IfG Events

Latest Episodes:

Brexit: where next? Jun 19, 2020

Show notes

With six months to go until the end of the transition period there’s still no sign of a UK–EU deal. Following the high-level conference between the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the European institutions (the Commission, the Council and the Parliament) on 15 June 2020, Boris Johnson says his ambition is to agree a deal by the end of July.

IfG Senior Fellow Jill Rutter convenes the Institute for Government Brexit team to discuss the PM’s ambitious timetable, the prospects of a deal, and what governments and businesses will need to do prepare for the end of transition on 31 December 2020. Our panelists are…

Maddy Thimont Jack, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government
Jess Sargeant, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government
Georgina Wright, Senior Researcher, Institute for Government
James Kane, Associate, Institute for Government

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Science and Politics: how expert advice shapes decisions in government Jun 17, 2020

Show notes

Throughout the Coronavirus outbreak, the Government has said that it will be “led by the science”. But who decides the agreed scientific view, and what happens when it changes? How does expert scientific advice shape political decision making? And what happens when Government ministers decide to ignore, or overrule, scientific advice?

To discuss these issues Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, is joined by:

Tracey Brown, Director of Sense about Science
Professor Sir Robert Watson, former Chief Scientific Adviser in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Tom Whipple, Science Editor at The Times
Professor James Wilsdon, Director of Research on Research Institute and Vice-Chair of the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA)

Audio production by Alex Rees

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Leading in an emergency: Cabinet Secretaries and crises Jun 11, 2020

Show notes

Crises such as war, terrorist attacks, floods and pandemics place huge tests on government. Vital decisions must be made fast under intense pressure – and the wrong decisions can have grave consequences. The Cabinet Secretary, the UK’s most senior civil servant, plays a vital role in coordinating the machinery of government, advising the Prime Minister and ensuring that the Civil Service delivers.

Dr Catherine Haddon, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, talks to three former Cabinet Secretaries about the demands of the job. What kinds of crises did they face? What pressures – political and personal – did they deal with? How well did officials and politicians cope? What did they get wrong? What needed to change once the crisis was over? And as this Government responds to the Coronavirus crisis, what lessons can it learn?

Our panel is:

Lord Butler, Cabinet Secretary from 1988–98
Lord Wilson, Cabinet Secretary from 1998–2002
Lord O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary from 2005–11

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Fisheries after Brexit Jun 11, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event: Fisheries has been a major area of contention between the UK and EU during the Brexit process. Both parties are under pressure to reconcile their divergent positions and reach a fisheries agreement by July – but both admit that an agreement is unlikely. How important are fisheries to negotiations? What are the UK and EU positions? Can a deal can be struck? Wwhat are the UK’s priorities as an independent coastal state and how might thus vary across the nations of the UK?

Talking to Maddy Thimont Jack, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government, are:

Theresa Villiers MP, Former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Deidre Brock MP, SNP spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Barrie Deas, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations
James Kane, Associate at the Institute for Government

#IfGBrexit

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How Taiwan became a Coronavirus success story Jun 09, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event. While the UK Government’s response to Coronavirus has been widely-criticised, Taiwan has seen fewer than 500 cases of COVID-19 and only seven deaths. For this special IfG Live event, the Taiwanese Digital Minister Audrey Tang explains how the country contained the virus so successfully without a nationwide lockdown.

How did Taiwan's strength in digital government and experience of the SARS outbreak in 2003 enable it to respond rapidly, co-ordinate work across government, draw on innovation in the private sector and civil society, and counter disinformation to keep the public well-informed? Audrey Tang is in conversation with Gavin Freeguard, Programme Director and Head of Data and Transparency at the Institute for Government. #IfGDigital

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COVID support for business from Government: Revising, rethinking and responding at speed Jun 02, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event. The speed and scale of the Government’s COVID support for business was unprecedented in peacetime. How effective has the design and implementation of these measures been? How has government worked with the private sector to understand what was needed and refine the policies? What new difficulties arise as the government tries to lift restrictions? And how should government work with businesses to adapt policy to deliver for the public interest?

Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, chairs an expert panel to discuss these issues. Joining us are:

Baroness Morgan of Cotes, former Treasury minister and former chair of the Treasury Select Committee
Martin McTague, National Vice Chair Policy and Advocacy at the Federation of Small Businesses
Josh Hardie, Deputy Director-General, Policy and Campaigns at the Confederation of British Industry

We would like to thank the Federation of Small Businesses for supporting this event.

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In conversation with Stefaan de Rynck Jun 01, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event. The UK and EU are in the middle of their toughest negotiation yet – agreeing their future relationship. With the clock ticking, we talk to Stefaan de Rynck, Senior Adviser to Michel Barnier and Head of Task Force for Relations with the UK, about the EU’s ambitions for future relations with the UK, and some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. He spoke to Joe Owen, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

Audio production by Alex Rees.

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The future of UK trade policy after Coronavirus May 22, 2020

Show notes

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event. It was always a challenge for the UK to create a post-Brexit trade strategy that takes down barriers with the wider world while putting up new ones between the UK and its biggest trade partner. Coronavirus has made this more complex.

As countries espouse the virtues of shorter and more local supply chains, the UK’s strategy of distancing itself from its neighbours in favour of distant partners looks ever more anomalous. How will Coronavirus shape the future of international trade, and how can ‘Global Britain’ adapt to a world facing de-globalisation?

To discuss these questions, we’re joined by:

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy
Klemens Kober, Director Trade Policy at the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and former TTIP negotiator
Meredith Crowley, International Trade Economist at the University of Cambridge and senior fellow at UK in a Changing Europe
Pauline Bastidon, former Head of Global and EU Policy at the Freight Transport Association.

This event is chaired by Joe Owen, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

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Shaping the state after Coronavirus May 20, 2020

Show notes

Coronavirus has transformed the activity of government, but the immediate crisis won’t last forever. Big choices for citizens and government lie on the horizon. How have citizens’ expectations of public services changed? Will they have more or less trust in government, and what might that mean for the size of the state and any digital legacy? Will the public demand better evidence-based policy-making, or have they still had ‘enough of experts’? Will government need to re-write its relationship with business and workers? And what changes will be required of the civil service to fit the post-Corona landscape?

On the panel to discuss these issues are:

Rt Hon Lord O'Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service
Ben Page, CEO of Ipsos MORI
Vicky Pryce, Chief Economic Adviser at the Centre for Economics and Business Research and former joint head of the Government Economic Service.

The discussion is chaired by Alex Thomas, Programme Director at the Institute for Government, with an introduction by Panos Kakoullis, CEO-Elect at PA Consulting. Watch video of the conversation here.

We would like to thank PA Consulting for kindly supporting this event.

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Government Comms in the COVID Crisis May 19, 2020

Show notes

With the Government’s Coronavirus communications strategy under heavy criticism, we ask an expert panel, including two former No.10 Directors of Communications, what it is getting wrong and what it needs to do to get things right. How successful are the daily press conferences? Has the Government shown a willingness to engage with the media? And is it right to rebut critical press reports so strenuously?

Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, chairs an expert panel including: