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.
Cancelling historical debt would improve the lives of Universal Credit claimants
Addressing the billions of pounds of historic debt in the social security system would improve lives – and help restore Universal Credit’s reputation
How the government will be judged in its response to coronavirus
The spread of coronavirus means the government make make complex decisions – over many fronts – fast
The collapse of Flybe puts the government's post-Brexit agenda in the spotlight
The Flybe collapse asks questions of the government's post-Brexit approach to state intervention and its flagship 'levelling up' agenda
Six things we learnt from budget 2020
In the run-up to the budget, Dr Gemma Tetlow laid out six things she was looking out for and has since assessed what we learnt.
The UK’s different approaches to US and EU trade negotiations will not help either cause
The task of completing trade deals with both the EU and US this year has been made tougher still by inconsistencies in the UK’s approach
Government ‘battle-planning’ for coronavirus still means difficult choices for ministers
No amount of 'battle-planning' can fully prepare ministers for taking difficult decisions.
The Patel v Rutnam clash shows the limits of the cabinet secretary’s power
The explosion in the Home Office shows the constraints on the management of the top civil service team
Coronavirus illustrates the need to make the NHS more resilient
A decade of spending restraint means that an under-pressure NHS is not as resilient as it once was to deal with a major health crisis
The consequences of Philip Rutnam’s dramatic resignation from the Home Office
Philip Rutnam's resignation and the mess that follows and its aftermath will have consequences for the Home Office and the government’s wider agenda
The Office for Budget Responsibility is a valuable institution and should be preserved
Sajid Javid is right that the OBR’s role should be preserved, and defended it alongside the Treasury as a ‘credible institution’