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.
Stormont may be back but now is not the time to move the Northern Ireland secretary
Julian Smith needs to stay in post to oversee the implementation of his deal
Reforming the civil service needs more than a smart Dominic Cummings blogpost
Building up a new team in 10 Downing Street is far easier than achieving lasting and much-needed reform of the civil service
Boris Johnson’s ambitious agenda identifies problems – and now requires solutions
Complicated challenges and difficult choices await the prime minister
The government is right to want to reduce civil service turnover – this is how to do it
Number 10 should focus on reforming pay and improving HR to prevent civil servants from changing jobs too frequently
Select committees are likely to be absent at a critical time
Getting Commons committees up and running quickly after an election should be a priority.
There’s good reason to reform Whitehall – but the government needs to know what it wants to achieve
Tim Durrant weighs up the Johnson government's rumoured changes to Whitehall departments.
Holding the Union together may be this government’s biggest challenge
The general election result and the next stage of the Brexit process means serious questions must now be asked about the future of the United Kingdom.
How will the government “update” its relationship with the courts?
The government should not be reforming judicial review merely because the law sometimes frustrates the policies it wants to pursue.
Parliament still has responsibility to scrutinise the Withdrawal Agreement Bill properly
The Withdrawal Agreement still needs proper scrutiny, even if the prime minister will be confident it can pass.
The election result brought business relief but did not end its uncertainty for the future
Hopes that the 2019 general election puts an end to a distrusting relationship between business and government may not be realised any time soon.