Waiting for boarding info at Euston station. Now then, Bluesky, what % of people a) in Euston station rn and b) on my train to Liverpool Lime St are going to conference? And how to tell the wonks from the normies?

Grateful to @civilserviceworld.bsky.social for publishing this op-ed from me on why the culture of Whitehall puts the brakes on public service reform. Would love to hear your thoughts! www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/...

Delighted to publish this first paper in @demos-uk.bsky.social Powering Public Service Reform programme today. And it’s only right that we start with one of reform's biggest, but simultaneously least explored, barriers: culture. demos.co.uk/research/the...

Delighted to publish this first paper in @demos-uk.bsky.social Powering Public Service Reform programme today. And it’s only right that we start with one of reform's biggest, but simultaneously least explored, barriers: culture. demos.co.uk/research/the...

Thoughts on the Darren Jones appointment / No10 shake-up: 1) Jones seems the most politically astute and authentic communicator, which No10 desperately need to counteract the vibe that robotic technocrats are in charge. So on that front, good.

Hello BlueSky! I'll be at Labour Party conference 28th-30th Sept. I'm interested and available to be part of events on: - Public service reform - Whitehall and the Civil Service - Public health and prevention - Children and families policy If you're after attendees or panellists, drop me a line.

‘Civil service interns must all be working class’ Click-baity headline - designed to court outrage - but this is the right call. Summer internships in the civil service have become dominated by those from privileged backgrounds. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thrilled to be supporting this new programme of work at @demos-uk.bsky.social. It brings together two of my greatest professional interests (/borderline obsessions): 👉 Fixing how Whitehall works 👉 Making public services more human, responsive and impactful for citizens.

NGL I have always found it bizarre that Torode & are host Masterchef anyway. What have an unknown Aussie cook + a greengrocer got to say about cooking that 50 other chefs + presenters couldn’t do with a lot more style? And w/o being gross and offensive? Good riddance.

This new guidance is a big mistake, and stands to be utterly self-defeating unless reversed quickly. Short 🧵 www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Next on the 10 year plan: prevention. This is a mild obsession of mine, having done prevention policy in the CO. (Loads of cross-govt wrangling, industry finding creative ways to wriggle out of regulation + policies being diluted & delayed.) So how has this govt done? 🧵👇

Next on the 10 year plan: prevention. This is a mild obsession of mine, having done prevention policy in the CO. (Loads of cross-govt wrangling, industry finding creative ways to wriggle out of regulation + policies being diluted & delayed.) So how has this govt done? 🧵👇

Some of you know I’ve spent a lot of time speaking to civil servants about what it’s like working in govt - culminating in my project Civil Unrest with @re-state.bsky.social nearly 2 yrs ago. And now I'm back at it, speaking to 50 officials about the change of govt + Labour's 1st year. 🧵👇

I am writing a policy pamphlet. Here are all the ways to demonstrate I don't really have a policy answer, that I need to avoid: a. You call for a "national conversation or debate" b. You suggest that what is needed is “a change in culture” 1/

Up next in this mini-series* of threads on the 10 Year Plan: the second shift, from hospital to community. 🏥➡️🏡 (*Bit wanky, soz).

Up next in this mini-series* of threads on the 10 Year Plan: the second shift, from hospital to community. 🏥➡️🏡 (*Bit wanky, soz).

Right, I *think* I've now digested the 168-page tome that is the 10 Year Health Plan. I have a correspondingly large no of thoughts on it. Because no-one wants to read a 50-post thread, I'm going to post on a few diff themes over the coming days. Let's start with: format.

Another consideration on SR is where Labour need to be successful to win next GE. I'd probably say in order: - Living standards - Immigration - NHS NHS gets boost. But HO spending down + spending on economy not necessarily what will deliver quick wins on living standards.

I don’t agree. Esp when ever increasing spending - if - as Sam. says - due to higher patient expectations / medical innovation - on health trades off with meeting basic needs elsewhere in public services. (Eg. decent homes, affordable and nutritious food)

My ‘hot take’* on the SR 1️⃣ there’s a lot of sound, sensible (insert other bond market friendly words here) things in there. A lot of ‘basic hygiene’ around defence, transport and the minimum viable conditions for enabling growth etc that is hard to argue with.

Just catching up on the SR speech and PMQs before it. Oof, those are some sour faces on the front bench. My guess is that there have been more than a few fallings out.

Twas the night before Spending Review, When all round Westminster, Not a creature was stirring (but for Reeves' printer). Happy SR eve everyone! The policy nerd's answer to Christmas... 🤓

These people have to account for the deep hatred and revulsion they feel when watching others act out of sincerity, courage and compassion. It threatens and bewilders them, so they must explain it away as something they recognise and understand: moral vapidity and self-absorption

Late to this, but the Jenrick fate dodgers video is so weird. I’m afraid a posh white man just can’t pull off the whole ‘vigilante justice warrior’ thing without seeming like a bit of a jobsworth.

In the early hours of this morning, @chooselove completed a vigil to read the names of the Palestinian children known to have been killed in Gaza. 15,613 children. It took them over 18 hours.

I cannot think of a more inappropriate use of ‘the wrong side of history’. And I cannot see any way in which history does not look back on the situation in Gaza as a stunning failure of global leadership, in an era where humanitarian foreign policy has been made toxic by populists.

🚨 I’M STARTING A PODCAST🚨 I’m fascinated by how life experiences shape our political beliefs. Liz Truss was the daughter of a Marxist academic and a CND member. May and Brown’s fathers were clergymen. Blair, Johnson and Starmer saw their parents’ struggle with ill-health.

*Help me tell the full story of the Civil Service* I'm still recruiting for this research and in particular am looking for more participants from grades AO to HEO (incl FSers). Especially women and those whose role is outside the policy profession. DM or email amy.gandon@gmail and pls share!

This is a problematic ‘policy meme’ (as @jo3hill would put it). Identify societal problem. Identify most proximate public service. Make them responsible for fixing it. Student suicide review says unis must act to stop more deaths www.bbc.com/news/article...

Spot on from @pollymackenzie.bsky.social. Labour's rhetoric of expectation management - 'this is tough / will take time' - is missing a crucial, second component. Why this all matters. What is required of all of us as a collective to make it work. And a hopeful vision of what awaits us if we do.

🧵 NEW REPORT: Children in the UK are getting sicker, and it’s costing us as a nation. Delighted to have co-authored this new @IPPR report 'Fixing the Foundations' – where we make the case for putting children’s health at the heart of national renewal. www.ippr.org/articles/fix...

I just don’t see why Labour don’t feel you can be both tough on immigration while being compassionate in how you talk about it. Some example language that avoids divisive, populist nastiness 👇

I’m on two minds about all of this. I believe in democracy - it’s been clear for a long time that the British people want lower immigration. But in a healthy democracy, political figures debate and shape public opinion as well as simply responding to it.

Entirely this: I’d add that being serious about climate change is a hygiene factor for many voters. In not a single UK constituency does concern about climate drop below 50% - hitting 68% in Clacton. There’s a debate on the ‘how’ and particularly how to do it fairly but much less on the principle.

To be clear, the centre ground on net zero is that the public are broadly supportive - even if there is some conditionality to that support. The idea that net zero is a source of significant electoral discomfort for Labour is a zombie political fact.

Labour should also be keeping its eyes like hawks on the new Reform-run councils. Set some benchmarks for delivery under previous leadership and be forensic in recording comparative performance. 1/2

Another thought on potholes as a vote winning tactic. Correct me if I’m wrong @luketryl.bsky.social @adamdrummond.bsky.social / other pollsters, but isn’t that a bit literal? i.e. people want change they can see on their streets, but that doesn’t mean literally changing their streets?

Three things Labour are doing wrong if they want to beat Reform But also if they just want to run a damn good government. 🧵

Delighted to have authored this report, launched today, busting one of the biggest myths in British politics. The public doesn't see action on public health as 'the nanny state'. In fact, they want bolder action - incl among key swing voters. This has major implications for policy & politics. 🧵

I have been rifling around in speeches + policy docs from Coalition + New Labour eras for a project. Does anyone else find it weird that - despite the world becoming a totally diff beast since then - the policy discourse now is basically a cruder version of the same ideas?

The abolition of NHS England has taken a lot of the headlines, but let's not forget the signals in yesterday's speech - and over the weekend - about Civil Service reform. Some thoughts - incl based on what I'm hearing from civil servants.

Urgent message to Keir - please clarify that you are not abolishing the NHS. My estimate of the % of the public who know that NHS England is an arms length management body - <1%. Another comms own goal from the govt, I see.

🚨 Just over a week until the SleepOut! 🚨 Thanks to your generosity we smashed my original fundraising goal - so I’m doubling it! 🙌 Seeing the fundraising total tick up has really lifted Dad's spirits during a tough period. Further donations hugely appreciated: www.justgiving.com/page/amy-gan...

🚨 Calling all civil servants!🚨 I’m still recruiting for my research study and need a few more participants - and esp grades AO-SEO. If that’s you (or someone you know), let’s chat! 👉DM or email [email protected] and I'll send you a short screening form.

Ask a civil servant about the People Survey + they'll probably roll their eyes. Important to do but packed with bureaucratic jargon w/ little ref to the realities of the job. That’s why this from @reformthinktank.bsky.social is worth a look. Have your say: dods.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Currently watching The Diplomat on Netflix. The witty dialogue, elegant backstabbing, the impeccable tailoring. I’m curious - do we think government is more competent in real life or on TV?

Bluesky policy pals - who are the best thinkers you know on children’s health? And more broadly, who might have a good public services / public health brain to bring to those issues even if it’s not their specialist subject?

It is now just over a year since our little miniature human came into the world. Things no-one tells you about having a child, toddler edition 👇 (Baby edition posted last year on the other place: x.com/gandonamy/st...)

🏏 On 27 Feb, I’m sleeping out at Lord’s for the Gandon Prodger Legacy Fund, honouring my cricket-nut Dad and his passion for cricket as a force for social good. 🙏 It would mean the world if you'd consider sponsoring me: www.justgiving.com/page/amy-gan... #LordsSleepOut #NotOutOvernight

🏏 On 27th Feb, I’ll be sleeping out at Lord's to raise ££ for the Gandon Prodger Legacy Fund, in honour of my lovely Dad. Join me and fundraise for some amazing sporting causes! 👉 Sign up here: forms.gle/1k1EEHB1dyF4... 👉 Find out more: tinyurl.com/mwv4c2tu #LordsSleepOut #GandonProdgerLegacy