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PODCAST

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

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,

government politics

All Episodes

40:47

Trump vs Iran: Is the UK ready for war?

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/03/04

The Middle East is at war - but how does the conflict end and what role will the UK play? Sir Alex Younger, the former head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) joins the podcast team to discuss what the US strikes on Iran mean for the region, for the UK and for global security.Keir Starmer has said the UK will “not join regime change from the skies”, but huge questions remain over the extent of British involvement in the crisis - and the conflict is certain to have lasting consequences for

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40:47

Trump vs Iran: Is the UK ready for war?

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/03/03

The Middle East is at war - but how does the conflict end and what role will the UK play? Sir Alex Younger, the former head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) joins the podcast team to discuss what the US strikes on Iran mean for the region, for the UK and for global security. Keir Starmer has said the UK will “not join regime change from the skies”, but huge questions remain over the extent of British involvement in the crisis - and the conflict is certain to have lasting consequences for

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42:52

Will Rachel Reeves spring a forecast surprise?

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/02/26

Fire up the forecasts. Read up on the rules. Study the spending plans. And get ready for Rachel Reeves' big day in Parliament. Rupert Harrison, former chief of staff to George Osborne, joins the Inside Briefing team to preview the chancellor's spring forecast. It’s not a budget. It’s not a fiscal event. So it doesn’t get a primetime post-PMQs slot in the Commons timetable. So what exactly is it for and how significant is this forecast for the government? What will we hear from Rachel Reeves? And

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40:23

All roads lead to Romeo

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/02/20

Antonia Romeo has been appointed as the new Cabinet Secretary and is the first woman to hold the post. So what can she do to turn the civil service, and perhaps the government, around?Keir Starmer's administration is still reeling from resignations, apologies, suspensions and the latest Peter Mandelson scandal. With questions around ethics and standards back in the news, and both Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor facing Misconduct in Public Office investigations, what does the government

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39:34

Resets and resignations: Starmer's worst week yet

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/02/12

Former Downing Street chief of staff Gavin Barwell joins the podcast to discuss another explosive week at the heart of government. On Sunday afternoon the prime minister’s chief of staff and closest adviser, Morgan McSweeney, handed in his resignation, followed on Monday by Tim Allan, Downing Street’s director of communication – for just five months. The cabinet secretary, Sir Chris Wormald, too will be leaving his post, also after a brief tenure.  But the prime minister remains

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32:45

Keir Starmer's Mandelson Scandal

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/02/06

The revelations about what contact Peter Mandelson had with Jeffrey Epstein, what the government knew, and what it did or is now doing about it is the story that is dominating Westminster.The FT’s Jim Pickard joins the podcast team to look back at an explosive week in UK politics, and the serious questions being asked about Starmer’s judgement, the vetting process, and the ability to eject unfit members from the Lords – from which Peter Mandelson is on a voluntary leave of absence. Presented by

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41:28

Growth strategy pains, trains and regional deals

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/01/29

Of all its manifesto pledges, missions and milestones, Labour has been most keen to tell the public that it is ‘going for growth’. But does the government have a robust and well thought-through plan to deliver that growth? Or is it, like so many before it, struggling to really take the ‘tough decisions’ required to drag UK GDP growth rates up to meet – and indeed surpass – those of our fellow G7 nations?This government has not been short of plans and strategies, but what it has not produced is a

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37:07

Starmer’s Trump diplomacy and Darren Jones’s fast fixes

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/01/21

In a week when Donald Trump has been escalating his threats to NATO member states over Greenland, Darren Jones was on the home front ensuring that the government’s desire to transform government was also continuing. So what is the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister planning? Is it enough to meet the challenges he has identified, and what will they need to do to actually see change? We get stuck into the latest government reform plans, joined by Francis Maude, a previous minister for civil service

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35:56

Wes Streeting’s government health-check

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/01/16

Drop the excuses culture. Stop complaining about civil servants. And just get it right the first time rather than repeatedly u-turning. Wes Streeting didn’t hold back at the IfG conference this week - so what does the health secretary’s verdict on the government say about Keir Starmer and the challenges he and his ministers face in 2026? Wes Streeting, Mel Stride, Darren Jones, Louise Casey, Andy Burnham, Michael Gove, Ayesha Hazarika and Ed Balls all joined the IfG Annual Conference to discuss

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36:41

Donald Trumps Starmer’s New Year Plans

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2026/01/09

With US military strikes on Venezuela dominating headlines, Lawrence Freedman joins the podcast team to ask what Donald Trump's foreign plans mean for the UK - and assess whether Keir Starmer’s Trump strategy will hold in 2026.The prime minister found his January announcements knocked off the front pages - but was anyone really listening? We explore the government challenges facing Starmer and his team in the year ahead. Plus: Ed Balls, Wes Streeting, Mel Stride, Louise Casey, Ayesha Hazarika,

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46:28

2025 in Review: Starmer's Year of Drama

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/12/22

A year is a long time in the podcasting world, especially for podcasts keeping a close eye on the highs, lows, trials and tribulations of government. Because it has been quite some year for Keir Starmer and his team - and for British politics more generally. We’ve had reshuffles, resignations and resets. The rise of Reform. The breakthrough of the Greens. Promised policy blitzes. A planned rewiring of the state. The start - apparently - of the government’s delivery phase. A government-defining

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61:14

The Trump challenge: Chaos, confusion and government...

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/12/16

According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims during his first term as US president – and Trump 2.0 has also shown little regard for facts or evidence. Unexpected presidential announcements are made on social media or in press conferences, and Trump’s positions can appear to change overnight. Leaders of other countries, including Keir Starmer, find their own plans and statements overshadowed or knocked off course.Despite this chaos and confusion, Trump

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38:46

Four mayors delayed, three ministers reflect, and a...

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/12/12

The government announced that elections for new mayors in four regions will now be delayed. Voters in Greater Essex, Sussex and Brighton, Hampshire and the Solent, and Norfolk and Suffolk will be waiting until 2028 instead. Why has the government done this? Is this part of a clever strategy or a desperate last-minute fumble? Meanwhile, the government is installing yet more peers into the House of Lords after a series of battles between the government and the second chamber. So what lies behind the

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41:12

Should the U.K. do budgets differently?

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/12/03

The chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility has gone, the Chancellor is being accused of misleading the public. So how did that budget go? Richard Hughes has taken responsibility for the accidental leak of the budget and resigned. What does this mean for the OBR’s future and political trust in it? Meanwhile, the Chancellor has been accused of misleading the public over the state of public finances. So what did happen in the budget pitch-rolling and what does this tell us about how well

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57:16

Autumn budget 2025: What is Rachel Reeves’ plan for...

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/11/26

Just hours after Rachel Reeves sets out the budget to parliament, this webinar brought together a team of Institute for Government (IfG) experts to share their instant and essential analysis of the chancellor’s plans.Who are the winners and losers of Reeves’s tax and spending announcements? How will her measures affect economic growth? Has the chancellor finally set a coherent tax strategy? And what challenges now lie ahead for Keir Starmer’s government? To answer these questions and more,

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64:15

In conversation with John Swinney MSP, First Minister...

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/11/21

Scotland is just six months away from May’s crucial parliamentary election, with First Minister John Swinney preparing to lead the SNP into one of the most unpredictable campaigns since the party entered government almost 19 years ago. On 19 November, the Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Scotland’s First Minister to discuss his priorities ahead of the 2026 Scottish parliament election, the political context in Scotland ahead of the crucial UK budget, and the SNP’s vision for

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34:29

John Swinney’s goals for Scotland

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/11/19

The First Minister for Scotland joined the Inside Briefing team to discuss football, the political context in Scotland ahead of the UK budget, and the SNP’s vision for Scotland’s future.Meanwhile, the Home Secretary announced significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and migration system. We discussed how the plans landed, what might happen next and what challenges lie ahead. And this week saw the final instalment of the IFG’s public services Performance Tracker. We talked to the team about the

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32:08

Keir Starmer’s government: Traitors or Faithfuls?

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/11/13

Ambitious Labour politicians might or might not be eyeing up the top job. No. 10 isn’t working well. The Prime Minister is on the defensive. Here we go again.Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is in the headlines - accused of plotting a leadership challenge against the prime minister. Streeting has dismissed the attacks as “self-defeating nonsense” and has urged Keir Starmer to sack whoever is briefing the media. So what does this all say about how Number 10 is working, or not, and what

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41:54

Rachel Reeves and the art of pitch rolling the Budget

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/11/06

Taxes set to rise? Spending set to be cut? Promises to be kept – or maybe broken? Whatever chancellors choose to reveal on budget day, it’s normally a good idea to let people know what they can expect…So has Rachel Reeves done a good job of rolling the pitch? How did former chancellors go about warming up their party, voters, the media and business? And what can they do to make sure the right people are listening Stewart Wood and Giles Winn, former advisers to Gordon Brown and Philip

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30:02

Home Office truths with Shabana Mahmood

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government ·

2025/10/30

The Home Office is not fit for purpose. At least that’s the verdict of the home secretary. So what’s the problem and how can it be fixed? Former home office special adviser Hannah Guerin joins the podcast team for a deep dive into the woes of one of Whitehall’s most challenging departments.Reform UK’s Danny Kruger has been setting out his plans for government reform. Outlandish or workable? We’ve been weighing it up. Plus: Labour’s historic poll low. What do the numbers say about the state

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401 results

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