if people comply with your advice isn't?". 👇@PaulBlomfieldMP in @CommonsHealth today, questioning alcohol industry reps.
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@jamiegollings @jake_sheps On changes to alcohol duty, Research Director @aveek18 said:. #Budget24 #Budget2024
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✍️@TomTugendhat MP: "We need to start again, treating fraud as what it is: a national emergency that requires an immediate and national response.". Check out the @ConHome write-up on fraud, referencing recent SMF work.▶️SMF blog:
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Today we are delighted to host @GavinWilliamson Secretary of State for Education - delivering a speech to the Social Market Foundation on the Government's vision for Further Education. You can watch the speech and Q&A with @jameskirkup here - #FEreform.
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💥 The SMF is delighted to launch a new series of essays, in partnership with @charteredbanker, bringing together leading figures in politics and finance to make the case for a reinvigorated stakeholder economy after #COVID19. 📘 Read the essays ▶️
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✨NEW BLOG: A just transition to net zero requires redesigning our energy markets . @martin_coppack & @CarlPackman - of @FairByDesign - unpack the poverty premium, calling for market redesign to be based on vulnerable customers' experiences & constraints.
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🧐Check out @SteveBakerHW on @GBNEWS talking about our latest report, making the case for people power in #planning reforms, to help solve the issue of disillusioned residents and frustrated renters. Read the report - supported by @PricedOutUK - here:
'We can't proceed any longer with people who rent homes in despair of ever buying.'. Conservative MP Steve Baker says the Party 'is in electoral peril if we don't sort out' the housing crisis.
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In 15 mins - How to address the poverty premium in insurance. We'll be joined by @TulipSiddiq, @NickyMorgan01, Matt Brewis (@TheFCA), @martin_coppack, @MJ_Oakley & @jameskirkup - as we launch new research on the issue. 📺Tune in at:
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📗 Boiler Alert! - A new report, part of SMF's Towards Net Zero series with @ScottishPower. 🚨 National political leadership must explain to voters the need to decarbonise 24.5 million British homes or risk a backlash against Net Zero 🌍. ⤵️ .
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🚨SMF welcomes possible fuel duty rise #Budget2024. ✍️@gideonsalutin: "Doing so is a no-brainer. would save £10 billion over the next four years. Letting fuel duty rise with inflation would add an additional £5 billion.". Latest SMF analysis:
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🚨OUT TODAY: Social tariff *essential* in era of high energy bills – a new policy framework for 2024 & beyond. 🧵1/7 The current system of bill relief policies is dangerously inadequate, and needs to be urgently replaced – here’s how 👇 .
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📈 To address the gap in housing, the briefing recommends increasing the size and quality of the UK's housing stock. But some difference in living standards is likely to persist as long as the US remains much richer than the UK, so more investment to raise productivity is needed.
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🐄 57% of Brits think people should eat less meat and 58% have reduced their own meat consumption. Our research shows politicians are lagging behind the public on the need for policies to help cut down on meat. Read @aveek18's piece for @LabourList here 👇.
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🚨 NEW BRIEIFING: As part of reaching Net Zero, the Government should back "alternative proteins" to help lower meat consumption 🥩. A thriving alt-protein sector would:. ✅ Lower emissions .✅ Benefit public finances.✅ Reduce risks of biothreats.
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Thank you to @CitizensAdvice, and our panellists @alanwhiteheadmp, Gillian Cooper, @livbailey, @soniasodha & chair @jameskirkup for a brilliant #Lab22 event!. ICYMI: Catch it in our YouTube channel, and follow the thread of highlights.
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Could a £15bn Recovery Fund - with shares owned by the public - be part of a package to help Britain towards transformative growth?. Today @bimafolami MP sets out 10 policy proposals – published by the SMF – in his new report “Unlocking Britain”. More ▶️
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That’s a wrap! Thank you to @robfordmancs, @JohnRentoul, our sponsor @UKandEU, and our audience for a great event!. 🧵👇ICYMI, follow the thread and watch it on our YouTube channel!
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PRESS RELEASE: Scrap prison terms for council tax debt says QC @crimlawuk. It is inhumane, ineffective and undermines public confidence in the justice system. The first in a 5-part doc tonight @Channel4News. Full Release: . Report: .
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Infrastructure spending is skewed in favour of SE. Brexit will make regional inequalities worse - @Alison_McGovern at #MovingOn launch.
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The story on healthcare and transportation is more nuanced because much American spending is wasteful. There are more surgeries and GP visits each year in the US, but life expectancy is lower . And while Americans spend more on cars, it results in more traffic-related deaths
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"Inequality of opportunity is the challenge of our time", write @ClaireCoutinho & @david4wantage in today's @Telegraph. SMF's new project will examine how policy can reduce geographical variations in mobility and opportunity.
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Overall, the UK clearly has serious housing problems, especially on homelessness, housing costs and social housing waiting lists. But its experiences are in the middle of the pack compared to other anglosphere countries, and less bad than New Zealand’s
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Here's @jameskirkup in this morning's @CityAM debate on why we need a new social contract for business. Read in full here
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🚨OUT TODAY: Universal work experience could cost as little as £75m per year – but needs careful implementation. 👇🧵Amidst calls for universal work ex, we provide a roadmap for rolling out high quality, universal wex in England.
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🚨OUT NOW: UK has highest housing costs in the English-speaking world. New report shows Brits spend more on housing than counterparts in New Zealand, Ireland, Australia and Canada, which have housing crises of their own.
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NEW | Moving On: A Labour approach to the post #Brexit economy - feat. @RachelReevesMP @ChukaUmunna @Alison_McGovern
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🚨 OUT TODAY: Take fiscal policy away from ministers to restore credibility. By allowing experts to set it an overall budget, government could avoid the sort of conflict with the BoE we've seen, with fiscal & monetary policy pulling in different directions.
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🚨SMF at Conservative Party Conference🚨 . Can the Conservatives only win from the centre ground?. 🗣️@redditchrachel.🗣️@LiamHalligan.🗣️@MrJCrouch.🗣️SMF's Ros Munro.🗣️@PMArslanagic. 🗓️Monday 30 Sept | 6:15pm.📍Hyatt Regency Birmingham #CPC24
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"By constraining fuel duty, the government is wasting billions of pounds every year while robbing low-income households of cheaper options like public transport and EVs.". ~ SMF's @gideonsalutin quoted in @guardian this morning.
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Writing in the @guardian, SMF Senior Fellow Dr James Noyes says the Government's review of gambling legislation must "learn the mistakes of the past 15 years and create a genuinely robust system of gambling regulation in Britain.".
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"I won't name which of my Cabinet colleagues think they're Winston Churchill, and who may be David Brents"- @trussliz.
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🚨🧵SMF welcomes the Government's Gambling White Paper, which features our proposals for implementing the statutory levy on the gambling industry.
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We're very pleased to have been awarded a @NuffieldFound grant to compare housing challenges and responses in Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand and identify lessons for UK housing policy!.
Delighted to announce the 9 organisations receiving grants from our General Election Analysis & Briefing Fund - @TheIFS @resfoundation @Strath_FAI @NuffieldTrust @SMFthinktank @LondonEconomics @NIESRorg @LSEnews & @EduPolicyInst. Welfare Director @markwfranks manages the fund.
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1 in 8 working age adults are carers. £5.3bn cost to economy of ppl stopping work to care: Giles Meyer of @CarersTrust at #SMFcarers #CPC17.
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Writing in @timesredbox, SMF Chief Economist @aveek18 says new evidence from the SMF today "shows beyond doubt that child hunger is much too high". cc @MarcusRashford, @BorisJohnson, @Keir_Starmer .
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Dr James Noyes, SMF Senior Fellow, will join @carolynharris24, @mattzarb and @SeemaMalhotra1 at this @SME4LABOUR event to discuss the Government's review of the 2005 Gambling Act. Read our proposals which put consumer protection at the heart of reform ▶️
Our meeting starts in 2 hours - join the discussion "How should Labour respond to the government’s gambling review". Our speakers @carolynharris24 @mattzarb @SeemaMalhotra1 Dr. James Noyes. Register here: @SME4LABOUR @LabourCGR
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