🧵 Progressives need to think much more ambitiously about citizenship: it can't only be a debate about the "who" - the boundaries of citizenship. Our new @ippr.org report today makes the case for a new politics of "democratic citizenship": www.ippr.org/articles/the...

We are hiring! Brilliant senior job running our new UK Government team… …looking for someone creative and strategic with experience of government who would seize this fantastic opportunity to make government work well for the people of the UK! www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/about-us/car...

10 years ago I was organising a barbecue for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk staff to watch the result of the referendum. The IfG had acted until then as though the EU did not exist. After the referendum we built a fantastic team which I had the privilege of leading for 2 years

Wendy Williams called 2018 Windrush scandal "foreseeable and avoidable". On Windrush Day, @ippr.org note future dangers of a mass loss of status in this parliament 2028 + starkly racialised pattern of who is at risk. An urgent need to "Windrush proof" the draft reforms www.ippr.org/articles/win...

Reform have now lost six by-elections in a row in England, Scotland and Wales. Their national poll rating is 26% – below Labour in 1983 – and Farage’s approval rating is -37. They’re very far from the voice of the people and need to stop being treated as such.

It is extremely important that Labour understands that the movement of voters between Lab and Ref was not the crucial factor, it was consolidation of the anti-Ref vote and Lab voters turning out in droves. Otherwise Burnham will make the same mistakes as Starmer in targeting only one set of voters.

If there had been a crucial by-election in, say, Bristol - I wonder if the Westminster commentariat would be quite as keen on playing endless vox pops when people might be complaining about Gaza, student loans and that Labour isn't standing up enough against the far right.

Everyone on X and elsewhere who called for a violent response should be charged with incitement. Everyone involved in the pogrom should be locked up with exemplary sentences. Govt should make it clear that will be the response in future anywhere else. Enough.

New @ippr.org analysis shows 1 in 6 young people could be NEET by the end of the decade on current trends. That’s why the Milburn report out today is so important; one of the most serious attempts yet to understand how young people are being failed and what must change www.ippr.org/articles/a-t...

Andy Burnham says land in the UK is ‘undertaxed’ - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... There wasn't any kind of battle of idea in GE2024 and now we're getting one. I know people are irritated at all the turmoil but this is at least a positive.

It’s time for a decisive shift in Britain’s approach to Europe. Starmer has been signalling that he is willing to think differently - including through the youth experience scheme - but now is the time to be bolder. 1/3

Thinktank calls for ‘double lock’ England private rent cap to ease living costs

🏘️ | NEW REPORT: Millions are struggling with unaffordable private rents. Our new report calls for a “double lock” rent cap, limiting annual rent increases to whichever is lower: inflation or wage growth. Read here: www.ippr.org/articles/hou...

Capping prices in a supply shock? Wouldn't this just pretend that we have as much oil and gas available as before Iran? Price caps can work in supply shocks when they're designed well 🧵1/9

This is an astonishingly successful public policy reform, and so heartening. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

If you honestly believe the only reason problems haven’t been solved is because you weren’t in charge, you need a therapist, not a job in Downing Street. Thoughts on civil service reform. howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/going-for-...

This is a cheering read from @gilesyb.bsky.social for a sunny Monday morning. We can have nice things and still defend ourselves. gileswilkes.substack.com/p/maybe-euro...

NEW: Should progressives in the UK adopt an 'Abundance' agenda? Is this 'the new third way'? What would such policies actually look like in practice? Lots of thought-provoking essays on these questions in IPPR's latest Progressive Review. Check it out here👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿“I want to wake up & not have to worry & go to sleep without having to worry” Spent the weekend in focus groups across south Wales from Cardiff to Merthyr, to Port Talbot & Pembroke Dock, above all else we heard deep pessimism about the state of Wales, the UK & the wider world

A few thoughts on earned settlement after a busy week. (1) Govt is going through consultation after over 200,000 people responded, far higher than other consultations of this type. This means there is still a lot up for grabs to shape the policy, including transitional measures.

Politics is about the stories we tell - what we stand for and where we’re going. The right is doing this with confidence. Progressives need to do the same: making big, values-driven arguments about the future. That's what @ippr.org's National Renewal work is all about - now with an🔥advisory panel.

New paper from @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social & me on the political threat and opportunity of climate adaptation Progressives have ignored the need to protect people from extreme weather - and that leaves an opening for the populist right. 🧵 @ippr.org www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Really worth a read - brings together lots of different bits of evidence, including what the Persuasion / 38 Degrees report last week uncovered. Striking amount of consensus emerging on this area now I think.

NEW: After Gorton & Denton, how should we understand the threat to Labour's left? Big new @persuasionuk.bsky.social report out with @38degrees.bsky.social on 'progressive defectors' - Lab 2024 switchers to Greens, Plaid, SNP, Lib Dems. Who are they, who are they not & what's moving them? 🧵

Lovely to be named one of this year's 100 'Women in Westminster', and proud to to be alongside such an incredible group of women helping to shape policy and politics for the better. #wiw100 www.politicshome.com/in-focus/wiw...

A senior Danish guy in the Social Democrats said to me that Denmark does not think of itself as a multicultural country whereas Britain does, which makes our situation very different.

What a lack of grace we've seen across the board today. Whether you agree with her politics or not, Hannah Spencer was evidently a top notch candidate and Parliament will be richer with her there. Obvious from the off. We all need to drink the water from this democratic well.

One of Labour's political challenges is that those things it has done that is popular tend not to be well known or high profile to the general public A Reform threat to repeal employment rights is therefore a significant political opportunity, if they can seize it.

Support in mainstream schools has been hollowed out. Help often only comes once a child qualifies for an EHCP — by then, it’s crisis point. Earlier intervention means more kids get support sooner — better for families and better for the taxpayer. 📺 @harryqp.bsky.social on BBC News👇

Have written about how the below is one symptom of a really bad set-up at the centre of government. It makes sense that in the moment prime ministers keep trying to find a different person to do various jobs, but the problem is also a structural one, and the dysfunctional structure keeps on winning

If Starmer wants a reset - and not yet another U-turn when the parliamentary party balks at a policy - here is his chance.

This was an inspiring blog six months ago from one of the new joint PM’s Chief of Staff

Precisely. Provided they don't quail before focus groups, strategists, the Daily Mail, the great and good, lobby gossip, guesswork dressed up as 'cost-benefit analysis', and over-cautious legal advice - but instead use their judgement, stick to their principles, and govern.

Rebuilding state capacity requires building the confidence of the civil service as well as investing in the dynamic capabilities needed to tackle grand challenges - not outsourcing to consultancies.

Nothing like enjoying your slightly cheaper pint while imagining the toddler crying from hunger that paid for it.

Smart question to ask.

New report: AI is certain to transform the way we consume news. If we do nothing it could turn it into slop. We need policy action now, to ensure AI improves news & the public sphere. Guardian coverage: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Really excited to see the government announcing a cap on ground rents. As recommended in @samalvis.bsky.social and my "war on bills" piece. As we argue, the government should leave no stone on unturned to lower the cost of living in ways that people can feel. www.ippr.org/articles/a-w...

I think this is exactly right. www.ft.com/content/2642... Europe must not appease Trump on Greenland

Fantastic news that a government body is now on here. Zero excuse at this point for all others not doing the same

So... I've created a starter pack of UK government organisations currently on Bluesky: go.bsky.app/JHsY1Wz (Currently includes all those listed under ministerial and non-ministerial departments here www.gov.uk/government/o... - let me know any I've missed, or got wrong)

New YouGov research for ippr finds that civic conceptions of being British are held by most people, with a third prioritising birthplace. Reform voters are outliers, against the general public view, weighting ancestry and ethnicity more highly www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Every pollster and focus group will tell you that high street decline and broken down buildings are a key part of our political malaise. I'd love to see government pick a fight with derelict property owners. howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/how-do-you...

🚨 WE'RE HIRING! Come and join the UK's most influential think tank. We are recruiting for an economist to join our international policy team. Find out more here 👇 www.ippr.org/jobs/economi...

Such important context for the scrapping of the two child limit:

70% of the additional spending from removing the two-child limit will go to families who are in work. This is targeting support for low-income working households who are being priced out of a decent standard of living despite doing everything asked of them.

A mansion tax is one of the most popular things that Labour has done - 67% in favour, 19% against.

The government *did do* what was right for the country - and what its MPs believed was right: lifting 450,000 children out of poverty. Politics isn’t just polling or tactics. It’s using power to advance your values. The government acted on its values and improved opportunities for ~ 1.6m children.