For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Flora Laven-Morris, Head of Communications, at flora@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207.

Brexit is a real chance to reboot Britain, says a new report released today by economic think tank the Adam Smith Institute.

The report, “Rebooting Britain: making the most of Brexit”, authored by the Institute’s President Dr Madsen Pirie, sets out an agenda through which the UK could solve many of its long-standing problems.

The report runs through major policy areas, from housing and pensions to drugs and unemployment, highlighting the changes that should be made in this new political climate - many of which were previously impossible due to Britain’s membership of the EU, or are now necessary to make the most of Brexit.

Among the most important recommendations is the phasing out of Corporation Tax. "There is a false belief," says the report, "that this is paid by companies, but it is not. It is paid by the employees of companies, by their customers, and by their shareholders." The government should first cut it to 12.5% to match the rate charged by Ireland, which achieved great success at attracting investment, then to 6.25% and finally to zero. This would deliver a real boost to economic growth post-Brexit.

Dr Pirie argues that the UK should use its newfound freedom over immigration policy to attract more skilled and talented immigrants from across the globe, as well as those people willing to invest in creating businesses and jobs. It is also called for Britain to stop classifying foreign students in the UK as immigrants.

Controversially, the paper calls for a New Zealand style abolition of agricultural subsidies once Britain is out of the Common Agricultural Policy. In 1984, subsidies accounted for 34% of the total value of New Zealand’s agricultural production. These were cut to 2% within ten years, but far from suffering, Kiwi farmers responded to world markets and became among the most efficient in the world – indeed, agricultural productivity growth doubled. British farmers could do the same, says the ASI report.

Brexit also allows the UK to reassert control over its fishing waters and to ditch the flawed EU policies which currently result in thousands of tons of fish being destroyed. Britain’s fishing policy should be modeled on an Icelandic style conservation policy that sets annual quotas for each vessel, quotas which can be traded. This would give UK fishermen an incentive to conserve stocks with the same success that Iceland has seen.

The new report also examines such areas as housing, education, pensions, drug legalisation and employment, and suggests ways in which current policies could be rebooted with clear-sighted solutions that address the problems directly instead of tinkering at the edges.

Dr Madsen Pirie, author of the report, said:

“There are many features of modern Britain that are simply inadequate to serve its needs today. Some have been allowed to continue with occasional tinkering at the edges when a comprehensive overhaul would be more appropriate, and some have not been tackled because of our membership of the EU and the obligation to accept its rules over our own national interest.

"The decision to leave the EU presents the opportunity to abandon the politics of drift and muddle, and to take confident steps to create the kind of country we want ourselves and our children to live in."

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Flora Laven-Morris, Head of Communications, at flora@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207.

To report ‘Rebooting Britain - making the most of Brexit’’ will be live on the Adam Smith Institute website from 09:00 20th July 2016 and can be accessed ahead of time here.

The Adam Smith Institute is a free market, libertarian think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.