Hancock: Tryst Issues

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

News, Politics, Government

4.6 • 252 Ratings

🗓️ 2 July 2021

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What have we learned from the Hancock Affair and the messy defenestration of the former Health Secretary? In a murky world of ‘non-executive directors like Gina Coladangelo, what on earth is “NED-washing”? And the much-battered Ministerial Code is back in focus. We hear from special guest Paul Harrison, former No.10 spokesman and former Health Dept advisor. Plus, what’s in new Health Sec Sajid Javid’s in-tray? “If you’re appointing your mates then you’re probably not bringing in the best people.” – Alex Thomas “The system of regulation ministerial conduct is kind of mad and medieval… The PM decides if you’ve broken the Code, and that’s often subjective.” – Paul Harrison “It sounds like Gina Coladangelo’s role was to advise Matt Hancock personally – which is not what a non-executive director is supposed to do.” – Cath Haddon “The extent of the outcry on Hancock is actually quite encouraging, because it shows how little corruption actually happens.” – Paul Harrison Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Cath Haddon, Alex Thomas and Graham Atkins. Audio production by Alex Rees. Inside Briefing is a Podmasters Production for the IfG. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Winside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government.
0:14.7	I'm Bronwyn Maddox. Matt Hancock's time is health secretary is over, but the fallout from the Matt Hancock affair
0:21.4	has just begun. We're going to be exploring the government's approach to ministerial standards,
0:26.1	to appointments, to transparency, and as a new IFG paper on this very subject is published,
0:32.1	we'll look at how the ministerial code, the rules governing those standards, can be overhauled.
0:37.7	We're then going to turn our attention to the Intre that awaits Sajid Javid,
0:41.1	Hancock's to replacement as the Secretary of State for Health.
0:44.0	Javid has been around the cabinet block before and has previously held the top
0:47.6	ministerial job in a number of departments, but as Intras go, it's a pretty daunting one.
0:52.7	The IFG's health policy expert will talk us through it.
0:56.1	So, joining me today in our virtual studio is IFG Senior Fellow, Kath Hadden.
1:00.8	Hi, Kaff.
1:01.4	Hello, Bronwyn.
1:02.5	We're also joined by Alex Thomas, who leads our civil service work.
1:05.5	Hi, Alex.
1:06.3	Hello again, Bromwin.
1:07.5	And I'm delighted as well to be joined by Paul Harrison,
1:10.1	a former special
1:11.1	advisor at the Department for Health, former number 10 spokesman and now Senior Council at Lexington
1:16.4	Communications. Hi, Paul. Has the past week left you missing the department? In a strange way,
1:21.7	yes, but in most ways, absolutely not. We'll dig into some of that. Thanks very much indeed for
1:26.5	being with us. So let's start with Matt Hancock's resignation and the questions that this whole episode raises. Paul, I wondered if you could start it for us by giving us a sense of what it's like to be a government press handler when stories like this break.
	...

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