COVID: You do the Aftermath

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

News, Politics, Government

4.6 • 252 Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2020

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is the Government running scared of a full public inquiry into the Coronavirus crisis? When and how should it happen and what questions should it ask? And how do you stop a fact-finding investigation from turning into a blame game? Also veteran politics commentator, host of the Rock’n’Roll Politics podcast and author of The Prime Ministers: Lessons of Leadership Steve Richards joins us to discuss the state of the Government’s implementation game. And how should Keir Starmer develop his Parliamentary repertoire to keep Boris Johnson on his toes? “An inexperienced Cabinet chosen largely for its loyalty to Brexit has found itself faced with the biggest crisis since 1945.” – Steve Richards “You’ve got to start learning those lessons now in case we get a second wave in the autumn.” – Cath Haddon “The Government are already paranoid, neurotic about a possible inquiry… I think they’ll try to avoid it.” – Steve Richards “If you’re legally obliged to hand over your emails it changes your calculus as a civil servant.” – Alex Thomas “Governing is wholly different from getting a strong headline in tomorrow’s papers.” – Steve Richards Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Cath Haddon, Emma Norris and Alex Thomas. 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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government.
0:14.0	I'm Bronwyn Maddox.
0:16.1	Certainty is not a word that anyone would use at the moment to describe the government's
0:19.4	directions on a coronavirus outbreak with changing arguments on face masks, for example, and rewritten plans,
0:25.8	such as the date that schools will fully open. But here's one certainty. There are going to be
0:30.7	a lot of post-mortems of the government's handling of the crisis. Kirstama, the Labour leader,
0:35.1	says an inquiry into coronavirus is inevitable.
0:38.5	We'll ask what an inquiry might mean and when it should happen.
0:42.1	And we'll also look at recent changes that the Prime Minister has made within number 10 to
0:45.5	get a better grip.
0:46.6	We'll discuss whether they're going to work.
0:48.9	As for Kirstama, it's two months since he became leader of the opposition.
0:52.5	How has he been holding the government to account? And what should an opposition do in a crisis? We'll look at that question too.
0:59.4	Joining me in our virtual studio today are the IFG's constitutional expert, Kaft Haddon. Welcome.
1:04.9	Thank you. Hello.
1:06.5	Alex Thomas, who leads our civil service work. Hi, Alex. Hi, I, Bronwyn.
1:10.4	Emma Norris, Director of Research, who's been working Hi, Alex. Hi, Brodman. Emma Norris, Director of Research,
1:11.9	who's been working on inquiries. Hi, Bramyn. And I'm delighted to be joined today by political
1:16.5	commentator, author, broadcaster, Steve Richards. Great to have you here. Hello. Steve,
1:22.8	tell me, pre-lockdown, one of your mini hats was that of one-man, raconteur and performer in your
1:27.3	rock and roll
1:27.9	politics shows. Any plans to take that into the digital era? Yes. Actually, this is one of,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Institute for Government, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Institute for Government and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.