Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government
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Dec 29, 2023 • 46min

Christmas Special: The IfG Fantasy Cabinet

Have you opened all your presents and need something to lift your flagging festive spirits? Perhaps those in-laws are staying a little longer than you’d like and you’re looking for a little audio escape? Or maybe you need a political fix to get you through the holidays... but you’re not quite ready to reengage with the latest Westminster machinations?Then this is the podcast for you. For one Christmas only, the IfG team have been submitting their candidates for a fantasy cabinet – and the reshuffle has been recorded for this special edition of Inside Briefing. Will Hugh Grant’s Love Actually PM get the nod as prime minister? Is Graham Norton or C3P0 the best pick for foreign secretary? Which government job would suit the Spice Girls? And does Count von Count have the right skills for chief whip, or would Danny Dyer make sure no MP puts their trotters up when a big vote was happening in Westminster?Join Alex Thomas, Emma Norris, Alice Lilly and Joe Owen for an Inside Briefing like no other, as the team step into a parallel universe and argue for their Fantasy Cabinet selections. Produced by Milo Hynes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Dec 21, 2023 • 48min

The IfG Review of 2023: Posturing and panicking, poison and paranoia

So that was the year that was. Just the one prime minister this time, but plenty of political drama and intrigue, twists and turns, and high and lows. David Runciman, the former host of the Talking Politics podcast, joins the IfG team to look back on the last 12 months. How did Rishi Sunak’s five pledges work out? Does anyone remember what Keir Starmer’s five missions are? What did all those by-elections tell us about what the public are really thinking? Do Boris Johnson or Liz Truss have a second political act ahead? How is David Cameron’s second political act working out? Did Nicola Sturgeon quit at just the right time? And how might conflicts overseas – and election results across the world – impact on politics at home?Hannah White presents, with Jill Rutter and Giles Wilkes. Produced by Candice McKenzie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Dec 16, 2023 • 42min

Rishi Sunak’s unhappy Five Families

While five groups of right wing Conservative MPs – the so-called “Five Families” – have not been making life easy for the prime minister, Rishi Sunak’s controversial immigration bill made its way through the Commons without one Tory rebelling. But is the real fight still to come? Politico’s Esther Webber joins the podcast team to take stock of a dramatic few days in parliament.Luckily for the prime minister he got to spend Monday away from Westminster. Unluckily for the prime minister he had to spend Monday giving evidence to the Covid inquiry in Paddington. So how did he do and what did we learn? And finally, as parliament shuts up shop for the festive period, the podcast team round up the week’s other events – and take a quick glance ahead to 2024.Emma Norris presents, with Olly Bartrum and Alex Thomas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Dec 8, 2023 • 43min

Was this Rishi Sunak's worst week yet?

Robert Jenrick has resigned as immigration minister, former home secretary Suella Braverman says the Rwanda Bill will lose the Conservatives the next election, and the prime minister has been forced hold an emergency – and rather tetchy – press conference to defend his plan. So how big a crisis is this row over immigration for the government? Paul Waugh, the i paper’s chief political commentator, joins the podcast team to look back on a very tricky week for Rishi Sunak.After much build-up, plenty of briefings to the press, and hundreds of missing WhatsApp messages, Boris Johnson this week appeared before the Covid inquiry. So what are we learning – if anything – about his government’s handling of the pandemic. And Keir Starmer made a big speech on the economy this week and also got into knots when he praised Margaret Thatcher for bringing in “meaningful change” as prime minister. So just how prepared Labour for a big year ahead?Hannah White presents, with Alex Thomas and Jill Rutter. Produced by Milo Hynes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Dec 1, 2023 • 39min

Sunak’s Captain Marble act falls flat

Nobody predicted a massive diplomatic bust-up with Greece, so is Rishi Sunak losing his marbles? PoliticsHome editor Laura Silver joins the podcast team to catch up on the extraordinary row over the Elgin Marbles.Access talks – the moment that opposition parties begin meeting the civil service ahead of a general election – haven’t started yet, but the pressure is building. So what happens next and how important are they?Cabinet secretary Simon Case is still on medical leave – but what does his absence mean for how the government is functioning? A restless gaggle of Conservative backbenchers, and even some frontbenchers, are waiting for Rishi Sunak’s new plan to get his Rwanda asylum flights off the ground. So what could the prime minister’s scheme look like and what are its next steps in Parliament?Hannah White presents, with Alex Thomas, Alice Lilly and Alex Thomas. Produced by Candice McKenzie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Nov 24, 2023 • 31min

Autumn Statement of Intent?

Jeremy Hunt has framed the autumn statement as the biggest tax cut in British history, but do the chancellor's sums add up? The podcast team crunch the numbers and discuss what Hunt's big day in Parliament told us about the state of the economy, what the government is trying to do, and when the next general election might take place.  Giles Winn, a former Treasury special adviser, joins the podcast team to reveal what really goes into planning a big fiscal statement - and trying to secure a set of positive headlines.Cath Haddon presentsWith Gemma Tetlow and Giles WilkesProduced by Candice McKenzie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Nov 17, 2023 • 32min

Sunak's flights of fantasy?

The Supreme Court's verdict has left the government's Rwanda asylum policy in tatters - but Rishi Sunak says he has a plan to get planes taking off by the spring. So what is the prime minister proposing, and is there any chance it will work? That won't be a job for Suella Braverman, with the controversial now ex-home secretary the biggest loser in this week's reshuffle. The biggest winner was David Cameron, who surprised everyone with his return as foreign secretary. Francis Elliott, editor of the House Magazine and Cameron's first biographer, joins the podcast to run the rule over the reshuffle and weigh up Sunak's Rwanda scheme.Plus: How big a problem did this week's resignations create for Keir Starmer?Emma Norris presents, with Jill Rutter and Rhys Clyne.Presented by Milo Hynes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Nov 13, 2023 • 27min

LIGHTS! CAMERON! RESHUFFLE ACTION!

The reshuffle rumour mill went into overdrive over the weekend, and on Monday morning Rishi Sunak kicked off a day of sackings - and surprise appointments. So the IfG team wolfed down their breakfasts, raced to the office, and assembled in the podcast studio for an emergency recording of Inside Briefing.Who is in and who is out? What does this reshuffle tell us about how Rishi Sunak wants to govern - and how he plans to fight the general election? And is David Cameron’s return to the Cabinet a masterstroke or a desperate roll of the dice?Hannah White presents with Jill Rutter, Cath Haddon and Tim Durrant.Produced by Milo Hynes  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Nov 11, 2023 • 36min

The Suella/Sunak Stand-Off

The King’s Speech on Tuesday meant a day of dashing uniforms and galloping horses, but was there anything of substance behind the pomp and ceremony? The Sun’s Noa Hoffman is this week’s podcast guest as the Inside Briefing team weigh up the legislative agenda on offer from Rishi Sunak.The home secretary is in the news. When isn’t she? We unpick Suella Braverman’s rows with the country’s most senior policeman and ask how Rishi Sunak handles an increasingly outspoken member of his cabinet. And the Covid inquiry is in the news. When isn’t it? We’ll catch up on the latest evidence sessions. Hannah White presents with Alex Thomas and Cath Haddon.Produced by Milo Hynes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Nov 3, 2023 • 40min

Boris Johnson's orgy of narcissism

Astonishing revelations and appalling language made for a gripping week at the Covid inquiry, with Dominic Cummings dominating headlines once again with his account of Boris Johnson’s chaotic No10. The BBC’s health reporter Jim Reed joins the podcast team to work out what we’ve learnt from the evidence sessions, Whatsapp messages, witness statements and diary entries. The autumn statement is looming, and chancellor Jeremy Hunt is under pressure to come up with some additional funding for struggling public services – and the IfG’s Performance Tracker 2023, our annual stocktake of nine key public services, published with CIPFA, sets out the scale of the problem. We chat to the report’s author about what could be done to fix it. Rishi Sunak has been busy hosting his AI summit – and taking part in a slightly surreal interview with X boss Elon Musk. How did the two-day gathering at Bletchley Park work out, will the robots rule whr world, and what is the next step to working with this new technology? Hannah White presents. With Emma Norris, Nick Davies and Matthew Gill. Produced by Milo Hynes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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