Dear friends,
April is a time for fellowship, for setting out together on long journeys. It is during this month – with its “shoures soote” (sweet showers) – that Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales begins, at an inauspicious inn in Southwark. From there comes a series of stories, as the pilgrims press on towards their destination.
Telling stories is a large part thinking about the future. One has to be able to narrate the version of the world one would like to see.
In our recent interview with George Eaton, the Arguably co-founder said that change happens when “the ideas lying around match the political needs of the moment”.
Well, we have no shortage of ideas (though we like to think they are ready and waiting, as opposed to lying around). Is now the moment? It’s as good as any.
🛠️ Our latest work
Dispatches from the research coalface
AI and the UK labour market: the evidence so far – AI is predicted to replace large parts of the knowledge workforce within a decade. Three years after ChatGPT, Pedro’s new research found that there is no sign of that disruption in UK employment data yet.
The next big lever: street votes – Street votes allow neighbours to come together and agree on rules for new homes on their street, with benefits flowing to the local residents and community. In our latest collaboration with Labour Together, we argue that this approach could enable 30,000 new homes a year in the places people need them most.
Speeding up grid connections to lower bills and deliver growth – Connecting to Britain’s electricity grid has become a slow and sclerotic process. Ed worked with Lucy Shaw to explain how increasing competition in grid connections can help break the bottleneck and speed up Britain’s electrification ambitions.
Post Haste: Let’s care for our electrical commons – Also on the subject of the grid, Ed wrote a quick argument for why the system might benefit from a little overgrazing.
Post Haste: We should try to stop car theft! – Ezra broke down the basics of how vehicle theft occurs, and how the state has failed to address it.
🧭 On our radar
Policy changes and projects of note
Carbon Price Support removal – We were pleased to see confirmation the the CPS will be removed from April 2028. This was an idea Ed proposed in a report last year, and we have continued to bang the drum calling for a change.
Sovereign AI Fund - This month saw the launch of the £500m Sovereign AI Fund and the announcement of its first investments. We’ve long advocated for promoting scale and sovereignty and are excited to launch.
🎊 Happy birthday to us
Last week, we celebrated one year since launching the Centre for British Progress with a party at Carlton House Terrace. Thank you to everyone who came along, especially to our speakers Chris Curtis, Robert Colvile, George Eaton and Kirsty Innes.
We also reshared our founding essay on Substack, along with some reflections on what has changed since we wrote it and what there is still left to do.
🗞️ In the press (highlights)
David started writing a regular column for , starting with the progressive case for North Sea licences.
On the same subject, Ed spoke to The Telegraph about the Chancellor’s fresh push for North Sea drilling.
Ezra’s work on tax cliffs was cited in The Week, The Telegraph, and The Financial Times.
The fresh analysis of the impacts of AI on the jobs market, put together by Pedro, was noted in the Financial Times.
📮 Parish notices
Opportunities and happenings in the ecosystem. Let us know what else should appear here by emailing editor@britishprogress.org
The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) is looking for a new senior associate or principal to focus on the UK’s electricity market, infrastructure and associated regulation.
ARIA is hosting an event on the 5th of May to explain its ecosystem. It should be especially relevant to anyone interested in becoming a programme director or activation partner.
The team at Re:State are hiring a new researcher. Apply by the 8th of May.
The Society for Technological Advancement (SoTA) is running a challenge for engineers, focused on minimal-shot autonomous vehicles. The deadline is the 10th of May.
Energy investor and expert Lucy Shaw, who contributed to the grid connections work mentioned above, is giving a talk about why we can’t quit coal on the 25th of May.
📚 Bookshelf
Julia is reading Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century by George Packer. It tracks the life of a top diplomat at the same time as giving an overview of American foreign policy from Vietnam to Afghanistan, which makes it interesting in the context of the conflict in Iran.
Pedro has just selected Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel as his next read. In the meantime he’s been listening the Science Fictions podcast.
Alys just finished a gothic novel set in a TikTok hype house, If You’re Seeing This, It’s Meant For You by Leigh Stein. This proved a total contrast to her previous read, The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind and the Quest for Superintelligence by Sebastian Mallaby.
David is falling asleep every night to P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves & Wooster novels, read by Stephen Fry.
🎲 Off-topic
What else is on our minds and in our feeds: British pubs are taking over New York | Millennial brands have lost their mojo | Why the record-breaking marathon times were no surprise to running aficionados | Clotted cream cake
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