Nationalisation – a lot of water under the bridge before it happens?
A recent report by the Social Market Foundation, the non-partisan centrist think tank, estimated that the up-front cost of nationalising the water industry would be £90bn. The SMF also estimated that the government would need over £100bn over the next 25 years to meet the long-term investment needed within the sector. Read more
The Women and Work APPG is delighted to announce its 2018 theme, How to Recruit Women for the 21st Century. Throughout our work in the past two years we have heard repeatedly from different sources about the ways in which employers struggle to attract and recruit women. Read more
The issue of housing is already showing itself to be key in the run up to local elections this year. Faced with the prospect of Labour gains, the recent government announcement of a new public register of ultimate owners of UK properties is both an attempt to push through legislation ahead of the EU withdrawal, and to show that government is thinking about issues other than Brexit. Read more
The EU (Withdrawal) Bill has come a long way, and there is a long way to go. But the debates that are coming up will shape the politics of Brexit; in some cases, they may shape our future relationship with the EU. Read more
Connect is proud to support #Vote100 today, celebrating 100 years since Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act giving the first women the right to vote. Since 2016 our work with the Women and Work All-Party Parliamentary Group has examined how employers and policy makers can help to deliver gender balance in the workplace. The APPG’s first report, Women Returners, helped to shape Government policy with the introduction of £5 million funding for returnships. The Group’s second report, Making the Industrial Strategy work for women, was published last month. We are pleased to have launched the APPG’s 2018 programme of work, How to Recruit Women for the 21st Century, which will examine the recruitment process from start to finish and develop recommendations to improve female representation across the employment and labour market.
In a survey by the Political Studies Association, the minimum wage was judged to be the best policy of recent decades . Devolution, Sure Start, the Human Rights Act, the smoking ban, and the Northern Ireland peace process were also highly rated, as was ‘privatisation’, a policy which divides opinion. Read more
Over the last three week, across the Lib Dem, Labour and Conservative Party conferences, we have worked with many fantastic organisations to help them engage with politics and policy makers. Read more
The opinion polls are narrowing but even allowing for a 3% error margin in Labour’s favour (although historically they have under-recorded Conservative Party support) Theresa May on these figures will secure a majority in the House of Commons. In fact, the Conservatives only need to win 45 seats to have a ‘landslide’ – a total of 375 seats, more than 100 more than all the other political parties put together. The question on everyone’s lips – apart from whether the polls will continue to narrow – is, where will the opposition come from if she is triumphant on June 8th? Read more
For most people the Progressive Alliance is an abstract concept at best, consigned to the fringes of party conferences. Not so for the political anoraks among us, particularly those on the left. For many of us it has become an issue of urgent focus since the disappointment of the 2015 general election, and given greater prominence since by senior figures from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party. Read more
Important local government elections are taking place across the UK today. In Scotland, the results will tell us much about the state of the parties and views on our ever-present constitutional question. Read more
