iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This year I fulfilled a lifelong ambition of appearing on University Challenge. Tune in tonight to see if I fulfilled the subsidiary ambition of not embarrassing myself on University Challenge.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

I'm a little more on the fence on numbers, but this blog has lots of other great recommendations on transparency and structure for No. 10 that should be taken up.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I think the debate around Miliband as chancellor made me realise we've drifted into a world where both sides think they've won the debate on net zero. For a time from 2017-2022 this was maybe true for pro-net zero (with varying commitment), but now we need to go out and make the argument again.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Quite philosophically dense (or rich according to taste) in places but C. Thi Nguyen's 'Games: Agency as Art' is fantastic and captures what is enjoyable about all sorts of different games from big crunchers to more expressive or vibesy ones. Gave me a language for how I think about games and art

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

I don't think the distinction is so clear. Would PM have made the same judgement on appointment if mandelson was not close to his political operation? Judgement is the primary question but hard to see PM parking serious ethical concerns like this if another individual involved in the case.

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Reposted by Max Emmett

Hannah Keenan @hannahkeenan.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Some thoughts on Darren Jones's speech yesterday - some good CS reforms! But if your best bet on 'getting stuff done' is to create a taskforce outside the system, it's the system that needs to change...

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Government taskforces are not a long-term solution for the problems facing the state | Institute for Government

Darren Jones needs a plan for long-term reforms, as well as short-term delivery.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Shows the lefts unshakeable commitment to New Labour Clause IV

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Not just wrong musically, but with the amount of joy the song brings to many you have to wonder if you are wrong morally.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

I'm not against using AI to support policy making. This is really only half a half-baked thought about being sceptical. I think the actual potential to use AI in this kind of work is pretty huge but we should be careful about that.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

For most the bureaucratic policy process is mechanistic and opaque and the human part only comes in on the 'political' elected side. Nonetheless bureaucracy is made of people moved by and responsive to reasons. AI, as far as I understand it, doesn't work that way. It doesn't believe things.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Really good piece on AI and policy making. A related hang up I've been thinking about is whether we would want to move away from a government of persons to one of machines. Humans bring lots of flaws to the policy making process but it feels maybe important to democracy that the flaws are human.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

I say it leads to a worse overall position because it seems the aim is basically to say we shouldn't teach about race and gender injustice. I also don't think that many white working class boys would actually feel that they are being told that they are privileged but you can spin it that way

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

I think the generous interpretation which actually leads to a worse overall position is that this is what students take away from learning about race and gender based injustice. I think addressing questions of how privilege works and specifically who oppresses is an interesting challenge.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

I meant to ask about this in an email when the report came out but good at least to query now. I also wrote in response to the Maude report but I think this came out around or just before your report. constitution-unit.com/2024/04/02/t...

constitution-unit.com

The Maude report: institutional fixes for political problems

Cat Little today takes over as Cabinet Office permanent secretary at a time when how the centre of government operates is the subject of much debate. One recent report, overseen by former minister …

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

As seen during Gove's time I think the hard yards of CS reform are difficult when you don't have sustained engagement from a senior minister for whom it's their primary focus, even if they care about it. Hard for one minister to do both with sufficient focus and use of political capital.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

This could be wrong but I thought the Maude as minister model seems a more effective model for reform than JM as CEO period. Recognise there is a lot of other stuff going on at both times and you can't separate priorities from CS reform.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

On recommendation 3 is it too big a job to lead on both government priorities and some of the quite technical work of civil service reform? Agree that they both need ministerial leadership but this seems to push against the logic of needing dedicated leadership on CS reform (also part of rec 6)

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Reposted by Max Emmett

The French Republican Calendar @sansculottid.es · 02/02/2025

Today is Quintidi the 15th of Pluviôse in the year 233. Pluviôse is the month of rain. Today we celebrate cows. #JacobinDay More information on cows

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

What's interesting for both is in both views which conservative ideas they think you should validate and which you should try and play down.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

to put it somewhat unfairly to both the imagined target voter for New Labour is middle class and has some socially conservative tendencies and the imagined Blue Labour voter is working class with some socially conservative tendencies.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

I think its right in that blue labour has to be understood as anti-blair but blairism has its own socially conservative wing too.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

This is such an important time for the UK to show credible leadership on climate change. This would be a dreadful decision at any time but the government can't keep talking out of both sides of its mouth on climate issues like this.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

For that reason I haven't come back to it. It was interesting to see how it was done but it involves a level of manipulation and emotions that I found quite off putting to watch and you don't (or at least shouldn't) get in a 45 min game

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

I've only watched Series 1 but I think the sociality of it makes it a completely different thing. The fun of werewolves is that you can bamboozle/suss out your friends for 45 mins and it doesn't matter. An environment where you have to make new friends but also lie to them has different stakes

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

I’ve currently settled on negative policy leaking as the term FYI

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Having to revise the terminology for a whole paper because the phrase ‘committing a tactical leak’ is too evocative of going to the toilet before a long film in the cinema.

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 15/10/2024

Great example is saying that breaking the rules will lead to the pound crashing but also acknowledging that the government is actually predicted to break its (current) fiscal rules by changing the calculation of public sector debt which no one seems to think will cause a sterling crisis

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Reposted by Max Emmett

Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 01/09/2024

This clearly says the question I've been struggling to articulate on Labour's message. What is the pain for? In 2010 the objective of deficit reduction was clear and you could understand how cuts contributed to it. This failed and was ideologically driven but you could use it to interpret policy

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Five signals that will show whether Labour is really governing in a different way | Institute for Government

The autumn presents a unique moment for the new government

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 01/09/2024

'Concrete pain now -> Unspecified future good policies -> Policy outcomes the public want' is a pretty sketch causal chain. The reason this worries people is that using austerity language makes it unconvincing that pain now will make space for necessary positive policy later

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 01/09/2024

But now how does pain help us achieve Labour's missions for government? Is it so debt is falling by the end of the parliament? Why is this important? I think this could be explained on policy grounds but in communication how does pain now translate to the policy outcomes promised?

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 01/09/2024

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Five signals that will show whether Labour is really governing in a different way | Institute for Government

The autumn presents a unique moment for the new government

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Max Emmett @maxemmett.bsky.social · 23/08/2024

As someone who used them a lot on a recent trip but uses my own bike round London (and used to use the TFL ones) I think the fact they are electric is a big part plus the fact you don't have to plan where you are picking up and dropping off encourages casual use. I think I was being reckless on them

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