UK voters face an historic choice between remaining within the EU or leaving and seeking a different type of involvement in the world economy. Such an alternative is clearly possible: the UK has many advantages in an international context as a result of its historical alliances and involvement...

The approaches of the political parties to aspects of the ‘cost of living crisis’ seek to treat the symptoms of problems, rather than addressing the underlying causes. In particular, parties have advocated or implemented policies which completely ignore how existing government policies lead...

The system of contracting out of state pensions – a form of pension privatisation – operated very successfully in the UK until recent years with cross-party support. This was very important in ensuring that the UK system of private pension provision was one of the most successful in the...

Since the early 2000s, the NHS has improved according to most measures of quality and performance. Survival rates for major diseases have increased, waiting lists have been shortened, and the prevalence of hospital infections has been reduced.This improvement has come from a very low base so...

New IEA report compares the performance of the NHS to that of its European counterpartsSummary:While in many other policy areas, there is a political appetite for learning from international best practice, healthcare remains the exception: the healthcare debate remains inward-looking and...

The NHS is part of the UK’s national story – a founding myth of post-war Britain. But like most founding myths, the popular NHS story is only very loosely based on actual events. The belief that the foundation of the NHS was a manifestation of ‘people power’ is completely untrue....

Millennials have long been portrayed as a politically disengaged and apathetic generation. In recent years, however, that portrayal has changed drastically. The rise of mass movements such as Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion, the ‘Greta Thunberg movement’ and Momentum, together with...

2018 marks the 70th birthday of the UK National Health Service – an institution which commands an unparalleled trust and reverence from the British people.1 Yet, to many casual onlookers, the Health Service appears to be in a perpetual state of “crisis”. To some extent, this is borne out...