Policy - Social

19th December 2011

A religious state with a “progressive” agenda is a state engaged only in populist fantasy

Ben Harris-Quinney

I recall working with the former Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar when he made the statement that Europe was founded on the basis of a Judea-Christian heritage, and that this formed a significant part of the common bond between nations of Europe and the West.

In the speech President Aznar did not go so far as to directly comment that the Christian doctrine was a positive thing, and yet he was greeted with great controversy and criticism in making the statement, despite its relatively uncontroversial grounding in historical fact.

In his Oxford speech David Cameron not only referenced the part Christianity has played in our shared Island history, but made reference to the positive and valuable nature of the Christian doctrine and faith in society, in so doing he moved wilfully from historical fact to personal interpretation.

28th October 2011

New Bow Group chairman - Why reform in the Bow Group is essential

Ben Harris-Quinney

The new Chairman Ben Harris-Quinney wrote on Conservative Home shortly after the election of his team to set out the importance of reform in the group, and the value the group can, and must have, in the Conservative family. Must the home of free-market conservative thought disappear into the ether?

31st March 2011

The Bow Group: Great British Pub Debate

Ben Harris-Quinney

March 22, Committee Room 11, Palace of Westminster

Debate: The Great British Pub Debate – Safeguarding A Cherished Institution

Speakers: Bob Neill, MP, Under Secretary of State, Department of Communities and Local Government, and Minister for Community Pubs;

6th March 2011

Can Free Schools deliver a fairer society?

Writing in Crossbow, Toby Young explains how Free Schools can help deliver a fairer society.

17th February 2011

Brian Cattell on Multiculturalism

Ben Harris-Quinney

Following the Prime Minister's recent speech on Islamic extreemism and multiculturalism at the Munich Security Conference, Brian Cattell Chairman of the Bow Group, was interviewed by Russia Today on the topic of mulitculturalism and the hardening stance of Europe's politicians towards it.

3rd February 2011

Putting the Health Back in Education

Tracey Bleakley, Stuart Carroll and Ross Carroll, with a foreword from Charlotte Leslie MP

In December 2009, the Macdonald Report that looked at health education concluded "it is essential for all children and young people to have an entitlement to a common core of knowledge, skills and understanding in PSHE

2nd February 2011

Ben Harris-Quinney on Media bias

Ben Harris-Quinney

The Political Officer and Chair of the Bow Group Foreign Policy & Security Committee is interviewed on 'The Agenda', on Press TV . In the interview, Ben discusses the issues surrounding media bias in forming the news agenda. Watch the full interview here.

18th January 2011

Facts on Fees – Dispelling the Myths

Writing in Crossbow Ben Howlett, Chairman of Conservative Future, sets out the case for the Government’s higher education plans.

10th January 2008

SEN: The Truth about Inclusion

Charlotte Leslie and Chris Skidmore

The Special Educational Needs debate has long been dominated by the inclusion -exclusion debate. This paper recognises that inclusion in mainstream school is good for many children with SEN and does not seek to enter into a debate of ideology, but simply to reveal the facts: Since the Labour Government came into power in 1997 and began to implement its policy of inclusion we find that:

24th May 2007

Invisible Children

Chris Skidmore, Nick Cuff and Charlotte Leslie

It is ten years since Tony Blair made education his priority in government. An entire generation of pupils have passed through school under Labour’s watch. Pupils who were in the first year of primary school in May 1997 finished their GCSEs last summer. Has every child mattered? In the first of the Bow Group’s ‘Invisible Nation’ series, this report looks at how the Blair generation fared.