Policy Unstuck

Glad you enjoyed Stu!

🪞 The lived experience paradox Kirsty McNeill MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, speaks to Tom Hashemi.

Excellent interview with @kirstymcneill.bsky.social in the indispensable @policyunstuck.bsky.social newsletter: policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk/p/the-lived-... includes some thoughts about lived experience from the perspective of a policymaker.

@zackpolanski.bsky.social Hi Zack, up for taking part in Policy Unstuck? It's an interview series on how to make progress on key policy issues w/ guests drawn from across the political spectrum. Fmr guests inc. Natalie Bennett, Jonathan Ashworth, Gillian Keegan. See policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk

How much better would the state perform if civil servants weren't so afraid of legal challenge?

Dewi Knight of @policywise.bsky.social for this week's Policy Unstuck.

Read his thoughts in full: policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk/p/be-the-las...

🌍 Lessons from a highly successful report launch Fabrice DeClerck, the Chief Science Officer at EAT and Principal Scientist at the CGIAR, talks to Tom Hashemi ahead of the launch of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission.

Not many reports get 600 policy citations.

The EAT-Lancet Commission was a big ticket item in 2019. They're launching their 2025 Commission tomorrow.

Here's what they learned from last time, and what they're doing to improve engagement this time.

policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk/p/lessons-fr...

Civil service reddit in agreement with Tim Durrant's (of @instituteforgovernment.org.uk) assessment of ministerial challenges... it's not just ministers that have a problem seemingly

Read his interview: policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk/p/what-every...

🚪 A lobbyist walks into the prime minister's office in a t-shirt. What happens next? Dom Hallas, Executive Director at the Startup Coalition, talks to Tom Hashemi.

'Policy is a sales job. You don't buy something from someone you don't like.'

A startup lobbyist on why countless meetings with MPs is a waste of time, and what actually gets things done in government...

policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk/p/a-lobbyist...

Really pleased this post was picked up by Cast From Clay who followed it up with an interview on “What Ministers Want” - including anecdotes from me on children’s social care and school funding. Full interview below!

castfromclay.co.uk/how-to/21-wh...

Really lovely shout out from former children's minister David Johnston MP highlighting @kinshipcharity.bsky.social's #ValueOurLove campaigning tactics and the impact this had on MPs and colleagues in government.

From this week's Policy Unstuck: policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk.

Text which reads: The first thing I learned in polling is that there is a silent majority out there who are often very different from the noisy people that you hear from. Newspaper headlines do not represent the public view. My email inbox does not represent the public’s views. Planning consultations, which mostly hear from people who are opposed to projects, do not represent the views of the public who often appreciate, for example, the importance of building new homes or energy infrastructure. The second thing I learned is not to sweat the small stuff. Ultimately, there may be an issue here that seems like it's really big, it seems like it's the end of the world, it seems like it's the only thing everyone ever cares about. But most voters are getting on with their lives, trying to look after their families and do their day job. They're not getting obsessed with what we're getting obsessed with.

"But most voters are getting on with their lives, trying to look after their families and do their day job. They're not getting obsessed with what we're getting obsessed with"

Useful reminder from @chriscurtis94.bsky.social in latest Policy Unstuck > policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk/p/i-m-not-go...