I’ve spent the last couple of weeks embroiled in speeches, policy docs and Cummings’ blog posts, trying to suss out whether there’s any possibility of getting to an equitable tech and innovation landscape under this govt, and I think today shows the answer is no.

And the thing I keep coming back to is this passage from Cumming’s 2018 post about DARPA. https://dominiccummings.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/20180904-arpa-parc-paper1.pdf

“If you can speed things up by a factor that seems ‘totally unrealistic’, even ‘mad’ ... then you can get huge qualitative performance changes that more than make up for some bureaucratic untidiness (and you also disorientate competitors)."

I need to write this all up properly but taken alongside the push towards qual data as a single source of truth and a preference for a low-regulation environment that doesn’t impede progress, I suspect we’re f*cked, and that the A Levels saga is the first of many such cock-ups.

I worry that these things will come too thick and fast for a coherent response, and that simply playing whack-a-mole won’t be enough, because there needs to be an alternative vision with some proper courageous heft and leadership. .

So what can I say, except, perhaps pffffft and, maybe, join me? Not that I particularly have a plan, but perhaps we can make one.

Oh also, donate to @Foxglovelegal https://www.foxglove.org.uk/donate  and @libertyhq https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/about-us/liberty-funding/