Good afternoon, everyone and thank you for inviting me along today.
I'm a fan of the institute. The IfG is a very helpful organisation. It produces the performance tracker. Many interesting reports.
And in advance of events such as this, a round up assessment of the government's agenda and challenges.
It was an appropriate coincidence that many of you would have read Hannah's helpful scene setter on Blue Monday.
A fair summary would be:
Urgent recovery and reform required against geo and domestic political complexity and huge post Brexit expectations.
With not much spare resource, capacity, energy, time or trust.
I am reminded of Nixon's 1969 inauguration speech:
"We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by division, wanting unity. We see around us empty lives, wanting fulfilment. We see tasks that need doing, waiting for hands to do them."
Are you suitably depressed?
Well, let me see if I can cheer you up.
Today, you will hear some ideas and issues that need attention.
You may hear some new policy ideas too from panelists,
But at such times of great challenge, we need to focus on strategy as well as tactics.
A successful strategy is not just for government.
It needs to yield opportunities. So we can all make a contribution.
If you're here today, or watching online, or reading this speech after the event, it is likely you already have a good sense of the challenges facing us.
It's also likely that you are part of the solution.
Whether you're a politician, civil servant, or council leader, or exec or trustee or member of the media - it requires all of us.
Part of the frustration with politics is not that people don't have solutions.
It is that people have great solutions and ideas, they desperately want to be able to act on.
People WANT to take responsibility.
They want to help. Did you not see what happened during Covid?
Individuals, business and organisations stepped up.
There was a huge civic outpouring.
And a renewed interest in volunteering that we should capitalise on.
Now they want to be the change. We should let them.
To unlock potential and create solutions we need to let every part of the UK, every talent, sector and individual to be able to help.
From us in Government that needs:
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a clear mission
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a commitment to excellence and accountability
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the centre ground to be valued
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free and empowered citizens
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and the amplification of hope.
One of the things I do in preparation for my weekly Business Questions is to drill into the detail of what successive [Political] governments have achieved.
I also review the record of predecessor [Political] administrations too.
Since 2010, there is much to be proud of.
I shan't take up time here because it is the future that matters. But do tune in on Thursday mornings for
