Cath Haddon

The Peter Mandelson case shows the House of Lords needs an independent disciplinary system | Institute for Government The Lords should catch up with the Commons on disciplinary procedures.

The Peter Mandelson case shows the House of Lords needs an independent disciplinary system

It is past time the House of Lords removes its own right to sit in judgment on peers who break its code of conduct, says @drhannahwhite.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/pete...

Government security vetting | Institute for Government How does the UK government's national security vetting system work?

Ambassadors are vetted. But when PM is involved pre-appointment, they usually make that judgement on basis of publicly available material about the suitability of the person.

And all vetting relies on the individual disclosing information.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/go...

Joining and leaving the House of Lords | Institute for Government Most Lords members are life peers – nominated for their lifetime, but without their peerage passing to their children.

Mandelson has resigned from Lords. So why is he still a Lord?

Because the process of retiring from the Lords, or expelled, is not the same as removing their title.

See our explainer on how Lords are appointed, vetted, retired or expelled

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/jo...

Local elections 2026 | Institute for Government On Thursday, 7 May 2026, local elections will take place in many parts of England.

1/ With only a few months until the May elections, in this new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk explainer we outline where elections are going ahead, where they aren’t, and what’s at stake🧵👇

 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/lo...

How the centre of government can design better growth policy | Institute for Government Why does the UK struggle with growth?

Brilliant new report from @gilesyb.bsky.social on how a stronger more economically capable No.10 could help government sharpen up its strategy for raising the rate of growth www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

A new national police force is the right move, but the case for merging local forces is much weaker | Institute for Government There is much to welcome in the home secretary’s proposals on police reform.

A new national police force is the right move, but the case for merging local forces is much weaker

@cassiarowland.bsky.social gives her verdict on the home secretary's proposals on police reform www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/poli...

Growth – some less edited thoughts After too long a gestation today I finally put out my report for the Institute for Government about what is needed to raise growth rates. Finally. I am rather an old dog in this fight. My goodness,…

And now a more personal blog on what I was driving at in this growth piece, through five years' of frustrated commentary.
freethinkecon.wordpress.com/2026/01/28/g...

How the centre of government can design better growth policy | Institute for Government Why does the UK struggle with growth?

NEW | Why does the UK struggle with growth?

Our latest report from @gilesyb.bsky.social explores how the centre of government can design better growth policy www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Parliament Acts are rarely used but I’m not sure I’d call them archaic- anyway, here’s some more detail on what they are and how they work www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/pa...

How the centre of government can design better growth policy | Institute for Government Why does the UK struggle with growth?

I have a report out today on the near-perennial question of why UK governments struggle to stick at growth policy in anything like a strategic way. Some hurried points:- 0/

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Me: Absolutely ridiculous that this is how we handle MPs resigning in 2026

Also me: Explaining these weird quirks of parliament keeps me in a job

Given the amount of things Giles has sent me from NotebookLM in last three weeks I can confirm he’s obsessed….

PODCAST 🎙️ Keir Starmer’s Trump diplomacy and Darren Jones’s fast fixes

Lord Maude joins @drhannahwhite.bsky.social @alexgathomas.bsky.social @hannahkeenan.bsky.social @cathhaddon.bsky.social to discuss the latest government reform plans
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/podcast/insi...

I spoke at the House of Lords Justice & Home Affairs Committee yesterday, on behalf of @instituteforgovernment.org.uk, on immigration, citizenship and integration. Thanks to @jlowen.bsky.social, @cassiarowland.bsky.social and @hcdunlop.bsky.social for help on prep!
Session here: tinyurl.com/372h6jdk

Key point from Fiona Hill at @instituteforgovernment.org.uk event this evening about the Trump presidency, both domestic and foreign: “This is not a normal time and we should not rationalise and analyse this into normalcy”

It is still Tuesday right?

I’d settle for a Tuesday that feels like only two days have happened that week and not that *everything has been happening for months* by the second working day of each week

Hill: talk to a Greenlander or a Dane. Some are thinking of leaving, others are prepared to fight

Compares US and NATO to USSR invading Warsaw Pact members

Hill says the methods of trying to rationalise, analyse etc don’t work. The only people having success around Trump are the people egging him on.

“Greenland is to Trump as Ukraine is to Putin”. It’s too late.

Fiona Hill tells us the big difference between first Trump Presidency and now is the total lack of any restraining influence on him.

She says Greenland is the best example of that. The obsession with purchasing it was real with him last time, but others restrained

Just starting now.

Watch via the link below

THIS EVENING | What does Trump mean for relations between the UK and Europe, and the rest of the world?

Sir Simon Fraser, Fiona Hill and Anand Menon will join us to discuss the impact of Trump's presidency on the UK and Europe

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/trump-...

I asked Darren Jones how he will make civil service and state reform actually happen, and hold the rest of the system to account. He says it's on him, about keeping focus, and not getting distracted by the next speech. He says he'll be a doer not a talker.

▪️National School for Government to bring training and development in house
▪️Developing the policy fellows scheme and deploying across government

▪️Wants to remove layers that decisions go through in civil service
▪️ changes to SCS recruitment to reward/ promote the ‘doers’
▪️ tackling the under performers - top CS will have performance measured against KPIs set by ministers
▪️rewarding through higher but fewer bonuses to CS who are performing

Jones says that to achieve the changes he wants to see in public services it may require more fundamental changes to the civil service in the future. But for now he wants the CS to ‘move fast and fix things’

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/modern...

In west London for @darrenpjones.bsky.social speech on reforming government

An audience of politicians, the media, think tankers and the like. As far as I can see no cabinet secretary or perm secs… not a great signal for what comes next

Move fast and fix things: Modernising Whitehall to deliver for Britain | Institute for Government Keynote speech from Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Darren Jones MP.

Starting shortly - tune in to hear about Darren Jones's plans for rewiring the state

Live on the IFG website now

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/modern...

Inside Briefing | Institute for Government The Institute for Government's weekly podcast, hosted by Dr Hannah White.

We’ll be digging into the details of the plans in the podcast later this week with a special guest.

And of course talking about the many other not so small things happening right now…..

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/our-podcasts...