Cassilis

This weeks Think Tank Roundup - I've grouped the output into left/liberal & right/libertarian think tanks to help with some planned syndication elsewhere (more soon) but hopefully it's useful here too. It's not particularly easy to do because few if any think tanks have an overt party affiliation and they nearly all claim to operate 'across the divide' - still, I've done my best based on what I know of their output, staff & board members etc. If I've made any howlers I'm sure you'll let me know in the comments.

As ever please flag anything worthy you think I might have missed...

Left \ Liberal Think Tanks

• The IPPR challenges a union \ left-wing shibboleth in highlighting that at least some of the problems we see in education can be attributed to poor teachers. "[I]n the last ten years teachers’ pay has improved and the number of people choosing teaching as a career has increased. But teaching is still not attracting the very best graduates and poor performing teachers are not being dealt with effectively"
• They also carry an worthwhile report on the complexity of UK migration numbers - half of those who've arrived from new EU members since May '04 have now left but I think the Daily Mail missed that story.
• "New Labour is now dead" - according to Compass who, to be fair, have been trying to administer last rights since about 1998. Last Thursday's results have boosted their confidence somewhat - "The strategy that saw the Party continually triangulate interests and concerns, tacking endlessly to the right, doing what the Tories would do only doing it first, fixating on a mythical middle England and denying that free market policies are having a damaging effect on society is now finished"
• Also on Compass Hilary Wainwright takes a pop at the impact triangulation has on traditional supporters and one of their regular 'thinkpieces' tackles 'Capitalism and Social Recession'.
• The Social Market Foundation have an interesting piece on individual behavioural change and the challenges policymakers face in linking that with broader cultural changes.
• CentreForum have a great (and timely) piece on whether Liberal Democrats and Conservatives can co-operate. David Cameron and Nick Clegg are "two declared liberals [who] share a vision of a new, ‘post-bureaucratic’ politics in which power is devolved, not just from central to local government, but from government at all levels to individuals, families and communities"

Right \ Libertarian Think Tanks

• The Social Market Foundation has an interesting piece on individual behavioural change and the challenges policymakers face in linking that with broader cultural changes.
• Reform carries an impressive report by Nick Bosanquet, Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College London on "the fundamental challenges that the NHS faces over the next decade, in particular changing demography, advances in medical technology and increased expectations on the part of patients."
• As part of their 'Invisible Nation' series Chris Skidmore at The Bow Group has a report on Labour's educational record: "The Failed Generation: The Real Cost of Education under Labour"
• The Adam Smith Institute are getting ready in plenty of time for this years 'Tax Freedom Day' - is it me or does that seem to getting later each year? (sorry, couldn't help that!)
• Also at ASI Nigel Hawkins calls for privatisation to take centre stage in government policy again and suggest a few likely targets - NATS, Channel4, Post Office and BBC Worldwide.
• The New Local Government Network (NLGN) has a very untimely call for the GLA to be abolished and Mayoral scrutiny to become the function of the London Leaders’ Council (LLC), the body made up of the 32 elected council leaders in Greater London. This might just have been a Thatcherite joke to really p**s off Ken (it rings a bell you see) and perhaps they feel differently after last week.
• A couple of weeks old now but Policy Exchange carried an interesting rebuttal to the regular claims of a 'spending arms race' when it comes to political parties and their funding. The report also highlights the already quite substantial state funding that goes on.
• The Civitas-affiliated 'Centre for Social Cohesion' blog reports on the launch event for the British Muslims for Secular Democracy (BMSD).
• At DEMOS Duncan O'Leary has an interesting take on the relationship between science and politics in the wake of the cannabis reclassification row.
• The Henry Jackson Society has a couple of good pieces too - one from Paul Hughes on why US hegemony is likely to continue in light of Europe's lack of 'hard power and demographic decline' and another from Roy Brown on their favourite theme, the inefficacy of the UNHRC