An anecdote told against Burnham, but which actually illustrates why the Treasury is such a defective organisation. (I have no idea whether he can or would make tough fiscal decisions, but this story tells us nothing either way)

Legislative minds assume too easily that legislation solves problems. Writing rules is easy (though writing good rules is very much harder); changing behaviour is hard. What the government needs but does not have (or show any understanding of needing) is a theory of change.

The northern line is experimenting with autonomous route creation. This is a southbound train with ideas of its own. As an opening move, Borough has been relocated to the Charing Cross branch. But wait for the punchline in the final seconds.

A great sub-thread by @cjforms.bsky.social (responding to an equally great post by @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social) on how sorting out the easy but unglamorous stuff is essential but exposes the harder and even more important stuff behind.

The postman delivers a single CD in a ludicrously oversized box. Which suddenly makes sense when the box is opened - a page to disc ratio of 230:1 must surely be unbeatable

Thanks @jukes.ie - the only endorsement a job can ever need :-)

Help me find an outstanding Senior Digital Comms Manager - with a brief to build something new and exciting by helping an organisation shift on a generation in its understanding and approach. And getting to work with the incomparable @joannerewcastle.bsky.social - either of us happy to talk/DM

Tube strike with a twist - trains, but apparently not for passengers

Autobiographical memory is a deeply weird and very variable thing. This is a story of two brothers, one of whom seems so strange to me as to be almost inhuman (and it's not the one who wrote the story). (@neillyneil.bsky.social - you might find this interesting)

It is pretty obvious from the design of lasting power of attorney forms that they are set up for bulk scanning, as is entirely sensible. So to require six weeks just to open an envelope and drop the contents into a hopper is quite remarkable, and not in a wholly reassuring way.

Lasting Power of Attorney is an important and sensitive government service. Once the form has been filled in, it has to be sent off - to an address in Birmingham which Royal Mail doesn't believe exists. Hardly reassuring. #FixTheForms

Albert aglow

Landscape with lime bike, Hyde Park

1455: email from TfL announcing that tube strikes this week are cancelled. Helpful. 1838: bus dot matrix display warns of impending tube strikes this week. Not helpful. Message consistency is a fine thing.

I've been involved with government transformation efforts for 15 years and, like many other veterans of this kind of work, have come to the conclusion that fixing the majority of the most important issues in government can't be done without a fundamental change in how government is structured.

Hammersmith, Albert, now Vauxhall. The secret plan to revive the fortunes of Thames watermen gathers pace.

The root cause of many government problems is that the government does not exist. Sometimes the polite fiction holds up, and sometimes the seething mess is laid bare. The question of why a login service requires 1700 words of Ts&Cs we can leave for another time.

Lambeth announces its results with characteristic branding panache

An election leaflet drops through the letterbox - one of many, this is the most intensively leafletted election I can remember. But I've never seen anything quite like this before.

"It could be that what’s happening is incentivized stupidity." Or it could be worse than that.

How is it possible to tell this story without acknowledging the perfection of its nominative determinism?

I was going to pull out a quotable one liner, as you do. But this whole post by @pollymackenzie.bsky.social is end to end quotable one liners, so if you have any interest in a better civil service and a better government, just read the whole thing.

@edent.tel I seem to have joined a club. Not sure what Groucho Marx would have to say about that

"I'm not even a Man United supporter, but it's a big week for Hildegarde of Bingen" Radio 3 makes unexpected connections.

This is an excellent overview, expressed with impressive clarity - the reminder of the dimensions of reliability is one we should all be keeping in mind

It would be churlish not to #ENOMahagonny

The theme of the walk was blue astonishment.* *That was yesterday. Normality has resumed today

I've just responded to the Earned Settlement consultation. It closes tonight. The whole idea is dreadful but what stuck with me most is the gross arrogance of the whole exercise. A (cross) thread 🧵

The long now

In case @johnlsheridan.bsky.social is bored one rainy afternoon

I want to give an organisation money. They presumably want to take my money. So well done for coding so obscure that my mobile device doesn't recognise the data entry fields - so no keyboard, no way forward. Well done, @financialtimes.com #FixTheForms

A tale of three emails. Another masterpiece of back end integration between systems

There is an actual train forming the 8.40 at Euston currently filling up - no clear indication of when it might get going #ukgc26

A small service design masterclass for #ukgc26 being delivered at Euston. The announcer keeps saying that people are "strongly advised" to find alternative routes. But the main departure board shows trains as delayed rather than cancelled, which encourages people to stay and hope.

All trains out of Euston on hold - line blocked by person hit by a train #ukgc26

In 1943, a Foreign Office report sets out the overwhelming circumstantial evidence that the Katyń massacre was a Soviet crime. And then reflects on why that truth was not to be told. Being reluctant to call out notional allies is not a new phenomenon.

The theme of the walk was the rising sun

The theme of the walk was mostly grey

Good enough wins because of what you are able to treat as externalities

Standard grump that publishers show not the slightest interest in taking money off people who might want to preorder ebooks, with the publisher in this case contenting themselves with supplying a collection of broken links, some of which go to the wrong country. Not the fault of authors, of course

"Every time I pull a lever" says the Prime Minister. This dead metaphor is killing his ability to get things done. There aren't any levers. There's only leadership. howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/there-aren...

Signs with portents

The theme of the walk was winter orchards

This is just one reason why RSS feeds are wonderful things - a blog lies dormant for eight years, but the moment of its reawakening is instantly recognised. www.wordyard.com/2025/12/01/w...

The theme of the walk was cloudless sunshine

To this day, English law makes special provision for red diesel in customs and excise law. Implausible connections with red eels are invited. www.nationwidefuels.co.uk/faq/red-dies...

This is nominative determinism of the very highest order

Impressive how it is possible to spot an @anothertimbre.bsky.social cover design at twenty paces - with the attendant promise of something weird and glorious.

A fundraiser for people affected by the flooding in Monmouth has been set up by the town council and the mayor. You can donate here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...

also you know refugees are allowed to have unremarkable lives - they don't need to prove that giving them refuge was 'worthwhile' their need is justification enough