Centre for British Progress
@BritishProgress
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The Centre for British Progress is a non-partisan think tank on a mission to accelerate and shape an era of British growth and progress; evolved from @UKDayOne.
London, United Kingdom
Joined January 2024
š« Weāre launching the Centre for British Progress Our founding essay: Rediscovering British Progress is a case for growth that drives shared progress, rooted in Britain's values and industrial heritage. It all starts with a postcard from 1870 š https://t.co/3CKCERU7Y2
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Ahead of the budget everyone is talking about how to cut energy bills. Many of the ideas are good, but one proposal to ābreak the linkā between gas and energy prices, doesn't stack up in my opinion. A thread on why Iām skeptical and why MPs should be wary š
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One of the best arguments against economic growth is the impact it has on the environment. Or, at least, this was a good argument, until about 2009. Since then, at least for developed countries, the reverse has been true: higher growth is associated with lower carbon emissions š§µ
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Worth reading @jburnmurdoch 's piece here:
ft.com
Open hostility and high visa fees are a risky bet amid intensifying competition for the worldās brightest and best
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Iām finishing a piece with @britishprogress on a contribution-based migration system - how we square a migration system that inspires public consent with economic growth. More soon. But todayās @FT/@jburnmurdoch column nails the stakes: the UK is losing allure for top talent.
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Britain's GDP is getting worse. For once Iām not talking about slow growth, but the stats themselves. The quality of output is getting worse every year. That means the Government is increasingly blind. A story from my time as a civil servant on why good statistics matterš
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Fascinating report from @BritishProgress *breaking down barriers to help the UK embrace neurotechnology*. When developing my programme we funded early work on the barriers to neurotech translation. This report supercharges that work (note policy recs independent of ARIA/me) š
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Congratulations to our 10 finalists for the Smart Thinking Awards 2025 Think Tank of the Year: @britishfuture @BritishProgress @TheIFS @instituteforgov @IPPR @Moreincommon_ @resfoundation @restate_thinks @SMFthinktank @policyatkings
#SmartThinkingAwards
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Today in UK planning law ruins everything: NHS patients waiting for surgery in Lincolnshire could face a further one year delay for a new surgical centre, as the developers have to prove that they are providing "integrated bat bricks" and "provisions for hedgehogs to pass"
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Writing in the FT, @danielsusskind argues that our focus on building homes and infrastructure clashes with Mokyrās ideas. While I agree ideas and R&D are crucial for growth, building more homes and infrastructure is a vital prerequisite to get Britain growing. A š§µon why š
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The Nobel prize in economics was just awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt for teaching us what it is that makes economies grow. So what lessons does this have for the UK? Are the experts from our growth survey right?
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you've heard about @turinginst (~Ā£30m/yr), but do you know the issues with the @BritishBBank (Ā£25b), the closest thing we have to a sovereign wealth fund? or how VC incentives costing Ā£1b a year don't help scale or sovereignty? to fix this chart, we need to fix *them*:
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Great to see the Government & Mayor of London moving forward with making building easier. The experts we surveyed thought interventions like this could be big for growth.
Great news! Today the @MayorofLondon has announced steps to deliver needed homes more quickly in London, as we suggested in July. Congratulations to all the YIMBY allies who have worked hard to get this through!
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New report from @watt_direction for @BritishProgress out today: the Chancellor could reduce household energy bills & support electrification by ending carbon price support. This Coalition-government tax pushes up electricity prices and makes the green transition harder.
On 30 Sep 2024, the UK closed its last coal plant. This was the day we should have ended carbon price support ā an extra tax to get coal off the grid. In the Budget, @RachelReevesMP has the chance to cut bills for millions + boost electrification, by ending CPS Hereās how:
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ā¼ļøThe Carbon Price Support increases electricity costs by nearly four times more than it raises in revenueā¼ļø
On 30 Sep 2024, the UK closed its last coal plant. This was the day we should have ended carbon price support ā an extra tax to get coal off the grid. In the Budget, @RachelReevesMP has the chance to cut bills for millions + boost electrification, by ending CPS Hereās how:
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On 30 Sep 2024, the UK closed its last coal plant. This was the day we should have ended carbon price support ā an extra tax to get coal off the grid. In the Budget, @RachelReevesMP has the chance to cut bills for millions + boost electrification, by ending CPS Hereās how:
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(credit: our fantastic @BritishProgress intern, Matthew Stubbs)
Lord Hague is in one sense right, but he's also missing the point. Britain has the best universities & largest startup/VC ecosystem in Europe. But until we build the physical infrastructure to absorb, adopt & invest in those ideas, they will remain ideas (or move to the US).
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long post bc I have a feeling that this AI Growth Lab proposal might go under the radar but imo is genuinely one of the biggest things UK might do to thrive in a world of transformative AI and get many more companies like @elevenlabsio @wayve_ai @delian_ai @clovefi & many more
We want the UK to be the best place to test, scale and grow AI, so weāre asking companies to tell us their views on our AI Growth Lab š The controlled testing environment, known as an AI sandbox, will examine where we can lift or amend outdated rules to speed up AI adoption.
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There are some fantastic examples of Georgian-style gentle density housing in central London. Understated, close to public transport, yet also ideal for working from home. More of this please! @KaneEmerson
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While the rest of the world is ramping up nuclear energy to prepare for net zero + AI, we are shutting down reactors in Wales (which have supported jobs & communities since 1965).
Work starts soon to reduce Britain's most magical buildings - Sir Basil Spence's 60-year-old reactor buildings at Trawsfynydd - from 54m to 25m. In the early '70s Wales had 7% of global nuclear capacity. In December it'll be a decade since we stopped all nuclear here.
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Lord Hague is in one sense right, but he's also missing the point. Britain has the best universities & largest startup/VC ecosystem in Europe. But until we build the physical infrastructure to absorb, adopt & invest in those ideas, they will remain ideas (or move to the US).
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