Social Market Foundation

🚨 NEW ESSAY SERIES - Trust in the public realm 🚨 Following our first paper on trust from Steve Van Riel and Pat McFadden MP, we're continuing our trust series with an essay from Richard Baker MP focusing on the particular challenge of trust in politics and political institutions in Scotland. "Labour’s highly effective message of the “the change our country needs” resonated in Scotland because it is now trust in the SNP which has collapsed. They are no longer trusted to support public services and to grow Scottish industry. They have relentlessly focused on the independence question when more and more Scots, even many of those who voted Yes in 2014, see this proposition as increasingly unrealistic or at the very least not a priority." Read the essay: https://lnkd.in/dW-qz7kB

✨ NEW BLOG: Labour need to make a stronger argument that they can deliver supply-side growth. After the Truss 'mini-Budget', Chancellor Rachel Reeves' approach yesterday can be seen as cautious and 'predictable' for a Labour government. But, as Director Theo Bertram writes in our latest blog, Labour's plans are radical. To avoid spooking the markets and OBR, there's a political and economic argument to be made and won on whether they can deliver supply-side growth. "...while you can be stealthy about your economic plans in opposition, you cannot in government." Read the blog: https://lnkd.in/gm7XGj8G

📥 In your inbox NOW: #SMFwonkweek 28/10 featuring Action for Children, IPPR, House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee, Institute For Fiscal Studies & more! 🧐 Read: https://bit.ly/3NJbfve ✍ Sign up: http://bit.ly/3Bxy4dw ✨ Edited by Rhiannon Sewell

🚨OUT TODAY: Chancellor needs to take strategic approach to unlock small business investment #budget2024 Small businesses need simpler tax regime as part of new approach to closing the UK’s £109 billion annual investment gap. The current policy focus - corporation tax cuts and full expensing - are unlikely to help close this gap with the OECD average. This is because the current policy focus fails to address the barriers small businesses in the UK continue to face when making investment decisions: ❌ cashflow issues ❌insufficient savings ❌inadequate financial management skills Small businesses need simpler tax regime as part of a new strategic approach to unlock investment from them. #budget2024 Read briefing: https://lnkd.in/eRDQXXSt

🚨 OUT TODAY: End self-regulation of farming to reduce animal suffering Only 2.3% of animal welfare breaches are prosecuted, despite a third of official farm inspections uncovering non-compliance. Over the years, the state has deliberately stepped back to reduce regulatory burden. Majority of farms are now inspected every 12-18 months by private assurance schemes, most prominently the industry-run Red Tractor. Although compliance is marginally better in farms covered by private assurance schemes, participation in an assurance scheme is far from a guarantee of compliance...as the private assurance scheme's revenue depends on keeping farms signed up. The report puts forward two sets of recommendations: 1️⃣ straight-forward adjustments to the existing system that could make an immediate impact, 2️⃣ a more ambitious medium-term plan for a government-run licensing system for farms. Read the full report, sponsored by Animal Equality UK, https://lnkd.in/eBuqDW3K

📢 SMF welcomes possible fuel duty rise #Budget2024 ✍ Gideon Salutin, transport policy lead: "Doing so is a no-brainer... [it] would save £10 billion over the next four years. Letting fuel duty rise with inflation would add an additional £5 billion." Latest SMF analysis: https://lnkd.in/eQuJUzqB

🚨 SMF welcomes possible fuel duty rise #Budget2024 As we’ve highlighted, government has foregone £130bn to date, with loss rising to £200bn by 2028 - while only saving the typical household £13 a month on motoring costs. 👇 Hear more from transport policy lead Gideon Salutin #tax #fuelduty #ukpolitics

🚨 OUT TODAY: First-of-its-kind research exposes glaring inequalities in young people’s access to knowledge of the education system and careers, threatening equal opportunity for all ‘assumed knowledge’ is the things that some might assume everyone instinctively knows about ‘how the system works’. Groups with higher assumed knowledge tend to - predictably - be more affluent, with parents who were graduates, and with valuable social connections. Crucially, varying levels of assumed knowledge help explain why less well-off young people with similar grades to more-privileged peers can end up doing less well later on. Key findings: - Nearly half (48%) of young people were unaware that graduates earned more than non-graduates. Those on free school meals are less likely to know the fact. - 95% of 15-18-year-olds who have a parent/guardian with a post-graduate degree ask their friends or family for advice, compared to 67% of those who were on free school meals - 65% of those with university-educated parents felt confident speaking with senior professionals. compared to 49% of those with non-graduate parents. Our recommendations are aimed at increasing the level of assumed knowledge, especially among those from less affluent backgrounds, and making the system less disadvantageous for those who lack it. Read the report, on behalf of Speakers for Schools:

🚨 NEW BLOG: In this ‘Ask the Expert’ interview with Jake Shepherd, academic and writer Dr Alex Niven discusses the lasting impact of deindustrialisation on the North of England. "We still haven’t found a sequel to the disappearance of industry." Read the blog: https://lnkd.in/eWWAy6Mw