INSIDE BRIEFING with Institute for Government

Ex-Prime Ministers' Question Time

As the Covid inquiry gets underway, the Financial Times’ Chris Cook joins the IfG podcast to examine whether public inquiries can actually make any difference – and look ahead to the potential twists and turns – and witnesses – that await inquiry chair Baroness Hallett and her team.
 
Rishi Sunak’s No10 predecessors are notably vocal, and a batch of former Labour leaders still have plenty to say. Should we welcome the contribution of former party leaders or are they just a source of irritation?
 
PLUS: Relocation, relocation! Has the government’s plan to relocate parts of the civil service to Darlington been a success – and is it actually making any difference to its levelling up mission? A new IfG report reveals the answers.
 
Hannah White presents. With Emma Norris and Jordan Urban.
 
Producer by Milo Hynes.
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These are tumultuous times in UK politics. Government is under strain, the civil service is under pressure, and ministers are grappling with the fallout of Covid, the impact of Brexit and an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. 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? And as a general election draws ever nearer, what are the key political and policy dividing lines – and what do they mean for the way this country is run? 
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 welcome special guests for a free-ranging conversation on what makes government work – and how to fix it when it doesn’t.