Is there a north-south divide political divide?  A major study into public attitudes by Policy Exchange explores this issue and finds that social differences in England today are as much about town and country as north and south. The poll finds that the Conservative lead among people in the rural south is 42% but Labour’s lead among people in northern cities is 43%. In the rural north the Conservative lead is 10%, while Labour lead in London. 

The Chancellor should announce radical tax simplification in next week's Budget, with the aim of developing a three year flat tax for all start-up businesses.

Fathers who no longer live with their partners and are on benefits should be made to work if they refuse to take financial responsibility for their children. A new report by leading think tank Policy Exchange says that the government should target these individuals and fast track them on to work experience schemes to try and get them back into the labour market. Men who refuse to participate should have their benefits removed.

Dr. Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, one of Britain’s leading political scientists, is to join the leading think tank Policy Exchange as a senior adviser on constitutional affairs. He starts with immediate effect.

The government has been urged not to back down from pursuing its digital agenda. A new report by leading think tank Policy Exchange says that all non-personal data held by the public sector should be made available to the public for free. There are concerns that narrow departmental interests and resistance to openness in some parts of the public sector could block such a proposal, which could provide a much needed boost to the economy.

Police officer pensions have become “unaffordable for taxpayers” and a drain on police budgets. A new report today by leading think tank, Policy Exchange, reveals that the rising cost of police pensions means that the taxpayer is now picking up around 80% of the bill, with total costs standing at £2.5billion a year, the equivalent to £1 in every £7 of total police expenditure.

“John Lewis” style, social enterprise schools should be piloted in some of the most deprived areas of the country. A report published today by leading think tank, Policy Exchange, says that the government should consider allowing private companies to set up and run schools under a social enterprise model. Teachers should be encouraged to take a stake in the school which would create strong incentives to drive up standards.

The political independence of the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) must be strengthened to avoid ‘group think’. Ahead of the Committee’s first quarterly meeting next year, leading think tank Policy Exchange has published a paper recommending that the majority of the thirteen members that make up the FPC should be externally appointed and each individual approved by the Treasury Select Committee.

Leading think tank, Policy Exchange, has today set out ten proposals to drive growth in the UK. The proposals – Looking to the Future of Growth – call on politicians and policy makers from across the political spectrum to drop ideological arguments and have a more evidence-based debate on growth.