Commentary & Podcasts

Levies, charges, dedicated pots - we have a plethora of taxes that are ringfenced for particular purposes. In this blog, Research Director Aveek Bhattacharya, argues that despite its popularity - such ringfencing should be used more judiciously.

Drug-related deaths have reached record levels. Among the threats are nitazenes, a class of synthetic opioids up to 500 times more potent than heroin that is increasingly linked to fatal overdoses. In this blog, Jake Shepherd examines the urgent need for proactive measures to curb this escalating crisis and argues that the government has a crucial opportunity to rethink the UK’s approach to drug policy.

Targets work. They set priorities, provide focus and raise ambition.

Black Friday is being dubbed as 'Black Fraud-ay' for good reason. While the government focuses on consumer awareness-raising, SMF fraud lead Richard Hyde explores the need to consider digital ID - a useful extra weapon in the anti-fraud armoury.

In this blog, Baroness Susan Kramer calls for a revival of community banking in the UK, noting that that compared to most rival economies we are missing a fundamental stratum of banking and that lack undermines our capacity for both local and national growth.

The Labour government is proposing to increase Britain’s employment rate to 80% – the highest in the G7. This is a monumental feat, and it will have to attract not only the unemployed, but also 'the lost workforce' - and reintegrating them into the economy is far from simple.