Budget ‘Hack’ Day

Policy@Manchester’s first ever Budget “Hack” Day took place on 8 March. Academics and students were invited to Club Academy in The University of Manchester Students’ Union to talk, think, tweet and blog their thoughts on the 2017 Budget.

To celebrate International Woman’s Day, we also welcomed three expert, female speakers who provided thought-provoking talks in the lead up to the Budget streamed live at 12:30. Georgie Hines, Science and Technology Editor for the Mancunion newspaper shared her thoughts on inequalities and Higher Education reform. Rachael Gibbons from charity Reclaim spoke on the Budget implications for young people, while Councillor Angeliki Stogia passionately reflected on the gap between the reforms we need and the ones we were likely to see.

Attendees then settled down to watch Philip Hammond’s first Budget as chancellor, armed with a Policy@Manchester Budget Bingo card – how many of key phrases was he going to say?

A surprise to some there was no mention of Brexit from the chancellor; this was highlighted by Professor Andy Westwood, Co-director of Policy@Manchester, in his post-Budget roundup. Taking to the stage to share his observations, he spoke of the low-key fireworks he had predicted in his Manchester Policy Blog in the lead up to the Budget.

Feeling inspired, attendees spent the rest of the day blogging their thoughts on the day’s developments. Blogs ranged from Science and Innovation policy in the Spring Budget to making the Budget work for third sector organisations. Following the Budget Hack all content can be found the ‘Budget Hack’ blog stream.