The temptation to drop everything and go to the beach instead of trying to understand recent events in UK politics has been very hard to resist these last few weeks. And yet, no CCC consumer advocate can be stopped by a heatwave.

Our team has been keeping an eye on Boris Johnson’s promises and first steps. Attentively, and with a cold drink in hand.

On the 25th of July, before Boris Johnson made his first speech as a prime minister, I escaped from the rush in the centre of London, sat at a nice cafe in Clapham, got myself a sugary soda, and the moment he went live I thought “let’s see what he’s going to be up to!”.

When closer to the end of his speech, he called for the liberation of the UK’s bioscience sector from anti-genetic modification rule, we all realised we should step in and get consumer choice in science some spotlight! 

That’s how the idea of our brand new policy note, co-authored by Fred, Bill and myself came about. Our recommendations concern gene modification and gene engineering and are intentionally easy to comprehend 😉 Give it a read!

Cannabis legalisation has finally entered the agenda of political debate in Europe. As policymakers are starting to approach the topic, our David Clement and Yaël Ossowski are on standby to give them a piece of advice. Our April trip to Luxembourg keeps making waves in the media. Last week, our work on cannabis got featured in The Guardian:

‘Two representatives of the Consumer Choice Centre travelled to Luxembourg in April to offer their advice on legislation.

One area of contention is whether to ban the use of cannabis in public, which risks discriminating against tenants and people of limited means. The officials recommended allowing use of the drug in specific public areas.’

One could mistakenly think that getting cannabis legalised and enabling the growth of GM crops is the limit of our ambitions 🙂

But as the world is moving forward very fast and new technologies are entering the scene, CCC’s wishlist keeps growing by the day. 

If there is one thing that excites most people in the world, it is travelling. The revival of supersonic planes would make what was unimaginable in the past two decades come true once again. For example, flights between London and New York could be reduced from seven to three hours. More time for friends, family, and sightseeing 🙂

Our Bill Wirtz and Luca Bertoletti are looking forward to sharing their policy primer on supersonic travel with you. It’ll be published this month! 

As autumn is standing at the door, our team is in anticipation of many victories for consumer choice in Europe and globally. We are grateful for your support and, as always, we are aiming for the moon! 

All the best,

Maria Chaplia