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Response to the King's speech
18 Jul 2024
Intergenerational unfairness
Polis Analysis looks forward to the introduction of many of the Bills announced in the King’s Speech, specifically those that we believe could help address intergenerational unfairness in the UK and address some of the major challenges facing young people currently.
Polis welcomes the announcement of reform to the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) through the Budget Responsibility Bill, specifically the proposal that will allow them to independently assess major tax and spending changes, which could help resolve the often unfair fiscal burden placed on younger generations through higher debt. However, we would advocate for the OBR to take a more holistic approach in their assessments, and ensure that the long-term fiscal sustainability of these fiscal policy changes can be considered further, rather than prioritising the current deficit.
Secondly, Polis welcomes the announcement of a Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which will introduce long-needed planning reform, to help address the lack of housing supply in the UK. Specifically, we note that this proposal would include provisions to modernise planning committees and increase the capacity of Local Planning Authorities. These would provide developers and investors with more confidence in the housing sector, resulting in more housing construction and allowing for housing prices to decrease to a level where it becomes more affordable to younger people. We look forward to taking part in future consultations on these issues to ensure that these reforms can effectively bring certainty and confidence to the housing and construction sectors.
While not mentioned in the King’s Speech, we recognise that the proposal for a National Wealth Fund could bring further long-term prosperity, allowing younger generations to reap the benefits of this, and we look forward to future discussions and consultations on the National Wealth Fund Bill and hope it can follow the model of funds introduced in other developed nations, such as Australia and Norway.
In the announcement of the creation of a new Skills England authority, we do recognise that while it is not the main purpose of this body, it can contribute to addressing issues and shortcomings in digital skills across young people.
We had hoped for announcements of Bills to address student loans, investment opportunities for young people such as Lifetime ISAs, and reform to tax thresholds to benefit young people.
Additionally, Polis Analysis advocates for further action to involve young people in the political process, as we believe this cannot be addressed fully by simply lowering the voting age. According to the Institute of Public Policy Research, turnout in the 2024 General Election was lower in areas with higher proportions of people over 64 and in areas with higher home ownership. With turnout at its lowest level since the introduction of universal suffrage, we recognise that major work is required to broaden democracy and enshrine a culture of political participation among young people. We would advocate for policies such as automatic voter registration, greater clarity on voter ID, and increased political education to support young people in becoming more politically involved.
However, we hope that the government will deliver further action in this Parliament to advance the interests of younger people across these issues, and Polis Analysis will continue to champion policy proposals to that end.
Polis Analysis looks forward to being active in the consultation and policymaking processes of these Bills and hopes to contribute in ways that can help provide young people with better opportunities and better prospects.
Disinformation
Polis Analysis is disappointed with the omission of vital legislation to tackle disinformation in the King’s Speech. With disinformation playing such a vital role in elections around the world, we believe that an opportunity to take a proactive stance against this online danger has been missed and that this leaves us vulnerable to malicious actors who wish to undermine our democracy.
With the government continuing to assure us that they will “encourage wide participation in the democratic process,” following their pre-election pledge to give the vote to those aged 16, we strive to continue to inform predominantly young people from a fact-based perspective on how politics matters and impacts their lives.
However, in order to welcome a younger generation into the democratic landscape, we must ensure that we can effectively guard them from disinformation. Ofcom reported that 83% of 16-24-year-olds consume news through online sources, measuring 15% higher than adults, whilst only 2% of children are seen to possess the digital literacy skills to correctly identify dis/misinformation, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Literacy, we can see that children and young people are disproportionately affected. Democracy suffers as online disinformation corrodes public trust in institutions and creates a rift of polarised division. Any legislation to widen democracy must come alongside concrete action to defend against disinformation in order to protect young people.
As set out in our report, The Threat of Disinformation Ahead of the UK General Election, the risk of disinformation to young people requires a holistic effort to defend against. We, at Polis, take this threat very seriously, as seen through our recent evidence submission to the ‘OfCom Consultation: Protecting Children from Harms Online’ yesterday. Polis recognises that there are solutions to these problems that could help individuals defend themselves against online disinformation, in the form of digital literacy classes starting at Key Stage 2, and help tackle the spread of disinformation through funding AI startups to help develop short and long term defences against disinformation. The omission of any action to tackle disinformation is a worrying sign that we will continue to procrastinate and ignore the serious threat that disinformation poses to young people and our democracy.
A government that wants to deliver votes at 16 must seriously address disinformation risks and put forward effective legislation to tackle them.
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