2024 marked one other busy yr for NEF. We had been joined by our new chief exec Danny Sriskandarajah in January, and simply 5 months later watched a brand new celebration take management of the federal government for the primary time in 14 years. From in-depth analysis to TV interviews, organising to podcasts, we spent 2024 working with folks igniting change from beneath and conducting rigorous analysis to battle for change on the high.
NEF will proceed to push this authorities to revamp the financial system so it improves folks’s lives, and pioneer new financial concepts for many years to return.
1. New Economics Podcast
The New Economics Podcast, hosted by Ayeisha Thomas-Smith, coated all the highest financial problems with 2024. Ayeisha was joined by a cohort of high thinkers, together with former Greek minister of finance Yanis Varoufakis, financial celebrity Kate Raworth, writer George Monbiot and tutorial Daniela Gabor.
Be sure to don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the New Economics Podcast on all good podcast apps, together with Apple and Spotify.
2. Huge energy for Little London
NEF has been organising with residents of the Little London property in Maltby, South Yorkshire, as they battle for higher housing circumstances. NEF produced and projected a movie onto the derelict buildings on the property as a part of an occasion the place residents shared private testimonies. The motion was coated by the BBC, and the marketing campaign received a public dedication of help from mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard.
Native MP Jake Richards organized for residents to fulfill housing minister Matthew Pennycook. With TV cameras in tow, the minister and residents mentioned their dwelling circumstances and calls for.
3. Reclaiming our regional economies
Our Reclaiming Our Regional Economies (RORE) programme has continued to assemble tempo in its second yr. It goals to carry neighborhood financial energy to the center of decision-making by metro mayors and mixed authorities, working with the mayoral groups in South Yorkshire, the North East and the West Midlands.
RORE hosted an occasion on the Labour Social gathering Convention with minister Jim McMahon alongside mayors Andy Burnham, Tracy Brabin and Richard Parker. Our Reclaiming our areas paper made the case for extra devolution. And the RORE companions introduced collectively 12 north-east grassroots teams to carry them into the mixed authority’s decision-making course of.
4. A dwelling revenue for all
The Residing Earnings marketing campaign has been working in Higher Manchester to name for a minimal revenue to make sure folks can afford all of life’s necessities. Over 100 folks attended workshops to debate how they need a dwelling revenue pilot to look in Higher Manchester. The Higher Manchester dwelling revenue steering group met with mayor Andy Burnham, after gathering tons of of signatures on a petition. Burnham responded enthusiastically, saying “it’s been an actual tonic to assist remind me why I do that”.
5. Combating airport growth
NEF continued to help native communities preventing airport expansions with senior economist Alex Chapman as soon as once more offering skilled testimony at a planning listening to. Our evaluation led the outcry from native folks and environmentalists over the federal government’s resolution to extend passenger numbers by 2.5 million at London Metropolis Airport.
Alongside companions together with Doable and Keep Grounded, we made the ethical, financial and environmental case for fairer taxes on air journey in A frequent flying levy in Europe.
6. Tiered reserves go mainstream
Our proposal to restrict stealth subsidies paid to business banks by the Financial institution of England exploded into the mainstream this yr. Often called “tiered reserves”, our proposal was endorsed by Gordon Brown in the Guardian and on ITV’s Peston. Our name turned an election concern because it was picked up by mainstream political journalists akin to Andrew Marr and Emily Maitlis. It obtained protection in the Monetary Instances, the Each day Mail, the Guardian, the Instances and Bloomberg.
7. Pioneering macroeconomic coverage
NEF has spearheaded the rising calls to vary the federal government’s borrowing guidelines, whereas offering cutting-edge analysis into new macroeconomic coverage. Within the runup to the autumn price range, we uncovered the flawed methodology the Workplace for Funds Accountability (OBR) makes use of to forecast the affect of presidency spending, coated in the Instances. We additionally referred to as for the federal government to vary how they calculate central financial institution debt, doubtlessly releasing up £20bn for public funding. This captured the eye of the press, being coated and followed-up within the Instances three instances. It was additionally picked up by the Guardian, Reuters and the Each day Mail, twice.
8. Important sources for the housing motion
Houses For Us is a coalition of grassroots organisations, charities and tenants’ unions who’ve come collectively to battle for extra and higher social housing, arrange by NEF. It contains participatory regranting, enabling the housing motion to allocate sources the place it’s wanted, however the place conventional funders are unable to succeed in. For a lot, over £150,000 price of grants have helped a variety of actions, from offering meals to evicted households to monitoring publicity to indoor air air pollution to workshops for migrant ladies dealing with housing insecurity and the hostile immigration system.
9. On the airwaves
NEF spokespeople spent one other yr getting our work and message out throughout TV and radio, with over 50 broadcast appearances throughout 2024. Our chief exec Danny Sriskandarajah appeared on BBC Query Time to speak about water corporations, reparations and the modifications our new authorities must make.