Latest Publications

Trust in government is at a historic low. In this paper, Steve van Riel argues that overcoming falling levels of trust will require rethinking how we understand the concept. He sets out aims to help policymakers look a layer beneath the abstract concept of trust, and be “strategic about where greater trust will really make a difference”.

Over the last 20 years immigration numbers to the UK have hugely impacted British political and public life. This report looks at the past, present, and future of these immigration numbers, from asylum seekers to overseas workers, and how they interact with politics and policy. It challenges common perceptions on both sides of the debate, arguing that those advocating for more open approaches to immigration should contemplate some tough compromises to achieve broader support for their aims.

Despite recent challenges to the Bank of England’s independence, this briefing suggests that over-politicisation is a greater threat to sound macroeconomic policy than empowering technocrats. It therefore makes the case for an independent expert body to guide government borrowing, to ensure more effective and better coordinated fiscal policy.

The Government promised to make a legal commitment to increasing wellbeing and reducing disparities in it across the UK. This paper considers how subjective wellbeing fits with the rest of the levelling up strategy, especially in relation to places that are prosperous, healthy and well educated, but nevertheless have low wellbeing.

This briefing paper considers the liberal case for explicitly ‘pronatalist’ policies that aim to increase the birth rate in the UK.

These proposals are informed by the work of the Unlock Britain Commission, a group of independent advisors, business leaders and politicians, led by Afolami and convened to stimulate new economic...

Some British politicians are in danger of misjudging public opinion on immigration. Not only the UK’s immigration policy, but also its wider political future, could be at stake.

The University of Warwick’s, Dr Mirko Draca launches his latest research on institutional corruption at the Social Market Foundation.

This report reviews what community organisations in Birmingham, London, Madrid and New York are doing to alleviate tensions and build bridges between people from different backgrounds.