The National Strategy Project (NSP) is an ambitious, independent, cross-sector initiative to give the UK something it has never had but urgently needs: a trusted way to understand what the country really wants for its long-term future — and a practical system to act on it.
At a time of rising uncertainty, economic pressure, fractured trust and institutional fatigue, the NSP brings people together across politics, generations, sectors, regions and the whole of society to co-create a vision for the UK's future and shape the blueprint to achieve it.
Co-founded by Catherine Day (former Cabinet Office, No.10, FCDO), Robyn Scott (CEO Apolitical) and Matthew Rycroft (former UK Home Office Permanent Secretary and UN Ambassador), the NSP draws on deep experience of how government succeeds, where it fails, and what is missing.
This is not a party, campaign or advocacy effort. It is a non-partisan public-good initiative designed to give any government — and the whole country — the clarity, consent and capability needed to act on the long term.
The UK is now a digital society sitting on privately run networks and global technology stacks. Cyber crime generates estimated losses of £14.7 billion annually — and a catastrophic cascade failure is a credible risk. How far should the state push baseline standards? How do we share burdens between firms, citizens and government? And how do we build an online "security state" — not a surveillance state?
Trust in government, public institutions and democratic processes has fallen sharply. Trust is often treated as a cultural problem — but it is more often an engineering problem: reliability, responsiveness, integrity and fairness. What practical steps should the UK take to rebuild the relationship between citizens and the institutions that serve them?
If the UK wants a growing workforce and enough staff for health, care, construction and technology, migration matters. If it wants lower migration, it must substitute through higher domestic training, higher participation and later retirement. There is no free option. How should the UK design a stable, honest long-term approach to immigration?
The UK is highly centralised — a model that is increasingly dysfunctional as local variation grows and demand for locally delivered services rises. Should we give regions and local areas meaningful fiscal power and accountability? What does a well-functioning, trusted state look like in the 2050s — and how do we get there?
Climate action is a practical necessity, but "climate policy" bundles different things: cutting emissions, preparing for impacts, and protecting nature. Is there a trade-off between decarbonisation and growth? How do we balance ambition with fairness — ensuring costs are not carried disproportionately by those least able to bear them?
Housing is one of the UK's most damaging self-made constraints — touching living standards, family formation, regional mobility and economic opportunity. Should the UK treat housing as infrastructure and build enough of it, or continue to protect it as a scarce financial asset? What planning reforms, land-use choices and investment are needed?
Economic growth is often treated as the only route to sustaining a high-service society — but "growth" is not one thing. Should the UK prioritise more output, higher median living standards, lower inequality, regional balance, or resilience in an ageing society? And how should we fix the tax and benefit design that quietly punishes work, training and risk-taking?
The UK population is ageing fast — by 2072, roughly 27% of the population will be over 65. Rising demand for healthcare and social care is unavoidable. The question is how we redesign the system to cope: funding models, NHS reform, social care, workforce, and the role of prevention versus treatment. What should the UK prioritise?