This is a retropost. Mostly written in August 2020 but published long after I left the Civil Service. It is, although I don't quite realise it, the depths of the pandemic. Everyone is relegated to working from home. Thousands of Civil Servants trying to keep things running from their kitchen tables, on dodgy WiFi, with crying children in the background. Things are happening quickly. Much more quickly than ever before. Perhaps that's a good thing, but it doesn't leave much time for…
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This is a retropost. It was written in July 2021, but published after I had left the Civil Service. An MP has written to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster asking about some work our department is doing. This is all rather usual for Government business. In the letter, the MP mentions me. By name. This is decidedly unusual! Civil Servants at my level are anonymous, interchangeable cogs in a vast machine. Those in charge of the machine want information - they don't usually care who…
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This is a retropost. Written in January 2023 but published long after I left the Civil Service. One of the weird things about working in Westminster is how terrifyingly normal it becomes to work in grand old buildings, stuffed with grand old artworks, and staffed with grand old politicians. You turn a corner and there's a bit of Henry VIII's tennis court. There's a Tracy Emin hanging on the wall. That's the table where that peace treaty was signed. For goodness sake - don't sit on that chair! …
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This is a retropost. Written contemporaneously in May 2020 during the height of the pandemic, but published long after the events. The day the EU referendum was announced, the then Prime Minister came to visit our office. We were given a chance to talk to him in front of TV cameras. This was my chance. I could ask a question - the perfect question - which would win the referendum and bring down the government. I spent the morning practising what I would say. I psyched myself up, and…
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This is a retropost. Written contemporaneously, but published long after the events. At the time, I was a Civil Servant in Cabinet Office. Now I am not. But as we're heading for another General Election, I thought I'd share this post. It's the evening of the 2019 General Election. I am plagued by two thoughts. Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect works as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. You read the article and see the journalist has…
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This is a retropost. Written contemporaneously in 2020, but published four years after the events. It's May 2020 as I write this. I'm typing to capture the moment. Right now, I've no idea what the impact is. This is the exact moment, on Thursday May 7th, I hit the Big Red Button - three of them! - to open source the UK's COVID-19 Beta test app. https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Open-Source-NHSX.mp4 It was thrilling and terrifying. We'd spent the last few weeks getting ready …
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This is a retropost. Written contemporaneously in February 2019, but published much later. My life is weird. Again. Looking out over London from the top floor. The Eye is glittering and the Palace of Westminster is glowing. Someone pours me a glass of (very expensive) champagne, as the Secretary of State laughs at my witty bon mot. Is this my life now? People of distinction and influence listening to what I have to say? It isn't an oak-panelled room, with deep armchairs, where cigar-smoking …
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This is a retropost. It was written contemporaneously in 2019 - but posted in 2024. I had just been seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care to help kick-start NHSX. I kept a diary of my time there - including working through COVID. As it has been 5 years, and I no longer work in Government, I thought I would publish interesting extracts from it. My 4th day in a new job and I'm sat in a meeting with the Secretary of State. I've been in rooms with CEOs. With celebrities. With…
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This blog post was written in 2023 about events in 2008. Such are the joys of time travel… In August 2008, I published a blog post about being stopped and searched by the British Transport Police as part of The War Against Terror. A journalist, Elena Favilli contacted me asking if I'd be interviewed about the experience. I agreed and, in November 2008, they shot the following video: h…
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This is a necropost. Written, I think, in preparations for mock A-Levels and recently found on an old backup disk. People in our 6th Form were always sticking up funny lists and weird humorous print-outs found on the nascent WWW. This was either my attempt to relieve the pressure of endless revision - or just a way to distract myself from the stress of exams. I heartedly endorse all of the following tips for a successful exam. Fall asleep (or pretend to) until the last 15 minutes. Wake up,…
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