Today's policy-makers should take a more long-term perspective on contemporary issues. This is the premise behind History and Policy, a new initiative by the University of Cambridge History Faculty and the Institute of Contemporary British History at the Institute of Historical Research.

Last week historical demographers made headline news with the revelation that Western governments are seriously underestimating how long their citizens are likely to live, an oversight with serious implications for our health, welfare and pensions systems. Their research was based on 140 years of mortality data, illustrating the potential that historical research has to shed light on contemporary issues.

History and Policy aims to bring more historical expertise to the aid of politicians and policy-makers. Through its website and seminar series it will act as a national forum for the discussion of historical aspects of contemporary policy matters.

Dr Simon Szreter, a history lecturer at St John's College, Cambridge, is one of the project's founders. He believes that policy-makers have much to gain from taking a long-term view:

"Contemporary policy debate has too often displayed little or no genuine historical knowledge and, at best, a radically foreshortened historical perspective. This is often particularly evident in the output of think-tanks, which can achieve considerable influence over government policy on the basis of simplistic or obsolete interpretations of the past," says Dr Szreter.

But the project also represents a challenge for historians. "For too long we have fought shy of bringing our research to the attention of policy-makers. Historians need to come out of their dusty archives and engage in debate on the issues of the day," adds Dr Szreter.

History and Policy will kick-off with a major launch event today (Wednesday 15 May) on the highly topical subject of public finance. Historians will present policy papers on national taxation, on local government, and on health service funding. These historical presentations will be commented on by leading policy specialists, including Andrew Dilnot, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, who welcomes the new initiative:

"Studying past experience of policy and policy-making provides insight into the practical questions of what does and doesn't work, and into the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of policy. To ignore the past would be as foolish as to ignore the current experiences of other countries."

The History and Policy website is at: https://www.historyandpolicy.org/ Papers already online cover a range of issues including the historical antecedents to the Alder Hey organs scandal; food safety and animal health; and the role of local government in transforming urban Britain.

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