New blog in the Conversation on the Hillsborough Law's passage through the Commons last week and how we got here. theconversation.com/why-the-hill...

Why the Hillsborough Law has finally been passed, 37 years on

Now 37 years on from the disaster, a bill has passed forcing public authorities to take accountability.

theconversation.com

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in #PublicServices, how do we measure its impact beyond efficiency/cost savings? New BRAID blog! @drdarcyluke.bsky.social explores, & considers how impact assessment could support #ResponsibleAI adoption & better outcomes for the public braiduk.org/learning-les...

How can we better measure the social value of AI? Learning lessons for UK public services

Efficiency savings. Productivity gains. Headcount reduction. This is the language commonly used to describe the proposed economic benefits artificial intelligence (AI) will bring.This commerci

braiduk.org

Short piece for @theconversation.com with @nathancritch.bsky.social. We explore what the Mandelson vetting controversy can tell us about issues of political accountability and the role of independent scrutiny in UK governance. theconversation.com/mandelson-ve...

Nathan Critch@nathancritch.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New piece with @drdarcyluke.bsky.social in @theconversation.com on the Mandelson vetting scandal and what it reveals about Whitehall’s deeper accountability failures and toxic mix of weak scrutiny and unclear political responsibility. 🔗 theconversation.com/mandelson-ve...

New piece with @drdarcyluke.bsky.social in @theconversation.com on the Mandelson vetting scandal and what it reveals about Whitehall’s deeper accountability failures and toxic mix of weak scrutiny and unclear political responsibility. 🔗 theconversation.com/mandelson-ve...

Mandelson vetting scandal: why Whitehall is the worst of all worlds when it comes to accountability

Behind speculation around Starmer’s future stands a deeper set of constitutional questions regarding accountability and standards in public life.

theconversation.com

After news that OpenAI has signed a deal to use AI to increase productivity in the UK's public services, what do we know about Labour’s AI policy plan? And importantly, will it work? By @nathancritch.bsky.social & @drdarcyluke.bsky.social politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/what-do...

Another new piece out on UK governance reform with @drdarcyluke.bsky.social. This time, we assess recent commentary on Whitehall culture and ask whether this is really the root of the British state's deep problems. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Treating the Symptoms, Not the Causes: What's Wrong with Demos's Report The Human Handbrake: How Whitehall Culture Holds Back Public Service Reform

A litany of think tank reports has critiqued Whitehall's ability to deliver policy. The latest—by Demos—locates the roots of Britain's governance woes in Whitehall's political culture. Drawing on pub...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Following yesterday’s Budget, TPI’s @andywestwood.bsky.social @profdaverichards.bsky.social @drdarcyluke.bsky.social @samwarner.bsky.social and Patrick Diamond share insights on the government’s approach to growth and productivity. Read more: bit.ly/3JVRkLi

Budget 2025: Hyperactive Incrementalism and the Missing Long View - The Productivity Institute

The 2025 UK Budget had a glaring absence of any long-term economic strategy for growth and investment.

bit.ly

After news that OpenAI has signed a deal to use AI to increase productivity in the UK's public services, what do we know about Labour’s AI policy plan? And importantly, will it work? By @nathancritch.bsky.social & @drdarcyluke.bsky.social politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/what-do...

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...

The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?

The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity

cityam.com

Is AI driving productivity in aggregate? New figures from McKinsey suggest not: 1. Deployment is still fairly early stages - and in limited parts of companies - most commonly marketing, IT, knowledge management.

Pleased to have this piece out in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social. @nathancritch.bsky.social & I place Labour's ambitions for AI in the context of nearly a decade of AI policies to critically engage with the increasingly 'techno-solutionist' hype around AI. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A Critical Appraisal of Labour's AI Agenda

This article critically evaluates Labour's ambitious AI agenda, situating it within the historical trajectory of UK AI policy and the techno-solutionist assumptions underpinning current strategies. W....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Really great review of literature on public inquiries across disciplines! Goes far beyond the more Pol Sci one I did a few years back, and good to see acknowledgement that the big issue is fragmentation of scholarship, not necessarily that nothing is out there. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

What we do and do not know about public inquiries: a narrative review

Public inquiries have become a common governmental response to high-profile organisational failures, disasters or flagrant abuses of professional standards. Inquiries are detailed investigations ch...

tandfonline.com

Education is a public good which should be funded out of general taxation. Anyone who wants to defend our universities needs to firmly and repeatedly insist on this point, and not concede an inch to the facile Thatcherite logic that got us into this mess. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Tuition fees are rising again and nobody is happy – it’s time to actually fix our broken university sector | Zoe Williams

The figures simply don’t add up for higher education in England and Wales. Yet delusional politicians from all parties seem intent on avoiding the issue, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams

theguardian.com

Pleased to see evidence submitted with @nathancritch.bsky.social, Patrick Diamond, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social & @andywestwood.bsky.social was referenced in the 7th Report on Industrial Strategy by the Business & Trade Committee. publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cm...

Read the latest policy commentary on our website, which looks at whether the #SpendingReview2025 is far-reaching enough for the government's growth mission. #productivity #growth #governance #policy

Dr Darcy Luke@drdarcyluke.bsky.social · last yr.

A short piece on the Spending Review written for the @productivity.bsky.social with my colleagues @nathancritch.bsky.social, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social, @andywestwood.bsky.social & Patrick Diamond. www.productivity.ac.uk/news/from-a-...

Really useful and interesting!

Oxford Internet Institute@oii.ox.ac.uk · last yr.

New! Latest opinion piece from @carlbfrey.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk @oxmartinschool.bsky.social sharing his perspective on why AI alone cannot solve the productivity puzzle. Read the full article published in the @financialtimes.com today. #AI #economicproductivity www.ft.com/content/55bc...

A short piece on the Spending Review written for the @productivity.bsky.social with my colleagues @nathancritch.bsky.social, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social, @andywestwood.bsky.social & Patrick Diamond. www.productivity.ac.uk/news/from-a-...

From a fragile to an agile state: is the Spending Review enough to enable the Starmer government to deliver on its growth mission? - The Productivity Institute

The 2025 Spending Review set out major capital spending, but will it be enough to boost productivity growth?

productivity.ac.uk

Quite a good analysis of the SR here. Key points for me are governance reform is focussed on efficiency rather than transformation, and that missions remain goals rather than new joined-up approach: re-state.co.uk/react/react-...

Re:Act: Spending Review 2025 - Re:State

re-state.co.uk

Ah this is interesting devo news. London will get an integrated settlement after all from next year. It'll be interesting to see how the model differs in London compared to the combined authorities, and whether it'll require constitutional change in the GLA-Council relationship to make it work

Where we should be building new towns if we want to prioritise growth - by Jack Shaw and me for @productivity.bsky.social

The Productivity Institute@productivity.bsky.social · last yr.

Can new towns drive balanced growth? A generational chance - if backed by strategy, infrastructure & coordination. Read the latest from @andywestwood.bsky.social & @jacktshaw.bsky.social for @productivity.bsky.social: www.productivity.ac.uk/news/new-tow... #NewTowns #SpendingReview #EconomicGrowth

The Government said it’d cost £99bn to publicly own our water. But this drew on calculations by — drumroll — water company lobbyists. The true cost is closer to zero. Here’s why. 🧵

Really happy that my paper on Jim Bulpitt's statecraft interpretation is now properly out in the latest issue of the BJPIR. This is especially exciting given the issue marks the 25th anniversary of the journal and is chock-full of great stuff! Check it out here: journals.sagepub.com/toc/bpia/27/2

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

📢📢📢 CfP: What is a Parliament? Interdisciplinary workshop on 19th September 2025 in London. Full details below. Kindly sponsored by Birkbeck, the University of Birmingham and @psa-parliaments.bsky.social Please apply and/or spread the word!

Will be really interested to see where DSIT ends up in the spending review, will be key to seeing how serious government is on driving AI proliferation across the economy and growing Britain's AI sector.

Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · last yr.

Labour MPs will start to troop into the Treasury from today where Reeves and Jones will lay out their capital spending plans - big investments in infrastructure all over the country. Some departments still fighting for their settlement in spending review - Home, DfE, Desnz and MHCLG

Written evidence from @nathancritch.bsky.social, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social, @andywestwood.bsky.social, Patrick Diamond and myself to Business & Trade Committee inquiry on Industrial Strategy has been published You can read here: committees.parliament.uk/work/8882/in...

Industrial Strategy - Written evidence - Committees - UK Parliament

Written evidence submission publications for Industrial Strategy.

committees.parliament.uk

Very pleased to have this piece, co-authored with @nathancritch.bsky.social, Patrick Diamond, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, Sam Warner & @andywestwood.bsky.social, in @renewaljournal.bsky.social. renewal.org.uk/blog/will-la...

Will Labour's Governance Approach Lead to Mission Success or Mission Failure?

Abstract Since coming to power in July 2024, the Starmer government’s approach to reform has rhetorically focussed on the centralised, short-term, and fragmented nature of British policymaking and th...

renewal.org.uk

Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · last yr.

Lots of shovels, not much gold so far www.economist.com/business/202... From The Economist

Glad to see this out - A critical examination of Labour's economic strategy, which we see as oriented around a devo agenda and industrial strategy, but one still shot through with the pathologies of the British state.

Renewal@renewaljournal.bsky.social · last yr.

Is Labour doing enough to address the deep-seated problems with the British state? @nathancritch.bsky.social, Patrick Diamond, Darcy Luke, @profdaverichards.bsky.social, @samwarner.bsky.social, and @andywestwood.bsky.social discuss the government's approach to institutional reform

Roles currently needing filling: - National Statistician - DSIT perm sec - Govt Chief Data Officer - Govt Chief AI Officer - Govt Chief Digital Officer Reshuffle rumours around DSIT ministers too (though aren't there always etc) Any others?

Agree wholeheartedly with this. Inquiries should make recommendations that would actually solve the problems they are tasked with investigating. When systems are in crisis, that will likely necessitate radical action, overhauling existing institutional arrangements, not "fine-tuning" them.

Civil Service World@civilserviceworld.bsky.social · last yr.

Lord Bichard's comments came in a House of Lords debate into the effectiveness of statutory inquiries www.civilserviceworld.com/in-depth/art...