Blogs by Tim Knox

04 June 2013 - Economy

Reading the headlines on Friday (31 May), it seemed that the EU’s proposals for a Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) were to be dropped. “Europe rows back on FTT plans “ announced the Daily Telegraph;  “The European Union is rowing back on its plan for an 11-nation tax on financial transactions” ...

22 May 2013 - Public Services

Following the riots of 2011, the idea of a new Free School staffed entirely by former military personnel was mooted by Tom Burkard and Affan Burki in a report they wrote for the Centre for Policy Studies. Their proposals were originally rejected by the DfE last year. “NEVER SURRENDER!” advised ...

22 May 2013 - Economy

This article is an excerpt from our Growth Bulletin, authored by Ryan Bourne and Tim Knox. To read the full article, click here. To sign up for our mailings, use the form on the left of our newsletter page.It is a generally accepted fact that in the long run, what matters for prosperity ...

09 April 2013 - Politics

CPS Director Tim Knox writes on the origin of arguably Lady Thatcher's most famous, and most mischaracterised, quote. Opinion pollsters know that they can never ask the question which they often most want to ask: “why do you say that?”Why? Because those five words can be interpreted in five subtly different ...

07 March 2013 -

This article is an excerpt from our Growth Bulletin, authored by Ryan Bourne and Tim Knox. To read the full article, click here. To sign up for our mailings, use the form on the left of our newsletter page. “An enormous amount of new money has been injected into the economy, now amounting to ...

07 December 2012 - Economy

This article is an excerpt from our Growth Bulletin, authored by Ryan Bourne and Tim Knox. To read the full article, click here. To sign up for our mailings, use the form on the left of our newsletter page. After two and a half years in office, Mrs Thatcher’s government had abolished exchange ...

27 July 2012 - Economy

Ryan Bourne and Tim Knox write on Wednesday's GDP figures and how a bold, positive vision for a more prosperous Britain is required.This article is an extract from our fortnightly growth bulletin, published today. To read it in full, click here. Wednesday’s GDP figures were truly abysmal. Many commentators have noted that ...

09 December 2011 - Europe

The Prime Minister’s decisive action last night is greatly welcome. By using the national veto, he has saved our sovereignty, our economic interests and his own reputation.But now comes the hard part. This is only the beginning of a new phase in our relationship with the club-within-a-club of the European ...

03 November 2011 - Economy

For too long, the UK Government and many leading UK institutions have failed to see the extraordinary threat to our national interest posed by the Tobin Tax (technically known as the Financial Transactions Tax and popularly known as the Robin Hood Tax). A Holy Trinity of Bill ...

20 May 2011 - Foreign Policy

“Teem, I vant diss pamphlet to be my svansunk.” My conversations with the great Professor Peter Bauer were always rather fraught. Over sixty years after leaving Budapest, he still spoke with a thick Hungarian accent. On top of that, he was now hard of hearing. And ...

02 March 2011 - General

The most bizarre couple of sentences that I have read recently came from Jonathan Powell's memoir, The New Machiavelli.Powell, then Chief of Staff to Tony Blair, is writing about the immediate aftermath of 9/11:"After 9/11 it was clear that military action was essential, but we were all a ...

22 February 2011 - Social Policy

Twenty years after Mrs Thatcher left office, we all still have a clear idea of what she stood for. Mention “Thatcherism” to anyone over the age of thirty and you will get a pretty clear response.  We don’t seem to be quite there yet with the Big ...

16 February 2011 - General

The Coalition has some bold ambitions. For example, David Cameron said that he wanted the new coalition administration to be "the greenest government ever" (speech, 13 May 2010). The Conservative Manifesto at the last election promised that “We will make Britain the most family-friendly country ...