Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government. I'm Hannah White.

Nobody predicted that this week would be dominated by number 10 having a massive diplomatic row

with another European country.

So is Rishi Sunak losing his marbles?

We're going to catch up on this week's extraordinary bust-up with Greece and ask,

what on earth is going on?

Look beyond the Elgin Marbles headlines and you'll find a couple of stories swirling around Westminster

that might seem a little niche, a bit technical, and kind of deep into

institute for government territory, but these are stories that are beginning to bubble to the surface.

The first is around Axis Talks, the moment that opposition parties begin meeting the civil

service ahead of a general election. They haven't started yet, but should they? And the second is

the role of the cabinet secretary. With Simon

case still on medical leave, and now we understand unable to give evidence in person to the

COVID inquiry this year, what does his absence mean for how government runs? And what should

happen next? We'll take a look. It's also been a week since Wishi Sunak promised that he would

set out how he would get his Rwanda asylum flights off the ground,

despite the Supreme Court's verdict.

Well, we're still waiting, as are an increasingly restless gaggle of conservative backbenchers,

and even some front benches.

So what could Sunak's scheme look like and will it work?

Joining me in the studio are a duo of colleagues who are very much at home in the most niche

and specialist

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