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.
The problems of the Brexit Parliament will return without reform
Parliament is rightly focused on the coronavirus crisis, but we should not forget the cracks in the institution exposed by the “Brexit Parliament”
Time is running out to explain how a border in the Irish Sea will work
The UK government needs to set out detailed plans for how an Irish Sea border will operate
No single solution as the government tries to ease the coronavirus lockdown
The government must respond to the concerns of unions, employers and workers with patience as it tries to ease the coronavirus lockdown
Five questions the government should answer on coronavirus contracts
The public will lose trust in the government if it is kept in the dark about contracts which are vital to the lifting of the lockdown.
Michael Gove’s new non-executive directors should not become quasi-special advisers
Non-executive directors shouldn’t act as additional ministers or special advisers
A failure to explain difference in plans will undermine the four-nation response to coronavirus
As the four nation lockdown exit strategy runs into difficulties, unmanaged divergence in approaches to easing the lockdown could lead to problems
A tariff negotiation is not an adequate Brexit concession
The government’s suggested offer of some UK–EU tariffs is unlikely to provide a breakthrough moment
Abandoning our virtual Parliament could damage our democracy
The government abruptly annoucing that MPs should 'set an example' to the country by returning to Westminster to sit in person sends the wrong message
The government's exit strategy is either poorly drafted or deliberately evasive
The government's plan for easing the lockdown lacks clarity and creates uncertainty
The furlough scheme was the right response to coronavirus – but it must not outstay its welcome
Further tweaks may yet be needed to the chancellor’s gradualist approach to ending the government's furlough scheme