Labour have given up on planning reform
The Chancellor's plan for new towns is an admission of defeat
Is ‘There is no such thing as two-tier policing’ becoming Keir Starmer’s equivalent of Richard Nixon’s ‘I am not a crook’? With the horrifying details of Henry Nowak’s murder filling the news, fending off the public reaction with bland reassurance that there’s nothing to see here is hardly calming the national mood. Then again, Nigel Farage’s demand this morning for ‘pure, cold rage’ hardly helped either. Credit to Kemi Badenoch for seeking to address people’s concerns while standing against division and for equality under the law, even in a market where rage is a much easier sell.
When it comes to political division, the far Left of the political spectrum continues to be in a league of its own. A group unhappy with the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn has now broken off from the squabbling ranks of Your Party to form ‘Socialist Federation’. Just don’t mention the People’s Front of Judaea.
In other news, it’s Cost of Rent day for London’s tenants, who on average have finally earned enough before tax to cover their rent for the year – some two and a half weeks after the rest of England. Thank goodness for Labour’s new Renters’ Rights Act, eh? Oh, wait.
Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.
Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX
Today’s Takes
Fresh thinking from CapX
Labour have given up on planning reform
Matthew Bowles
‘The fact that Britain is now searching for innovative ways to finance housebuilding is therefore a sign – as critics have argued for years – that something has clearly already gone badly wrong.’
Rachel Reeves is considering whether a new generation of public-private partnerships (PPPs), the modern successor to the old Private Finance Initiative, could help Labour’s ambitious plans for a new generation of towns. It’s telling that PPPs are considered necessary at all, given that unlike many infrastructure projects, housebuilding generates immediate and readily identifiable revenue streams. The truth is that is easier to do this than loosen burdensome rules. Read More
A decade on from Brexit, and we're still divided
James Tilley
‘If my side voted for the change, I say ‘good’; if my side voted against the change, I say ‘bad’.’
Ten years ago, the EU referendum created two new political tribes: Leavers and Remainers. But according to a new book ‘Tribal Politics: How Brexit divided Britain’, both tribes are very much still with us. Even today, about 60% of people in Britain identify as a Remainer or a Leaver, and people’s emotional attachments to their Brexit tribe are much stronger than their attachments to any political party. Read More
The trillion-dollar opportunity in outer space
Rainer Zitelmann
‘Who should have the right to acquire property in space?’
Unlike during the 20th century, the joy of discovery and of space exploration will not be sufficient as a motivation in the future. As in all areas of life, major projects require strong economic incentives. And these are largely absent because, to this day, the question of property rights in space remains unresolved. According to the Outer Space Treaty, states may not claim ownership of celestial bodies. But does this also apply to private individuals and companies? Read More
Stat of the Day
The CapX Reading List
The best of the web today
Why the Left hates Right to Buy
Ben Hopkinson, City AM
‘The state spends up to £950,000 to create an asset whose value, as a social-rented home, is barely £100,000. The difference is a capital subsidy the taxpayer never recovers.’
In his response to Tony Blair’s 5,000-word polemic published last week, Andy Burnham argued that Margaret Thatcher – including her Right to Buy scheme – had failed ordinary Britons. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Right to Buy is a rare policy that has been an unmitigated success – but it flies in the face of everything the Left holds dear. Read More
If only Peter Mandelson were still in government
Ross Clark, The Spectator
‘Mandelson has a fatal attraction to rich and powerful men, which, in Jeffrey Epstein’s case, proved his undoing. But on economic issues he was far more in tune with reality than those who are influential in the Labour party today.’
The Mandelson files have produced many truly damning revelations about Keir Starmer’s Government. But there is one which will be of little interest to many people because it doesn’t reflect badly on Mandelson personally. Read More
How to get big stuff done in government
James Breckwoldt, Substack
The Capitalist
In the latest episode of the CapX podcast, Marc Sidwell is joined by economist Samuel Gregg to discuss a worrying new consensus forming across both the Left and Right: that using industrial policy to achieve the economic outcomes we want is just common sense.
Watch on YouTube; listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
And if you want more...
– How managerialism took over the Church of England (The Critic)
– England’s chippies are getting battered (The Dispatch)
– Smart drug can shrink tumours by 30% (The Guardian)
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