Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Dominic Raab has resigned. The report into whether or not he bullied civil servants finally landed on the prime minister’s desk – so what should we make of Adam Tolley’s findings? Is Rishi Sunak’s response adequate? And what will Dominic Raab’s stinging resignation letter mean for tensions between ministers and civil servants?  It had already been a lively week for the prime minister, with a big s...

From unsolved pay disputes to record backlogs, abandoned social care reforms and now accusations of sexual harassment of female surgeons, finding a good news story about health and care services in the U.K. is nigh on impossible. So just how bad is the crisis facing the NHS? Who, or what, can be blamed for the pile-up of problems? And is there any way that Rishi Sunak - or maybe Keir Starmer - can...

Delays at the Dover border mean holidaymakers are getting hot under the collar – while the heat is on the government to fix the problem. The FT's Peter Foster joins us to explore whether the long queues are just an inevitable Brexit non-benefit. Also, the government appears to have ditched any plans (and a manifesto promise) to reform social care. So why is this policy challenge proving beyond the...

The 10 April marks 25 years since the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was signed, paving the way for peace in Northern Ireland and the restoration of devolved government. The agreement was a triumph of political leadership, endorsed overwhelmingly by the public in votes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  This special podcast episode brings together some of the key people who worked be...

Humza Yousaf is Scotland’s new first minister – but following the Nicola Sturgeon era is no easy task. The Sunday Mail’s Hannah Rodger joins the podcast team to weigh up the challenge ahead for Yousaf, and ask what the SNP’s change at the top means for the Scottish political landscape.   Is Rishi Sunak really that much of a Green Day fan? As parliament rises for recess, Inside Briefing turns its a...

Leaving the BBC has given Emily Maitlis the freedom to say what she really thinks, and the co-host of The News Agents podcast doesn’t hold back in this special edition of Inside Briefing.   In a wide-ranging and frank discussion with Hannah White, the former Newsnight presenter discusses the media’s role in holding politicians to account, the recent travails of her former employer, and whether gov...

The decision to go to war in Iraq – 20 years ago this week - remains both the most controversial and consequential American and British foreign policy of the last quarter of a century. Just over a year after the war began, Robin Butler, a former cabinet secretary, published his Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction - better known as the Butler Review. The weapons were never found,...

The Guardian’s political editor Pippa Crerar, who led the way in the reporting of partygate, joins the IfG podcast team to weigh up Boris Johnson’s Privileges Committee hearing. How did the former prime minister perform when quizzed about whether he deliberately misled the Commons? What might the committee decide to do next? And what was it like for Crerar to be the journalist at the centre of one...

Jeremy Hunt hands a pensions tax break to the better off and free childcare to families. There’s £9bn of allowances to business – but little mention of public services and only vague assurances about falling living standards. What’s in the small print? Plus, Boris Johnson comes up before the Privileges Committee next week. Will it be a day of reckoning for the former PM? Henry Hill, Deputy Editor...

The Illegal Migration Bill is the latest government attempt to deter asylum seekers from making their way to the UK by irregular routes. But has Rishi Sunak come up with some substance to match his ‘stop the boats’ slogan? How does the government intend its plan to work – and how likely is it to succeed? Will the legislation prove popular or polarising? And is the row about Gary Lineker and Match...

Channel 4’s political editor Gary Gibbon joins the IfG podcast team to examine whether the government’s controversial new asylum bill will actually work, and whether the politics of promising to stop the boats will win the Conservatives support – and pose a headache for Labour.   Boris Johnson wants to knight his father. So is it time for Rishi Sunak to do away with the increasingly farcical tradi...

To mark International Women’s Day, IfG director Hannah White is joined by Polly Curtis, director of Demos, and Charlotte Pickles, director of Reform, to record a fascinating episode of Inside Briefing. What is it like to be a woman in public life, working in government, parliament, the civil service – and for a think tank? What are the barriers that women face entering and working in these profess...

Will Sunak’s new deal with the EU solve the vexed issue of a customs border in the Irish Sea? Can the “Windsor Framework” finally bring the rancorous Brexit debate to an end? How will it work? What about the “Stormont Brake”? And what’s in the small print?  To examine the Windsor Framework the IfG’s Jill Rutter and Jess Sergeant are joined by special guests Georgie Wright of the Institute Montaign...

With Sue Gray making headlines again, the IfG podcast team are joined by former Conservative MP Sir David Lidington to make sense of a big Whitehall and Westminster career move and ask what it might mean for Labour and the civil service.   Plus: What do Matt Hancock's WhatsApp messages tell us about how government works – and how it didn't during the pandemic? How did Rishi Sunak come up with a Br...

Russia invaded Ukraine one year ago. Peter Ricketts, the UK’s former national security adviser, joins the IfG podcast to reflect on how the war has changed Europe – and changed UK government – and what might happen next.   At the time of recording there was still no Brexit breakthrough, but just how close are we to a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol and what could it look like?   And with Jer...

Who had “Nicola Sturgeon quits” on their 2023 bingo card? Not us. We look at the pressures behind the First Minister’s resignation and what her departure means for Scottish independence. Plus, as Yvette Cooper tells the IfG that the Government has “broken the justice system” we ask what a Labour government could do about it. And Keir Starmer closes the door on Jeremy Corbyn. Our special guest is J...

Reshuffles usually mean new faces in cabinet, not whole new departments. Can we tell our DSIT from our DESNZ? Was the PM right to act before the Raab problem is resolved? And is Lee Anderson a wise choice as Minister for the Red Wall? Paul Waugh, Chief Political Commentator at the i paper and author of the essential Waugh on Politics evening email, is our special guest. “I’ve heard it said that it...

The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman joins the IfG podcast team to weigh up Rishi Sunak’s first 100 days as prime minister. What has he achieved? What is his style of leadership? And what problems are coming down the track?   In a week which saw the largest civil service strike in years, the IfG published its annual Whitehall stocktake – so what does it tell us about morale, turnover, pay and much, much...

Rishi Sunak promised to lead a government of integrity, but how big a problem will Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs and Boris Johnson’s loan arrangements turn out to be for the prime minister? Tortoise’s Cat Neilan joins the IfG podcast team to take a closer look at the latest standards crisis.   Talking of crises, will the government’s emergency measures help the NHS through its difficult winter? A ne...

In a special live edition we welcome guest Dan Snow, author, historian and host of the History Hit podcast, to take a very long view of power and politics. What lessons should Government learn from history? Can any year rival 2022 for Cabinet chaos and Prime Ministerial turnover? Which PMs were “broken” by the office? And who thought his party were “the shabbiest set of dirty politicians that was...

How much money are MPs making on top of their day jobs? Who is topping up their earnings? And how much should they be paid? The IfG podcast team are joined by Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates, who this week has unveiled some eye-catching findings in his Westminster Accounts project.   From one pay dispute to another as strikes continue to hit public services across the country. Is the gove...

After that chaotic year of three prime ministers, surely 2023 will be a little calmer? But while we’ve heard optimistic start-the-year speeches from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, the country has been driven to a standstill by strikes across public services, the NHS is in crisis, the cost-of-living crisis shows no sign of easing – and Boris Johnson is said to be plotting a comeback. Will Sunak’s fi...

The UK Constitution is uncodified and a product of centuries of evolution, makes it hard to compare directly to the constitution of other countries. However, there are still important observations to be made from around the world. In this podcast we examine constitutional challenges and reflect on what lessons we can learn for the UK constitution. We speak to the Head of Research in the Bonavero I...

We review a year of chaos, with its three Prime Ministers, four Chancellors, scores of resignations and wild rides for the pound and inflation. Who was the best and worst Prime Minister? Who emerges from 2022 with reputations shredded or enhanced? And who among our panel will mount a spirited defence of Liz Truss? Politico's Jack Blanchard joins Hannah White, Jill Rutter and Giles Wilkes to look b...

The worst concurrence of public service strikes since the 70s is rocking the Government’s authority. Does the Government’s refusal to talk look too unreasonable, and can Labour maintain its own precariously tough line? Plus NHS reform is back on the agenda. What does Steve Barclay have in store? And a whistle stop tour of what’s coming up in 2023. Our special guest today is Rachel Sylvester, colum...