By: John Oxley

John Oxley is a corporate strategist and political commentator. He publishes a weekly Substack, Joxley Writes, and frequently appears in other print and broadcast media. He is an associate fellow of the Bright Blue think-tank and an adviser to the Conservative YIMBY campaign.

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Don’t exempt Indian workers from NI, abolish it altogether

May 8, 2025

The row over Indian visas is really a sign of how misleading and poorly-understood the tax system is, says John Oxley The row over National Insurance exemptions for Indian workers shows the difficulty the government has in balancing trade deals with concerns about immigration. It also points to the confusions which abound around National Insurance [...]
Another recession could push Millennial resentment to tipping point

April 10, 2025

Any goodwill left in avocado-munching Millennials towards their wealthier elders will likely be gone with another recession, writes John Oxley.
How do you solve a problem like Gen Z?

February 13, 2025

Gen Z have wildly different, often contradictory views compared with older cohorts. As they become a more significant cultural and political force, it’s worth trying to figure out what they really want, says John Oxley Unpatriotic yet prudish. Radically liberal yet socially conservative. A new generational survey has shown Gen Z to be a complex [...]
A New Year’s resolution for government: Stop setting targets

January 9, 2025

From HS2 to Net Zero, governments have a habit of setting ambitious long-term goals and failing to deliver. Instead of targets, we need long-term plans to fix the nation’s problems, says John Oxley The New Year almost always brings with it talk of resolutions, intentions and targets. This is true of governments too . In [...]
Junk food advertising ban defies common sense

December 5, 2024

The government’s ban on advertising foods deemed unhealthy is a big fat win for the nanny state, but it will end up costing us, says John Oxley Christmas is coming, and that means a deluge of seasonal advertising and, for most of us, overindulgence. This might be the last time we can enjoy those two [...]
Kemi Badenoch’s Tories need a corporate overhaul

November 7, 2024

Like the Manchester United owner, Kemi Badenoch must get a tarnished brand back on winning form, says John Oxley The “other” election this week may already feel like a distant memory, but for Kemi Badenoch, the work is just beginning. Winning the contest to be Leader of the Opposition may briefly feel like a triumph. [...]
Maternity pay is an investment, not a cost

October 3, 2024

Shortsighted criticism of the cost and admin involved in maternity leave do not take account of the wider benefits to society, says John Oxley There may be some businesses that bristle at the costs and admin of maternity leave. While the state essentially picks up the tab for statutory leave, this doesn’t stretch to the [...]
Pensioners and the politics of perceptions

September 12, 2024

The furore over winter fuel payments is driven by the false idea that pensioners are uniformly old, frail and poor. But in politics, feelings often matter as much as facts, says John Oxley This week’s tussle over the winter fuel allowance has highlighted one of the problems of our politics – how much of it [...]
Millennials will be hit hardest by tax rises

August 29, 2024

The generation that’s about to reach the most rewarding of years of their careers face spending their entire working lives earning less and paying more for worse public services, says John Oxley Few will have been cheered by Sir Keir Starmer’s speech this week. While Harold Macmillan might have told voters that they’d never had [...]
It’s not just taxes, rent, childcare and a decrepit NHS are driving talent out of the UK

August 1, 2024

High taxes are a problem, but the list of factors driving talent away from the UK is far more extensive, writes John Oxley One of the first criticisms levelled at Labour’s intended tax rises is their potential to drive high-productivity workers away from the UK. It is a fair one. In a world where capital [...]

Fifa won’t fix itself – scrap it now and set up a World FA, led by Uefa and South America

Fifa won’t fix itself – scrap it now and set up a World FA, led by Uefa and South America

Is the Maybach GLS the most excessive SUV?

By: John Oxley

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