Jill Rutter
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Articles by Jill Rutter
Jackdaw was well handled – but government needs a coherent net zero strategy
The secretary of state for energy security and net zero finally retook the decision on the exploitation of the Jackdaw gas field. It was a decision long in the making after the Scottish courts found that the initial decision by the then Conservative government had failed to take proper account of the impact of licencing the field on the UK’s ability to deliver net zero. The announcement itself was testament to the political skill of the Burnham operation.
Kemi Badenoch’s inheritance tax proposals are myth-based policy making at its worst
At the end of Downton Abbey (the Grand Finale), Lady Mary takes over the Downton estate from her far-from ancient parents, who retire to the dower house previously occupied by the Dowager Duchess. Maybe Kemi Badenoch was watching that movie (not recommended despite featuring the Institute for Government headquarters as a party venue) when she dreamt up her inheritance tax proposals, which were launched to mass acclaim at Conservative party conference.
Andy Burnham has opened the door to EU membership
Foreign affairs only surfaced at the end of Andy Burnham’s (long speech) to the Labour conference. A short passage on Ukraine, some mentions of national security, and then the PM pull an EU rabbit from the hat. Since taking office, the prime minister has been talking up his ten-year plan.
Carney, Canada and the EU: Will the UK’s Brexit hopes fade further from view?
On Thursday, Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, received a standing ovation after his speech to the European Parliament.
Carney, Canada and the EU: What could it mean for the UK/EU reset?
On Thursday, Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, received a standing ovation after his speech to the European Parliament.
How John Healey should approach tax in his first budget
The chancellor should lay out a tax strategy There were two reasons why Reeves’s budgets were subject to so much advance speculation. One was that she left herself so little headroom while also swearing that she would stick to her fiscal rules, come what may.
The UK is forgetting the dull bit of climate change policy
But this summer is a reminder of the cost of failing to adapt. Whether it is arguments over air conditioning or schoolchildren staying home when schools overheat (with economic consequences for working parents), the consequences of cancelling operations due to overheating NHS operating theatres, or how to keep the trains running and the roads open, the clear and immediate costs of not being well adapted are beginning to mount.
Blitzed by Burnham
Jill Rutter takes stock of Andy Burnham’s first few days in government. After a couple of weeks when Andy Burnham went underground with few sightings in public, this week he has shown what he meant by hitting the ground running. He appointed a Cabinet – with a heavy Manchester representation (5 members represent seats in Greater Manchester, and there are seven from the North West when two Liverpudlians are added in). London’s representation in the full Cabinet is down to two.
Andy Burnham’s ID card surprise is very unsurprising
When Keir Starmer unveiled his plan to introduce digital ID cards for mandatory right to work checks last September, there were many sceptical voices. One was the former mayor of Greater Manchester, who said days after the announcement at Labour conference: “I think there’s a risk of an opportunity cost situation here, where something can consume a huge amount of time and actually doesn’t come through.
Making press releases more political won’t improve how government communicates
In a new guest paper for the Institute for Government, Steph Driver, Keir Starmer’s former No.10 communications director, makes five recommendations on how government communications can become what she calls “a steward of public trust”. In doing so, she rejects the notion that the answer – as proposed by Boris Johnson’s former communications director, Lee Cain, in his own IfG guest paper – that the answer is structural change involving greater central control and reduced headcount.
Burnham will need to work hard to avoid his time being consumed by foreign affairs
Keir Starmer warned his (all but certain) successor that he could not shrug off foreign policy. But the cancellation of the EU summit planned for 22 July means that the first big international gathering for Burnham will come if he decides to attend the UN General Assembly in New York in late September. Although the norm is for leaders to attend and give speeches, and it might prove useful for some initial meetings, Burnham may decide to let his foreign secretary go.
The UK is forgetting the dull bit of climate change policy
The writer is a former senior civil servant and a senior fellow at the Institute for Government Climate change policy divides into two...
Reflecting on Keir Starmer’s premiership
Starmer’s ambitions to ‘rewire the state’ never really took off At first, Starmer appeared to be a rare prime minister who had genuine interest in and desire to reform the state. The 2024 election campaign and the early months of his government were dominated by talk of cross-cutting 'missions', and how their delivery would necessitate “nothing less than the complete rewiring of the British state”. But big words were followed by little action.
How Andy Burnham should approach governing
Jill Rutter reflects on how Andy Burnham should approach governing as he prepares to take over from Keir Starmer later this month. Morgan McSweeney has now admitted that Labour was unprepared for power in 2024. They had, realistically assessed, two years to plan – the period from when it was clear that Boris Johnson was vulnerable and Labour could form the next government. Keir Starmer had by then ‘changed the Labour party’. His focus was on winning the election.
Brexit at 10: How has leaving the EU changed UK government?
Boris Johnson signs the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. There have now been six prime ministers since the EU referendum in 2016.
The WASPI confusion sees Andy Burnham stumble at his first spending test
There is still a lot of support for WASPIs. Being nice to them and sticking to an earlier pledge was an obvious move for a by-election candidate taking on a range of populists. But Burnham is standing in Makerfield so that he can challenge Keir Starmer, and his indulgence of the WASPIs is an indication that he has yet to wake up to what would face him if he walked into Downing Street.
Brexit ten years on: the civil service
Ahead of the ten year anniversary of the EU referendum on 23 June, UK in a Changing Europe experts have written a short series of blogs reflecting on some of the issues at the heart of Brexit then and now. Here, Jill Rutter considers how Brexit has impacted the civil service. We could never persuade former Brexit minister and European Research Group chair Steve Baker to relive Brexit for UK in a Changing Europe’s Brexit Witness Archive.
The Climate Change Committee analysis is clear: government must start taking adaptation seriously
The Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) latest assessment 10 of UK climate risk, published just as the country heads into its first heatwave of the summer, shows just how important a challenge this is for government. But getting government to focus on the need to prepare for the climate change that is already happening, as opposed to focusing on the more glamorous task of mitigating future climate change, has never been easy.
The UK and the European Union: What is the current relationship?
Any European state which meets the EU’s “values” European Union can apply under the process set out in Article 49 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.
Jackdaw and Rosebank
After that judgement the government announced that it would not contest the legal challenges to Jackdaw and Rosebank and in early 2025 the challenges were upheld and the previously granted consent was ruled unlawful. 80 The judgement allowed work on both fields to continue but required new EIAs before production could start, meaning the government would have to grant fresh approval to allow exploration to proceed.
Ten things we learned from the King’s Speech 2026
6. For some of these policies, legislation is only the first hurdle Some of the bills included in the King’s Speech will require extensive work even once the legislation has passed.
Keir Starmer’s EU “reset” failed to convince
Billed as a “make-or-break" moment following a disastrous set of local and devolved election results, Keir Stamer placed UK relations with the EU at the heart of Monday’s speech. Those following the evolution of Labour policy toward the EU closely will have noted two changes. First, the prime minister was more willing to call out the failure of Brexit to deliver on the economy, on migration or on security.
A Royal visit full of pomp and ceremony signified little
The King and Queen’s visit to the US was a diplomatic masterpiece. The personal chemistry seemed good. The gifts were well judged. The president behaved – more or less. The King’s speeches were brilliantly crafted, and the King showed off the merits of irony, humour and self-deprecation, none of them in oversupply in the current administration. His speechwriters can take a bow.
Mandelson row is a cold shower for civil service relations
The writer is a former senior civil servant and a senior fellow at the Institute for Government think-tank This month the new cabinet...
The vetting system needs to survive the Mandelson test
Most of the subsequent problems arise from trying to bend a standard process, which works pretty well for 99.99% of cases, to fit the Mandelson appointment. That was unusual on two levels: first because of the extent to which the government publicly committed to the appointment before any clearances were in place and second because of what Robbins euphemistically termed Mandelson’s “interesting” life.
The government still needs a coordinated story on its response to the Middle East war
The danger for the government – as we previously noted – is that it is leaving a vacuum to be filled by others who do not have to worry about delivering or paying for the expensive measures they advocate. We do not (yet) need the crisis equivalent of the daily covid press conferences, but the government should be taking control of the news on the UK reaction to the crisis.
Managing the economic consequences of the Iran war
Introduction On 28 February the US, alongside Israel, launched a surprise attack on Iran, plunging the Middle East into chaos. The conflict involving attacks on energy infrastructure and shipping in the region – particularly in the crucial Strait of Hormuz – sent shockwaves across the global economy.
The government’s “don’t panic” message on energy is preventing sensible efficiency measures
The UK has so far not suffered any significant energy shortages as a result of the Middle East War and has been free of the panic buying that is affecting some countries in Asia and Australasia. Ministers are determined to prevent similar scenes in the UK by sending out “business as usual” messages.
The warmth of the government’s Brexit rhetoric is outpacing concrete progress
The UK has moved a long way from the language used at the height of parliament’s debates on Brexit and Liz Truss’s ambivalence over whether France is friend or foe. Ministers are becoming emboldened by evidence that the public is sceptical about the benefits of Brexit 19 , and the realisation that Europe needs to get its act together to respond to Russian threats and US unpredictability.
Rachel Reeves should not be rushed into action on energy bills
Immediate action is rightly focussed on people who depend on heating oil where the oil price spike seems to be being translated into rapid price rises. Reeves has already said she will ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate price gouging, but it is clear that these households – predominantly rural or in Northern Ireland – are most exposed.
Four things we learnt from Rachel Reeves’s spring forecast 2026
Reeves stayed true to her commitment to avoid major new policy measures in the forecast. The revised forecast reflects some relatively small changes announced since the budget on inheritance tax, business rates for pubs and joining Erasmus. The government used some of the improvement in public finances to fund an additional £4.1bn in 2028/29 to meet new commitments on SEND.
Will Rachel Reeves’s 2026 spring forecast be as low key as promised?
We have become accustomed to having (at least) two fiscal events a year, with the chancellor standing up in the Commons and announcing a raft of new policies alongside the OBR’s forecast. On coming into office, Reeves said she would put an end to the disruption caused by this biannual fiscal fanfare and focus on having just one fiscal event a year, the autumn budget. This position, which we commended at the time, did not hold.
The UK needs a detox from fiscal turmoil
This piece was originally published in the Financial Times on 11 January 2026. Despite her avowed intention of bringing the UK into line with international norms by holding only one major fiscal event per year, Rachel Reeves managed to subject the country’s economy to a rolling fiscal drama in 2025.
The 'True' Brexit: where are we now?
In the aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the negotiations for the UK’s future relationship with the EU look even more challenging. Now that the UK is finishing its transition to Brexit, do we now know what it means? We explore the realities of Brexit for government, the economy, and our politics and look ahead to the policy choices we face. What are the unresolved questions for the UK?
GV311 (2013/14) Week 9: Policy making and influence
The ways policy is made and the processes it goes through prior to implementation. Party election manifestos, the use of special advisors, independent inquiries, think tanks, lobbyists and other elements in the evolution and delivery of government policy.
Labour should introduce the alternative vote system for mayoral elections
One reason to prefer AV is that it avoids the problem under SV of voters ‘wasting’ their second preferences by casting these for candidates who do not make the final round, either due to ignorance of how the system operates or just because of the unpredictability of electoral outcomes in a multi-party system. Research has shown that in SV elections with more than four candidates, the share of second preference votes that are discounted in this way rises to over half.
The UK needs a detox from fiscal turmoil
The writer is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and a former civil servant, including at the Treasury Despite her avowed...
Will Keir Starmer’s ‘EU reset’ deliver in 2026?
It has been clear since Labour won the general election in 2024 that the UK would seek closer ties with the EU than its string of Conservative predecessors. But while the EU has welcomed Keir Starmer’s mood change, it is far from clear that a deeper economic relationship with the UK is high on its priority list. That means the government will have its work cut out to convert words in 2025 into concrete actions in 2026.
One year on: the impact of Donald Trump on British politics and policy
Donald Trump has learned from a first term in the White House characterised by personnel churn and a dependence on Republican old faithfuls rather than MAGA true believers. Instead, Trump 2.0 has both a relatively stable team and a plan of action which – through industrial scale use of executive orders – he has rapidly deployed. Indeed executive action on the international front now includes the forceable capture and removal of the president of Venezuela without any reference to congress.
Autumn budget 2025: What did we learn from Rachel Reeves’ announcements?
The chancellor can claim credit for starting to tackle some issues that countless of her predecessors had ducked. Particular credit is due for recognising the need to start levying a tax on electric vehicles to ensure motoring continues to be taxed as fuel duty revenues fall away. Similarly, beginning to address the relative under-taxation of high-value homes, which are the massive beneficiaries of repeated failures to revalue council tax bands in general, is sensible.
Rachel Reeves’s budget 2025: The IfG’s six things to look out for
After a 2024 budget in which she hiked taxes by £36bn, in particular with a big rise in employer national insurance contributions, Rachel Reeves looks set to raise substantial sums in tax again to ensure she can maintain spending plans without breaking her “iron clad” fiscal rules. But which taxes will Reeves look to increase – and by how much?
Labour's tax pledges
It is possible the chancellor could scrabble together enough from changes to minor taxes if she simply sought to restore her lost headroom. But many commentators think she would be better advised to look again at one of the four major revenue raisers even if it means breaking a manifesto pledge. Income tax 46 Forecast receipts: £330.7bn in 2025/26 The UK government sets income tax rates and thresholds for England and Northern Ireland.
Rachel Reeves cannot start to blame Brexit now for her economic fix
Brexit is no longer a banned word. Rachel Reeves used her attendance at the IMF annual meeting to talk about the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU on growth. Now the chancellor has blamed Brexit for the UK’s persistently worse performance on inflation than other major economies. Reeves is of course right.
Stamp duty land tax
At various times governments have tried to benefit first time buyers, or boost the housing market, by announcing “stamp duty holidays”. The main impact is to concentrate transactions, but this leads to little additional purchasing. Most economists would say that sellers rather than buyers are the principal beneficiaries. HMRC research suggests these are poor value for money. 22 In March 2026, Osborne introduced an additional 3% levy on additional properties (second homes, buy-to-let properties).
Badenoch’s breaking of the climate consensus will have consequences
Margaret Thatcher warned the world of the risks of global warming and called for action in 1989. That, and the consequences of substituting gas for coal, was enough to make the UK a climate leader through the 1990s. David Cameron hugged huskies and was a major factor in persuading the Blair government it needed to avoid being outflanked on climate policy. This laid the ground for the Climate Change Act, passed with minimal dissent in the 2000s.
Labour Party Conference 2025 preview
Sam Freedman The importance of party conferences is nearly always massively overblown. They are an increasingly pointless anachronism, wasting a lot of time and energy that would be better spent on governing. There will, no doubt, be loads of “announcements” that barely anyone notices and end up being quietly binned in a few months’ time. Labour’s biggest challenge is not, primarily, one of “comms” or “narrative” but of strategic clarity.
Labour Party conference preview: Starmer in the spotlight
Sam Freedman The importance of party conferences is nearly always massively overblown. They are an increasingly pointless anachronism, wasting a lot of time and energy that would be better spent on governing. There will, no doubt, be loads of “announcements” that barely anyone notices and end up being quietly binned in a few months’ time. Labour’s biggest challenge is not, primarily, one of “comms” or “narrative” but of strategic clarity.
Digital ID cards
The UK has had mandatory ID cards when the country has been at war. ID cards were introduced in the First World War to aid with conscription and abolished afterwards in 1919. They were reintroduced in September 1939 shortly after the start of the Second World War and were used to help with national service, national security and food rationing.
The 2025 budget and beyond: How Rachel Reeves can approach tax reform to help drive growth
The government needs a new approach to tax Labour’s original sin was its unrealistic approach to tax in the election It has not been an easy first year for the chancellor. She has been dealt a particularly difficult hand, with an unstable global economy and a deteriorating outlook affecting many western economies. But her travails are also partly of her, and the Labour Party’s, own making.
Rachel Reeves should allow local tourist taxes
Recent reports suggest that the Treasury, with support from No.10, stepped in to prevent the deputy prime minister from adding a power to levy local tourist taxes in her recent devolution white paper. 22 The Treasury has a long history of wanting to monopolise potential tax bases – even if it does not want to use them. In 2008, the Lyons review of local government suggested allowing limited experimentation with tourist taxes (even if Lyons himself seemed sceptical) – but nothing came of it.
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