Podcasts
Is the Labour government delivering on its promises?
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Grace Blakeley and David Edgerton

21 February 2025

Half a year ago, the Labour Party swept into power with a huge parliamentary majority and Kier Starmer celebrated by saying that the country could ​“get its future back”.
Today, Labour are dogged by low approval ratings, having upset everyone from environmentalists to pensioners, farmers to small-business owners.
And just last week Reform overtook both the Conservatives and Labour in a poll of voting intentions — suggesting the public are already looking

Blog
Whose growth is it anyway?
As mayors and councils prepare their local growth plans, the RORE programme looks at how a less extractive model would benefit us all

By
Tabitha Hamilton, Emmet Kiberd
20 February 2025

In December, the government set a key milestone for its economic growth mission — raising living standards in every part of the UK by the end of the parliament. Achieving this will not be easy. Since 2009/​10, we have been living through a period of historically weak income growth and in 2022/​23 we saw the

Blog
How local services are showing there is another way to provide for communities
While the government looks to cut public spending, the Social Guarantee has found examples of local service providers finding innovative ways to meet needs

By
Harry Ewart-Biggs, Anna Coote
18 February 2025

With the Comprehensive Spending Review just around the corner, the outlook doesn’t look positive for public services. Under growing pressure to deliver growth, but with an aversion to borrowing more or raising taxes, the Chancellor is

Blog
The Bank of England is costing us billions
New figures show the Treasury is to give the Bank £130bn over the next five years to cover its losses. That could pay for half a million social homes

By
Dominic Caddick
17 February 2025

With rumours circulating that the government seeks to cut £3bn from disability payments, it seems surprising the Treasury appears willing to hand over £26bn a year to the Bank of England without any fuss. One would be forgiven for wondering: why does a central bank, which can create money, need such large

Podcasts
Why should the left care about central banks?
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Dominic Caddick and Sebastian Mang

13 February 2025

The price of your food shop rocketed because of inflation and now your mortgage is going up hundreds of pounds because the Bank of England decided to increase interest rates. You might be struggling to make ends meet and wondering why our central bank has made your life more difficult.
Across the pond Donald Trump is putting pressure on the American central bank to lower its interest rates, saying he knows more about it than Federal Reserve policymakers. It

Podcasts
What’s new in the fight for workers’ rights
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Kate Bell

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
31 January 2025

Do you work from home? Then you’re probably not doing proper work, and you’re causing the UK’s economic decline! At least that’s what the former boss of Asda and M&S said last week. Meanwhile, gig economy Deliveroo riders have launched a new campaign for greater openness around the opaque algorithms that rule their working lives. It’s clear with new technology comes new battles for workers.
So what is working

Publications
Forecasting a better future
The case for a ‘bucket approach’ to fiscal multipliers and more

By
Dominic Caddick, Chaitanya Kumar
31 January 2025

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UK fiscal forecasting currently relies on rigid fiscal multiplier assumptions that constrain effective government policy. Fiscal multipliers, which measure the impact of government spending on gross domestic product (GDP), are central to economic forecasting but are applied too narrowly,

Publications
A blueprint for warmer homes
How to deliver a retrofit revolution

By
Chaitanya Kumar, Christian Jaccarini, Paulo Yunda
30 January 2025

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Decarbonising the UK’s homes is an immense challenge, often described as the biggest infrastructural undertaking of the 21st century. According to estimates from the Climate Change Committee (CCC), approximately £315bn in funding is required to achieve the necessary upgrades. A

Publications
NEF review of the year 2024
Highlights from the last 12 months

20 December 2024

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As I come to the end of my first year at NEF and the end of another tumultuous year for the UK and the world, I have been reflecting on the difference between ​‘optimism’ and ​‘hope’.
As you may have seen, earlier this year I published a book, Power to the People, about how citizen action can change the world for the better and make this the century of the citizen. In interviews and events about the book, I am often asked how I

Blog
Top 9 NEF highlights of 2024
Celebrating all the successes of this year

20 December 2024

2024 marked another busy year for NEF. We were joined by our new chief exec Danny Sriskandarajah in January, and just five months later watched a new party take control of the government for the first time in 14 years. From in-depth research to TV interviews, organising to podcasts, we spent 2024 working with people igniting change from below and conducting rigorous research to fight for change at the top.
NEF will continue to push this government to redesign the economy so it improves people’s lives, and

Podcasts
What are we getting wrong about tax
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Sara Hall and Hannah Peaker

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
19 December 2024

Last week hundreds of tractors drove through Parliament Square. It was the latest protest by UK farmers against changes to inheritance tax announced by the chancellor. From farmers’ protests to the poll-tax riots in the 90s, the amount of tax we pay to the government churns up intense emotions. We want to rescue our cash-strapped public services — but most of us are reluctant to pay more tax.
Do

Publications
Moving forward
Imagining a sustainable transport system

By
Anna Coote, Harry Ewart-Biggs
18 December 2024

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This briefing paper examines transport in the UK from the perspective of universal basic services (UBS), which makes the case for meeting human needs within planetary boundaries. It considers the implications for transforming the transport system to achieve that goal.
Through the UBS lens, transport is addressed as eco-social

Blog
Homes for Us summit 2024: what are the next steps in the fight for housing justice?
Almost 100 housing activists came together at the Homes for Us summit – here’s what they thought the priorities should be for the housing movement

By
Abi O’Connor, Homes for Us Alliance
12 December 2024

This autumn, almost 100 housing activists from across England and Wales came together in London for the inaugural Homes for Us Alliance (HFU) Summit. The aim of this summit was to highlight housing injustices and strategically build on

Podcasts
Can BlackRock save the UK economy
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Daniela Gabor and Aveek Bhattacharya

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
09 December 2024

Last month, Keir Starmer and chancellor Rachel Reeves sat opposite senior executives from one of the most powerful financial institutions on the planet. The asset management firm BlackRock is worth ten trillion dollars — and this government wants them to invest in the UK. From housebuilding to sewage systems to the NHS, private companies are deeply intertwined with our essential public

Publications
Reducing interest rates for clean energy investments
How the Bank of England can better protect against inflation and contribute to lower energy bills

By
Theo Harris
02 December 2024

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Fossil fuel prices were the primary factor in the recent spike of inflation and the ensuing cost of living crisis. The Office for National Statistics has shown that energy-price effects (direct and indirect) accounted for three-quarters of the 10.4% consumer price index

Blog
We need more than a tax on the super rich to deliver climate and economic justice
In the wake of the G20 and COP29, it’s more important than ever for global leaders to focus on tackling extreme wealth inequalities

By
Fernanda Balata
21 November 2024

This November, global attention turned to two major events shaping our future: the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro and COP29 in Azerbaijan. As these summits conclude, the challenges they sought to address – economic inequality and the climate crisis – demand bolder, more urgent action.

Publications
Building hope
How land reforms will help deliver the homes we need

By
Alex Diner
20 November 2024

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The UK’s dysfunctional land market is one of the key drivers of our broken housing model. Reforming it is therefore vital to address the housing crisis. This research identifies the extent of public gain if the government builds on its predecessor’s reforms to limit the impact of ​‘hope value’ on land valuations subject to Compulsory Purchase Order.
This

Podcasts
Are oil and gas workers the coalminers of our generation?
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Anna Carthy and Mika Minio-Paluello

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
19 November 2024

The International Energy Agency has said that the world cannot develop any new oil and gas fields if we are to stop climate breakdown. Keir Starmer has promised that the UK will slash its emissions faster than ever before and his government is banning new licences to drill for fossil fuels in the North Sea. Drilling in the wild waters of the North Sea has been a major

Publications
Trapped behind the wheel
How England’s new builds lock us into car dependency

By
Emmet Kiberd, Benedikt Straňák
18 November 2024

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The places we live in and how we get around are key ways in which the economy shapes our everyday lives. Each is dependent on the other. But far from moving our economy towards sustainability and improved wellbeing, England’s new homes in recent years have increasingly encouraged car-dependent lifestyles.

Blog
The autumn budget: A step in the right direction but still falling short
There were some welcome wins in Labour’s first budget, though it’s unlikely to deliver the change we need on inequality and public services

By
Amy Clancy
04 November 2024

In many ways, this was a brave first budget from the chancellor. By redefining public debt, the chancellor opened the door for increased investment in vital infrastructure. This bold move is more than just a budget tweak; it represents a significant shake-up of the fiscal rules. However, investing in

Podcasts
What to make of the Labour government’s first budget?
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by James Meadway and Hannah Peaker

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
01 November 2024

The Autumn Budget was the most significant since George Osborne implemented austerity in 2010. Rachel Reeves announced one hundred billion pounds for infrastructure, forty billion in tax rises and a whole host of policy changes, which she hopes will deliver Labour’s mission of national economic renewal. But what does an extra hundred billion pounds mean for the UK? Are we

Publications
Building the homes we need
The economic and social value of investing in a new generation of social housing

By
Alex Diner, Sam Tims, Rhiannon Williams
29 October 2024

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Everybody needs an affordable, safe, secure home to build a foundation for themselves and their families. But our housing system is broken, failing to deliver these fundamentals and leading to rising housing insecurity, unaffordability, record

Publications
The OBR’s fiscal powers need a rethink
Outdated fiscal assumptions are limiting the chancellor’s spending power by £8bn a year

By
Dominic Caddick
28 October 2024

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The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the UK’s official fiscal forecaster, doesn’t often receive the spotlight before a budget. Yet its forecasts and calculations become gospel to whatever new policies the chancellor chooses to preach. In fact, at this upcoming budget our analysis shows

Publications
Solid foundations
Local investment need for a decade of renewal

By
Benedikt Straňák, Emmet Kiberd
24 October 2024

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The physical infrastructure of everyday life in England is broken. Millions in the country have unmet housing need, our homes are not well insulated, we are burning gas for electricity and large swathes of the country have grossly inadequate public transport systems. There is a geography to England’s neglect – four of

Publications
Capping ambitions
Recognising the economic benefits of reducing child poverty by scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap

By
Sam Tims
20 October 2024

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The introduction of a cross-departmental taskforce dedicated to reducing child poverty is a positive signal of intent from the new government. The drivers of poverty are wide-ranging, and a serious government response must be as well. That the strategy will explore all available levers is welcome,

Publications
A frequent flying levy in Europe
The moral, economic and legal case

By
Alex Chapman, Sebastian Mang, Magdalena Heuwieser
17 October 2024

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Read the report in translation:
FrenchSpanishRomanianEuropean air traffic presents one of the continent’s largest obstacles to halting climate breakdown and achieving the climate goals subscribed to in international and European law. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector’s

Podcasts
100 days of Labour: great success or bit of a mess?
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Aditya Chakrabortty and Ailbhe Rea

By
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith
14 October 2024

By the time this episode comes out, the new Labour government will have been in charge of the country for one hundred days. So what do we know about how they’ll run the economy? Can they rescue our threadbare public services while promising a tight grip on government spending? And will their focus on growth deliver real change for those who need it most?
Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is

Blog
The new national wealth fund could raise £100bn of private finance — here’s how
Empowering the new national wealth fund to issue green bonds on private markets, could leverage £14bn of private sector investment for every £1bn of Treasury funding

By
Theo Harris
14 October 2024

Today is a big day for Rachel Reeves as she prepares to woo international investors by announcing more details about Labour’s green industrial strategy at the showpiece International Investment Summit. The government’s new national wealth fund (NWF) is the lynchpin of

Blog
Calling time on fiscal rules
As the Chancellor weighs up making changes to the fiscal rules, we take a look at some of the available options

By
Chaitanya Kumar
27 September 2024

The government’s fiscal rules have moved up the agenda significantly in recent weeks. From the preserve of academics and think tanks, the term now features regularly in newspaper headlines and broadcast bulletins. Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) has just this week called on the Chancellor to reconsider her fiscal rules

Publications
Strong public services for a prosperous Europe
Building on Enrico Letta’s vision for a stronger single market

By
Sebastian Mang
24 September 2024

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This July, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta published a report arguing for prioritising public services, referred to as services of general interest (SGIs). This briefing outlines Letta’s case for strengthening the European Union (EU) single market and presents policy recommendations to make this