Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

The highest level of public debt and highest tax burden since the late 1960s, the first increase in corporation tax since 1974, the largest net tax rise since 1993… In this special edition of Inside Briefing, IfG chief economist, Gemma Tetlow, is joined by IfG senior economist Tom Pope, and IfG senior fellows Jill Rutter and Giles Wilkes to trawl through the details of Rishi Sunak’s second budget. Did he do enough to support businesses and households as the lockdown lifts? Will the plans for large future tax rises and cuts to benefit payments stick? What did the budget reveal about the government’s strategy for UK growth? Audio production by Candice McKenzie #IfGBudget2021 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Business was taken aback when Rishi Sunak raised its tax bill in this week’s Budget – but the sums Sunak is dealing with are eyewatering. Is there enough in his plans for tapered support and delayed tax to stimulate a post-COVID recovery? Will a country that’s been sold on “levelling up” accept higher taxes by stealth and lowered living standards? Plus: what on earth is going on with Sturgeon vs Salmond – and how could it affect Scotland’s political future?This week’s special guests are Torcuil Crichton, political editor of the Daily Record, and IfG Fellow and former advisor to Tony Blair John McTernan.  “It’s very clear that the Government are going to use the pork barrel. You can see the lineaments of Populist government” – John McTernan “That was the emptiest budget box to come to Parliament in a long time, and Starmer was quite good at laying out what wasn’t there.” – Torcuil Crichton “The Government seems to believe the economy has been suppressed and will come roaring back of its own accord” – John McTernan Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Gemma Tetlow and Akash Paun. Audio production by Alex Rees See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On 3 March, Rishi Sunak will deliver his second Budget – almost a year on from the moment the government took the unprecedented step last spring to lockdown the country. With a third lockdown still in place, how will the chancellor deliver on Boris Johnson’s promise that the government will “continue to do whatever it takes to protect jobs and livelihoods across the UK”? What will the Budget do to support economic recovery once the lockdown is lifted? And will this Budget tell us anything about Sunak’s longer term ambitions for tax, spending, borrowing and debt?In this edition of Inside Briefing Extra, IfG Chief Economist Gemma Tetlow is joined by former special advisor Will de Peyer, IfG senior economist Tom Pope, and IfG senior fellow Giles Wilkes.Audio production by Candice McKenzie#IfGBudget2021 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we pass a year since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the UK, the Institute for Government is delighted to welcome Tony Blair, Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to reflect on the last 12 months – and look ahead to the lasting impact of the pandemic and the challenges this poses for politicians and policy makers. What lessons have we learned over the last 12 months? How can countries adapt to the continuing existence of Covid-19? What does ‘returning to normal’ really mean in the year ahead? How will the pandemic change the UK? How will it change the world? Tony Blair is in conversation with Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is new-look, cautious Boris Johnson’s step-by-step plan for unlocking too timid, or is it over-optimistic? Are vaccine passports workable, let alone defensible from a civil rights perspective? And if Rishi Sunak will do “whatever it takes” to get the economy back on its feet, what can we expect from next week’s COVID Budget? Plus: just how many czars do we need?This week’s special guest is Ben Riley-Smith, the Daily Telegraph’s newly-appointed political editor, fresh from returning from Washington.  “No.10 will be pretty pleased with the reaction to the unlocking plans so far. Polls say only a tiny proportion of people think he’s going too quickly.” – Ben Riley-Smith “The Government is keen to do this slowly to ensure that it’s irreversible.” – Ben Riley-Smith Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Tim Durrant, Gemma Tetlow and Tom Sasse. Audio production by Robin Leeburn See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ahead of the Prime Minister producing his new ‘roadmap’, we discuss the plans, priorities and politics for lifting the lockdown. Does the government know what its objectives are? What does ‘data, not dates’ mean in practice? What still needs to be done and what should we look out for when the plan lands? In this edition of Inside Briefing Extra, IfG Senior Fellow Dr Catherine Haddon is joined by Conservative MP and Covid Recovery Group chairman Mark Harper, the New Statesman’s political editor Stephen Bush, Christina Pagel, Director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at UCL and Tom Sasse, Associate Director at IfG. Audio production by Candice McKenzie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Government prepares for the huge leap of unlocking, can it manage expectations from both a weary public and its own restive MPs? Rishi Sunak is about to announce potentially the most painful budget in a decade. Can he pull the Tories’ pre-COVID policy aims out of deep freeze? And how will Conservative MPs feel about “building back better” with more social housing in their own constituencies?This week’s special guests are Mo Hussein, former special advisor to Amber Rudd and chief press officer in No.10, and IfG fellow John McTernan, former senior advisor to Tony Blair.  “The government’s line is often ‘we’d love to do this but our scientists won’t let us.’” – Cath Haddon “The idea that absolutely everyone in Whitehall is knuckling down to work on COVID is just fanciful.” – John McTernan “The big question is, is fiscal conservatism dead or just hibernating?” – Gemma Tetlow “Sajid Javid resigned over independence, but Sunak has been the most independent Chancellor we’ve had for a long time. He’s even got his own branding and infographics” .” – John McTernan Presented by Hannah White with Cath Haddon, Maddy Thimont-Jack and Gemma Tetlow. Audio production by Alex Rees See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The government has published its plans for reform of the NHS, with the first health service white paper in a decade setting out a series of major reforms. So what is the government trying to achieve and what would it mean for the NHS? Is this really the moment, with the NHS still reeling from the demands of the coronavirus crisis, to introduce major reform? What has the pandemic revealed about how the NHS is run? And does this white paper finally provide an answer to the question of how to reform social care? For answers to these questions, and more, don’t miss the special edition of Inside Briefing. The IfG’s Nick Davies is joined by IfG senior fellows Nick Timmins and John McTernan, and guest Sally Warren of the King’s Fund. Audio production by Candice McKenzie #IfGpublicservices See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will the Government’s draconian plans for quarantine for travellers really work? How can ten years in prison and £10,000 fines be proportionate to the offence? And why can’t the Government get its line right on whether we can or can’t go on holiday this year? Plus, what are we learning from the unfolding story of vaccine success in the UK and comparative failure in the EU? Is Global Britain going to prove to be rather insular and nationalistic? And is Priti Patel going to carry the can for the Home Office’s data disaster? “The Government’s quarantine plans have so many holes you could drive a truck through them.” – Sarah Nickson “We criticise this Government for not learning. Well these quarantine plans are evidence of them learning – and maybe overreacting.” – Giles Wilkes “One thing the Government has done well is to be honest and upfront about the risks of experimenting with the vaccine.” – Alex Thomas “If the Government pursues quarantine at the expense of containing the virus at home, it looks like a policy designed to seem decisive rather than being effective.” – Sarah Nickson “A company suddenly being British doesn’t make it any easier to tell them what to do with their R&D.” – Giles Wilkes “Gordon Brown’s fall from Stalin to Mr. Bean was partially due to his government’s data problems.” – Alex Thomas Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Jill Rutter, Alex Thomas, Giles Wilkes and Sarah Nickson. Audio production by Alex Rees See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Borders is borders? Impact from the EU’s aborted triggering of Article 16 of the NI Protocol continues to reverberate. Could the UK government really use this episode to tear up their own border agreement? Special guest Tony Connelly, RTE’s Europe Editor and co-presenter of the Brexit Republic Podcast, joins us to explain the Byzantine nature of the Border Protocol. Plus: ahead of COP26 and the IfG’s net zero conference, can carbon mitigation really make Britain a world leader?  “It feels like the Internal Market Bill all over again. It’s a gun to the head from the British Government. It’s an ultimatum.” – Tony Connelly “If we don’t make the border protocol work then we will have rolling crises every four years.” – Tony Connelly “The politics of vaccines have become toxic… It’s heat every day for the Commission.” – Tony Connell Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Maddy Thimont-Jack, Jess Sargeant, Tom Sasse and Jill Rutter. Audio production by Alex Rees See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices