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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 2h

V interesting piece from @geoffmulgan.bsky.social

Yes, there should be more thought about ministers (and civil servants) being put in the right roles and supporting them to do well!

David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 2h

This is pretty damning. Is there anything that Starmer is actually good at on the domestic stage? substack.com/@geoffmulgan...

Eric Morecambe and the challenge of good government

Some of the right people, not necessarily in the right roles

substack.com

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 1d

Enjoy recording these podcasts on the road. My Tory highlights
- ‘hold your nerve’ Team Badenoch vs ‘hold fire’ Team Jenrick
- stamp duty announcement might set some terms of debate for the coming months
- a fascinating speech - and an ECHR warning - from the Irish Ambassador

Sam Macrory @sammacrory.bsky.social · 1d

🎧NEW: Lessons in Kemistry..

Brilliant Conservative Party conference (& stamp duty) analysis on @instituteforgovernment.org.uk podcast

@drhannahwhite.bsky.social @alexgathomas.bsky.social @tompope.bsky.social
and Patrick English of @yougov.co.uk

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Lessons in Kemistry | Institute for Government

YouGov's Patrick English joined the Inside Briefing team in Manchester to assess the state of the official opposition.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Reposted by Alex Thomas

Sam Macrory @sammacrory.bsky.social · 1d

🎧NEW: Lessons in Kemistry..

Brilliant Conservative Party conference (& stamp duty) analysis on @instituteforgovernment.org.uk podcast

@drhannahwhite.bsky.social @alexgathomas.bsky.social @tompope.bsky.social
and Patrick English of @yougov.co.uk

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

Lessons in Kemistry | Institute for Government

YouGov's Patrick English joined the Inside Briefing team in Manchester to assess the state of the official opposition.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks Tim

Reposted by Alex Thomas

Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 2d

Great piece from Alex and Jack (of course)

Plenty of savings to be made in the civil service, but the response to all these kinds of announcements (from government and opposition parties!) should always be: what do you want the state to stop doing?

Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

Our reaction to Mel Stride’s big day at the Tory conference

There are savings to be made in the civil service. But an arbitrary headcount target & ignoring new demands on the state won’t deliver them

The hard work of doing that falls to the govt

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/mel-...

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

Our reaction to Mel Stride’s big day at the Tory conference

There are savings to be made in the civil service. But an arbitrary headcount target & ignoring new demands on the state won’t deliver them

The hard work of doing that falls to the govt

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/mel-...

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

Am looking forward to this post-party conference palette cleanser ⬇️

Ben Yong @bymyong.bsky.social · 3d

I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair!
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

Hybrid | CLP - Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution

This lecture will be delivered by Dr Ben Yong, as part of the Current Legal Problems Lecture Series 2025-26

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

And finally… and this is actually the main point… everything will be different by 2029

The Labour government also wants to cut the cost of the civil service. They are implementing redundancy programmes and hiring freezes and we’ll see if that works. So this is all a bit of a fantasy numbers game

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

A reminder that it’s a mistake to target headcount reductions

We should focus on the money saved, not the people lost. Because if you target headcount the incentives are skewed. The cheaper, easier-to-lose people go, the more expensive entrenched people stay

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

There is scope to cut the civil service. The central policy function has more than doubled since 2016. New technology will change the nature of civil service work and reduce costs, especially in the biggest departments. Civil servants also report duplication and unnecessary overhead all the time

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

CS grew especially because of Brexit & Covid. Some cannot be unwound, eg repatriated border controls, customs arrangements, new env & financial reg, trade negotiations

Also legitimate new priorities from ministers eg asylum processors in the Home Office, more prison staff in the MoJ

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

On the civil service bit of this…£8bn savings *a year* by the end of the Parliament claimed

Reducing headcount to 2016 levels is easier said than done, as previous govts know

on.ft.com/46Da3nm

Tories tout £47bn in spending cuts in bid to reclaim fiscal reputation

Shadow chancellor says he will target welfare spending, overseas aid budget and civil service staffing to find savings

on.ft.com

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Alex Thomas @alexgathomas.bsky.social · 3d

Obviously easy to dunk, but it is a good sign if new politicians are getting to grips with finance and trade-offs and wrestling with them. Denying reality is the danger, not trying to balance the budget

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Reposted by Alex Thomas

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 5d

What an admirably clear statement from the Jewish Leadership Council, especially when all of those involved must surely have been dealing with so many other urgent challenges in safety, security and grief + shock today before having this further divisive and distracting intervention to address too.

26 760 2.8K

Reposted by Alex Thomas

Gavin Freeguard @gavinfreeguard.bsky.social · 6d

Absolutely astonished @hignfy.bsky.social just stated that Multiverse will be running the government's digital ID scheme

An incredibly basic failure of fact-checking

fullfact.org/technology/d...