Incisive commentary from the IfG’s expert team on issues facing government and key ministerial decisions.
From analysis of key political events such as budgets and party conferences to snap responses to unexpected developments such as government reshuffles, our writers set out their views and analyse what government gets right, what it gets wrong, and what it can do better.
Five things we learnt from the October 2021 budget
Before the budget, we set out five things that the Institute for Government was looking out for in the chancellor’s announcement.
The heat and buildings strategy shows the government is grappling with the right problems
The government's long-awaited plan to decarbonise homes is big on heat pumps but curiously silent on energy efficiency
The government's net zero strategy: a good start but big gaps remain
The government will have to add detail, and confront hard choices, if their green transition targets within it are to be realistic
The Treasury net zero review only offers partial answers
The net zero review gives some hints of what is to come, but ducks the vital question of who will pay, how and how much
A worse economic outlook means Rishi Sunak’s spending choices are getting harder
Rishi Sunak still faces difficult choices between competing demands
The questions Rishi Sunak should ask about Boris Johnson's New Economic Model
Giles Wilkes sets out the questions Rishi Sunak needs to be asking
A Brexit solution for Northern Ireland is possible with further compromise
There is a route to progress on the Northern Ireland protocol renegotiations but both sides will need to compromise
The government must show real commitment to learning Covid lessons
The risk is that government thinks it can move on from the pandemic without looking back
The Everard inquiry should learn from the Macpherson report into policing culture
The inquiry into Sarah Everard's murder must learn from the successes of the inquiry into the police handling of Stephen Lawrence's death
Conservative Party Conference: high on Boris Johnson’s optimism, low on new policy
The Institute for Government team headed to Manchester to take the temperature of the Conservative Party conference