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Online Lies, Bias, Bots & Trolls: Which Answers Protect Free Speech?
AI means the power & speed of online rumours, lies and bias are growing fast, with rising danger of damage to elections, jobs & trust across all societies. The newly-launched Council for Countering Online Disinformation (CCOD – John is a…
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How To Clean Up Westminster
My successor as Prime Minister’s Anti-Corruption Tsar is the redoubtable Labour Baroness Margaret Hodge, a five-foot-nothing spitfire who doesn’t take nonsense from anyone. She’s going to need every ounce of her trademark energy and determination after the Government stepped on…
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Labour’s Childcare Reforms Will Fail Our Children
Nursery places that are rarer than hens teeth, childcare which costs more than tickets for an Oasis reunion gig, and fleets of nursery providers complaining they’re teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Everyone agrees that Britain’s childcare services could and should level up opportunities, break glass…
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The Ever-Rising Costs of Government Borrowing
Government borrowing costs are costing taxpayers more & more. If we had a legally-binding rule as the Centre outlines in the Policy Thumbnails section of this website, we could keep the debt in check & stop things getting even worse,
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The fiscal farce that’s bankrupting Britain
American political strategist James Carville wryly observed that, rather than being reincarnated as US President or the Pope, he wanted to come back as the bond market because it can intimidate anybody. The hard truth behind his quip is the…
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Labour’s change to Ofwat doesn’t hold water
Sewage in rivers, hosepipe bans, spiralling bills, fat cat bonuses for water company bosses and floods. The water industry’s list of problems is as toxic as it gets and so, for a Government that says it wants to be judged…
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Britain’s Benefits System Is Unfair To All Involved
The Government’s screeching u-turn on reforming Personal Independence Payments has distracted attention from a more fundamental problem with Britain’s broken benefits system. Regardless of whether the right people are getting the right kinds of benefits or not, too few of…
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Britain Needs A ‘Top 5 In 5’ Industrial Strategy, Not Bets On New Tech
This article is the first in a fortnightly series of policy proposals from John Penrose and the Centre for Small State Conservatives. Nobel-Prize-Winning economist Paul Krugman famously said “productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run, it’s almost everything.” His words should send…
