NEW: Should progressives in the UK adopt an 'Abundance' agenda?
Is this 'the new third way'? What would such policies actually look like in practice? Lots of thought-provoking essays on these questions in IPPR's latest Progressive Review. Check it out here👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
🏴“I want to wake up & not have to worry & go to sleep without having to worry”
Spent the weekend in focus groups across south Wales from Cardiff to Merthyr, to Port Talbot & Pembroke Dock, above all else we heard deep pessimism about the state of Wales, the UK & the wider world
A few thoughts on earned settlement after a busy week.
(1) Govt is going through consultation after over 200,000 people responded, far higher than other consultations of this type.
This means there is still a lot up for grabs to shape the policy, including transitional measures.
Our national renewal work aims to create debate, to get back to arguments rooted in values and to generate exciting ideas. In early 2027 we'll publish our final report bringing together what we've learnt.
In the meantime, reach out if you are interested, and keep engaging with the work.
And just this week the excellent @samalvis.bsky.social and @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social published the latest National Renewal paper - the progressive case for acting now on climate impacts like flooding and extreme heat: www.ippr.org/articles/ada...
The programme has already published a wealth of brilliant work on the case against ethno-nationalism, the future of social care, progressive foreign policy and more.
See the back catalogue here: www.ippr.org/research-and...
Over the next year we'll be making bold, clear, values-driven arguments about the economy, identity and our place in the world - grounded in people’s lives, and argued with conviction.
Politics is about the stories we tell - what we stand for and where we’re going. The right is doing this with confidence. Progressives need to do the same: making big, values-driven arguments about the future.
That's what @ippr.org's National Renewal work is all about - now with an🔥advisory panel.
New paper from @sofiejenkinson.bsky.social & me on the political threat and opportunity of climate adaptation
Progressives have ignored the need to protect people from extreme weather - and that leaves an opening for the populist right. 🧵
@ippr.org
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Really worth a read - brings together lots of different bits of evidence, including what the Persuasion / 38 Degrees report last week uncovered.
Striking amount of consensus emerging on this area now I think.
This is really important new research and it was great to work with Steve on publishing it.
Two myths exposed here:
1. “Labour shouldn’t worry about voters it’s losing to its left because there’s a minimal electoral impact”. False.
2. “Labour’s only losing are woke lefties in safe seats”. False.
NEW: After Gorton & Denton, how should we understand the threat to Labour's left?
Big new @persuasionuk.bsky.social report out with @38degrees.bsky.social on 'progressive defectors' - Lab 2024 switchers to Greens, Plaid, SNP, Lib Dems.
Who are they, who are they not & what's moving them? 🧵
Lovely to be named one of this year's 100 'Women in Westminster', and proud to to be alongside such an incredible group of women helping to shape policy and politics for the better.
#wiw100
www.politicshome.com/in-focus/wiw...
A senior Danish guy in the Social Democrats said to me that Denmark does not think of itself as a multicultural country whereas Britain does, which makes our situation very different.
What a lack of grace we've seen across the board today.
Whether you agree with her politics or not, Hannah Spencer was evidently a top notch candidate and Parliament will be richer with her there. Obvious from the off.
We all need to drink the water from this democratic well.
One of Labour's political challenges is that those things it has done that is popular tend not to be well known or high profile to the general public
A Reform threat to repeal employment rights is therefore a significant political opportunity, if they can seize it.
Support in mainstream schools has been hollowed out. Help often only comes once a child qualifies for an EHCP — by then, it’s crisis point.
Earlier intervention means more kids get support sooner — better for families and better for the taxpayer.
📺 @harryqp.bsky.social on BBC News👇
Have written about how the below is one symptom of a really bad set-up at the centre of government. It makes sense that in the moment prime ministers keep trying to find a different person to do various jobs, but the problem is also a structural one, and the dysfunctional structure keeps on winning
If Starmer wants a reset - and not yet another U-turn when the parliamentary party balks at a policy - here is his chance.
This was an inspiring blog six months ago from one of the new joint PM’s Chief of Staff
Precisely. Provided they don't quail before focus groups, strategists, the Daily Mail, the great and good, lobby gossip, guesswork dressed up as 'cost-benefit analysis', and over-cautious legal advice - but instead use their judgement, stick to their principles, and govern.
Rebuilding state capacity requires building the confidence of the civil service as well as investing in the dynamic capabilities needed to tackle grand challenges - not outsourcing to consultancies.
Nothing like enjoying your slightly cheaper pint while imagining the toddler crying from hunger that paid for it.
Smart question to ask.
New report: AI is certain to transform the way we consume news. If we do nothing it could turn it into slop. We need policy action now, to ensure AI improves news & the public sphere.
Guardian coverage: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Really excited to see the government announcing a cap on ground rents. As recommended in @samalvis.bsky.social and my "war on bills" piece. As we argue, the government should leave no stone on unturned to lower the cost of living in ways that people can feel.
www.ippr.org/articles/a-w...
I think this is exactly right.
www.ft.com/content/2642... Europe must not appease Trump on Greenland
Fantastic news that a government body is now on here. Zero excuse at this point for all others not doing the same
So... I've created a starter pack of UK government organisations currently on Bluesky: go.bsky.app/JHsY1Wz
(Currently includes all those listed under ministerial and non-ministerial departments here www.gov.uk/government/o... - let me know any I've missed, or got wrong)
New YouGov research for ippr finds that civic conceptions of being British are held by most people, with a third prioritising birthplace. Reform voters are outliers, against the general public view, weighting ancestry and ethnicity more highly
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
