Inside Briefing with the Institute fo...

The first Labour government in 14 years is facing a daunting to-do list and complex challenges at every turn. Public services are under strain. The civil service is under pressure. And ministers must deliver the government’s missions and milestones. But could Keir Starmer’s plan to “rewire the British state” – through using AI and creating a “start-up” culture – turn these challenges into opportunities?

So where is government working well and what is it doing badly? What can be done to make No10, the Treasury and the rest of government function more effectively? What can Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves do to achieve faster economic growth? What will Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives and the other opposition parties do to hold the government to account? How might Donald Trump shape British politics – and how could the UK’s relations with the EU change in the years ahead?

Get behind the scenes in Westminster, Whitehall and beyond on the weekly podcast from Britain’s leading governmental think tank, where we analyse the latest events in politics and explain what they mean. Every week on Inside Briefing, IfG director Hannah White and the team welcomes special guests for a thought-provoking conversation on what makes government work – and how to fix it when it doesn’t.

Government
Politics
326
“The Department of No”: Inside the Number Ten-T...
Plus COP26: the 4D chess of combating climate change
39 min
327
Reading the runes of Reshuffle Day with Gavin B...
Losing a major minister: carelessness or design?
40 min
328
BONUS: Gina Miller – “Parliamentary sovereignty...
The former Remain campaigner on the future of the British Constitution
14 min
329
Getting Away With It? How to scrutinise an all-...
Plus GINA MILLER on the fight for the future of the Constitution
42 min
330
BONUS: Gisela Stuart – “I didn’t realise how de...
Full version of our interview with the leading Leave campaigner
16 min
331
Home and Huawei: Will Boris pass his first post...
Brexit Week, the Huawei decision and leading Leaver Gisele Stuart
47 min
332
What works in Whitehall – and what doesn’t?
Inside the IfG's Whitehall Monitor, and should we move the House of Lords north?
37 min
333
The Leverage Report
Who’s got the power to get what they want in 2020?
38 min
334
BONUS: Jonathan Powell – “What I discovered in ...
<p>“You need to persuade the Civil Service. Attacking them is not the way to do it.” As Tony Blair’s Chief of Staff during the New Labour years,&nbsp;<strong>Jonathan Powell&nbsp;</strong>trod the path of radical reform that Dominic Cummings now walks. In this extended version of his interview in this week’s INSIDE BRIEFING, he tells Sam Macrory of the hidden pitfalls of rapid government reform, the perils of absentee opposition, and the real possibility of the UK breaking up over Brexit.</p><br><p>“I think Boris Johnson will survive this year, politically,” he says. “But I don’t think Dominic Cummings will.”</p><br><p>Interview by Sam Macrory. Audio production by Alex Rees.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>
21 min
335
Revolution Number Ten
<p>Dominic Cummings wants to make “seismic” changes to the way government works. Can the PM’s supreme advisor pull off such radical transformations in short order? And are his reforms really all that radical, or just designed to look that way? Special guest <strong>James Kirkup</strong> of the Social Market Foundation joins us to discuss what levelling up government” really means – and whether proper scrutiny is a thing of the past in an age of massive majorities.</p><br><p>Plus, secrets of how new MPs look busy. Can Boris Johnson really ban the word Brexit? The march of the “misfits and weirdos”. And the undiscovered political power of the English-not-British. And we talk to Tony Blair’s former Chief of Staff <strong>Jonathan Powell</strong> about the limits of power and the bear-traps hidden in the heart of Whitehall. Watch out for a special extended version of the interview in your podcast feed.</p><br><p>“These are the beginning of the lean years for lobby journalists who have for three years feasted on huge fatted corpses.” - James Kirkup</p><br><p>Hosted by Bronwen Maddox with Cath Haddon and Hannah White. Audio production by Alex Rees.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>
43 min
336
Get with the programme? Johnson’s new era of go...
Plus key Brexiter Douglas Carswell, and the legacy of Cameron
43 min
337
Holyrood vs. Westminster: A Scottish Independen...
As the SNP sweeps Scotland in the General Election, can the Union survive?
37 min
338
Johnson unbound? Election results special
What the Conservative victory means for Brexit, trade, services… and fish?
39 min
339
Election: The Final Countdown
<p>As the General Election goes down to the wire, we’re joined by special guest&nbsp;<strong>Sebastian Payne</strong>&nbsp;of the Financial Times to look at campaign control freakery and the constitutional uncertainty that surrounds this unpredictable vote. What happens if there’s a hung parliament but the biggest party can’t form a government? Can the PM just stay in place? And what would happen if Boris Johnson lost his seat?</p><br><p>Plus, the&nbsp;<strong>social care</strong>&nbsp;crisis is a pressing issue for government but why are politicians so terrified of touching it? Nick Davies of the IfG tells us why this politically radioactive issue urgently needs cross-party consensus.&nbsp;</p><br><p>And with political journalism under the spotlight as seldom before, we speak to&nbsp;<strong>Jo Coburn</strong>, formidable presenter of the BBC’s Daily Politics show, about the challenges of fake news, unconscious bias and dealing with politicians who simply refuse to turn up to face scrutiny. “When parties attack us, I think they’re losing the argument,” she says. “It’s an easy hit to blame journalists when we bend over backwards to ensure we represent every shade of opinion.”</p><br><p>All this plus Seb Payne coining the world “Coalitious”. Remember that one for future use.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Hosted by Bronwen Maddox with Cath Haddon and Hannah White plus Gavin Freeguard and Nick Davies. Audio production by Alex Rees.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>
48 min
340
Inside the Manifestos
Why the magic money tree keeps on growing
42 min
341
A Guide to the Constitutional Galaxy
Can the election really make sense of it all?
44 min
342
Getting Stuff Done: Why it’s always harder than...
What happens to the best-laid plans of mice and ministers?
44 min
343
A firehose of public spending?
A brand new Speaker, Take Out The Trash Day and veteran Lib Dem strategist Olly Grender
44 min
344
Parliament’s wake-up call for Government, the f...
Why is good behaviour from the public bad for the public finances?
40 min
345
Inside the Election stalemate – plus leading Br...
Can Boris do the Deal? Plus the future of outsourcing
41 min
346
Inside the Brexit endgame – plus Hilary Benn MP
Debut episode of the Institute for Government podcast
53 min