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Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

300 episodes

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.

Episodes page 3 of 6

  1. Does Rachel Reeves have a runway to growth?

    · 37 min · S1 E336

    No more talk of blackholes. No more doom. No more gloom. So what is Rachel Reeves’ plan for economic growth all about? Times columnist Sebastian Payne joins the podcast team as they make their way through the…

  2. The Southport attacks: Has terrorism changed?

    · 50 min · S1 E335

    The details of how Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer, plotted his attack have forced the government into action. Ciaran Martin, the former CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, joins the podcast team to…

  3. Government 2025 at The IfG: Darren Jones Keynote Speech

    · 48 min · S1 E334

    In a speech at the IfG this week, Darren Jones MP, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, insisted that “we are long overdue a reckoning with government spending and a realistic appraisal of how we're using taxpayers'…

  4. Rachel Reeves takes a gilt trip

    · 47 min · S1 E333

    It has been a tricky couple of days for the chancellor. But how much trouble is Rachel Reeves really in and how much attention should people be paying to the markets? Politico’s Esther Webber joins the podcast team to…

  5. Happy New Year, Keir?

    · 44 min · S1 E332

    Tricky poll ratings, gloomy economic news, and Elon Musk's online onslaught have made for a tricky start to 2025 for Keir Starmer, but how much should No10 be worrying? Theo Bertram, a former adviser to Tony Blair and…

  6. 2024 in Review: The Start of the Keir Show

    · 54 min · S1 E331

    It has been quite some year for British politics. Sure, there were no mass-ministerial resignations, rule-breaking No10 gatherings or economy-shaking mini budgets, but July’s general election saw a change of ruling…

  7. Christmas Special: IfG Book Club

    · 41 min · S1 E330

    The IfG team has spent the year reading government reviews, white papers, select committee reports, consultations, manifestos plans for change… you get the idea. But this podcast is going to step away from the…

  8. Power to the people

    · 42 min · S1 E329

    The devolution revolution is in full swing, with Angela Rayner setting out the government’s plans to give power away across England. Former Conservative special adviser Salma Shah joins the podcast team to explore what…

  9. Appetite for Disruption

    · 43 min · S1 E328

    Pat McFadden – the minister for the Cabinet Office – is making a plea for an army of disruptors to sign up to the Civil Service and make Whitehall think like a start up. Jess Studdert, director of New Local, joins us…

  10. The Plans they are A-Changing

    · 44 min · S1 E327

    Is that sound the heavy thud of a gauntlet been thrown down? The podcast team are joined by Peter Hyman, a former adviser to Keir Starmer – when he was a key player in designing Labour’s missions – and Tony Blair, to…

  11. The new cabinet secretary: Can Sir Chris Wormald rewire the British state?

    · 51 min · S1 E326

    After weeks of speculation, and many rounds of interviews, Sir Chris Wormald has been confirmed as the UK’s new cabinet secretary. But who is Chris Wormald, why has Keir Starmer appointed him, and how can he succeed as…

  12. Cabi-not yet Secretary

    · 43 min · S1 E325

    It’s a competition that has gripped the nation. The candidates have been whittled down. The country is on tenterhooks. Strictly? Of course not. We’re talking about the appointment of the next cabinet secretary. The…

  13. Starmer’s Farmer Drama

    · 44 min · S1 E324

    Keir Starmer has been on his travels again, but it has been a tricky week at home for the government. Tim Ross and Rachel Wearmouth, the authors of new book Landslide: The Inside Story of the 2024 Election, join the…

  14. Donald Trump's Team Calls

    · 38 min · S1 E323

    We are living in a different world. Donald Trump’s world. Kim Darroch, the UK's former ambassador to the US, joins the podcast team to make sense of what could be some jaw-dropping appointments to the Trump…

  15. In Conversation with Michael Gove

    · 48 min · S1 E322

    Michael Gove spent more than a decade as a senior government minister, including as secretary of state for education, justice and levelling up. He was one of the longest-serving ministers of the last government – and…

  16. Is the world ready for Donald Trump?

    · 44 min · S1 E321

    Buckle up everyone. Donald Trump has won the US presidential election and will return to the White House after an extraordinary campaign featuring criminal convictions, assassination attempts, shocking language, and…

  17. Rachel Reeves' Halloween budget: trick or treat?

    · 41 min · S1 E320

    Budget day is over and Halloween is here - and Rachel Reeves certainly came up with some pretty scary numbers. Stewart Wood, a former adviser to Gordon Brown at the Treasury and No10, joins the podcast team to make…

  18. What did Rachel Reeves’ budget reveal about the government’s priorities?

    · 46 min · S1 E319

    Rachel Reeves’ first budget might well be one of the most consequential in years – and is the biggest tax-rising budget in over 30 decades. Spending is up too. As is borrowing. So what does this all mean for the…

  19. Donald Trump and the politics of interfere

    · 43 min · S1 E318

    If there’s one thing we’ve learned about US politics in recent years, it’s this: don’t fall out with Donald Trump. So how have Keir Starmer and the Labour government ended up being dragged into a big row with the…

  20. Saturday Night's Alright for Investing

    · 47 min · S1 E317

    This week was all about the launch of Invest 2035. Invest what? The Guardian's City Editor Anna Isaac joins the podcast team to get behind the scenes for the big government day - complete with an exclusive Elton John…

  21. Gray goes out of fashion

    · 39 min · S1 E316

    Chiefs of staff aren’t meant to become the story. But Sue Gray most definitely did - until she wasn’t. So what does Keir Starmer’s No10 reset mean for how he wants to govern – and what should Labour be doing to turn…

  22. After Sue Gray: How can Keir Starmer reset No.10?

    · 59 min · S1 E315

    Reports of dysfunction and unhappiness at the centre of government have led to Sue Gray’s departure as the prime minister’s chief of staff. In an effort to reset his top team, Keir Starmer has replaced Gray with Morgan…

  23. Why was the Conservative Party Conference so upbeat?

    · 42 min · S1 E314

    Not even the torrential rain seemed to dampen the high spirits of the Conservative party conference. So what's going on? Scarlett Maguire of JL Partners joins the pod team to explore what happened in Birmingham and…

  24. Live from the Labour Party Conference!

    · 39 min · S1 E313

    The IfG team is up in Liverpool for Labour's first party conference since winning the general election - and the party's first in government since 2009. So, what's the mood? Has Keir Starmer managed to shift the…

  25. KEIR AND PRESENT DANGER

    · 38 min · S1 E312

    Does it matter if the prime minister accepts a free gift? Lots of free gifts. The House Magazine’s Sienna Rodgers joins the Inside Briefing team to explore a question that, unfortunately for Keir Starmer, is not going…

  26. Extra: What can be done to improve government procurement?

    · 47 min · S1 E311

    The Post Office and PPE VIP-lane scandals have put government procurement in the headlines – and not in a good way. But with the government spending almost £400bn a year on goods, works and services from businesses and…

  27. Winter Fuel of Discontent

    · 46 min · S1 E310

    Is this the week that things started to get a little difficult for the new government? Prisoners have been released early - something which is never going to guarantee good headlines - and the row about the decision…

  28. Decades of failure by central government

    · 37 min · S1 E309

    The usual cut and thrust of politics took a backseat this as the Grenfell Inquiry’s final report blamed “decades of failure by central government” and the “systematic dishonesty” of multimillion-dollar companies for a…

  29. Starmer looks back in anger

    · 45 min · S1 E308

    The prime minister followed Tuesday’s Oasis-fuelled Cool Britannia nostalgia with a rather gloomier vision of Britain in 2024 – with a speech that heaped blame on the last government for the tough choices to come. So…

  30. Appointments of contention

    · 49 min · S1 E307

    What is the difference between a spad and pad? How should people be fast-tracked into big government jobs? And is Labour going about this process the right way – or committing a series of unforced errors? With the new…

  31. Does Sam Freedman have a plan to fix the failed state?

    · 36 min · S1 E306

    As the IfG knows all too well, government sometimes – perhaps often – doesn’t seem to work. So who or what is to blame? Sam Freedman, IfG senior fellow and author of Failed State: Why nothing works and how to fix it,…

  32. The politics of the Olympic Games

    · 44 min · S1 E305

    The Olympic Games is all about sport – but it is unavoidably also all about the politics. So two days after the opening ceremony, the IfG team assembled its crack team of sporting fanatics to discuss the links between…

  33. SpAdcast: What is it really like to be a special adviser? – Ep.4: Moving On

    · 26 min · S1 E304

    Special Advisers are some of the most important yet misunderstood figures in government. They play vital roles – as the voice of their minister in the department, shaping policy agendas and managing the media. As a…

  34. The Chancellor’s statement of intent

    · 55 min · S1 E303

    Rachel Reeves has revealed a “£22bn black hole” in the public finances. So do the chancellor’s sums add up and what is her plan for balancing the books? Sonia Khan, a former Treasury special adviser, joins the IfG…

  35. SpAdcast: What is it really like to be a special adviser? – Ep3: Beyond the department

    · 34 min · S1 E302

    Special Advisers are some of the most important yet misunderstood figures in government. They play vital roles – as the voice of their minister in the department, shaping policy agendas and managing the media. As a new…

  36. The Trump vs Harris Showdown

    · 48 min · S1 E301

    There’s only one story in town – actually, there’s only one story on the planet. And that’s Joe Biden’s decision to pull out of the presidential race – and vice president Kamala Harris’ coronation as the new Democrat…

  37. SpAdcast: What is it really like to be a special adviser? – Ep2: Relationships

    · 35 min · S1 E300

    Special Advisers are some of the most important yet misunderstood figures in government. They play vital roles – as the voice of their minister in the department, shaping policy agendas and managing the media. As a new…

  38. Britain with the brakes off, America at the abyss

    · 39 min · S1 E299

    The pace of British politics isn’t slowing down. A big international summit for Keir Starmer. Devastating Covid inquiry headlines. And a King’s Speech full of bills. But all this is nothing compared to the US.…

  39. SpAdcast: What is it really like to be a special adviser? – Ep1: Into government

    · 45 min · S1 E298

    Special Advisers are some of the most important yet misunderstood figures in government. They play vital roles – as the voice of their minister in the department, shaping policy agendas and managing the media. As a new…

  40. Keir and Prison Danger

    · 44 min · S1 E297

    The New Statesman’s Freddie Hayward joins the Inside Briefing team to reflect on Keir Starmer’s busy first week as prime minister, with the PM appointing new ministers, the government firing off press releases and…

  41. LIVE: The day after the 2024 general election

    · 38 min · S1 E296

    We hosted a special livestreamed recording of the Institute for Government podcast, as a team of IfG experts – bleary eyed but full of coffee – gathered in the podcast studio to make sense of a momentous night in…

  42. Sunak’s election gamble: will Starmer hit the jackpot?

    · 43 min · S1 E295

    We’re into the general election final countdown and all the polls point to a big Labour win for Keir Starmer. So does Rishi Sunak have any aces up his sleeve or has the general election gambling scandal confirmed many…

  43. Election 2024: Poll positions

    · 48 min · S1 E294

    There are less than two weeks to go until the general election and the polls are showing no signs of shifting. But what do they really tell us about what voters are thinking about Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer? Which…

  44. Election 2024: This Charming Manifesto?

    · 37 min · S1 E293

    Manifesto week of the general election campaign has seen lots of promises, plenty of policies and even more polling – but whose plans for government actually add up? Kitty Donaldson, chief political commentator of the…

  45. Question Time Special: What does the election mean for civil servants?

    · 51 min · S1 E292

    We were swamped with loads of fantastic questions at our recent IfG webinar and didn’t have time to get to all of them – so, by special request, Jill Rutter, Cath Haddon and Alex Thomas have reunited in the IfG podcast…

  46. Sunak vs. Starmer: Tax Attacks

    · 36 min · S1 E291

    The IfG rebuttal unit kicked into gear this week after our very own Nick Davies found himself dragged into the Conservative party’s tax attack on Labour. So where did that number really come from – and what can Labour…

  47. Rishi Sunak’s Titanic challenge

    · 38 min · S1 E290

    Was Rishi Sunak’s rain-soaked speech on the steps of No10 really only a week ago? We’ve had policy announcements, MPs stepping down, a spectacular fall from a paddle board, more MPs stepping down, Keir Starmer…

  48. Extra: General Election question time special

    · 13 min · S1 E289

    Rishi Sunak has braved the weather and called a general election. So, what happens now? The IfG has been bombarded with questions about what this all means for government, for parliament, for the civil service, for…

  49. Rishi Sunak’s General Election gamble

    · 36 min · S1 E288

    The wait is over! The election has been called! The countdown to July the 4th starts now. After months of speculation, and a frenzied day of drama in Westminster, the IfG podcast team are joined by Sam Freedman to make…

  50. Starmer steps on Sunak’s toes

    · 35 min · S1 E287

    Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer delivered their election pitches to the public this week – the PM with a focus on security and the Labour leader with six broader commitments from tackling NHS waiting lists to small boats.…

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