3RRR
During his visit to Australia, Professor Matthew Johnson joined Dylan Bird on 3RRR Digital in Melbourne to discuss inequality on Future Perfect. Exploring what drives health and economic inequality in the UK, what happens to your health when you’re exposed to financial insecurity and domination, Professor Johnson makes the case for a Basic Income as a powerful tool for change, addressing some of the social determinants of health.
LBC
Dr Elliott Johnson was on LBC with Henry Riley on Saturday discussing the issues raised in the Guardian about the decline in remote jobs and what it means for disabled workers. Elliott argued that employers need to build much more flexibility and autonomy into roles, and focus on outputs rather than time spent in the office. He emphasised that people should be supported into secure work in ways that suit them, rather than being forced into rigid structures that exclude those with additional needs. Listen now from 1hr 11 mins
Times Radio
Dr Elliott Johnson was invited to join Darryl Morris on Times Radio Sunday night to discuss Basic Income and its necessity in today’s social and economic landscape.
Elliott talked through how a Basic Income could work in practice, why it’s needed, and why it’s both popular and politically feasible. A thoughtful, evidence‑based conversation on one of the biggest social policy questions of our time.
Richard Murphy Funding Futures
Dr Elliott Johnson and Professor Howard Reed appeared on Richard Murphy’s Funding Futures podcast to discuss Common Sense Policy Group, our latest work on economic modelling, public investment, and the case for a Basic Income.
Listen to the full conversation here…
Scott Santens Top 10 Universal Basic Income Articles of 2025
Scott Santens highlights Professor Matthew Johnson’s Five Books interview as the leading article on Basic Income for 2025. The interview outlines the core arguments from our 2025 publication, ‘Basic Income: The Policy That Changes Everything’, and continues to shape discussion around the transformative potential of Basic Income.
Read Scott Santens’ Top 10 Universal Basic Income Articles of 2025 here…
LBC
Dr Elliott Johnson, appeared on LBC with Clare Foges, cutting through the noise on welfare and mental health. Despite tighter eligibility and harsher conditions, claimant numbers are rising, clear evidence that current policy is failing. When accessing benefits is difficult, it harms people’s health, discourages work, and reduces their chances of finding meaningful employment. Listen to the full conversation here…
LBC
Dr Elliott Johnson appeared on LBC with Natasha Devon to discuss the transformative potential of a basic income, explaining how unconditional payments deliver widespread benefits, boost security, improve health outcomes and empower people across the income distribution. He argued that a basic income strengthens flexibility and independence, giving everyone, not just the wealthy and privileged, the foundational security to make better, more autonomous decisions about their lives.
Times Radio
Dr Elliott Johnson appeared on Times Radio with Rod Liddle to discuss the weakening relationship between social class and voting behaviour. Drawing on insights by the Common Sense Policy Group, Dr Johnson highlighted how rising exposure to destitution and insecurity is increasingly shaping political preference, cutting across traditional party lines. Listen to the full conversation here…
Is basic income the answer to our age of crisis?
As basic income trials take place around the world, the idea can no longer be dismissed as purely utopian. But can it truly reshape economies and societies? In this episode, Richard Kemp talks with Howard Reed and Elliott Johnson, two of the co-authors of Basic Income: The Policy That Changes Everything, about the reality of basic income.
When politicians tell us to focus on growth we need to ask: 'Why, and for whom?'
“Public opinion research shows that the vast bulk of the population are more progressive and ambitious than what political parties present as being in the centre.” This is one of the conclusions of the Common Sense Policy Group (including Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, whose classic study of equality and wellbeing, The Spirit Level, first published in 2009, is still both admired and ignored by policymakers), at the end of its 2024 collection of “manifesto” essays, Act Now.
A German experiment gave people a basic monthly income. The effect on their work ethic was surprising
A German experiment has found that people are likely to continue working full-time even if they receive no-strings-attached universal basic income payments. Universal basic income, also known as guaranteed income, is the idea of giving money to everyone regardless of how much they already earn – to give them the freedom to move between jobs, train for new positions, provide care, or engage in creative pursuits.
The plan to pay 200 people in Greater Manchester £38k with 'no strings attached'
Up to 200 people in Greater Manchester would get £1,600 a month with ‘no strings attached’ under plans put to Andy Burnham. The Labour mayor committed to bringing forward a ‘Basic Income’ pilot in his election manifesto last year. A group of academics have now put forward a proposal setting out how the trial would work, urging the Greater Manchester mayor to ‘make good on his word’. Under the proposal by the UBI Lab Network, the pilot would run over two years and target homeless people in the city-region.
This English city could be the first to trial universal basic income
Time Out UK covered the Common Sense Policy Group’s groundbreaking proposal for Greater Manchester’s Universal Basic Income pilot, submitted to Mayor Andy Burnham in February 2025. The two-year trial, developed in partnership with UBI Lab Network, would provide £1,600 monthly payments to homeless residents with no strings attached, aiming to end absolute poverty in the region at an estimated cost of £3.84-7.68 million depending on participant numbers.
Why Labour should put green before growth
It would appear that Rachel Reeves would rather put growth ahead of protecting our children’s future with net zero policies (Rachel Reeves’s bid to expand Heathrow could add £40 to airline ticket, 23 January). Yet in the acres of coverage about this government’s growth mantra, three crucial questions are never asked, let alone answered.
Affairs of state
An urgent summons to act, to improve the social determinants of health and well-being which have got worse for millions of people in the UK in recent years, should not sound strange to Catholics.
Kate Pickett on a panel entitled 'We Are It: Community Power in Our Time' as part of the Radical Book Fair 2024
As part of this Radical Book Fair 2024 panel entitled ‘We Are It: Community Power in Our Time’, Common Sense Policy Group member Kate Pickett discusses Act Now in the context of community power in policymaking. To view a YouTube recording of the session, click here…
How to fix Britain’s poverty crisis: Public opinion is changing on the idea of a Universal Basic Income. Could it solve our poverty crisis and improve productivity?
The New European’s Lucy McCormick examines the case for Basic Income in the UK and covers Common Sense Policy Group modelling on the subject. Read more…
Kate Pickett in conversation with Danny Dorling: A vision for a better future at Wilderness Festival
At this Wilderness Festival talk, Common Sense Policy Group members Kate Pickett and Danny Dorling discussed Act Now, an inspiring manifesto offering a better vision for Britain and its implications.
Act Now Review - A manifesto for making change: Sylvia Hikins welcomes a brilliant book that should be compulsory reading for all MPs
Morning Star Online’s Sylvia Hikins reviews Act now: A vision for a better future, by the Common Sense Policy Group.
To Rebuild Britain, Tax the Rich
Common Sense Policy Group members Elliott Johnson, Howard Reed and Matthew Johnson argue that Labour’s claim that there is no money left will condemn Britain to more austerity while letting billionaires, landlords, and corporations off the hook. Instead, the focus should be on shifting taxation away from productive employment and onto passive wealth.