Centre for Policy Studies
Centre-right think tank, founded in 1974 by Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher.
The Centre for Policy Studies published "Britain is not a low-tax country" on 4 October 2026, a paper by its former director Robert Colvile arguing that the UK's tax take matches or slightly exceeds the European average.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Is Britain really under-taxed, or does the comparison hide pensions and student loans?
Timeline for Centre for Policy Studies
Argued Britain is not a low-tax country
Is Britain Actually Broke?: Jenrick pledges £80bn a year in cutsBackground
The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) calls itself Britain's leading centre-right think tank. Sir Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher set it up in 1974, and on its own account it shaped much of the programme later known as Thatcherism. Liam Halligan became Director in September 2026, when Robert Colvile stepped down.
Colvile's paper of 4 October 2026, "Britain is not a low-tax country", is the think tank's current contribution to the argument over whether Britain is under-taxed. It holds that the apparent gap with Europe is Social Security: 6.6% of GDP in Britain in 2019, against an EU14 average of 12%. It counts UK auto-enrolment, about 8% of salary, as voluntary saving, and says tuition fee repayments ADD about 8% to the marginal rate above the repayment threshold.
The comparison rests on 2019 data and treats employer pension costs as tax. The paper itself cites Institute for Fiscal Studies work finding that differences between the systems more than explain the gap.