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The coalition must go further on tuition fees
Mark Littlewood
8 November 2010
3 comments

The decision by the coalition government to raise the cap on tuition fees to £9,000 per annum is a step in the right direction, but to be truly competitive in the global economy British higher...
Coalition should stop funding anti-smoking groups
Mark Littlewood
28 October 2010
9 comments

Much of the analysis of the Comprehensive Spending Review focused on the big picture and the multi-billion pound savings the coalition hopes to make in a wide range of areas – most obviously...
The IFS and “fairness” – a woeful contribution to the debate
Mark Littlewood
22 October 2010
35 comments

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has done itself – and the wider public debate about the Comprehensive Spending Review – a considerable disservice over the last twenty four hours. In an...
The Spending Review could have been far more radical
Mark Littlewood
21 October 2010
7 comments

The Comprehensive Spending Review deserves a cheer and a half, but not much more than that. The Coalition has developed a welcome single mindedness in getting the public finances under control, but...
Finding a narrative of hope
Mark Littlewood
17 September 2010
comments

In these grim dark days of austerity and cuts, the coalition urgently needs to find a compelling political narrative of hope and optimism. David Cameron’s Big Society rhetoric occasionally...
Britain’s bewildering tax system needs fixing
Mark Littlewood
9 September 2010
comments

A major taxman’s blunder was an inevitable result of our tax code, says Mark Littlewood
Hack away – and smile while doing it, minister
Mark Littlewood
6 September 2010
comments

As the silly season comes to an end and the party conferences approach, the coalition government will find it needs to go beyond its deficit-cutting rhetoric to flesh out a wider philosophical basis...
The BBC licence fee’s time has passed
Mark Littlewood
1 September 2010
comments

Mark Thompson’s vigorous defence of the BBC’s role and contribution to broadcasting marks the first skirmish in the build up to re-evaluating the licence fee and the role of the...
“Progressive” and “fair” – the heart of the free market movement
Mark Littlewood
27 August 2010
3 comments

The Institute for Fiscal Studies’ recent analysis of the budget – purporting to show that it isn’t “progressive” as the financial hit taken by the poorest decile of...
A solid enough start
Mark Littlewood
19 August 2010
comments

The Liberal-Conservative administration deserves to pass its 100 day probation. It hasn’t done much yet, but it has said some of the right things and sounds like it might even get round to...
Scrapping the ’statutory retirement age’ – clever spin, but a retrograde step
Mark Littlewood
29 July 2010
7 comments

The coalition government is considering scrapping the fixed retirement age and Minister for Employment Relations, Ed Davey, is promoting the policy on the grounds of choice – You don’t...
Never again should so much be wasted by so few
Mark Littlewood
28 July 2010
6 comments

If you tire quickly of the tediously lengthy build up to Christmas, which starts about now, then heaven help you in dealing with two years of hyperbole about the 2012 Olympics. Even the most...
Don’t lecture the drinkers, just make them responsible
Mark Littlewood
6 July 2010
7 comments

Alcohol consumption is now a major problem in British society. Drunken teenagers are running rampant in our town centres. Accident and emergency wards are chock-a-block with people who have fallen...
What should be done when the social democrats win?
Mark Littlewood
6 May 2010
3 comments

The next government of the United Kingdom will have to depart wildly from its manifesto commitments in order to rebuild the nation’s finances. In the closing stages of the election campaign,...
Cameron’s “Big Society” smacks of bureaucracy not empowerment
Mark Littlewood
1 April 2010
7 comments

Tory leader David Cameron scored well on rhetoric yesterday – but fell down badly on detail. His vision is of “a society where the leading force for progress is social...
Selling off state-owned assets should be part of a package to drastically cut public spending
Mark Littlewood
29 March 2010
1 comment

The current flirtation of the main political parties with cuts cannot hope to solve Britain’s financial problems. We need to take dramatic action and make substantial structural changes over...
Budget needs to set out urgent plan to reduce deficit by £100bn
the IEA
24 March 2010
3 comments

“Politicians are not talking seriously about the need for dramatic and speedy cuts in public expenditure. A few billion here and a few billion there are nowhere near enough to restore...
Tobacco tax proposals should go up in smoke
Mark Littlewood
19 March 2010
20 comments

A new report from Policy Exchange (strapline: David Cameron’s favourite think tank) has apparently “re-ignited” the “controversial” debate about tobacco...
Chancellor has ducked the tough decisions – Mark Littlewood and Philip Booth on the Pre-Budget Report
IEA
9 December 2009
4 comments

Alistair Darling has failed to take the tough decisions to tackle the country’s enormous budget deficit. According to Mark Littlewood, the IEA’s Director General, “A tax on bankers...
The Tories need a rethink on the minimum wage
Mark Littlewood
28 October 2009
6 comments

With youth unemployment rising to 1 million, the government – or more realistically the Tories – need a radical rethink of the how the British labour market works. Or more to the point,...

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