Centre for Policy Studies

10/09/2026

High debt. High tax. Low growth. How does Britain escape the doom loop?

As more economists warn of a looming fiscal reckoning, incoming CPS Director Liam Halligan sets out why more borrowing and spending is exactly the wrong answer - and what a serious plan for growth would look like instead.

Read the full piece:

More and more economists now warn of fiscal meltdown – not least because trade unions and economically-illiterate Labour MPs and activists, having installed Andy Burnham in Downing Street, are pushing for borrowing and spending to increase further still.

27/08/2026

Migration. Housing. Welfare. Public spending.

We're hosting panels on the biggest issues facing Britain at 's National Conference next week in Birmingham. Will you join the conversation?

Check out our full line-up 👉 https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xTG4X0

06/08/2026

This is a chance to help to shape the next chapter in the CPS’s history and the future of the right.

Read more from our outgoing Research Director Karl Williams on why you should want to apply to replace him 👇

The CPS is hiring a Research Director. Deadline: 17 August

01/08/2026

'It's always great when politicians are not interested in something, then its an opportunity.'

On The Capitalist this week, Rainer Zitelmann, author of 'New Space Capitalism', on how SpaceX rewrote the economics of launch, the case against cost-plus and why profits and private property are the key to Mars.

Get the full episode on Spotify, Apple podcasts and on YouTube. Want it straight to your inbox each week? Subscribe to our Substack
https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0xmr-Z0

23/07/2026

'Wealth taxes have proved disastrous time and again. They are unfair, unworkable, and send a signal that Britain is not a place for aspiration, investment or success.'

Our Head of Economic & Fiscal Policy Daniel Herring suggests Gary Linekar and friends check out the HMRC website, where they can pay additional tax voluntarily 👇

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2231852/gary-lineker-urges-andy-burnham

20/07/2026

London is delivering the fewest number of homes since the Second World War. Over the past two financial years, London has started just 15,040 homes in total. Over the same two years, London’s housing target was 175,984. That means housing starts were only 8.5% of the target, a truly dreadful figure. London’s housing shortage stands at around 1.85 million homes.

The release of a new draft London Plan provides the perfect opportunity to turn around this miserable state of affairs and be radically pro-housebuilding.

Has Sadiq Khan risen to this large challenge? Sadly, no.

Some progress has been made, says Ben Hopkinson, CPS Head of Housing, but the plan is a far cry from the ambition that is needed to solve London’s housing shortage.

The Mayor's draft plan for the capital will miss housing targets by a third

15/07/2026

The Centre for Policy Studies is delighted to announce the appointment of Liam Halligan as its next Director.

Liam is a leading economist, columnist and broadcaster. Since 2003 he has written the award-winning Economic Agenda column for The Sunday Telegraph, and he co-hosts the paper’s Planet Normal podcast, both of which he continues alongside the new role. He takes up the position on 14 September, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him join us.

Liam succeeds Robert Colvile, who has led the CPS since October 2017 after first joining as Editor of CapX in 2016. Under his leadership the CPS has continued the mission Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher set out in 1974: developing policies that widen enterprise, ownership and opportunity, and cementing its place as one of Westminster’s most influential think tanks.

Robert isn’t going far. He stays on with the CPS to lead a new policy programme on small business and enterprise.

15/07/2026

The Centre for Policy Studies is delighted to announce the appointment of Liam Halligan as its next Director.

Liam is a leading economist, columnist and broadcaster. Since 2003 he has written the award-winning Economic Agenda column for The Sunday Telegraph, and he co-hosts the paper's Planet Normal podcast, both of which he continues alongside the new role. He takes up the position on 14 September, and we couldn't be more thrilled to have him join us.

Liam succeeds Robert Colvile, who has led the CPS since October 2017 after first joining as Editor of CapX in 2016. Under his leadership the CPS has continued the mission Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher set out in 1974: developing policies that widen enterprise, ownership and opportunity, and cementing its place as one of Westminster's most influential think tanks.

Robert isn't going far. He stays on with the CPS to lead a new policy programme on small business and enterprise.

Read the full announcement: https://cps.org.uk/media/post/2026/liam-halligan-appointed-cps-director/

12/05/2026

The gap between Westminster and the private sector doesn’t close itself. The CPS Thatcher Fellowship is the programme for people who want to do something about it. Fellows attend monthly dinners with senior politicians, economists and journalists, work through a curated reading list, and get access to party conferences and media training.

We’re looking for people from the private sector who want to better understand and engage with policymaking in Britain. If that’s you, we’d love to hear from you: fellowship.cps.org.uk

04/03/2026

‘Britain should get its gas from Canada’ - Pierre Poilievre on how to deliver genuine energy security