Centre for Policy Studies
| Abbreviation | CPS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1974 |
| Type | Public policy think tank |
| Headquarters | 57 Tufton Street |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 51°29′46″N 0°07′42″W / 51.4961°N 0.1283°WCoordinates: 51°29′46″N 0°07′42″W / 51.4961°N 0.1283°W |
|
President
|
Lord Saatchi |
|
Director
|
Tim Knox |
|
Founders
|
Keith Joseph Margaret Thatcher |
| Website | www |
The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a free-market British policy think tank whose goal is to promote coherent and practical public policy, to roll back the state, reform public services, support communities, and challenge threats to Britain’s independence. Although identified as non-partisan, the Centre has strong historical links to the Conservative Party.
It was co-founded by Conservatives Sir Keith Joseph, Alfred Sherman and Margaret Thatcher in 1974 to champion economic liberalism in Britain and has since played a global role in the dissemination of free market economics along monetarist and neoliberal lines. Its policy proposals are claimed to be based on the principles of individual choice and responsibility. It also asserts that it prioritises the concepts of duty, family, liberty, and the rule of law. The CPS has a stated goal of serving as the champion of the small state.
The CPS soon drove for a reassessment of Conservative economic policy during their period in opposition from 1974–1979. It was during this period that the CPS released its landmark reports, such as Stranded on the Middle Ground? Reflections on Circumstances and Policies and "Monetarism is Not Enough" (1974 and 1976). "Monetarism is Not Enough" was described by Margaret Thatcher as “one of the very few speeches which have fundamentally affected a political generation's way of thinking.". Keith Joseph’s keynote speeches, also published by the CPS, aimed to lead the way in changing the climate of opinion in Britain and set the intellectual foundations for the free market reforms of the 1980s. In 1981 Sherman brought the Swiss monetarist Jurg Niehans over to Britain to advise on economic management. Niehans wrote a report critical of the government's economic management that was crucial in influencing the change of policy in the 1981 budget; this tightened the government's fiscal stance to make possible a looser monetary policy. However Hugh Thomas, who had been appointed Chairman of the CPS in 1979 was finding Sherman impossible to work with. In the summer of 1983, following a row over the relationship of the CPS with the Conservative Party, Sherman was summarily sacked from the CPS in a "virulent" letter from Thomas.
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