Lots of parallels between #Ashes defeat and what Labour voters in 2024 are feeling about the govt right now.. "its the hope that kills you". "It was supposed to be different this time". you wait 15 years for a win in Australia/regain power and then it all falls to pieces super quickly

PODCAST 🎙️ 2025 in review: Starmer's year of drama The IfG team and the FT's @chris-smyth.bsky.social pick out the big moments of the last 12 months – the big political developments, and the key appointments that could shape the year ahead www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Lots of parallels between #Ashes defeat and what Labour voters in 2024 are feeling about the govt right now.. "its the hope that kills you". "It was supposed to be different this time". you wait 15 years for a win in Australia/regain power and then it all falls to pieces super quickly

Air passenger duty is a terribly designed tax - my substack this week (£/free trial) sets out how to sort it out timleunig.substack.com/p/air-passen...

An extremely poor look for the government. As our devolution team argued about delays to mayoral elections, it looks like either “the government fundamentally misunderstood the scale of the task it had set itself, or that the decision may have been made for…partisan advantage”

Have you ever read the Public Services Performance Tracker published by @instituteforgovernment.org.uk? If so, we’d love to hear from you. We’re surveying readers to find out what is most useful and what we should prioritise next year. It will only take around 5 mins to complete

NEW | How can the government ensure inquiries are set up to succeed? Early decisions can set inquiries off on the wrong path. Our report makes a series of recommendations for reforms designed to ensure inquiries are fit for purpose www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

"The really interesting thing is where this sits within the wider reset? 🇬🇧🇪🇺 Why have they concluded this agreement now, which is something the EU is very keen on, and are they actually landing some of the UK's big objectives?" 🎙️ @jillongovt.bsky.social on the deal to reoopen Erasmus to UK students

The good thing about this is that it gives a bit more of a sense of an agreed timetable which was the big missing in the May Common Understanding... but of course, the date for the next UK-EU summit has not been fixed.

1/ The latest ONS data on public sector employment shows that the civil service has grown (again). After 2 consecutive quarters of plateauing growth, the CS grew in Q3 by 3490 (0.6%) to 520440 FTE. This is the highest quarterly increase since Labour came to power. @instituteforgovernment.org.uk

as Trump throws a $ 10bn lawsuit at the BBC, @instituteforgovernment.org.uk picked a good day to discuss the President's impact on communications - with Katy Balls from @thetimes.com @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social @alexgathomas.bsky.social - sign up www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/trump-...

One of the upsides of Brexit was that politicians would not be able to use “Brussels doesn’t let us” as a pretext for their own indecision

For any home affairs/justice journos out there, I've done some modelling on the likely impact of the government's proposed changes to jury trials and how much time/money it will save overall. Numbers are *extremely* striking so drop me a DM if you might be interested in an exclusive!

Fair Pay Agreements (or FPAs) were implemented in New Zealand... then repealed a year later. @nehaldavison.bsky.social, who was involved in their design, explains what the UK can learn from this unsuccessful attempt to improve pay and conditions in sectors like adult social care.

Read the latest Ministers Reflect where our IfG team interviewed former chancellor Sajid Javid on his views on Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings. To read more: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/press-releas...

This should be a great event... What can govt communicators do when Trump blows up their grid on a daily basis. Have we now normalised ignoring facts and is politics just performance art? Does our system of government have any protections if someone followed populist playbook?

On the UK-US pharmaceutical deal I'm afraid this does look like two nasty trends coming together to make a very bad agreement for the UK - namely Whitehall power to make deals with no scrutiny, and companies working with countries to coerce others. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Reeves needs to avoid a patsy OBR Chair. (to paraphrase) New @gemmatetlow.bsky.social @instituteforgovernment.org.uk blog on the need to maintain a strong, independent institution, even if its very annoying sometimes www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/stro...

"But a customs union is far from being a silver bullet for the UK’s economic woes, and it does have some potential downsides." ✍️ As debates about the UK entering into a customs union with the EU resurface, @jreland.bsky.social looks at what this would actually mean ukandeu.ac.uk/is-a-customs...

Wow - talk about supertimely event with the new and eye-popping US national security strategy as essential pre-read for @anandmenon.bsky.social and his panel to much on ... kudos @ukandeu.bsky.social for top anticipation

The govt appears committed to driving forward digital IDs - the responsibility for the scheme now sits in the Cabinet Office, led by Darren Jones, and was described by Liz Kendall in the science, innovation and technology committee today as one of the PM's "top priorities" (1/4)

Small and often invisible barriers to trade are affecting products from businesses across Europe. If there is one product that symbolises the absurdities of the EU’s single market in goods, it might be this cuddly elephant. on.ft.com/4rBErqC

PODCAST 🎙️Should the UK do budgets differently? As Reeves is accused of misleading the public, @drhannahwhite.bsky.social @gemmatetlow.bsky.social @alexgathomas.bsky.social discuss how well the UK does budgets. PLUS Lammy's judge-only trials plans www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Complaints about double taxation of hybrids with new EV charge eg @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/.... But Hybrid drivers - that is the reason you are being charged half the rate of full EV drivers. Maybe the % should be different.. in which case respond to the consultation...

so I think Richard Hughes was right to offer to resign, but the Chancellor should not have accepted his resignation, but given the OBR the resources to overhaul their ropey security.

I'm really delighted to announce that- in a restructure of the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk’s senior team - I've appointed @gemmatetlow.bsky.social to the new role of Executive Director of Research & Innovation & @alexgathomas.bsky.social to the new role of Executive Director of Impact & Influence

From my perspective it was vastly better to have the information first and I would argue generally improved on the day analysis/scrutiny (albeit that largely now been forgotten in the "did she mislead" us coverage).

My latest on the gov's proposal to all-but abolish jury trials: a radical move that would leave us out-of-step with most democracies and increase the risk of miscarriages of justice. 🧵 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/david-lammy-...

The EU reset seemed to hit some buffers over - surprise, surprise - money at the weekend. Listen to our top panellists at our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk @ukandeu.bsky.social event dissect progress and pitfalls 10 days ago www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/six-mo...

Eh?? A customs union would impose constraints on sovereignty (mostly around trade policy) but not on planning regs... If this info has been briefed by pro-CU figures then I don't hold much hope for their efforts. I recommend our explainer instead: ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/e...

Agree with every word of this We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25 The govt has no near-term replacement It means either: 1) staffing shortages or 2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding

New funding plans will give mayors more autonomy to boost growth The chancellor's budget announcements are important steps on the government’s journey to ‘complete the map’ of English devolution www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/autu...

This is mad. Obviously it was a massive error. But Richard Hughes resigning would be a huge over-response. on.ft.com/485r0Yd OBR chair under pressure over early release of Budget analysis

I agree with higher taxes on expensive properties but why do it like this with these weird thresholds and cliff edges?

"Business wanted stability. Reeves has the same plan as she had before. They should not complain." My very short take on the Budget and Growth has been published. It is obviously the only correct one, so I recommend you read it all the way through www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/au...

Some personal news: I will be moving to Delhi in January to be the Economist's South Asia bureau chief. I am obviously hugely excited about this. Welcome all recommendations and tips.

Very excited for this event next week! Last week the Covid Inquiry published its report on political decision making and governance - a big one for government - we'll be taking a look at what we learned from the inquiry and what this all means for government, policymakers & future public inquiries

Who were the winners and losers of Reeves’s budget? How will her measures affect growth? Has the chancellor finally set a coherent tax strategy? Feat. @jillongovt.bsky.social @gilesyb.bsky.social @danhaile.bsky.social and @drhannahwhite.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...

Rachel Reeves has introduced what is effectively a new tax on high-value properties – although dressed up as an extension of council tax. So when is a council tax reform not a council tax reform? Read @jillongovt.bsky.social's post on our live blog www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/au...

Key chart for public services Govt is back to pencilling in undeliverable plans to hit its fiscal rules After taking out likely funding for protected areas, other departments will have to absorb 3.3% annual real terms cuts. That includes prisons, courts, and local govt, among others

But this is not (just) about the design of council tax.. this is about the underlying formula. Reeves made a mess of explaining this but @resolutionfoundation.org should point that out...

Minor point. But this is the OBR saying that the briefing about income tax being dropped because of improved forecasts is bollocks.

Cash ISA limit cut to £12,000 as expected - though only for under 65s! A new bias in the tax system towards pensioners is introduced....

Massive rise in incapacity benefits forecast 25% higher in four years, during a time of recovering economic growth? It is hard to see how this will not be an attack line from the opposition.

I’m excited ministers get to find out what a hot mess the Valuation Office is. It’s currently taking more than a year (based on personal experience!) to undertake assessments that are meant to take less than 4 months

interesting move by Rachel Reeves to call for evidence on how tax system can support entrepreneurs.... not usually HMT way (but no OTS any more) #Budget2025

Damning line from the OBR this: "We have assessed that none of the policy measures in this Budget have a sufficiently material impact to justify adjusting our post-measures potential output forecast." Ie it's a budget which does nothing new for growth.

It's budget day – so what have you missed? @jillongovt.bsky.social asks Ed Balls and George Osborne what they would do in the budget OBR forecasts Ministers Reflect on the Treasury John Swinney on what Reeves should do Follow the live blog 👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/live-blog/au...

The biggest change in the OBR's economic forecast tomorrow is expected to be a lower forecast for productivity growth. But how does the OBR produce its forecasts? @danhaile.bsky.social explains www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/of...

BBC News has just said that the rise in the National Minimum and National Living Wage is the first confirmed budget policy change. If you are following the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk live blog you know that there have been measures emerging over past week..........