Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Brexit may be Done but it’s about to rise from the grave as we get closer to Dec 31. The IfG’s Brexit Team convene to look ahead to a tumultuous autumn. Are the EU:UK negotiations really going as badly as it seems? What’s the very last moment when a deal could be struck? Are cash-strapped, COVID-battered businesses in any shape to deal with a new customs regime, let alone No Deal? And what’s actually going to change for UK citizens on Jan 1, 2021?  “Businesses are faced with one big difficulty which is, what exactly are the preparing for?” – Joe Marshall “The EU always wanted a deal with the UK but they were never prepared to offer Britain a better deal than, say, South Korea.” – Georgina Wright Presented by Hannah White with Georgina Wright, Joe Marshall and Maddy Thimont-Jack. 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 A-Levels fiasco could damage more than pupils’ futures and the career of Gavin Williamson. What will it mean for any potentially beneficial future use of algorithms in welfare, criminal justice, tax and social care? Does abolishing Public Health England make any sense except as a headline – and do panic reorganisations ever work? And can our political classes survive September without warm white wine at an in-person party conference? Special guest Sonia Sodha, chief leader writer at The Observer, joins us to explore the least silly Silly Season on record.   “The algorithm gave us workable average results, but children are not averages. They are individuals.” – Nick Timmins “The most selective institutions are now oversubscribed while middle and lower-tier universities are threatened with empty places and financial disaster.” – Sonia Sodha “Replacing Public Health England is extraordinary. It’s rebuilding the plane in mid-flight.” – Nick Timmins Presented by Hannah White with Gavin Freeguard and Nick Timmins. 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

As pupils and parents fume over the A Levels mess, how and why did the Government inflict this fiasco on itself? As cheese drives a wedge between Britain and Japan, is this a taster of a smorgasbord of problems facing our post-EU trade talks? Can Rishi Sunak maintain his popularity when the bills for buying the nation dinner and more come in? And what happens to governments when Prime Ministers go on holiday? Special guest Rafael Behr of The Guardian joins us for the Inside Briefing Seaside Special.  “Hardworking pupils from deprived areas are being dragged down and slackers from rich areas are being dragged up.” – Rafael Behr “Japan is a very long way away and economic geography wasn’t abolished this year… I’m not sure Liz Truss is wise to draw attention to £102,000 worth of cheese.” – Giles Wilkes “In 2025 will the terribly inflated A Level grades of the COVID Cohort really be such a big thing?” – Rafael Behr “We’re learning how great it was to NOT have an independent trade policy…” – Giles Wilkes “Either chlorinated chicken is coming into this country or it isn’t… The Government needs to start a real conversation about the trade-offs in trade.” – James Kane “The economic figures are so bad that you need a whole new graph to show them.” – Giles Wilkes Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Giles Wilkes, Alex Thomas and James Kane. 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’s emergency lockdown of Greater Manchester took the public by surprise and left them confused and resentful. Special guest Jennifer Williams of the Manchester Evening News describes the disarray and what Government needs to fix, fast.Plus: How fit were public services for coronavirus? Not very, says a new IfG report. What needs to happen, and why didn’t the Government act on the learnings from Operation Cygnus? And as Boris Johnson loads up on Lords, is the Upper Chamber becoming the Crony Express? “People can’t follow the logic. If you can’t sit in a friend’s garden but you can meet them in a beer garden, it’s little wonder people are confused.” – Jennifer Williams “Boris Johnson’s honours list touches all the bases of cronyism.” – Hannah White “The Government went for private contracts because they could scale up fast – but whether that leads to effective track and trace is another matter.” – Jennifer Williams “Lords reform needs something a bit more fundamental than moving some Lords to York.” – Jennifer Williams Presented by Bronwen Maddox with the IfG’s Hannah White and Nick Davies. 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’s emergency Spanish quarantine: decisive action, poor planning or a failure to understand what working life is really like? With the inevitable Public Inquiry into Coronavirus now confirmed, special guest Sir Lawrence Freedman – emeritus professor of War Studies at Kings College London and a former member of the Iraq War inquiry – tells us how to run an effective inquiry. And is No.10’s proposed US-style spokesperson designed to help Boris Johnson dodge real scrutiny? “The Government is desperate to be seen to react quickly to combat the perception that in the early days of COVID they were slow off the mark.” – Alex Thomas “Any inquiry shouldn’t just ask why we reacted slowly but why we had outbreaks across the country, not just in one epicentre.” – Lawrence Freedman “We won’t get conclusions from a COVID inquiry in time for a second wave. The learning has to happen right now.” – Emma Norris Presented by Bronwen Maddox with the IfG’s Alex Thomas, Jill Rutter and Emma Norris. 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

Reforming the Civil Service is the biggest of Big Asks. Can Dominic Cummings pull off his radical plans in the middle of a once-in-a-century health crisis? And do we need fewer “fixers” who change jobs a lot, and more long-term experts? Plus, the Russia Report: what went wrong in protecting the integrity of our elections? Who should feel most embarrassed: Government, security services or civil servants? And what should be done next?  “Framing Civil Service reform as ‘us against them’ is not going to encourage civil servants to give their best advice.” – Alex Thomas “Civil Service reform is quite nerdy so it’s unusual for politicians to give it such attention.” – Cath Haddon Presented by Bronwen Maddox with the IfG’s Alex Thomas, Cath Haddon and Emma Norris. Audio production by Alex ReesENDS See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britain’s decision to rip out Huawei kit from our mobile network by 2027 has set the Government on a collision course with China. Who forced this decision: Washington, the security establishment or the Government’s own backbenchers? And what does this change of posture towards a powerful trading nation mean for Brexit? The BBC’s Security Correspondent Gordon Corera joins us to discuss the tension between London and Beijing plus the detail Britain’s Integrated Security and Defence Review. And how does Russia fit in to a new Tech Cold War? “You can have the best decision-making architecture in the world – but it doesn’t mean you’ll make good decisions.” – Alex Thomas “Putin sees the end of the Soviet Union as a humiliation and he sees weakening the West as a goal.” – Gordon Corera “We’re in a world where the UK is being forced to choose between geopolitical alliances.” – Alex Thomas Presented by Bronwen Maddox with the IfG’s Alex Thomas, Cath Haddon and Alex Nice. 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

Is Rishi Sunak’s colossal £30bn package of jobs stimulus, training subsidy, VAT cuts and stamp duty changes be enough to stave off a COVID crash? And will his Mega Meal Deal make a difference to the comatose cafe and restaurant industry? Special guest Rupert Harrison, a portfolio manager at Blackrock and previously Chief of Staff to former chancellor George Osborne, joins us to unpick the Chancellor’s summer statement.  “Sunak has given notice that he’s turning off the spraygun of business support.” – Rupert Harrison Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Gemma Tetlow and Giles Wilkes. 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

Sir Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the Commons Liaison Committee, discusses a turbulent week for the Civil Service, Mark Sedwill’s departure as cabinet secretary, and the government's plans for reforming the way that government works, with Alex Thomas, Programme Director at 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 Build Build Build just Talk Talk Talk? With its £5bn shopping list of infrastructure spending, is Boris Johnson’s so-called New Deal really as big and Rooseveltian as he’d like the world to believe? Does the sudden departure of Sir Mark Sedwill indicate that the Government is just building another brand of groupthink? And as Leicester locks down again, does a ‘whack-a-mole’ COVID strategy make sense if you can’t see the mole? Special guest Robert Shrimsley, chief political commentator and editor at large at the Financial Times, joins us to examine the economics beneath the announcements.  “Someone described Johnson as ‘Brexity Hezza’… This is a Prime Minister who will intervene before breakfast, lunch and dinner.” – Robert Shrimsley “This is not a free trade government… and there’s a tension between that and its post-Brexit free trade rhetoric.” – Robert Shrimsley “We’re going to spend the next 15 years negotiating and renegotiating its trade agreements with the EU.” – Robert Shrimsley Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Cath Haddon, Gemma Tetlow and Raphael Hogarth. 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