July 8th 2020
Money For Nothing
Rishi Sunak framed his statement on economic recovery today as a question ‘not just of economics, but of values’. The Chancellor is so committed to Britain building back from the pandemic that he will pay...
July 3rd 2020
We Built This City
“We are doubling down on levelling up - if you can make sense of that.” So spoke our Prime Minister in his ‘New Deal’ speech this week. He read it out. From a script that...
June 5th 2020
This is America
In his inauguration speech, Donald Trump promised that he would end the ‘American carnage’ that he and his supporters perceived as the ruination of their nation. It is not a partisan or particularly controversial observation...
May 26th 2020
Thinnest Of Air
Authority, in politics, is like oxygen in respiration. It is essential and invisible and whilst you can’t physically see the lack of it, you can sure feel it. This Government is experiencing a crisis of...
May 1st 2020
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
The anniversary of VE day falls next Friday and the British public will be enjoying a well-earned bank holiday to celebrate (finally, a day at home for everyone!). You can expect an abundance of commentary...
April 3rd 2020
Phoenix From The Flame
One reason for the lack of excitement about the results of Labour’s internal elections - to be announced on Saturday - is that it feels a bit like this is a Schrodinger’s poll. Keir Starmer...
March 20th 2020
A change is gonna come
Now is not the time to pretend to be an epidemiologist or a doctor or even a behavioural scientist. Amateur hour has passed, and what we need now is expertise. So, on whether the...
March 18th 2020
How to influence policy remotely
With it looking increasingly likely that face to face meetings, for the next few months at least, will become a thing of the past, we have been considering how experts can continue to influence policy...
March 11th 2020
What You Want? Baby I Got It
Most people don’t think about politics very much. And they certainly don’t have anything so bizarre as an ideology. They judge as they find. They don’t feel compelled to impose a philosophical framework, they...
March 9th 2020
Puppet on a String
For most modern chancellors their budget - particularly their first budget - has been very much their day. What is their vision for the British economy? What are their priorities and their foibles? What...
February 14th 2020
Chasing The Crown
In 1964, Harold Wilson sent his deputy leader, George Brown, to head up a brand-new Department of Economic Affairs. The idea was to finally break the stranglehold of the Treasury on British Government. Its duties...
January 31st 2020
Do you feel lucky?
It is over. At eleven o’clock this evening Britain formally leaves the European Union. Three years of uncertainty, of political chaos, of anger and distrust arrives at its conclusion. In Parliament Square a band will...
