Press releases

HomePress Releases
February 24, 2022

Government adopts Bright Blue policy of extending student loan repayment period to 40 years

Bright Blue responds to the Government’s official response to the Augar Review and its new reforms to the student finance system Commenting, Ryan Shorthouse, Director of Bright Blue, said: "The…
HomePress Releases
February 24, 2022

Bright Blue: The UK and EU must work together on shared climate threat

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, and Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the German centre-right think tank, have today published a new essay collection entitled Fast track? European climate…
HomePress Releases
February 9, 2022

Bright Blue: Benefit claimants had poorer financial, mental, and social wellbeing in pandemic 

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published new analysis, entitled Sustained pressure? The analysis reveals the extent to which benefit claimants, both those on Universal…
HomePress Releases
February 3, 2022

Bright Blue: The Government’s response to spiralling energy prices need to be better targeted

Responding to today's publication of the Government’s plan to combat rising energy prices, Patrick Hall, Senior Research Fellow at Bright Blue, commented: "The Chancellor had little choice but to intervene…
HomePress Releases
January 30, 2022

Bright Blue: Reduce the rate of National Insurance on employers

Bright Blue: Reduce the rate of National Insurance on employers  Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published a major new report commissioned by its high-profile…
HomePress Releases
January 28, 2022

Grant Shapps MP: Going green isn’t to blame for rising prices

Speaking to Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps MP, has challenged those who blame the rise in energy prices…
HomePress Releases
January 27, 2022

Bright Blue evidence flooding and nature-based solutions is published by the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee

Evidence from In deep water? Mapping the impacts of flooding in the UK since 2007, submitted by Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has been published by…
HomePress Releases
January 19, 2022

Bright Blue: Government failing to impress public and its 2019 voters

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published analysis of new polling conducted by Techne UK revealing how the UK general public assesses the performance of…
HomePress Releases
January 5, 2022

Bright Blue: Enable Sunday trading laws to be suspended during major flooding events

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today released new research, entitled In deep water? Mapping the impacts of flooding in the UK since 2007, revealing the…
HomePress Releases
December 23, 2021

Bright Blue: Legally oblige landlords to provide tenants with a decent internet connection

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today released a major new report, entitled No place like home? The benefits and challenges of home working, revealing the…
HomePress Releases
December 8, 2021

Bright Blue: Introduce the right to ten days of domestic abuse leave annually

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today called for the UK Government to introduce a new automatic right for employees to ten days of domestic abuse…
HomePress Releases
December 1, 2021

Bright Blue: Ban the sale of all non-flushable wet wipes which contain plastic

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today launched a major new petition, supported by a range of charities and water companies, urging governments across the UK…
2021 EventsHomePress Releases
November 10, 2021

COP26

Bright Blue is delighted to announce our fringe event programme at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). You do not need a pass to attend any of our…
HomePress Releases
October 27, 2021

Bright Blue: A Budget of Brexit Blairism

For further comment or to arrange an interview please get in touch with Joseph Silke: joseph@brightblue.org.uk or 07948 420 584.  Commenting on the Budget and Spending Review, Ryan Shorthouse, Chief…
HomePress Releases
October 19, 2021

Bright Blue: Questions remain on how net zero will be delivered by 2050

Responding to today's publication of the Government’s new Net Zero Strategy, Patrick Hall, Senior Research Fellow at Bright Blue, commented: "The Government ought to be applauded for delivering one of…
HomePress Releases
October 19, 2021

Bright Blue: The Government’s Heat and Building Strategy doesn’t meet the scale of the challenge

Responding to today's publication of the Government’s new Heat and Building Strategy, Patrick Hall, Senior Research Fellow at Bright Blue, commented: "The Government appears to have learned some of the…
2021 EventsHomeParty Conferences 2021Press Releases
October 3, 2021

Party Conferences 2021

Bright Blue is delighted to announce our fringe event programme at the 2021 Conservative Party Conference. We are running 27 events with over 100 speakers. You can join us in…
HomePress Releases
October 3, 2021

Bright Blue: Over 1 million UC claimants have received financial support from family and/or friends during the pandemic

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published new analysis, entitled Beyond the safety net? It reveals the extent to which Universal Credit claimants have received…
HomePress Releases
September 23, 2021

Government adopts Bright Blue’s policy of making the right to request flexible working a right from day one

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, responds to the Government announcement on making flexible working the default, which adopts Bright Blue's policy of ensuring workers can request…
HomePress Releases
September 9, 2021

Bright Blue evidence on the benefits system in Wales is published by the Welsh Affairs Committee

Evidence from Helping hand? Improving Universal Credit, submitted by Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has been published by the Welsh Affairs Committee as part of their…
HomePress Releases
September 7, 2021

Bright Blue: More taxation of assets rather than work would make social care funding fairer

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, responds to the Government's new Plan for Health and Social Care announced today. Ryan Shorthouse, Chief Executive of Bright Blue, commented: “With…
HomePress Releases
September 6, 2021

Sir Alan Duncan: ‘Global Britain’ is an “utterly meaningless” and “vacuous” slogan, not a proper foreign policy

Speaking to Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, the former deputy to Boris Johnson at the Foreign Office, Sir Alan Duncan, has slated the Government’s foreign policy…
HomePress Releases
August 16, 2021

Bright Blue: Increase littering fines to protect nature and the taxpayer

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today launched a major new petition, in partnership with the Daily Express, urging governments across the United Kingdom to increase…
HomePress Releases
August 3, 2021

Bright Blue: Almost 1 in 5 benefit claimants have experienced or fear they will experience domestic abuse

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published new analysis, entitled Under stress? The experiences of benefit claimants during the pandemic. The analysis reveals the distinct…
HomePress Releases
July 28, 2021

Bright Blue: New carbon taxation and dividend needed to reach net zero by 2050

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published a major new report commissioned by its high-profile cross-party, cross-sector Tax Commission, entitled Green money: a plan to…
HomePress Releases
July 19, 2021

Bright Blue: UK public wants nature at the heart of policymaking

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published a unique and comprehensive analysis, entitled Nature positive?, of UK public attitudes towards the value of the natural…
HomePress Releases
July 14, 2021

Government adopts Bright Blue policy of ensuring the central government vehicle fleet will be zero emission as soon as possible

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, responds to the announcement of the Government's Transport Decarbonisation Plan, which adopts Bright Blue's policy of ensuring all 40,000 vehicles in central…
HomePress Releases
July 13, 2021

Government adopts Bright Blue policy of discretionary suspensions of the Minimum Income Floor for Universal Credit claimants

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, responds to the Government's legislative plans enabling work coaches to allow discretionary suspensions of the Minimum Income Floor for self-employed Universal…
HomePress Releases
June 30, 2021

Government adopts Bright Blue policy of accelerating the phase-out of coal

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, responds to the Government's announcement that it is bringing forward the deadline for the phase-out of coal by a year to…
HomePress Releases
June 14, 2021

Government adopts Bright Blue policy of ensuring all new UK bilateral aid is spent in a way that does no harm to nature

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, welcomes the Government's commitment in its response to the Dasgupta Review that it is taking steps to ensure all new UK…
HomePress Releases
June 14, 2021

Bright Blue: Almost half of long-term Universal Credit claimants had fallen behind on household bills during the Covid-19 pandemic

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published new analysis, entitled Benefit to all? Financial experience of Universal Credit claimants during the pandemic. It reveals the…
HomePress Releases
May 20, 2021

Bright Blue: Annual Proportional Property Tax the best system for levelling up the country

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published a major new report commissioned by its high-profile cross-party, cross-sector Tax Commission, entitled Home truths: options for reforming…
HomePress Releases
May 11, 2021

Bright Blue responds to the 2021 Queen’s Speech

Commenting on the 2021 Queen’s Speech, Ryan Shorthouse, Chief Executive of Bright Blue, said:   “Blown off course and utterly consumed by Covid-19, the Government now – with the UK vaccination…
HomePress Releases
May 5, 2021

Bright Blue opens new call for written evidence on the social security system after COVID-19

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, is conducting a call for written evidence to inform the development of a project exploring the future of social security system…
HomePress Releases
May 4, 2021

Government adopts Bright Blue policy of extending the Youth Mobility Visa scheme to India

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, responds to the Government's announcement of a new migration partnership between the UK and India. Responding, Joseph Silke, Communications Officer at…
HomePress Releases
May 3, 2021

Bright Blue: Almost 1 in 5 young adults have experienced or fear they will experience domestic abuse

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published new analysis, entitled Increasingly precarious? Young adults during the pandemic. The analysis reveals the distinct financial, psychological and…
HomePress Releases
April 20, 2021

Government adopts Bright Blue policy of including international aviation and shipping in new carbon budgets

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, responds to the Government's announcement of a new target in law to slash emissions by 78% by 2035, incorporating the UK’s…
HomePress Releases
March 22, 2021

Bright Blue: More than 4 in 10 households in some London boroughs now claiming housing support thanks to Covid-19

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published new analysis, entitled Shaky foundations, showing that the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic is exacerbating the housing…
HomePress Releases
March 8, 2021

Sarah Sands appointed as Chair of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, is thrilled to announce that the Chair of Bright Blue, Sarah Sands, has been appointed as the Chair of the G7…
HomePress Releases
March 3, 2021

Bright Blue responds to the Budget 2021

For further comment or to arrange an interview please get in touch with Joseph Silke: joseph@brightblue.org.uk or 07948 420 584.  Commenting on the Budget, Ryan Shorthouse, CEO of Bright Blue,…
HomePress Releases
February 26, 2021

Bright Blue: Turn away from Thatcherism and look to East Asia on economic policy, Tory policy chief Neil O’Brien MP urges

Speaking to Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, Chair of the Conservative Policy Board, Neil O’Brien OBE MP, has urged the Conservative Government to move away from…
HomePress Releases
February 9, 2021

Bright Blue: UK exporting firms overwhelming back more climate action from UKEF

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published a new report entitled Toward Green Export Finance? Investigating the views of UK exporting firms towards UKEF. The…
HomePress Releases
February 4, 2021

Nikita Malik appointed as the new Deputy Director of Bright Blue

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, is delighted to announce that Nikita Malik has been appointed as its new Deputy Director. Commenting on her appointment, Nikita Malik…
HomePress Releases
February 4, 2021

Bright Blue: More radical policies needed to boost uptake of both new and used EVs

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published a new report, entitled Driving uptake: maturing the market for battery electric vehicles, which proposes a mixture of…
HomePress Releases
February 2, 2021

Government adopts Bright Blue policy on banning bottom trawling in marine protected areas

Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, responds to the Government's new proposals to prohibit the use of bottom trawling fishing in four of England's key marine protected…