Education is a public good which should be funded out of general taxation. Anyone who wants to defend our universities needs to firmly and repeatedly insist on this point, and not concede an inch to the facile Thatcherite logic that got us into this mess. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Pleased to see evidence submitted with @nathancritch.bsky.social, Patrick Diamond, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social & @andywestwood.bsky.social was referenced in the 7th Report on Industrial Strategy by the Business & Trade Committee. publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cm...

Read the latest policy commentary on our website, which looks at whether the #SpendingReview2025 is far-reaching enough for the government's growth mission. #productivity #growth #governance #policy

Really useful and interesting!

A short piece on the Spending Review written for the @productivity.bsky.social with my colleagues @nathancritch.bsky.social, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social, @andywestwood.bsky.social & Patrick Diamond. www.productivity.ac.uk/news/from-a-...

Quite a good analysis of the SR here. Key points for me are governance reform is focussed on efficiency rather than transformation, and that missions remain goals rather than new joined-up approach: re-state.co.uk/react/react-...

Ah this is interesting devo news. London will get an integrated settlement after all from next year. It'll be interesting to see how the model differs in London compared to the combined authorities, and whether it'll require constitutional change in the GLA-Council relationship to make it work

Where we should be building new towns if we want to prioritise growth - by Jack Shaw and me for @productivity.bsky.social

The Government said it’d cost £99bn to publicly own our water. But this drew on calculations by — drumroll — water company lobbyists. The true cost is closer to zero. Here’s why. 🧵

Really happy that my paper on Jim Bulpitt's statecraft interpretation is now properly out in the latest issue of the BJPIR. This is especially exciting given the issue marks the 25th anniversary of the journal and is chock-full of great stuff! Check it out here: journals.sagepub.com/toc/bpia/27/2

📢📢📢 CfP: What is a Parliament? Interdisciplinary workshop on 19th September 2025 in London. Full details below. Kindly sponsored by Birkbeck, the University of Birmingham and @psa-parliaments.bsky.social Please apply and/or spread the word!

Will be really interested to see where DSIT ends up in the spending review, will be key to seeing how serious government is on driving AI proliferation across the economy and growing Britain's AI sector.

Written evidence from @nathancritch.bsky.social, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social, @andywestwood.bsky.social, Patrick Diamond and myself to Business & Trade Committee inquiry on Industrial Strategy has been published You can read here: committees.parliament.uk/work/8882/in...

Very pleased to have this piece, co-authored with @nathancritch.bsky.social, Patrick Diamond, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, Sam Warner & @andywestwood.bsky.social, in @renewaljournal.bsky.social. renewal.org.uk/blog/will-la...

Glad to see this out - A critical examination of Labour's economic strategy, which we see as oriented around a devo agenda and industrial strategy, but one still shot through with the pathologies of the British state.

Roles currently needing filling: - National Statistician - DSIT perm sec - Govt Chief Data Officer - Govt Chief AI Officer - Govt Chief Digital Officer Reshuffle rumours around DSIT ministers too (though aren't there always etc) Any others?

Agree wholeheartedly with this. Inquiries should make recommendations that would actually solve the problems they are tasked with investigating. When systems are in crisis, that will likely necessitate radical action, overhauling existing institutional arrangements, not "fine-tuning" them.

💭NEW BLOG💭 Chris Saltmarsh and Dillon Wamsley develop Seven Theses on Crisis in capitalism, illuminated by their discussions with experts in their recent 12-part podcast series 📝Read the blog: shorturl.at/sfKqO 🎧Listen to the series: shorturl.at/wxXZJ

Really enjoyed this panel. Great presentations and interesting questions and comments all round!

Research by @drjennings.bsky.social @jwfurlong.bsky.social Gerry Stoker and @lawrencemckay.bsky.social finds the electorate now more volatile, discontented, dealigned and fragmented. Read the blog now: politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/fragmen... #UKpol #politics

Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement seems to be a continuity of Treasury fiscal conservatism, guided by short-term economic projections rather than a long-term vision, argue @nathancritch.bsky.social, @drdarcyluke.bsky.social, David Richards and @samwarner.bsky.social. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

Pleased @lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social have published this piece on the Spring Statement co-written with @nathancritch.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social & David Richards. We argue the Spring Statement signals a return of Treasury orthodoxy which may undermine Labour's bolder plans for change.

Check out our new article on the unique crisis shaping British politics 👇

Regime Change in the West? www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

New blog piece contextualising Labour's approach to AI in light of the Paris AI summit. @nathancritch.bsky.social and I argue that the UK is plotting it's own course on AI regulation as part of an ambitious domestic agenda for AI. Thanks to @mileendinstitute.bsky.social for publishing!

New blog out with @drdarcyluke.bsky.social on the government's AI strategy and approach to regulating AI, which situates it in the broader context of the approaches previous UK governments developed towards AI. A fascinating and increasingly important topic! www.qmul.ac.uk/mei/news-and...

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claims the UK goal of net zero emissions by 2050 is impossible. • No alternative date offered • No report/analysis showing impossible • No detail on how/why impossible • No figure on £ impact of net zero despite claiming will "bankrupt us" • No new plan to cut energy bills

Good time to reread @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social piece analysing the resignation of NHSE chief executive. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/aman...

The PM’s speech this morning didn’t have much detail on system-wide civil service reform – despite some welcome pitch rolling by McFadden over the weekend. But for what it’s worth, here’s my initial take on what was in there on civil service reform 🧵 (1/6)

What is the political economy of Starmer's Labour? Join a stellar panel for this @mileendinstitute.bsky.social webinar on 13 March, featuring @samfr.bsky.social @colmpm.bsky.social @katealexandershaw.bsky.social @theobertram.bsky.social & @morganj0nes.bsky.social. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

A short piece I was asked to put together on the devolution deal for Cheshire & Warrington. Very happy to be given the opportunity to write for a local paper that is doing great work reporting on important local issues. www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/2493409...

Good to see the response to this report. Overall good to see govt acknowledge value in moving away from one-size-fits-all approach, but disappointing to not have more concrete resources for the Inquiries Unit. www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...

my new article in Political Quarterly is now available on line. doi.org/10.1111/1467...

The history of the now-revived "Ox-Cam Arc" is a really good primer on some of the most corrosive pathologies of the British state and policymaking. www.ft.com/content/5728...

@politicalquarterly.bsky.social: @mathewlawrence.bsky.social sets out ten steps to expand public ownership, asking who owns Britain, and why does it matter? 🔗⬇️ politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/childre...

'Measures to bind the chancellor to a steady course guarantee an erratic one. Rules aimed at reassuring voters instead create political hysteria. The chancellor is caught in a credibility trap, where abiding by one promise made in the name of credibility undermines another.'

📝 Recent BJPIR article available in #OpenAccess! ‘Taking the border out of politics’?: The 1973 Northern Ireland border poll and the political character of (de)politicisation' by Joseph Ward 🔓 Find the article in #OpenAccess here: https://buff.ly/3ZqkMwB @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

'Andrew Goodwin ... said the chancellor had made a mistake by limiting her own room for maneuver, the “headroom” that allows a chancellor to cut taxes or increase spending without breaking fiscal rules should circumstances change.' www.politico.eu/article/fina...

Excited to see that my piece reviewing scholarship on British public inquiries is included in the newest issue of British Politics, lots of great stuff in there by the looks of things! www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/4...

Useful summary of one of the changes likely to come down the pike with the Devolution White Paper. Sounds anorakish, but might be one of the more significant and thoroughgoing reforms Labour pursue. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/lo...

New paper out yesterday in Parliamentary Affairs, examining 14 years of Conservative party statecraft and its interplay between an idea of modernization and a more hardline Thatcherite English Toryism therein academic.oup.com/pa/advance-a...