Focus Reports

The overwhelming majority of the British public say that rates of immigration have been too high in recent years, and immigration was cited as a major factor in the decisions of many people who voted to leave the EU. In the context of Brexit, historically high levels of immigration, and recent prevalence of religious extremism, terrorism, and hate crime, immigration is one of the defining policy issues of our time.

The ability of the NHS to continue to perform its historic function as a tax-funded system of universal health coverage, in the face of a growing and ageing population, costly new drugs and technology, increasing incidence of chronic health conditions, staff shortages, and budget constraints is one of the most important policy questions in modern Britain.

The apparent crisis in housing affordability has been widely reported and hotly debated. Rapidly rising house prices have contributed to the rise of "Generation Rent", a demographic of young adults who cannot readily follow their predecessors’ moves to home-ownership. Of those that do buy homes, high mortgage repayments mean that some are living in poverty. An increase in private renting has introduced instability to many lives and raised questions over the quality of accommodation, while levels of homelessness are rising.