Some thoughts for the Mile End Institute webinar, “‘A Hard Rain’? Reforming the Civil Service” At last week’s Conservative party conference, Lord Agnew – a British government minister involved in civil service reform – echoed Dominic Cummings’ many attacks on the service for its over-centralisation, mediocrity, risk-averseness, inefficiency, failure to […]
The UK’s public admin failure: round up the unusual suspects? Read More »
In a speech today (“The future of public health”) Matt Hancock confirmed reports in the Sunday Telegraph that he plans to scrap Public Heath England (PHE) and replace it by early-September with a new National Institute for Health Protection modelled on the German Robert Koch Institute (but operating in a
What the PHE imbroglio tells us about UK governance Read More »
Last month, Dominic Cummings warned the Civil Service that “a hard rain is coming”. Ten days ago Michael Gove put some flesh on the bones of that message in his landmark speech at Ditchley Park on the future of government (“The privilege of public service”). He began with an arresting
Michael Gove on Civil Service reform and ministerial (un)accountability Read More »
The impact on Britain of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the illness that it causes (Covid-19) has been profound. Meeting its challenge has made extraordinary demands on the British state. Its performance has been patchy, to say the least. It is possible to discern some significant achievements. Yet, when we
Thatcherism and Britain’s Covid-19 state failure Read More »
Thoughts on the Rutnam Affair and the politicisation of the Civil Service since the 1980s. Sir Philip Rutnam’s resignation as Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, and his legal action for constructive unfair dismissal is unprecedented. That is not to say it is unexpected. It is but the latest symptom
A poodle bites back? Read More »
An updated version of this piece can be found on the PolicyBristol blog. What have we learned in the eight days since Britain voted to leave the EU by a margin of 3.8 percentage points? The country has jettisoned the foreign policy followed by all governments since 1961 yet the
Brexit requires radical change in the UK political system Read More »