Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government.

I'm Hannah White. When news broke on Thursday that the Prime Minister was being fined by the Metropolitan Police for breaking COVID rules,

it made him the first sitting Prime Minister that, ased by the Metropolitan Police for breaking COVID rules,

it made him the first sitting Prime Minister that, as far as anyone can remember, has been found to have broken the law while in office. Cue, a frenzied media, a flurry of ministerial

tweets of support, and finally an apology from the Prime Minister. But is this the beginning

of the end of the Partygate saga, or merely the end of the beginning?

We dissect this latest news and what it means for Boris Johnson, his party, the public, and more broadly,

the system of standards that is supposed to hold our politicians to account.

Before this latest news broke, the big story around Westminster concerned the other

politician who, perhaps to his surprise, was fined for attending Boris Johnson's birthday party,

Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Last week, it was revealed that his wife, Achita Murphy, was registered

as non-domincile for tax purposes. Coming after a backlash against his spring statement

for not doing enough to help those on the lowest incomes, have the Chancellor's fortunes turned

for the worst. To discuss all this and more, I'm joined by a panel whose lives have been somewhat

dominated by questions over standards in politics during the last year. IFG Associate Director Tim Durant leads our work on standards in government and is our go-to

guide on all things ministerial code. Tim, thanks for joining. Hi, Hannah. Great to be here again.

Our senior fellow Jill Rutter has previously worked in number 10, but I'm sure has never

wheeled a suitcase anywhere other than the airport.

Hi, Jill. Hi, Hannah. And lastly, I'm very pleased to have with us Esther Weber, senior UK

correspondent at Politico Europe and an old friend of the RFG. Hi, Esther. Have you been having a

quiet week? Yes, nothing to see here.

Okay, let's start with the fines. News broke on Tuesday afternoon that the Prime Minister had received a fixed penalty notice from the Met Police for breaching COVID rules on, as it turned out, his birthday in June 2020. Alongside him, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Carrie Johnson were fined for the same event,

...