Incisive commentary from the IfG’s expert team on issues facing government and key ministerial decisions.
From analysis of key political events such as budgets and party conferences to snap responses to unexpected developments such as government reshuffles, our writers set out their views and analyse what government gets right, what it gets wrong, and what it can do better.
Reforming Universal Credit: the priorities
The new report into Universal Credit is welcome. Nicholas Timmins chooses four of its most important recommendations that should be prioritised.
A year of Prime Minister Johnson: Getting Brexit Done and getting into difficulties?
Boris Johnson may discover that his easiest task was getting the UK out of the EU
This is not the time for a three-year spending review
The government’s decision to hold a three-year spending review is the wrong one and should be reversed
The ISC Russia report highlighted problems that cannot be solved by the intelligence services alone
The ISC's Russia report is a serious warning that needs a broad-based solution
Does the government know how to get value from consultants?
Consultants have a role to play in government, but they need to be properly managed if they are to offer value for money
Civil service reform goes mainstream
To make progress, the government needs to change the incentives for civil servants, welcome scrutiny and be prepared to devolve power.
The EU’s recovery package does not signal the advent of an EU superstate
The deal on the EU’s recovery package shows that member states are ready for the EU Commission to play a bigger role in responding to crises
Special advisers with greater powers also require greater scrutiny
If the trend of giving special advisers new responsibilities continues, ministers cannot complain when their advisers face greater scrutiny
The battle over the chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee has laid bare its flaws
The future of the committee will depend on what the government does next
A No10 data science unit could create more problems than it solves
The plan to create a new data science unit is the latest example of government talking the talk on data