pretty happy with this, ngl. apparently I'm more of a cyclist than a feminist these days. intriguing.

ICYMI: Our Invitation to Tender for a proposed People's Forum on Advanced AI Assistants. Full details below. We have also developed some FAQs for potential applicants ➡️https://adalovelaceinstitute.org/assistants-tender-faqs Deadline for submissions: 15 February 2026.

Time to re up my post on how to staff No10 open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...

what is interesting about the Goodwin example is that child benefit was introduced as a replacement for child tax allowances, part of the system until the 1970s. Switch benefited low earners/ mothers (this was pre-independent taxation) but CTAs were not regarded as a wild proposal

No-one thinks about tax and welfare as a set of net transfers between citizens and the state. We respond to a deep story of punishment and reward. If we want to solve our fiscal problems, we need to engage with those deep stories and find new ones. howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/tax-is-a-s...

I believe we call this an emergency podcast. pod.fo/e/38b2fb

"Thank you for dialling 999. Which emergency service will you be requiring? Police, Fire, Ambulance, or Podcasts?"

Today we talked quite a lot about Peter Mandelson on our podcast that used to feature Peter Mandelson. Full ep here: pod.fo/e/388d04

Delighted that we at @instituteforgovernment.org.uk are once again supporting this annual online event aimed at reaching people currently under-represented in the think tank sector… please share with your networks…

sorry to be sentimental but this is the most amazing heartwarming story

Important! AHRC is looking for a new Executive Chair. A critical role for arts and humanities. £160k - £170k. Please share widely to help get the best possible field! fa-evzn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

This a great piece on something that really matters for people - that is well known from our daily lives - and on the difficulties as to why this is hard to solve for. The solution is one that there’s been some great work on over 20 years and can be built on now

Such a great piece from @pollymackenzie.bsky.social. 1 in 4 adults in the UK lives in pain but the state is not good at doing anything about it as the problem doesn't belong to a Department, we are bad at prevention, and solutions are not travelling howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/pain?utm_s...

Pain is a canonical example of the kind of problem the modern state should be able to address, and cannot. I've written about how - if we could solve for this - we could solve for anything. howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/pain

The more I watch this from Hannah Spencer, two things happen: 1. The more I like it and her. 2. The more it makes me want to get out and do what she says by volunteering. ... I'm surprisingly moved by 2, as I can physically feel it breaking through the armour of scepticism I've built around myself.

Until a couple of years ago we had a cat called Ringo. Last week we finally felt ready for a new feline friend. So we got kittens: two girls. In Ringo’s honour, the children have named them John and Paul.

i can get behind the steak and eggs.

A stranger has lent me his battery pack on the bus for my phone. Things that are not news: London is not a hellscape.

I was the first person in my family to go to university* *except for my mum, my dad, my brother, my sister and my three step sisters.

So it looks like the government is announcing a National Police Service. Again. It's one of those ideas that seems perfect from the outside, but yet we never seem to be able to get right. It got my brain whirring, so I wrote up some reflections. andreasthinks.me/posts/reflec... #Policing #uk

Scroll to the end of Polly’s substack post - some interesting links for those of you who feel somewhat ‘stuck’ and/or want to do something in response to the darkening global political clouds.

This this THIS I needed to read this this morning and even more, YOU need to read this this morning.

It’s 592 days since the Labour manifesto proposed a ‘National Data Library’. 571 days since the 2024 General Election. DSIT have *finally* published something on the National Data Library: www.gov.uk/government/p... It was not worth the wait.

Surprisingly moving and thought-provoking from @pollymackenzie.bsky.social calling on all of us to reflect on the contribution we can make by volunteering our skills to improve our civic infrastructure and help challenge the madness and badness we see in the world. open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...

Having spent the weekend feeling rather paralysed by the moment, I wrote something. A voice is not enough. What can I do? Isn't that the question we all face? howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/an-inflect...

War bonds are a win-win proposition. Either you get your money back with interest or you're dead. Either way, zero regrets.

A world in which outcomes are determined by force, favour or fear is not just immoral; it is inefficient. It misallocates capital, talent and time. It forces everyone to spend energy defending themselves instead of trading or building. open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...

Superb - and alarming - piece on the torrent of falsehood and disinformation pouring into people's phones, designed to stir up racial hatred. If you don't subscribe to @londoncentric.media, its investigative journalism is outstanding. @jim.londoncentric.media www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...

Had an amazing day in Bridgend with Alex Bevan from @futuregovforum.bsky.social. Rugby, donuts, Carwyn Jones, Richard Parks and plotting how to grow R&D investment in Wales.

Polly is right.

It’s not just sluggish government that’s driving contempt for the rule of law. howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/law-law-wh...

It’s not just sluggish government that’s driving contempt for the rule of law. howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/law-law-wh...

My mother was so excited she got up to listen to it at 3am despite having been involved from start to finish. I hope you'll give it a listen at a more sensible hour.

It’s out! The story of my grandfather’s mysterious death and everything that followed. podfollow.com/1860256329

Next week we have an event, chaired by @yeowell.bsky.social, where Phil will be joined by Clegg's fmr policy director @pollymackenzie.bsky.social, Starmer's fmr strategy director Paul Ovenden and 2019 Tory manifesto author Rachel Wolf Sign up here! www.futuregovernanceforum.co.uk/event/who-go...

OUT NOW: Power Failure: A new theory of power New report by @philtinline.bsky.social argues we need a new ‘theory of power’ to understand where power lies & how it should be redistributed – so govt can get things done and restore trust. Full report ⬇️ www.futuregovernanceforum.co.uk/resource/pow...

Next week, we’ll be joined by a cross-party line-up of thinkers and former insiders to discuss the report’s findings and recommendations. Register your interest today ⬇️ Please note, due to limited capacity, registration is subject to approval. 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/who-govern...

How many more defections until Ed Davey is LOTO?

New post just out: "Power to the People" Today we have a guest post from @jamestplunkett.bsky.social on how Labour can counter the "Britain is Broken" narrative by investing in civic life and giving people more control over their community. (Free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...

Is there any Secretary of State for Education in the last fifty years who hasn’t given a speech declaring that *they* (yes they!) will finally resolve the status gap between academic and vocational education? howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/what-if-yo...

This week's piece includes my quiet fantasy about Robert Jenrick. Can you guess what it is? howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/what-if-yo...

A good piece on the fundamental problem with (UK) politics. Your opponents may indeed be evil idiots but the problems they face may be complex wicked problems with no clear solutions and where decades of desperate flailing have made the whole system an impenetrable mess. So good luck.

Fabulous and important article about the Heffalump Trap every UK political party has fallen into for decades…

So pleased that someone recommended @pollymackenzie.bsky.social to me - not only insightful and thought-provoking. but also positive about what can still be achieved.

This week's piece includes my quiet fantasy about Robert Jenrick. Can you guess what it is? howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/what-if-yo...

📅 Upcoming event | Who governs Britain? A new theory of power for an age of populism Join a cross-party line-up of thinkers and former insiders to rethink how power operates in the British state. Sign up today: 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/who-govern...

THERE AREN'T ANY LEVERS

I am getting massive FOMO about not being at the IfG conference given how many people have messaged me to say people keep using the word "lever".

The concept of business rates actively stifles high street development. Improving a premises, either though changing it's use or upgrading facilities, increases it's rateable value and therefore it's business rates. Why convert a derelict shop into a cafe if the new tax rate makes it unviable?

I know we did high streets yesterday, and it’s dodgy former chancellor day today, but this is still interesting. (As ever, where’s the money coming from though.)