Summary
When Sajid Javid resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer in February rather than accept Boris Johnson's reported demand that he dismiss his own team of special advisers and accept a new one drawn up in 10 Downing Street, many saw the episode as a crude attempt by the Prime Minister to wrest control of economic policy from the Treasury. But would such a reform necessarily be a bad thing?
Edward Stourton considers the case for economic policy being driven from the very top of government. If decision-making, in arguably the most important government department, took place on the prime minister's terms rather than having to be negotiated with a powerful colleague leading a vast bureaucracy, would that make for quicker and more streamlined decision-making that gave clearer direction to the government overall? And has in any case the time come to clip the wings of the Treasury which too often determines policy on narrowly financial grounds rather than properly allowing for the potential benefits of government spending - and which has recently signed off such alarmingly over-budget projects as HS2 and London's Crossrail?
In seeking answers to those questions, Edward speaks to the former Chancellors, Alistair Darling and Norman Lamont; to former Chief of Staff to Tony Blair in Downing Street, Jonathan Powell; to former Treasury minister, David Gauke; and and to ex-officials, including former top Treasury civil servant, Nic Macpherson.
Producer Simon Coates
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.6 | My name's Linda Davies and I commission podcast for BBC Sounds. |
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| 0:41.0 | Hello, thank you for downloading this edition of Analysis. podcasts. for the next half hour, I'll be exploring the relationship between Prime Ministers and their |
| 0:54.6 | Chancellor's. |
| 0:57.0 | Looking back towards Whitehall from St James's Park is a little like lifting the bonnet of a car to see the engine |
| 1:07.3 | The view from here gives you a real sense of how government works and this program is about the relationship that above all others drives that motor. |
| 1:17.0 | The Treasury has occupied this turn of the 20th century pile on the corner of Whitehall and Parliament |
| 1:22.0 | Square since 1940 when it was bombed out of its old |
| 1:25.3 | Whitehall home. |
| 1:27.5 | The Chancellor's budget was of course dominated by the coronavirus crisis and Rousi Sunak has enjoyed praise for his response. |
| 1:36.4 | But the way he got the job raised questions about the relationship between the master of the |
| 1:41.6 | building on my right, Mr. Sunach, and the man who enjoys |
| 1:45.1 | dog walking and indeed pram pushing privileges behind the heavily fortified brick |
| 1:50.1 | garden wall over on my left, Boris Johnson. It followed the dramatic |
| 1:55.6 | resignation in February of Saigavid who had been in the job for barely six months. |
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