Onward’s Weekly Round Up – 06/04/2023

Happy Friday and welcome to the Onward Newsletter. 

This week the Government published its ‘Pioneer’ strategy for research and development spending, should the final negotiations on the UK relationship with the Horizon scheme not end as intended. Under Pioneer, “remaining funding allocated to association would be used for UK R&D programmes”, which is an estimated £14.6bn and would be spread across four pillars: talent, innovation, global, and infrastructure.

Earlier this year Onward published New Horizons, a collection of ideas from some of the UK’s leading voices on science and technology — including science minister George Freeman MP. The pamphlet argued that our science base cannot continue to “simmer in uncertainty”. Now, at least, there is a proper sense of a Plan B.

✍️ Research

On Monday we published Burnt Out Britain, a new report analysing how we use our time and why so many of us report feeling too tired and overworked. 

In a series of focus groups, Onward found people continuously felt “too busy” or “too knackered” to participate in leisure activities and civic society. While these symptoms – tiredness, feeling overworked and feeling rushed – are real, our new report provided a new diagnosis that busts the common myths around our use of time. 

Burnt Out Britain found that we are sleeping more, working less, and still participating in leisure activities, yet more than ever people report feeling overwhelmed. Our new report sets out why an increased pace of life, that is the chopping-and-changing between activities more frequently as well as multitasking while doing activities, is making us feel exhausted. To read the full report, click here.

📰 Media Mentions 

Burnt Out Britain was covered in The New Statesman, The Times, City AM, Politico, The Evening Standard, The Telegraph, The Independent, The i and City AM.

Senior Researcher Jenevieve Treadwell discussed our findings on BBC Radio 4 ‘s PM Programme and Times Radio. And Sebastian Payne, Onward’s Director joined Sheylah Fogarty to discuss the findings on LBC.

Sebastian Payne and our co-founder Martyn Rose wrote for Conservative Home on the need for the Conservative Party to renew itself in order to appeal to the post-Brexit electoral environment. 

Workington Man, was referenced in a number of articles this week by The Independent, The Guardian, The Times, The Economist and Politico. 

Sebastian is quoted, and our report Lessons for Labour is referenced, in a piece on Labour’s plans to tackle anti-social behaviour by The i. 

Our report on Levelling Up in Barry was cited in an article by The Sun.

In a piece on plans to reform university entry requirements, The Express referenced our report A Question of Degree.

🌐 Onward Online

Jenevieve Treadwell wrote a thread discussing the findings of our new report, Burnt Out Britain.

Anna Dickinson reflected on Pioneer, the Government’s prospectus for Horizon Plan B. 

🗓️ Upcoming Events

Future of Conservatism Debate: Crushed by China and America? Britain’s response to the global subsidy race

On Monday 17th April, Onward will be hosting the first of its debates on the Future of Conservatism. This event will be hosted by Nick Timothy, who will be joined by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and The Times’ Juliet Samuel, along with other special guests to discuss how Britain should respond to the global subsidy race. 

There is little dispute that the UK economy is in poor shape. Britain has stagnant productivity and seems unable to capitalise on the quality of its R&D. Its trade deficit is enormous, exposing it to hostile trade partners and insecure supply chains. In an era where free-market ideology is increasingly challenged by neo-mercantilism and the strategic state, how should Britain best protect its interests and kick-start growth?

Sign up for what will be a fascinating discussion, here

Onward After Hours with Dehenna Davison MP

On Tuesday 18th April 2023, we will host a private drinks reception with Dehenna Davison MP.

Onward After Hours is our event series for under 35s, connecting the next generation of centre-right political thinkers. These events bring together journalists, special advisors, parliamentary staffers and more, to inspire fresh thinking and build connections

Sign up here.

🐣Tweet of the week