Progressive Vision

The logo of the now defunct think tank Progressive Vision

Progressive Vision calls itself "an independent think-tank, campaigning for new and liberal solutions to the problems facing British and European society". In practice, its policies are traditional free market liberalism. This is perhaps not surprising as its staff have links to the free market think tanks the Centre for Policy Studies and the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Views and activities

On climate change

Progressive Vision has a section on climate change on its website. As at 1 October 2009 this section features an article criticising proposed EU measures to limit CO2 emissions of new cars as "over prescriptive legislation".

On the NHS

Progressive Vision has a section on health on its website. As at 1 October 2009 this section is entirely devoted to an article attacking the National Health Service (NHS). The article, entitled "The NHS as a model is deeply flawed and a change to a more effective system is required", states:

Apart from a number of socialist ideologues, the NHS is envied by few outside Britain and if having one of the poorest performing health systems in the developed world is a great British achievement, Britain would be in a poor state.

Progressive Conservatives

Progressive Vision launched a group called ‘Progressive Conservatives’, chaired by Tory MEP Syed Kamall, as a new group for ‘classical liberals in the Conservative Party’. According to the Liberal Conspiracy blog:

If anything it looks to be ‘brains’ behind the Hannanite wing of the Tory Party, particularly when pitching for a Singapore-style healthcare system and the break-up of the BBC.

People

According to the Progressive Vision website as at October 2009, the following are the directors and staff of the organisation:

• Director: Shane Frith. His biography on the Progressive Vision website reads:

Shane has worked for a number of London based think tanks, including Reform, Open Europe and the Centre for Policy Studies, since moving from his native New Zealand. He is also the founder and Director of Doctors’ Alliance, a pan-European network of medical professionals seeking better ways to deliver healthcare.

• Director of Communications: Mark Littlewood. His biography on the Progressive Vision website reads:

Mark was Head of Media for the Liberal Democrats from December 2004 to May 2007. Previously, he was Campaigns Director of human rights group Liberty from June 2001 until April 2004. In 2004, he was co-founder, and first national coordinator of NO2ID, Britain’s leading pressure group opposing the introduction of national identity cards. He has been Chairman of NO2ID since 2006.

• Researcher: Sam Collins

• Senior Fellow: Dr Helen Evans, director of Nurses for Reform and Health Fellow with the Adam Smith Institute.

• Fellow: Keith Boyfield. His biography on the Progressive Vision website reads:

Keith is an economist and writer who specialises in marketing, competition and regulatory policy. He runs a City consultancy advising multinational companies, non profit organisations and charities. He is the executive director of Leriba Risk, a consultancy assisting business and investment in Africa.

He is a fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and chairman of the IEA's Shadow Regulatory Policy Committee; and a research fellow of the Centre for Policy Studies.

Keith has written and consulted extensively on competition policy, marketing and advertising issues. He is a regular contributor to the editorial sections of the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and other leading newspapers; and a columnist for Acquisitions Monthly.

• Fellow: Dr Mark Pennington

• Fellow: Professor John Spiers. His biography on the Progressive Vision website reads:

He is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, specialising in health care and public policy. In 2001 he was a founder member of the Advisory Council of Reform. He has previously served for 5 years as Health Policy Adviser to The Social Market Foundation, and as Chairman of The Health Policy Committee of The Centre for Policy Studies. In 1999 was an Adjunct Scholar at The Cascade Policy Institute, Portland, Oregon, studying American health care policy. He was a member of the John Major's Prime Minister’s Citizen’s Charter Advisory Panel. He was Chairman of Brighton Health Authority, Brighton Health Care Trust, the NHS SE Region David Salomons Management Centre, and The Patients Association, whose re-launch he led in 1995.

• Fellow: Professor Jim Thornton. His biography on the Progressive Vision website reads:

Jim has been Professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, at Nottingham University and consultant at Nottingham University Hospitals for seven years. Previously he was a consultant in Leeds. He qualified in medicine in 1977 from Leeds University. Between 1979 and 1983 he worked in Chogoria, a Church of Scotland mission hospital in Kenya. His primary research interest is in clinical trials and he is currently deputy director of the Nottingham Clinical Trials Support Unit, and a member of the Medical Research Councils Health Service Research Board. He was previously editor-in-chief of the European and British Journals of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He is a founder member of Doctors for Reform, and previously on the advisory boards of the IEA Health and Welfare Unit and Civitas. In 2005 he was the Conservative Party’s parliamentary candidate for Nottingham East.

Funding

Progressive Vision does not disclose its sources of funding on its website.

Affiliations

Progressive Vision is the sole funder of the website Green Monitor and is a coalition partner of Save Our Pubs & Clubs: AmendTheSmokingBan.com along with the Adam Smith Institute, FOREST and the Manifesto Club.

Contact

Address: Progressive Vision, Suite 111, 95 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1BZ

Phone: +44-207 870 5303

Email:

Website: http://www.progressive-vision.org (now defunct)

Waybackmachine web archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20120720031005*/http://www.progressive-vision.org/