The Law and Policy Blog

Blog Authors

Latest from The Law and Policy Blog

Six proposals for improving public procurement

February 26, 2026

26th February 2026
Yesterday we saw what was wrong – here are suggestions for what could be put right

This is a sequel, of sorts, to the post here yesterday on what is wrong with public procurement.
Here this blog will set out six things that could be done to improve public procurement.
To

…

The Law and Policy Blog

Six Things Wrong About Public Procurement

By David Allen Green

February 25, 2026

25th February 2026

Public procurement, like constitutional law, should be boring.
It should be about the mundane everyday activity of public bodies purchasing things so that they can fulfil their public functions.
But it is currently exciting, and my pieces at the Financial Times and here on the Ministry of Defence contracts with Palantir were disconcertingly popular.

…

The Law and Policy Blog

Land and Expand – how Palantir captured the Ministry of Defence

By David Allen Green

February 23, 2026

23rd February 2026
What a close reading of public domain documents tells us about two concerning contract awards

*
Over at the Financial Times at the weekend I had an “op-ed” column on how Palantir commercially captured the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence. That column was popular and widely shared.

The post below now unpacks the detail

…

The Law and Policy Blog

Misconducting in public office

By David Allen Green

February 20, 2026

20th February 2026
An ancient offence is in the news – and how it usually is used only for junior officials

If conduct is a verb, then misconducting must be a verb too.
And when a someone in public office – what we can call a public official – is misconducting in that public

…

The Law and Policy Blog

Will the Carnival ever end?

By David Allen Green

February 17, 2026

Shrove Tuesday, 2026

The Contest between Carnival and Lent
by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (source)
*
Today is Shrove Tuesday, a moveable date which is reckoned as forty days before Palm Sunday.
Not long ago it was Candlemas, a fixed date – 2nd February – which is reckoned as forty days after Christmas.
(Candlemas,

…

The Law and Policy Blog

What the Palestine Action judgment means – and what it does not mean

By David Allen Green

February 13, 2026

13th February 2026
The High Court rules against the government, but not with enthusiasm

This morning the High Court handed down its judgment in the Palestine Action proscription challenge.
I wrote a quick commissioned piece at Prospect within a couple of hours of the judgment being handed down – and I just want

…

The Law and Policy Blog

1642’s Five Members vs 2026’s Six Members

By David Allen Green

February 12, 2026

12th February 2026

History rhymes.
Sometimes it is the historians that rhyme in how they write their histories; sometimes even it is actually the events themselves that rhyme.
*

Source: Wikipedia.
*
When President Trump sought this week to

…

The Law and Policy Blog

Three reasons why the Mandelson disclosure exercise will be a shock for the government

By David Allen Green

February 10, 2026

10th February 2026
Ministers and officials usually are in control of disclosure exercises – but here they will not be – and why that matters

Governments like to stay in control of what information is made public.
While from time to time some ministers (and a few officials) leak materials to journalists and others,

…

The Law and Policy Blog

The constitutional significance of what happened to the Prime Minister last week

By David Allen Green

February 10, 2026

10th February 2026
Members of parliament moved for a parliamentary committee to decide what is prejudicial to national security instead of the government

*
Hurrah: now the King’s Evil Counsellor is deposed we shall be govern’d well.
*
This is not really a political blog, at least not in the sense of party politics.
That

…

The Law and Policy Blog

On Mandelson’s emails – how to think about disclosed documentary evidence

By David Allen Green

February 3, 2026

3rd February 2026

You probably have seen the disclosures of the emails purportedly from Lord Mandelson from when he was business secretary.
On the face of it, these emails raise serious questions which warrant further enquiry and investigation.
(And if you want speculation about legal liability this really is not the blog for you.)
There

…