Commentary & Podcasts

Once the hot takes to last year's immigration figures cooled, SMF's migration expert Jonathan Thomas offered five more measured insights on what they mean.

The long-awaited ban on no-fault evictions continues to evade us, based on claims that it will harm the rental market and reduce supply. But what does the evidence say? Looking at Scotland and other jurisdictions suggests that claims of harm are entirely misplaced.

The United States is currently facing a devastating opioid crisis, with potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl driving increasing overdose deaths. While these drugs have not yet taken a firm hold in the UK, the domestic situation could get considerably worse. In this blog, Jake Shepherd discusses the potential impact of the evolving drug landscape, including measures that could be taken to avert crisis.

The answer lies not just in comparing the costs to parents, but also the societal costs of providing childcare - which are surprisingly difficult to work out, requiring bottom-up data gathering and calculations. In this blog, SMF's Hari Menon compares the cost of provision between UK and Sweden, to open up the discussion on childcare accessibility.

It may seem counterintuitive that, in a time of ongoing labour shortages in the UK, the Migration Advisory Committee has recommended abolishing the use of the Shortage Occupation List which allows employers greater leeway to bring in overseas workers into shortage positions at a salary discount. Jonathan Thomas, SMF Senior fellow and migration expert, explains what is going on and highlights existing aspects of the UK’s system which could be adjusted to help better address shortages while supporting wages and working conditions.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman is right to criticise the international asylum system, but wrong to blame the Refugee Convention. In this blog, Jonathan Thomas shows why states sharing responsibility for legitimate refugees is a political, not legal, problem.