Everything government, Parliament, the statistical agencies and the major policy institutes published — read, summarised and ranked so you can skim the day in a minute.
5,510 articles · 37 live sources · updated 1h ago
Argues that gene‑edited ‘designer babies’ remain illegal but scientific advances—such as precise embryo edits reported by Columbia researchers—mean commercial interest is rising and policy choices on traits, costs and ethics are imminent.
Argues that slavery persists today in many forms—forced marriage, bonded labour, state-enabled systems—and criticises treating modern slavery merely as a vague 'human rights concern', calling for sharper policy language and action.
The Adam Smith Institute contrasts two 2050 scenarios: one pursuing fracking, North Sea gas and small modular reactors for domestic, firm power; the other pursuing net zero with wind and solar, arguing the choices compound over 25 years.
Argues transatlantic supersonic passenger travel could return in the early–mid 2030s, driven by Boom’s Overture (64–80 premium seats). Notes delivery risks, engine costs of several billion and the firm shifting to turbine work to fund development.
Argues that blaming capitalism for environmental harm is misplaced, criticising a new book for using an irrelevant example. Calls for reversing supply‑chain analysis and policies to cut car use and sprawl, promote compact batteries and other practical measures.
Argues UK productivity stagnation since 2008 — output per hour growth halved from ~2% to about 1% or less — is self‑inflicted, widening gaps with the US, France and Germany and harming wages, public services and living standards.
Argues that small urban plots under 2,500 sq m (around nine tennis courts) are often unused but could unlock housebuilding; RCKa estimates London has enough small-site land to deliver 850,000 homes and a Lewisham survey found space for about 9,700.
The piece argues business rates effectively tax landlords and criticises proposals to shift costs onto large retailers. It highlights John Lewis chairman Jason Tarry warning Chancellor John Healey that a 'warehouse tax' to fund Andy Burnham’s pub and venue cuts would threaten high‑street closures.
The proposed High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) will apply from April 2028 to homes in England worth £2 million+, with annual charges from £2,500 up to £7,500 for properties over £5 million; the paper warns it may harm economic growth.
Argues that branding subsistence farmers as backward is harmful: peasant practices provide sustainable stewardship of land and resist destructive commercial capitalism, with examples such as a Cambodian rice farmer whose culture treats land and rice as sacred.
Argues that measured productivity understates AI’s economic payoff because GDP and productivity metrics miss much “free” digital output; investment and equity valuations show an AI boom, but commentators Torsten Slok, Hal Varian and Robert Solow note the productivity payoff remains largely a forecast.
ONS counted 981,000 16–24-year-old NEETs in April–June 2026, with 393,000 actively unemployed. The number has risen for four years and only Romania now has a higher NEET rate in the EU, the paper argues for urgent labour-market reform.
Argues for outcome‑based university funding as many UK institutions struggle: over a third reported deficits in 2024–25, forecast to rise to four in ten in 2025–26, with study visa applications down nearly a third in early 2026, squeezing revenues.
A forward-looking Almanack sets out 2027 political forecasts: a close French presidential contest where the National Rally could win, Xi Jinping likely securing a fourth term at China’s Party Congress, and other geopolitical trends to watch.
Argues organic farming is intrinsically more land- and labour‑intensive than industrial agriculture, making it cash‑costlier because pesticides and fertilisers substitute for land and labour; any non‑cash benefits should be paid for by consumers.
Argues that political decision-making often mishandles economic policy using the example of EV subsidies and proposed tariffs on Chinese electric cars, warning that politics distorts optimal economic responses to climate and trade problems.
Commentary criticises The Guardian’s editing and reporting, highlighting a misreported claim that UK retailers asked the chancellor to cut the national insurance contributions threshold when they actually want it raised, and questions journalistic handling of numbers at a No.11 event.
An Adam Smith Institute piece argues that major societal shocks often arise when existing technologies cross cost or capability thresholds, citing Viagra, GLP‑1 drugs and large language models as examples of unforeseen widespread effects.
Argues that Donald Trump’s trade policy resembles mercantilism: treating trade as a zero‑sum contest, counting bilateral surpluses as wins, and using tariffs and state direction to pursue national economic power.
Falling birth rates in England and Wales (around 1.4 children per woman) and across developed countries are framed as manageable rather than catastrophic; the piece argues funded pensions and other policy responses can offset demographic pressures on public finances.
Using the SAVM cohort simulation, scenarios where vaping displaces smoking project large public‑health gains: under an optimistic model reducing smoking prevalence to 5%, the US analysis estimated 6.6 million premature deaths averted and 86.7 million life‑years saved to 2100.
Argues energy will be very cheap by 2050 if technology-driven costs fall, and recent UK price rises reflect gas’s role as the marginal generator and added levies — gas supplied 40% of generation in 2021 but set wholesale price an estimated 97% of the time.
Provocative opinion piece claims historical elites who drank heavily, slept late and lacked technical training nonetheless ran a successful British empire, using that thesis to critique modern governance and expertise norms.
Argues that Universal Credit taper plus income tax and National Insurance meant a claimant lost 55p of every extra £1 earned, recounting being advised to seek cash-in-hand work and describing financial distress while unemployed.
Eamonn Butler described launching an Adam Smith graphic novel, explaining he used a Hollywood-style script and AI tool Grok to generate graphics, iterating from flawed outputs to produce usable illustrations at the Mont Pelerin Society congress.
Argues that net zero does not require eliminating flying; as other sectors decarbonise aviation’s share of emissions will rise, but net zero permits persistent emitting activities offset by removals or reductions elsewhere. Notes Heathrow passenger forecast: 299m (2025) to 491m (2050).
Argues UK social housing wrongly ties subsidy to the building rather than the household, so discounted rents benefit the property and remain with tenants even if their income rises or they move, restricting mobility and mis-targeting support.
A polemic opposing the Green Party’s proposal for a national “Fair Rents Guarantee” to keep rents permanently affordable, arguing the ambition is unrealistic and criticising its feasibility and potential costs.
A commentary argues critics who say faith in technological fixes for climate change reduces support for lifestyle and societal changes are committing petitio principii, because they assume without proof that broad consumption shifts are necessarily required alongside tech solutions.
The pamphlet argues Britain should stop measuring people by class, contending class loyalty entrenches low pay and limited prospects and that social mobility requires rejecting class identity as a permanent social obligation.