IfG Events

Tax touches on almost every area of our lives. It is vital for raising revenues to pay for public services and benefits. Incentives in the tax system also influence behaviour – sometimes deliberately, sometimes as a result of poor policy design, other times as an unavoidable side effect.As the threat of Covid wanes and as the UK establishes its economic direction outside the EU, the government will face important questions about the future of the tax system – including how to ensure it raises the necessary revenues as well as providing the right incentives. But tax is a particularly contentious area of policy where many previous governments have struggled to make progress.This event brought together former chancellors to discuss their experiences of tax policy making, the problems they faced and how they made progressOur panel The Rt Hon. the Lord Lamont of Lerwick, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (1990–93) The Rt Hon. the Lord Darling of Roulanish, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (2007–10) The Rt Hon. George Osborne CH, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (2010–16) The event was chaired by Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government, with an introduction by Matt Ellis, Managing Partner for Tax at Deloitte UK.This event was kindly supported by Deloitte LLP.#IfGChancellor See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The UK's vaccine rollout has made a good start. This panel discussed the reasons behind the early success and explore the questions the government faces – around prioritisation, the threat of variants and vaccine diplomacy – as it extends the rollout. It also explored the long-term lessons of the vaccine programme, and how the UK should capitalise on its life sciences expertise.On the panel to discuss these questions were: George Freeman, MP for Mid Norfolk and former Minister for Life Sciences Tom Chivers, Author and Science Editor at Unherd Dr Rebecca Fisher, GP and Senior Policy Fellow at The Health Foundation Professor Robin Shattock, Chair in Mucosal Infection and Immunity and Covid-19 vaccine lead at Imperial College London The event was chaired by Tom Sasse, Associate Director at the Institute for Government.We would like to thank The Forum – Imperial College London for kindly supporting this event.#IfGvaccine See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As part of our series of events covering the 2021 elections for the devolved regions, the Institute for Government was delighted to welcome The Rt Hon Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017.Seeking re-election on 6 May, Andy Burnham reflected on his first term as mayor, on the outlook for the Greater Manchester region and on how he would like to see the powers and responsibilities of 'metro mayors' develop.Andy Burnham was in conversation with Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. Andy Burnham has been Mayor of Greater Manchester since May 2017. Previously he served in the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary, Health Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary. He was MP for Leigh from 2001–17.#IfGDevo See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Adam Price MS as part of our series of events with leading politicians from across the UK in the run up to the devolved and local elections of May 2021.The leader of Plaid Cymru – the party of Wales – discussed the state of the Union, the upcoming election, and how devolution might evolve over the coming years.He was in conversation with Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government. Adam Price has been the Member of the Welsh parliament for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr since 2016, having previously served as a member of parliament at Westminster. He was elected Leader of Plaid Cymru in 2018 and is now leading the party’s campaign for the 2021 Welsh parliament election.#IfGDevo See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2020 the Chancellor told the Conservative Party Conference that “this Conservative government will always balance the books”. But the economic fallout of the Coronavirus crisis has led to record borrowing, an increasing debt and a depressed outlook for the economy – and likely tax revenues – in the medium term.As the pandemic continues, so will the government’s role in supporting the economy – and the cost of servicing its debt is currently at record lows. So does the government need to embark on a programme of fiscal consolidation? And if so, when?Whether or not Sunak intends to balance the books in this budget, what balance should he strike between tax and spending measures? In the week before the Chancellor’s second budget, the Institute for Government brings together an expert panel to discuss these questions.Our panel: Sir Robert Chote, former Chairman of the Office of Budget Responsibility, 2010–20 Simon Wren-Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford Sarah Carlson, Senior Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group at Moody’s Investor Service Timothy Pitt, Partner at Flint Global and former special adviser The event is chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. #IfGBudget2021 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The government is set to publish its Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. Its conclusions will shape the UK’s approach to national security and determine how the government sees the UK’s place in the world but the review's impact goes beyond foreign policy.This Institute for Government event discussed how the review will shape the government’s domestic agenda, what it means for the UK’s economic prosperity and stability, and the UK’s readiness to meet security threats to the international order such as climate change, cyber attacks, and pandemics.On the panel were: Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP, Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor at The Economist Ciaran Martin, former Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre; now Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations at Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University Cate Pye, Partner, Cyber Security and Public Sector at PA Consulting The event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for GovernmentWe were grateful for the support of PA Consulting in staging this event.#IfGIntReview See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first of a series of events with leading UK politicians in the run-up to May’s devolved and local elections, the Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Douglas Ross MP.The leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party discussed the state of the Union, the 2021 election, how devolution might evolve over the coming years, and what he would seek to change in how Scotland is governed.Douglas Ross was in conversation with Akash Paun, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.Douglas Ross has been the MP for Moray since 2017, having previously served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. He was elected Leader of the Scottish Conservative party in August 2020 and is now leading the party’s campaign for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.#IfGDevo See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event It has been a rocky first six weeks for the Northern Ireland protocol, which came into force on 31 December last year.Since the UK left the Brexit transition period, Northern Ireland has seen empty supermarket shelves, cancelled deliveries, and retailers temporarily pulling some products. Then came the UK’s vaccines row with the EU, and the EU’s threat to take unilateral action to disregard aspects of the protocol. While that decision was swiftly reversed after strong condemnation from politicians in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the UK, but it has been followed by increasingly vocal calls from Unionist parties to do away with the protocol entirely.This event looked at how the protocol is operating, what solutions might be found to fix its early problems, and what opportunities the protocol presents for Northern Ireland. Speakers Aodhán Connolly, Director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium Professor Katy Hayward, Professor of Political Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast and Senior Fellow at UK in a Changing Europe Neale Richmond TD, Fine Gael spokesperson on European Affairs Simon Hoare MP, Chair of the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee The event was chaired by Jess Sargeant, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government#IfGBrexit See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, chairman of the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, joined IfG director Bronwen Maddox for an in-conversation event to discuss the government’s use of science advice to shape the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.Throughout the conversation they discussed:How does science advice feed into government decisions? Have ministers understood how best to use SAGE? What lessons should be learned from the coronavirus crisis?The Rt Hon Greg Clark was Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from July 2016 to July 2019. He was elected Conservative MP for Royal Tunbridge Wells in 2005.#IfGScience See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live EventThe UK’s energy policy is at a critical turning point, with the government facing several key decisions as it tries to meet the UK’s ambitious 2050 net zero target. The energy white paper, published in December 2020, was an important step, but there are big questions over the future of nuclear power, how to support technologies like carbon capture and storage, and what industry needs to do to prepare for electrification.At this event, experts discussed whether the UK government and the civil service are equipped to meet these energy policy challenges, how decisions should be made, and what the government’s priorities should be in the years ahead.The panel also discussed the IfG’s recent report, Evidence in energy policy making: what the UK can learn from overseas.On our panel to discuss these questions were: Baroness Brown of Cambridge (Professor Dame Julia King), Deputy Chair of the Climate Change Committee and Chair of the Carbon Trust Guy Newey, Strategy and Performance Director at the Energy Systems Catapult and former special adviser at DECC and BEIS Emma Pinchbeck, Chief Executive of Energy UK Will McDowall, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government The event was chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.#IfGenergy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices