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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 2h

"The international evidence is clear: governments that align their priorities around shared outcomes and a common understanding of causal drivers are better able to tackle complex challenges..."

www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...

From patchwork to purpose: Why Whitehall needs a cross-government theory of change

Ministers and officials alike are trapped in cycles of reform that lead to fragmentation and delivery failure. Britain needs a shared philosophy fo...

www.civilserviceworld.com

Reposted by Stu Mackinnon

Carnegie UK @carnegieuk.bsky.social · 1d

We were in London yesterday visiting HM Treasury to talk about our work on budgeting for wellbeing and all things Life in the UK.

Our chat drew on insights from our recent research exploring what a collective wellbeing approach to public finances could look like: carnegieuk.org/programmes/f...

Susan Pinkney and Stuart Mackinnon from Carnegie UK outside HM Treasury, London.

Susan Pinkney and Adam Lang from Carnegie UK outside HM Treasury, London.

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 6d

At @carnegieuk.bsky.social we published new research this week looking at public perceptions of the UK tax system, finding that people believe the tax system is unfair, confusing and difficult for them to change.

Read that here: carnegieuk.org/publication/...

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 6d

One Labour adviser says: “We either break the tax promise or the promise of change.”

www.ft.com/content/0a00... < Interesting stuff from @robertshrimsley.bsky.social in the FT.

The high cost of breaking Labour’s promises

Sweeping tax commitments are foolish in an unpredictable world but abandoning them would be corrosive to democracy

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Stu Mackinnon

Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 9d

How could UK policymakers redesign our public finance systems to better improve people's lives? www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtdP...

Budgeting for Wellbeing: Dr Cressida Gaukroger and Sarah Davidson

YouTube video by Carnegie UK

www.youtube.com

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 9d

How could UK policymakers redesign our public finance systems to better improve people's lives? www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtdP...

Budgeting for Wellbeing: Dr Cressida Gaukroger and Sarah Davidson

YouTube video by Carnegie UK

www.youtube.com

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 9d

Important new work on our public finance approach: bsky.app/profile/carn...

Carnegie UK @carnegieuk.bsky.social · 10d

We’ve published three new reports today which offer insights into how our public finance systems could be reimagined to create fairer systems, rebuild trust & put collective wellbeing at the heart of decision making.

Find out more: carnegieuk.org/programmes/f...

Financing the Future - Carnegie UK

carnegieuk.org

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 16d

Labour radicals make their case for era of Starmer contribution www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Labour radicals make their case for era of Starmer contribution

The prime minister has long shunned labels for his politics, but his advisers are now advocating a strategy to give the government clarity and focus

www.thetimes.com

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 18d

Interesting to read about Australia's wellbeing framework from this hemisphere: www.theguardian.com/business/gro... timely quality data about how we're living seems to be a problem everywhere

Labor’s Measuring What Matters is a worthy goal – but one that has utterly failed to live up to its promise | Greg Jericho

The wellbeing framework has become little more than a data dump – but at least it highlights how little stock we should put in productivity figures

www.theguardian.com

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 20d

Should politicians be forced to think about the future? www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3608...

Should politicians be forced to think about the future?

An initiative launched at Parliament on Wednesday is calling on New Zealanders to consider how current laws and decisions will affect future generations.

www.stuff.co.nz

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 21d

I'm only slightly on the wind up, but great interview anyway.

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 21d

I spent years working on procurement in Scotland and found the system pretty impervious to change. Procurement systems didn't seem good at connecting local supply with local demand.

Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 21d

If your heart sinks every time you see a Brakes Brothers van at a school gates, you might enjoy this new work by @mazzucatom.bsky.social looking procurement and more specifically school dinners: open.substack.com/pub/marianam...

School Meals as Moonshots

Getting serious about mission-oriented procurement policy

open.substack.com

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 21d

Great interview by @guardianheather.bsky.social with @ruthcurtice.bsky.social Who knew her dad was Prof John Curtice? Only slightly disappointed in the need to explain Highers - only been in place since the late 19th century

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Reposted by Stu Mackinnon

Squidge Rugby @squidgerugby.bsky.social · 24d

If the ref calls full time now I will give her eight pounds

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 25d

Scotland is rubbish

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 27d

From missions to milestones: what the Mission Delivery Unit’s move to No.10 tells us about delivery from the centre - www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article... < Worth reading this one

From missions to milestones: what the Mission Delivery Unit’s move to No.10 tells us about delivery from the centre

Could this be the moment the centre can at last provide a single view of how priorities, pounds and people connect?

www.civilserviceworld.com

Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · 28d

I was involved in the Scottish Government's mobile programme. Laying the blame for poor mobile coverage at a devolved government's door is nuts: www.heraldscotland.com/news/2545689... Not least because the UKG has just rolled back their plans for better coverage in Scotland.

Revealed: Scotland's worst mobile cover blackspots despite £29m ScotGov aid scheme

Some of Scotland's most tourist-friendly and picturesque areas have been identified as having the worst areas for mobile signal quality in the…

www.heraldscotland.com

Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · Sep 3

[email protected] "Labour missions will be undeliverable without a long-term commitment to cross-government working and culture change from Ministers and officials..."

So long the Mission Delivery Unit www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Keir Starmer scraps flagship mission unit as part of latest reset

The prime minister has removed the group central to Labour’s ‘vision for government’, which included boosting economic growth, in his latest reset

www.thetimes.com

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · Sep 1

You'll know better than me Nancy but I was thinking that it is important for people to feel safe as well as be safe, and those might not be the same.

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · Sep 1

You can read some thoughts by @carnegieuk.bsky.social's @sarahdavidson.bsky.social about what it might take for missions to work in this essay produced with @uofgpolicy.bsky.social

carnegieuk.org/publication/...

Mission-led government: a radical re-wiring of Whitehall, or another failure to (re)launch - Carnegie UK

carnegieuk.org

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · Sep 1

"A former government official described the MDU jokingly as “the slide pack department

Enjoyed this bit about missions in practice by @danbloom1.bsky.social

www.politico.eu/article/keir...

Keir Starmer wants to fix Britain. He’s still working out how.

As Britain’s prime minister prepares another No. 10 revamp, some officials are questioning the structures he created to show “delivery” to the public.

www.politico.eu

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · Aug 29

With former PM Liz Truss in the news talking doom loops, read my blog about how I think our leaders should avoid the language of Armageddon: carnegieuk.org/blog/escape-...

Escape from the Temple of Doom - Carnegie UK

carnegieuk.org

Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · Aug 26

I really enjoyed this by Andy Haldane looking at actual crime and perceptions of crime: www.ft.com/content/66e6...

Do broken windows mean a broken Britain?

In spite of reported crime rates falling, the UK public perceive them to be rising, and therein lies the problem

www.ft.com

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Stu Mackinnon @stumackinnon.bsky.social · Aug 20

Some interesting speculation about changes to stamp duty and council tax in England:
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/a... This is an area where there's bound to be some value in exploring different approaches in Scotland, Wales, NI and England.

How would potential new property tax differ from stamp duty and council tax system?

Treasury officials consider shake-up that could see tax paid by sellers of homes worth more than £500,000

www.theguardian.com

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