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alexgathomas.bsky.social
Institute for Government: civil service and all things effective government. Ex-Cabinet Office, Defra, Dept of Health
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It’s a strong showing for the UK in the United States

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Doctor Who episode with a character called Alan Budd More Monetary Policy Committee founding members name-checked in the programme please

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

An unusual order paper

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” is still on U.S. Naval Academy shelves. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Memorializing the Holocaust” are not. An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office led to a purge of books that are critical of racism — but preserved volumes defending white power.

submitted 3 days ago • 497 comments

Trump has 5 different sorts of tariff - with different levels of negotiability: 1) instrumental tariffs (deportation/fentanyl) 2) geostrategic (China mainly, but also Canada and Mexico) 3) sectoral ( reshoring) 4) reciprocal ( getting countries to grovel for deals) 5) baseline (revenue raisers)

submitted 3 days ago • 7 comments

My goodness

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Parliament is being recalled to debate the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill. Starmer confirmed he'll try and get it through in one day What is fast tracked/emergency legislation? Can a bill be passed in a single day? What about the Lords? www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/fa...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Further civil service cuts at Cabinet Office. Big news, 2,100 is a large % of dept jobs But in headline terms at least is welcome. CO has grown a lot & its functions have multiplied, obscuring its core purpose Key is to restore focus& direction-setting at the centre www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

EVENT: How can government be transformed? Join us on Wednesday 30 April when Michael Jary, the government’s former lead Non-Executive Director, sets out his views on Whitehall reform. With Josie Cluer, @alexgathomas.bsky.social and Sir Jeremy Quin www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/how-ca...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

This is probably the first crunch moment where we see if Trump follows or defies the Supreme Court on a high profile case?

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

BREAKING: the Supreme Court orders the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Abredo Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly sent to El Salvador.

submitted 4 days ago • 50 comments

Cabinet Office has indeed grown a *lot* in recent years Some of this reflects the build up of the civil service's corporate functions (eg HR, commercial) - whose employees often sit in line departments while formally being in CO. But even so - this is a very big increase

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Cabinet Office cuts - big news and broadly welcome, in line with smaller, more strategic centre. Do need to watch out on “people not being replaced if they leave” – can of course be managed, but at worst can mean cuts fall in the wrong places, and/or a bureaucratic time-sink (re)justifying some jobs

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Further civil service cuts at Cabinet Office. Big news, 2,100 is a large % of dept jobs But in headline terms at least is welcome. CO has grown a lot & its functions have multiplied, obscuring its core purpose Key is to restore focus& direction-setting at the centre www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

“Who’s Next” was my gateway to Tom Lehrer But I’d suggest just listening to everything he’s ever performed m.youtube.com/watch?v=oRLO...

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

Happy 97th birthday Tom Lehrer 🎂 Today, I'll be celebrating the birthday of the greatest musical satirist of the last hundred years. Born in Manhattan in 1928, Lehrer was a mathematician who wrote comedy and satirical songs, and became an international celebrity in the late 50s and early 60s. /1

submitted 6 days ago • 31 comments

Martin Wolf is not messing around here www.ft.com/content/d96d...

submitted 6 days ago • 80 comments

Sam Jones to DHSC? Intriguing… Big job, esp as NHSE is folded in to the department Jones briefly perm sec in No10 as well as working in NHS and running trusts Not a Whitehall warrior - needs that skill pronto given what the job will demand (All if true ofc) www.hsj.co.uk/policy-and-r...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

OK folks - will you please help me spread this far and wide. A really exciting opportunity to be the new Director of Comms at @britishacademy.bsky.social - the national academy for humanities and social sciences. £100k. Lovely team. Reports directly to me micro.green-park.co.uk/thebritishac...

submitted 6 days ago • 2 comments

Spot on. There is no shortage of good material from which ti build such a plan, from @instituteforgov.bsky.social, of course but also @reformthinktank.bsky.social and Commission for Smart Government.

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

A new piece from @drmatthewgill.bsky.social and me Ministers are getting into gear & rightly want to reform the state. But their initiatives still seem ad hoc, a reaction to the frustrations of governing. It’s time for a coherent & compelling plan www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/whit...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

EVENT | How does the electoral system need to change before 2029? 📅Mon 19 May, 13.00 Hear from @lewisbaston.bsky.social, Matteo Bergamini, @profjanegreen.bsky.social, @electoralcommission.org.uk on how the government’s plans will affect elections www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/electo...

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Yes SCOTUS repudiated the Trump/Stephen Miller position that AEA deportees are entitled to no process at all But requiring such “notice as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs" is woefully insufficient Nevertheless—habeas here we come

submitted 7 days ago • 74 comments