Convert the UK from a monarchy to a republic

The monarch plays a crucial part in the UK’s political process, but their hands are tied by constitutional convention. The upshot is that whilst the monarch is Head of State their role is essentially ceremonial — there is the illusion that “royal…

Limit on MPs’ term of office

Many of our elected representatives have essentially had no career outside of politics, entering straight after university as an intern, special advisor or civil service fast tracker. We need to ensure that Parliament is more representative of the country as a whole, and in…

Scrap Universal Credit

When the Universal Credit concept was introduced in 2010 it sounded like a real step forwards — simplifying a complex and bewildering system of working-age benefits and ensuring that payments would taper as the recipient moved into work, avoiding the cliff edge that people had experienced…

About Rebooting Britain

Find out more about this site and why I created it.

In my day job as a Futurist I’ve spent quite a lot of time in and around Westminster, including giving evidence to the Education Select Committee on their enquiry into the…

Ban micro-targeted online political advertising

The recent Cambridge Analytica investigation by the DCMS Select Committee showed the extent to which the lack of any meaningful regulation of political advertising online is an existential threat to our democracy. Anyone can turn up and post…

VAT exemption for those most in need

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, 43% (23 million) of the UK’s 54 million adults have such low incomes that they do not pay income tax. However, everyone is taxed indirectly through VAT for all but a small set of VAT exempt items such as children’s…

A written constitution for the UK

Over 150 countries have a written constitution that sets out how they are governed. The UK is one of a handful of countries that relies on precedence and convention. This means that the governing party has enormous latitude in what it choses to do, and constitutional…

Resilience measures for the climate crisis

The UK is a minor direct contributor to global warming, and a very large indirect contributor — e.g. through system effects like food miles. We are already starting to see significant effects in terms of extreme weather and communities like Fairbourne in…

Withdraw the whip, for good

One of the biggest structural problems we have in UK politics is that we elect MPs to represent us, but then whatever our own and their views on the issues of the day, they are whipped to follow the party line.

Education reform — SEND funding

When the National Association of Head Teachers surveyed their members on Special Educational Needs provision in 2018 they found significant systemic problems with funding, delays in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process, shortcomings in 2/3s of EHCPs, and…