"Bright Blue and its contributors have been tireless in bringing forward new ideas and fresh thinking to the conservative cause."
The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP
Centre Write
Friday, 18 November 2016 15:40
Andrew Baker: Brexit. Boring, tedious Brexit. It’s time to look forwards: Bright Blue’s new Europe Forum
Brexit. Soft Brexit. Hard Brexit. Bremain. Bremoan. Brexiteers. Bremainers. “Brexit means Brexit”. Frexit. Grexit. Ever since 23 June, Brexit has seeped into every pore of our political narrative. Like a Farage-shaped vacuum, it has sucked the air and energy out of our political system and consumed everything in its path. I am passionate about politics, but even I admit that I feel a faint sense of dread as the word “Brexit” is uttered at work or, possibly worst of all,…
Wednesday, 16 November 2016 14:42
Charlotte Smith: Trump, Reagan and the new Republicanism
In an election campaign characterised by personal smears that would make even Frank Underwood blush, one sound bite stands above the rest. Make America Great Again: The defining slogan of the most divisive election in recent US history. In one of the most successful interpretations of public discontent, Trump repeatedly invoked this phrase to enchant a demographic of the electorate who felt that their views were unheard and ignored by mainstream politicians. Like any self-respecting entrepreneur, Donald Trump spotted this…
Thursday, 03 November 2016 00:00
Owen Meredith: Chancellor must eliminate the deficit to deliver on generational inequality
There are few things in life that people across the political spectrum will agree on. One perhaps is the desire for the next generations to do better than we do. It is therefore surprising, to me at least, the willingness of many in politics to cast the next generation aside. For decades, political parties of all colours have skewed policies (and taxpayers’ cash) toward the grey vote. And who can blame them? People aged 18-24 are half as likely to…
Tuesday, 01 November 2016 00:00
John Higginson: How the Government is nudging us into better behaviours
When David Cameron first became Prime Minister in May, 2010, he entered office with few delusions about how hard legislative change would be. He not only led the first coalition government in 65 years he also led a party divided over its future direction. So when his director of strategy Steve Hilton suggested he look into whether people’s behaviour might change without the need for legislation he didn’t have to be asked twice. A small team of social psychologists were…
Friday, 28 October 2016 14:35
Verity Ryan: Why aren’t women working?
Research by PWC indicates that just 42% of women in the UK work full-time - 27 percentage points lower than men. Include part-time work and this figure increases to 68% - still a significant lag on the 78% for men. Aside from being a provocative stat, these numbers strike at the heart of gender parity in the UK and serve as a reminder of the work that remains to achieve it. From a macro perspective, the UK could receive a…
Wednesday, 26 October 2016 13:33
Peter Kirby-Harris: The case for the Sustainability Act
If we are to solve both climate change and guarantee the supply of energy we must resist the temptation to consider them as two separate issues. Much of what can be achieved would keep most current infrastructure in place require minimal additional regulations. The Climate Change Act of 2008, which combines the main principles of our climate change strategy, explains what we wish to avoid but doesn’t offer us many substantial ideas as to what the economic system devised to…
Tuesday, 11 October 2016 13:21
Chris Hayes: Putting the citizen into power: opportunities for a new relationship between people and politicians.
As has quickly become apparent, the full implications of summer’s EU referendum will be felt for many more months, and years, to come. Whichever side of the debate you sat on, it is hard to turn a blind eye to the sheer scale of the engagement and interest in the game-changing question of UK’s place in Europe. I remember attending and being a part of the national POWER inquiry back in 2005, where we had little idea how large the…
Thursday, 06 October 2016 04:00
Julia Onslow-Cole: The Role of the Private Sector in the Global Refugee Crisis
We are living in times of great geopolitical instability. There are currently more than 65 million displaced people, 90% from poor and middle income countries placing huge burdens on hosting countries. The majority of hosting countries are developing countries and 70-80% of displaced persons are living not in camps but in communities in cities. We must support hosting countries and countries from where people are leaving. It is laudable that the UK government recently announced millions of pounds to support…
Thursday, 29 September 2016 19:21
Charlotte Henry: US Election: Hard choices for classical liberals
Following the American elections has been a somewhat dispiriting experience for classical liberals, even for us Brits who do not get a ballot. Who should those of us who believe in low taxes, social freedom, and a caring but restrained state want to become the most powerful person in the world? On the one hand there is Donald Trump. From his vile anti-immigration rhetoric and misogynistic outbursts, to his backing of trade tariffs, there is nothing liberal to be found…
Monday, 19 September 2016 12:08
James Dobson: Going part-time: Securing the Conservative priority of 'equality of opportunity'
New figures released on Thursday show that the higher education participation rate rose to 48% in 2014-15. The participation rate is now higher than it was prior to the Coalition Government announcing the trebling of tuition fees. Indeed the participation rate has only been beaten in one year, 2011-12. Most researchers agree the rate was artificially high in that year due to students choosing not to defer their entry to university in order to avoid the new tuition fee regime.…