Yesterday the FSA set out new rules for mortgage lending. The new rules were positively received as a way to prevent the excessive risk taking that occurred in the run up to the financial crisis when people were clearly sold unaffordable mortgages. This tightening of the standards comes almost a month after the Government pledged… [Read More]
By David Green The Telegraph’s brilliant exposure of the behaviour of some exam boards should not be dismissed with a couple of sacrificial sackings. It revealed profound flaws, not just in our school system, but also in the way our democracy is currently functioning. The attitudes behind the scandal are closely allied to the self-serving… [Read More]
Sigrid Rausing offers a powerful and clear defence of keeping European Court of Human Rights’ decisions superior to the democratic will of Parliament. But her argument is lacking in a number of important respects and, in the end, risks weakening the power of the concept of human rights to command reasoned agreement in a democratic… [Read More]
The UK woke up reeling from the astonishing news that Prime Minister David Cameron has walked out of an EU Summit and effectively removed the UK from EU treaty negotiations: treaty negotiations which were aimed at ‘salvaging’ the Eurozone. Not just making headlines in the UK; it seems David Cameron’s decision has captured attention across… [Read More]
IT is not just higher borrowing and lower growth that is grabbing the headlines. Despite the Government’s attempt to rebalance the economy, Britain is struggling to increase goods exports and the resurgence in manufacturing hoped for by ministers is not coming. It is a question seldom asked when discussing the country’s economic woes, but is… [Read More]
Universities are educating 6,000 fewer British engineers a year than 10 years ago British universities are adding fewer STEM subject graduates to the labour market than total student figures suggest, according to a new Civitas report. The STEM subject push by Stephen L. Clarke finds that the number of overseas students attending British universities to… [Read More]
By Lucy Hatton Next week’s EU Summit provides the perfect opportunity to review Serbia’s progress towards EU membership – a contentious issue since Serbia applied in 2009. Earlier this year it was suggested that Serbia might be granted official candidate status at the EU Summit on Friday (9th December), yet this is looking increasingly unlikely,… [Read More]
Civitas is now on Facebook, find us here at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Civitas-the-Institute-for-the-Study-of-Civil-Society/281404671895147 A convenient place for Facebook users to keep up to date with all our research and activities!
‘Equalities industry’ undermines true equality As youth unemployment rises to record levels, a new Civitas report reveals that British workplaces spend up to a billion pounds a year complying with clumsy equality legislation. The costs put particular strain on public sector organisations, as well as making it more difficult for businesses to create and retain… [Read More]
Our friends at the Acton Institute send word of a fascinating conference in London on foreign aid and prosperity: Please join us for this unique day-long conference exploring questions of the limits and unintended consequences of aid, the emergence of cultures and institutions that facilitate economic growth, and the place of business in poverty-alleviation. Thursday,… [Read More]