Onward Bulletin 07/09/2021
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IN THE NEWS
The speech at Onward last week by Chris Stark, Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee, received coverage in the Daily Telegraph, BusinessGreen News, the Guardian, TheEnergyst, and EndsReport.
The findings of our recent report, Qualifying for the race to net zero, were cited in FarmingLife, referring to the net zero skills gap in the UK’s supply chains.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Next week, we are delighted to be hosting Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE, Chief Executive of Green Finance Institute and Hubert Keller, Senior Managing Partner of Lombard Odier Group to discuss Private Capital for Public Good. Register here to join.
The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) conference begins this Friday and with it Scottish independence may well re-emerge on the UK political agenda. The SNP’s newly formed coalition with the Green Party, which is as much an independence party as an environmental one, raises the stakes - and gives the Scottish Government a theoretical majority to push through the SNP’s controversial referendum bill.
Yet there is reason to doubt whether Scottish people share the SNP’s enthusiasm for separatism right now.
In State of Union, which we published last March, voters displayed little appetite for a referendum soon: just 13 per cent wanted one this year and a further 22 per cent next year. Indeed, more wanted one after 2027 or never than in the next two years. More recent polling doesn’t suggest that this picture has changed.
The truth is that Scottish voters are - like the rest of the UK - still focused on the pandemic and the economic recovery. This has become increasingly pressing in recent weeks as cases in Scotland have skyrocketed. The highest case rate in the UK is in Scotland - in South Lanarkshire - where the case rate per 100,000 people is 1,026. Nationally, the case rate in Scotland is 793 per 100,000, compared to 309 in England, 465 in Wales and 546 in Northern Ireland.
In this light, the SNP’s conference agenda seems out of touch with current needs. The Conference’s three main policy themes: independence, 2022 council elections and climate change bizarrely take no account of coronavirus at all and instead focus squarely on the party’s restive nationalist base.
This exposes the key problem for the SNP: their narrow focus on independence prevents them from delivering elsewhere. In our research, we found that Scottish voters are more inclined to favour collaboration with the UK Government than isolationism. On issues like climate change, economic recovery post-pandemic and health and social care, 57, 52 and 52 per cent respectively favoured a closer working relationship between the UK and Scottish Governments than independence.
For Westminster, this should mean a renewed focus on strengthening the Union. Ultimately, the UK cannot bank on this breathing space lasting forever, and the polls, while better, remain some way off where they need to be for the Union to be secure. Too often Westminster has fallen into a pattern of panic-then-neglect on the Union. This time, Unionists must take care of our precious constitutional inheritance.
Policy Bites
A public consultation has been opened to discuss making the planning and licensing reforms, that helped the hospitality industry through the pandemic, permanent. Link.
A £7 million boost in funding has been announced for local air improvement projects through the Government’s Air Quality Grant, taking the total this year to £9 million Link.
The Department for Education has set out plans for two new projects to support young people at risk of violence to enter education and employment opportunities. The projects will be available across 21 areas beginning in November. Link.
Quick Links
The Changing Labour Market: Rupert Harrison writes in the Evening Standard about the impact of new technology on economic growth. Link.
The Tertiary Education Revolution: Jesse Norman MP writes in ConservativeHome about how a new tertiary education institute is revolutionising education. Link.
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