Author: centrethinktank
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Ending the war on drugs: tackling the injustice of our current policy
The UK has the highest drug death rate in Europe, three times higher than the next country on the list, Germany. Drug deaths are at an all-time high, rising year-on-year. At Cranstoun, we believe there is a way to tackle this tragedy – and now. I have worked extensively in policing policy – for five […]
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Getting serious about mental health
At the age of 17 I had left home, my future was uncertain and my mental health was dire. After being enlisted as a vulnerable child by social services I moved in for the half term to my ex’s house in Warrington while independent accommodation was negotiated for me so I could continue my education […]
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The land dividend
In 2020 and 2021, government spending rose by almost £400 billion, covering policies from furlough to free school meals. This spending dominated the national conversation, but as many of those programs wound down and inflation began to rise, the focus inevitably shifted to taxes. At the Autumn and Spring Budgets of 2021, the Chancellor announced […]
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Proportional Representation, a sensible solution
The United Kingdom’s voting system in General Elections is perhaps one of the simplest in the world. Voters choose their favourite candidate in their local area (usually based on the party they represent), put a cross in the relevant section, then put their ballot in the designated box. The ballots in each constituency are counted […]
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London needs levelling up too
‘Levelling up’ is a central plank of the government’s economic policy, focused on less well-off parts of the country and how to bring them up to the living standards elsewhere in the UK. In February, the Government released its Levelling Up white paper, which aimed to set out how the Government will ‘spread opportunity more […]
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Cuts Cost Lives: Labour must embrace a health-led model to drugs policies
The United Kingdom has the unenviable title of being the drug death capital of Europe, with three times the number of deaths compared to the next country, Germany. Official data shows that drug deaths have risen year-on-year for eight consecutive years, which is in correlation with a decade of slashed drug treatment budgets. To add […]
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Clamping down on money laundering
Britain’s real estate market has become a hotbed for the facilitation of crime. The high value of prime London property, as well as the lack of regulations to monitor activity in this area, has made it the prime location for money laundering. Thankfully, it seems the Government, spurred by a desire to sanction Russia, have […]
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My Social Democracy
Over the past forty years, politics has shifted radically, ebbed and flowed, and been shaped by the changing world around us, but the values that underpin my belief in modern social democracy have remained constant. So what does social democracy mean to me? Fundamentally, it’s centred around a strong sense of social justice, based on […]
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Should we replace the human rights act?
At the Conservative Party Conference in October 2021, Dominic Raab vowed to “overhaul” the HRA 1998 ending the nonsense of the act. The HRA 1998 came into force on 2 October 2000. Its principal aim was to “bring rights home”, by incorporating 16 of the fundamental human rights in the European Convention into UK law. The […]
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Creating better energy markets
With gas bills going up our current system is failing. Families are being pushed into a situation where they have to choose between heating their homes or eating properly. We also continue to rely on fossil fuels which contribute to climate change and have increased in price substantially. In order to prevent sharp increases in […]
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