INSIDE BRIEFING with Institute for Government

Do They Know It’s Rishmas Time?

With eyewatering sums spent on the COVID crisis and Britain facing the lowest growth since the 1700s, will Rishi Sunak’s spending review do enough to keep the public finances from meltdown? Will the public sector pay freeze really make a difference? And are the health risks of saving Christmas worth the potential political gain? 



“This is a good year to have bad figures… If there was ever a year to do a lot of borrowing, it’s this year.” – Giles Wilkes



“It’s strange when Sunak has spent billions this year and we’re debating whether he’s a generous or a tough chancellor.” – Tom Pope



“Sunak seems to have got the politics right. Whether it’s the right thing for the country remains to be seen.” – Giles Wilkes



Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Gemma Tetlow, Tom Pope and Giles Wilkes. Audio production by Alex Rees

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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.