A weekly roundup of publications, reports, events & articles from the leading UK think tanks.

This week’s ‘must read’ item is the Theos report on the role of Christianity in Britain today, not because I agree with every word but because it’s a provocative read, particularly for those on the liberal / left. Other than that enjoy and as ever please flag anything I may have missed. Also if anyone would like to be included in the email version please let me know…

Reports & Publications…

• Liberal think-tank CentreForum published a report on Academies and the future or state education – ‘Featuring a foreword from Schools Minister Andrew Adonis, this collection brings together the leaders of some of the most successful academies to explain how they have made these previously failing schools so popular with parents’.
• The Foreign Policy Centre published ‘Global Politics After 9/11: The Democratiya Interviews’ – a ‘series of conversations about the dilemmas of progressive foreign policy after 9/11’ edited by Alan Johnson.
• The Hansard Society have published a report called “Law in the Making: Influence and Change in the Legislative Process”. The report “analyses the influences and elements that come together in making an act of Parliament. It looks at the role of external actors such as, the media, voluntary organisations, governmental bodies, professional associations and businesses, as well as Parliament and government departments in the process of making the law”. Note: this report isn’t available for free download but can be ordered here.
• The Institute of Economic Affairs published “The Economics of Fair Trade: A Christian Perspective” – arguing that the promotion of fair trade in schools ‘has often degenerated into crude anti-capitalist propaganda’.
• The New Local Government Network weigh in on the topic of the moment with a report entitled ‘Gangs at the Grassroots: Community solutions to street violence’. Author Anthony Brand warns the Government to “avoid using centralised policies to tackle gang violence and knife crime” and allow local areas “to introduce interventions based on local factors”
• Theos, the ‘public theology think tank’ published “Neither Private nor Privileged: The Role of Christianity in Britain Today”. The report “rejects calls to privatise religious faith but insists that the nature of the church’s involvement with government should differ according to the ‘moral orientations’ of the state at any given time”
• Reform launched a report called “A New Reality: Government and the IPOD generation”. Reform have dubbed 18 to 34 year olds the ‘IPODs’ because they are ‘Insecure, Pressurised, Over-taxed and Debt-ridden’ and this report aims to ‘understand what kind of government IPODs want to see and the relationship they want to have with government’.

Articles & Briefings…

• Shadow Chancellor George Osborne delivered the Centre for Policy Studies’ 2008 Annual Lecture. Speaking on the long-term economic goals of a future Conservative administration he set out the now familiar themes of our ‘broken society’ and achieving progressive ends via conservative means.
• With an extract from the next review Fabian Society director Tom Hampson ignited a row around the use of the word ‘chav’ and whether or not it’s discriminatory and insulting. Also from the Fabian Society a speech by Pensions Minister Mike O’Brien of the five big issues presented by an ageing society and how the government might address them.
• An IPPR press release suggested the ‘public are more receptive to Personal Carbon Trading than policy makers believe’. Senior Research Fellow Matthew Lockwood says ‘our research show that the public may be more receptive to PCT than other proposals and suggests politicians should give serious consideration to this option’.
• On CiF on Saturday IPPR visiting Fellow Michael Kenny took issue with iPod Democracy and Hazel Blears community white paper.
• Niall Dickson at the Kings Fund looks at ‘Making Darzi’s vision a reality’ – “The history of NHS reform is littered with good intentions – there have been countless attempts to make the service more efficient, more responsive and providing higher standards of care. The stumbling block has often been in translating high ambitions into tangible results.”
• At Compass Jonathan Rutherford looks at how the debate on fatherhood is taking centre stage in politics again.

Events & Meetings…

• The Bow Group are hosting a discussion on the Value of War Reporting with guest speaker Professor Jake Lynch, ex-BBC reporter and presenter, on Monday 21st July 2008 at 6:30pm. Contact for details.
• The RSA & the Encyclopaedia Britannica are hosting a debate called “Do schoolchildren and students know how to research?” – “In the age of user-generated content and the instant search result, how can we encourage critical analysis of the ‘wisdom of crowds’? How can we help young people in the education system towards the platform of intellectual confidence that is a characteristic of growing up and underpins all contributory citizenship?” The debate is on Monday 22nd July @ 18.00 and you can book here.

People…

• ·Richard Reeves replaces Catherine Fieschi as Director at Demos. Richard is a former director of futures at The Work Foundation and has worked as an economics and social affairs journalist for both The Guardian and The Observer. He’s also the author of ‘John Stuart Mill – Victorian Firebrand’, an intellectual biography of the liberal philosopher.