In this e-bulletin:

• Closing thoughts
• What actually happened this year?
• A thank you

BUT FIRST...

A Year in Review
 

2020 has been quite the year for all of us. So much has happened even if it feels like we've been stuck in a time warp. I wouldn’t blame you if you missed something we did or forgot entirely, so I thought we’d take the time to give you a rundown of our highlights. Stick with us...

Hong Kong: In May, the Government announced they would extend visa rights to all British Nationals (Overseas) and their dependents. Following aggression from China and an authoritarian national security law, the Government ensured that BN(O) passport holders will gain residency rights and work rights in the UK, providing a lifeline for millions of oppressed people. The ASI has strongly recommended such support, including in a 2019 paper, Doing our Duty by Hong Kong, and a 1989 call for residency rights for Hong Kongers. 

Testing: We were one of the earliest critics of the Government’s overly-centralised approach to Covid-19 testing. Our rapid response paper on testing, Testing Times: the urgent need to decentralise Covid-19 diagnostic testing in the UK, published in the first days of April, outlined how the UK had, very early on, fallen to the bottom of the international league table for testing. We noted that the only way the government could meet the needs of the country would be to decentralise testing and allow private labs, universities, and charities to assist in testing. Our report made it into all the papers and onto the desks of policy makers and shapers. Eventually, Public Health England and the government heeded our warnings and opened up testing to private actors. This would be considered a turning point in the UK’s approach to testing. We then continued to provide commentary throughout the year on how to improve testing and contact tracing by embracing innovative technologies (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). 

Track and trace app: The Government abandoned its ill-conceived plans for an NHS contact tracing app and instead opted for a more decentralized Apple-Google approach. We had been warning that NHSX wasn’t up to the job for months ahead of the change, highlighting serious concerns about privacy, bugs, battery life and ultimately the risk that it wouldn’t be effective at saving lives. Our comments were featured on MailOnline, The Telegraph (and here and here) and Guido. 

Public Health England: Speaking of overly-centralised public health response...the ASI has long been critical of the bloated public health body which spends more time and taxpayer money telling us what we can and cannot eat or drink instead of overseeing pandemic preparedness. We led public commentary about PHE's dismal pandemic response (here, here, and here). They refused to adapt to circumstances and involve the private sector when needed. The defunct body is being replaced...and we’ll be sure to keep an eye on its successor. 

Restaurant & pub support: The ASI’s paper Winning the Peace, cited in multiple media outlets, outlined the economic challenge we face and how to move forward. Several of the ASI’s early calls for relaxation of onerous regulation in the face of unprecedented restrictions on trading were adopted by the Government, mainly allowing restaurants and pubs to serve on the pavement outside their premises and immediately be allowed to offer takeaway.

Furlough & Business support schemes: Given the choice to artificially suspend trading for businesses across the country, we called for (but never used –– Ed.) the furlough and business support schemes as a necessary support mechanism. As part of ‘freezing’ the economy, we identified them as a tool to help businesses stay solvent. In our Winning the Peace paper we also outlined our vision for rolling back the support when the time comes. 

E-scooters: The ASI’s paper, Safe to Scoot: How Legalising E-scooters Will Save Lives, Bust Congestion and Help the Environment, came out at the start of February. It received coverage on BBC News, CityAM, Telegraph, and Spiked. In June, the Government began legalising the devices through limited trial programmes.

Housing policy: After over 10 years advocating for housing policy reform, this year we have seen some encouraging movement towards fixing the housing crisis. Through our work with MHCLG and Secretary of State Robert Jenrick, we have been able to see our long-fought proposals put into a Government White Paper.

Among our adopted proposals are:

• Street votes for development approval
• Expand rights to develop upwards
• The extensions of Permitted Development Rights to allow easier conversion between commercial and residential properties 
• Devolution of planning laws from the national level to the local with design codes
• Moving democracy upfront with a commitment to regular rules-based development and a move away from costly arbitrary political decisions on planning

Bloody Well Pay Them, by Peter Jaworski makes the case for remunerated blood plasma donations in order to increase supply of lifesaving blood plasma and fill shortage gaps. The United Kingdom imports 100% of its supply of blood plasma, Canada (84%), Australia (52%), and New Zealand (13%). They are increasingly dependent on imports for blood plasma from countries that remunerate donors. By paying for blood plasma, we can significantly increase supply, reduce costs, and create domestic stock.

Bloody Well Pay Them was heavily referenced in debate in Alberta, resulting in a change in legislation to allow blood plasma donors to receive compensation. We hope that the UK will follow suit and begin blood plasma donor remuneration.

Trade and Business advisory: This year we were honoured to serve as expert representatives on two Government advisory bodies. I was a member of Business Secretary Alok Sharma’s business roundtable series. We specifically focused on keeping the UK open for business, looking to win and retain more high value investment for the UK. The ASI was the only think tank represented at these roundtables. In addition, our Deputy Director Matt is on the Department of International Trade’s strategic trade advisory group, which provides a forum for high-level strategic discussions between government, and stakeholders representing a cross-section of interests from all parts of the UK on trade policy matters. Matt is the representative from the think tank industry. (Sounds like the ASI is the king of the think tanks –– Ed.)

Government submissions: We have submitted more responses to government consultations this year than ever before. It’s a great way to exercise your voice, too! With our friends at the TaxPayers’ Alliance we organised 140 responses from people like you to the Future of the Planning System consultation. We also encouraged submissions to the consultation concerning the Mad Ad Ban Plan, which closed on Dec 22nd. 

Other submissions this year included those to:

• Parliament’s freedom of expression inquiry
• Parliament’s ‘Tax after Coronavirus’ committee (where ASI Senior Fellow Tim Worstall was called to an evidence session)
• Parliament’s ‘Economy after Coronavirus’ impact assessment
• Parliament’s ARPA UK committee (a new UK research funding agency)
• Parliament’s social care inquiry 
• Government’s 'Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Regulation of Professions' call for evidence
• Government’s planning reform white paper
• Law Commission’s online communications review

We reached thousands of you all across the world through our weekly webinar series. From hosting leading parliamentarians, journalists, to academics and policy wonks, we covered everything from innovation to the future of the union. Some staff favourites include: Doing our Duty by Hong Kong, featuring the now-incarcerated Hong Kong freedom activist Joshua Wong; Cancelling Cancel Culture, with a lively discussion about the limits of free speech (and of pulling down statues, if you remember that blip); and our US election special, A Divided America.

FOLLOW US FOR MORE

We’ve published a seemingly endless succession of reports in this seemingly endless year so if you happened to miss one, here is a full list!

• High Street Heist: How to Save the High Street By Relaxing Anti-Competitive Zoning Rules by Thomas Walker

• Safe to Scoot: How Legalising E-scooters Will Save Lives, Bust Congestion and Help the Environment by Matthew Lesh

• Abolishing The Factory Tax: How to Boost Investment and Level Up Britain by Sam Dumitriu 

• Testing Times: The urgent need to decentralise COVID-19 diagnostic testing in the United Kingdom by Matthew Lesh

• Reopening Britain: The economic urgency by Dr Eamonn Butler and Matthew Lesh

• Young Hit Hardest by Lockdown, Want Tax Cuts: A Survey of the UK Population by Matthew Kilcoyne and Matthew Lesh

• Shifting out of Lockdown: The Four Days On, Ten Days Off Model by Professor Keith Willison and Matthew Lesh

• Winning the Peace: How to safely unfreeze the economy and unleash British enterprise by Matthew Kilcoyne and Matthew Lesh

• Fixing Social Care: New funding, new methods, new partnerships by Dr Eamonn Butler

• Bloody Well Pay Them: The case for Voluntary Remunerated Plasma Collections by Dr Peter M Jaworski 

• The Urgent Need for NGDP Targeting: Learning from the last crisis by Scott Sumner 

• Medicinal Use of Psilocybin: Reducing restrictions on research and treatment by Dr James Rucker, Dr Jesse Schnall, Dr Daniel D’Hotman, David King, Timmy Davis, and Professor Joanna Neill

• No to ARPA: How state research spending does not stimulate innovation by Professor Terence Kealey 

• A Ripper Deal: The case for free trade and movement between Australia and the United Kingdom by Senator James Paterson

• State of the Unions: How to restore free association and expression, combat extremism and make student unions effective by Maximilian Young and Lucky Dube

• Streamlining the Quango State by Tim Ambler

• Home Improvement: Fixing England’s broken planning system once and for all by John Myers

• Sense and Sensitivity: Restoring free speech in the United Kingdom by Preston J Byrne 

• These are the droids you’re looking for: An optimistic vision for artificial intelligence, automation and the future of work by James Lawson

We could not have achieved all of this without the support of our donors, so we extend a wholehearted 'thank you' to everyone who has contributed this year. Coming from all walks of life and many different areas of interest, we are thrilled and proud to have such a diverse group of supporters who have faith in the work we do. If you would like to support similar work you can do so by clicking on the button below! It’s easy and there’s no minimum (or maximum –– Ed.) donation or frequency.

This year has been tough on us all, but if you find yourselves with a little spare cash, do think of supporting our fight to educate the next generation and hold the government to account. Simply put, if you like the work we do, help keep it going.