It's England's world cup semi-finals day. Forget team selection dilemmas and xG analysis. What you really want is a really nerdy deep-dive into football, pub opening hours, and what they tell you about the most important form of legislation that you may never have heard of. Let's go.

Really great data vis in this morning's London Centric from @jim.londoncentric.media! Clear, fun and eye-catching - @philipnye.bsky.social one for our IfG data vis training? And as always well-worth a read, today on tipping culture in London open.substack.com/pub/londonce...

Just happened on this great blog from Justice Digital on protecting researchers when working on hard topics or with people who've experienced trauma. The little practical steps - taking a break after an interview, not doing this work from home if you can - are undervalued but make a real difference.

New comment: Starmer can credibly say he steadied the ship on public services But his govt launched a haphazard set of reforms and performance has not improved radically What choices does Burnham face? What can he do in the next ~3 years? 🧵👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

Ok seen a few of these stories now. It's weird, given how many mid-term changes of PM we have had lately, that people don't remember they don't have shadow cabinets and there are many reasons they literally can't 'appoint' their picks before actually becoming PM. www.ft.com/content/66ad...

Good decision by Burnham (if true). He needs to prioritise improving the centre of govt and economic/fiscal policy making, but splitting the Treasury would be a damaging distraction (set up a bolstered PM dept, have a bold tax strategy and improve the SR instead) www.ft.com/content/61c0...

NEW REPORT: How to deliver digital transformation in public services. Successive governments have looked to digital solutions for problems facing public services – with varying success. We’ve looked at past examples and drawn out 7 lessons for people working on future programmes:

Within a few weeks we'll have our next prime minister - don't know if you've heard, but he's been mayor of Manchester for the last few years. @tompope.bsky.social, @akashpaun.bsky.social and I have had a look for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk at the differences between the two roles:

Really positive sign that the backlog of cases in the crown court is stabilising - very much contrary to expectations! The number of open cases held steady at around 80,000 cases from Dec 2025 to March 2026. Suggests removing the cap on how many days courts are in session is having a real impact.

The NHS published the 10 year health plan for England a year ago That included an ambitious shift towards prevention So one year on, where has the NHS got to? Really looking forward to hosting this event next week, sign up below

This is a really welcome scheme: exactly what gov should be doing to tackle big workforce shortages in the criminal courts. A lot of lawyers have left criminal law over last 10-15 years & it's a lot quicker to tempt them back than to train new ones! Plus you get all the benefits of their experience

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With most of the focus on how Burnham might achieve the top job, there is little focus on how he might go about preparing for the job itself. So @jackworlidge.bsky.social and i have looked at how mid-term prep for govt compares www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/pr... 1/

Had a real ‘omg how was that only last week’ moment here, before I realised that no, the Guardian just messed up, it was five weeks ago

Following Andy Burnham's victory in the Makerfield by-election, @meganbryer.bsky.social explains its importance and what it means for a potential Labour leadership contest.

Andy Burnham's Makerfield win leaves the post of mayor of Greater Manchester vacant. So with a mayoral by-election in Greater Manchester expected, how does devolution in the region work? Read our explainer to find out www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ma...

PSA for the weekend (and because i went and counted): - Since 1945 there have been 9 PMs entering office following a GE (8 if you don't count Wilson twice). - There have been 10 who have become PM following a mid-term change.

I discuss some of this in a recent piece for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk here: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/shab... Incredible how complex and vulnerable to human error these changes will be, especially for people already in the UK - Windrush will be the best comparison.

PODCAST 🎙️ The way you Makerfield @luketryl.bsky.social joins @alexgathomas.bsky.social @hannahkeenan.bsky.social ahead of the Makerfield by-election. PLUS: Burnham/Starmer transition of power. And @cassiarowland.bsky.social on Badenoch's IfG speech www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

I think this is at the core of the issue re anti-racism guidance. Similar example: should police treat men and women the same? In some ways, clearly yes: a woman who commits a crime should get the same treatment as a man who commits an equivalent crime. But in practice it’s more complicated:

Absolutely right & imo gets to a critical challenge for policing now: inevitably footage of crimes (from riots to shoplifting) gets more attention online than hearing some people have been arrested. bc the crime is much more visible than the consequences, it feeds a sense of lawlessness

I’ve gotten enough whispered compliments on my rainbow crocs (of all things) that I no longer dunk on individuals’ “performative” pride gestures. Safety is still very much a going concern for many queer people.

IMO it’s wrong to say the evidence shows things are going seriously wrong in the youth justice system. Children’s *prisons* are unquestionably appalling. But community youth justice probs one of the best performing public services — though some big data gaps. 🧵

Forget Wordle. Play small caged mammal on the run. www.ft.com/content/dad4...

I find the framing of Married at First Sight as an ‘accident waiting to happen’ frankly disgusting (not just coming from BBC). Rape is not an ‘accident’! Like many reality tv shows, it was a blatant safeguarding risk ignored because it was profitable. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Think there’s a lot of truth to this. Dragging out this uncertainty on the leadership for months is only going to make the lack of vision worse

10 things we learned in the King's Speech, from across the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Lots of interesting insights and analysis from across the - really quite broad - range of plans from the government.

If you’re after a fascinating read that *isn’t* about Labour’s factional war, highly recommend this fab piece on food influencers

Absolutely excoriating letter from Jess Phillips that drives home exactly why this matters so much. It's not about Westminster psychodrama, it's about the ability of gov to make decisions that *shape people's lives*. Instability and indecisiveness at the top both have real consequences.

Renting Julius Caesar from National Theatre live and watching it at home was too on the nose I take it.

There are pros and cons for the government in having a record number of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPSs) on the books The cons obviously include there being more people who can quit the role and cause quite the headache...

Fascinating event on a project that is a metaphor for much of what is wrong with governing in the UK. come along

This may be my favourite argument ever advanced by a politician:

That’s what it *should* be about. In practice, local gov finances are so constrained they have little ability to make meaningful choices: they’re all but ‘social care factories‘. Councillor electoral system is bizarre & opaque. So voting as opinion poll on national gov may be most rational choice!

To celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday please do enjoy this clip of the legend himself meeting a quite incredible bird guy. Happy Birthday, Sir Dave! Here's to another 100 years!

Polls are open till 22:00 for the Senedd, Scottish Parliament and English local elections. To find out more details about the elections head over to the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk local and devolved elections hub www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/our-work/top...

"Robbins has nevertheless been made a scapegoat." With the blame-game dominating the week in Westminster, our IfG experts explored the fall-out from the Mandelson vetting row and the sacking of Olly Robbins. Watch or listen to the discussion 📺🎧 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/peter-...

Surprising to hear Emily Thornberry suggesting that Robbins saying 'there were concerns about Mandelson's vetting but we overcame them' or 'some issues came up in the vetting that are not in the public domain' wouldn't compromise the confidentiality of the process. They clearly would!

The extent to which I would much rather be writing about the IfG's new report on employment support (read it! It's really interesting) tomorrow than yet another round of 'man who refuses to do the job of PM properly continues to be bad at it' cannot be overstated.

Excellent piece from @hannahkeenan.bsky.social here on the broader fallout from the latest Mandelson row. Seen a few people asking ‘why does this matter?’ — here’s your answer.

EVENT | In conversation with Rt Hon James Murray MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury: How will the government boost public service productivity? 📆Today, 12:30 — 13:30 Join us online or in-person today as Rt Hon James Murray MP discusses plans to improve productivity in the public sector.

Great thread here on some of the practical difficulties police face getting stolen phones back — even when they know where they are

This is an awful story It's also a case study of why services are costing more and still failing people This is the worst possible outcome for the children, for the NHS, for the councils, and for national govt It's worth looking at how they ended up there 👇 www.hsj.co.uk/emergency-ca...

NEW BLOG: a year ago, the government announced the abolition of NHS England and the reorganisation of integrated care boards (ICBs) What has happened since then? And how is that decision affecting the NHS and other services? www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/one-...

I’m joining @pippacrerar.bsky.social and @verabaird.bsky.social on the Week in Westminster at 11 today to talk jury trial reforms. What is the government doing? How much of a difference will it make? And what are the arguments for and against? Have a listen here www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

The dire situation in the criminal courts requires action. But reforms to jury trials risk tilting the system too far towards speed over fairness and could lead to further declines in performance. Read the report by @cassiarowland.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

I wrote a piece for LBC on how proposed reforms to criminal trials actually risk making things worse, rather than better www.lbc.co.uk/article/crim...

Nice reference to my new report in the Guardian liveblog! You can read the whole thing here www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

NEW REPORT: The government’s proposed reforms to criminal trials risk tilting the system too far towards speed over fairness and justice, and could lead to further declines in performance and productivity. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

NEW REPORT: The government’s proposed reforms to criminal trials risk tilting the system too far towards speed over fairness and justice, and could lead to further declines in performance and productivity. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...