the interesting thing is that somebody, a very senior person in whitehall, said to me, "the thing is,as ready as you can be, but actually nothing can completely prepare you." and there were two particular moments they referenced. there's one moment where they come in, they're exhausted, they're elated, and then you say, ok, prime minister, but now we need to talk to you about the end of the world. yeah. and the nuclear codes and all of those things. but there's one other thing that just is just interesting to see that and someone who had seen lots of prime ministers come and go said to me that they, they also worry about is that moment when they're literally about to go in and see the monarch — they're kind of, "what do i do?" and actually, whether it was liz truss, theresa may, david cameron or other people who as leader of the opposition or ministers or someone like keir starmer, plainly they will have met the monarch as you do on previous occasions. but that moment where they ring the bell or whatever they do and they're standing outside the room about to be taken in for that momen

the interesting thing is that somebody, a very senior person in whitehall, said to me, "the thing is,are you." and there were two particular moments they referenced. there's one moment where they come in, they're exhausted, they're elated, and then you say, "ok, prime minister, but now we need to talk to you about the end of the world." yeah, "here's the nuclear codes." and the nuclear codes and all of those things. but there's one other thing that is just interesting to see. and someone who had seen lots of prime ministers come and go said to me that what they also worry about is that moment when they're literally about to go in and see the monarch — they're kind of, "what do i do?" and actually, whether it was liz truss, theresa may, david cameron or other people who, as leader of the opposition or ministers or someone like keir starmer, plainly they will have met the monarch — as you do — on previous occasions. but that moment where they ring the bell or whatever they do and they're standing outside the room, about to be taken in for that moment where they are invited to become the

it's the whitehall knows best mindset. if we could get if we could break that rationality and get out to the regions, let's give andy burnham and ben harper a go. >> theoretically , devolution and >> theoretically, devolution and everyone learns about what devolution is. if they do their a level politics or whatever gcse politics you learn about it in theory and you go through the pros and the cons in practice. >> very different theory though it works. >> often what happens with men is that they constantly, constantly want more powers. take sadiq khan he wants the power to impose rent controls. might sound nice to some, but disastrous in practice. >> i mean, sadiq khan is a great example of why we shouldn't have a mayor. there's nothing he's done to which i can point and say that was an unmitigated success. most of what he'd done is an absolute disaster. take crossrail three years late, 5 billion over budget. take the police knife crime up by 30. >> you could say the same about hs2, couldn't you? >> both those examples. >>

he's got a team and there's the huge whitehall machine preparing whoever�*s for the prime minister tongton to go to nato. so actually, it's sort of a bit of a myth that it's like, oh, in at the deep end. and yet and we'll talk about nato in a second. but and yet one of the things that we have seen this week that we dare i say it predicted a bit last week, is that cabinet ministers have already been getting busy saying, we are so shocked, shocked, i tell you, by the terrible things which we have discovered. now, i'm not suggesting for a second that i know what it feels like to suddenly become a cabinet minister. perish the thought. don't worry, dear listener. that is not something that is ever going to happen. however, i'm sure there is a moment of profound realisation and clearly behind the doors of the department of health or the department ofjustice, there may well be nasties that incoming ministers had not been completely aware of. however, dear listener, be aware that we have also seen this week what you might pretentiously call a narrative shift, and the government is quite delib

, but at any time in whitehall, if there isn't a date, it doesn't go in the treasury spreadsheet.et, it ain't going to happen. so this absolutely is a political problem for the labour party. it is also, people would say, a problem for the armed forces. and at a time when the prime minister is standing up, quite understandably, echoing lots of politicians that we've heard from in the last few months, saying the world is more dangerous we must be prepared for all eventualities, we cannot allow putin to win, we must keep supplying ukraine, to be saying that at a time when army recruitment is down, huge pressures on defence spending, if you talk to people whose area this is, real gaps where there ought not to be, if you take the threats to our security really, really seriously, this is a very significant political challenge for this new government. of course, it depends how difficult its opponents are going to be able to make life for them. but it's a very real problem and there's no date on it. so there's a review. reviews can come in handy if you're not quite ready to... especially

but, you than, say, whitehall.ow, this is obviously a massive contradiction to the things announced by rachel reeves previously about how central government will play a much greater role in the planning process. so starmer's trying to have it both ways here by empowering local areas but not empowering them too much in case they do things he doesn't like . like. >> it's interesting. perhaps we're going to see not just devolution, whereby sort of local authorities get more power and not just sort of centralisation, where whitehall gets more power, but perhaps a coming together in the middle with these combined authorities taking planning powers away from smaller local councils and councillors towards these metro mayors, and perhaps reserving whitehall powers for only nationally significant projects. i mean , that does seem like a i mean, that does seem like a potential form of this sort of planning reform that they've been talking about. >> i think that's exactly what we'll see, obviously central central government i

i expect pat mcfadden to be whitehall. ! expect pat mcfadden to be yes— whitehall. !nd makejoint decisions, but keir starmer has to move fast to get growth going. i starmer has to move fast to get growth going-— growth going. i think that was anuela growth going. i think that was angela smith _ growth going. i think that was angela smith going _ growth going. i think that was angela smith going in. - growth going. i think that was angela smith going in. it - growth going. i think that was i angela smith going in. it comes growth going. i think that was - angela smith going in. it comes down to communication, those relationships between government. in government you have seen when it does not work, helen? you government you have seen when it does not work, helen?— government you have seen when it does not work, helen? you can get totally obsessed _ does not work, helen? you can get totally obsessed about _ does not work, helen? you can get totally obsessed about structures l totally obsessed about structures and civil— totally obsessed about structures and civil servan

so they clearly feel, i think inside at the top of the labour party and in whitehall, that they have got off to a really smooth start. um, and, but that, of course, doesn't mean that there isn't, you know, all sorts of nightmarish stuff lying ahead. and we've got the chancellor on the programme tomorrow, rachel reeves, and we'll talk about some of the challenges that they face. but certainly in terms of this week, it has been another kind of its kind of crowning what for labour has been an incredibly successful period, no doubt about it. couple of things. one is the system, one is political. our system really is astonishing the way that the removal van arrives in number ten. the whole government, eh, are turfed out. the whole government a are turfed out. government b arrive. they published 39 bills within days. i think the record is a5. and they've been as low as 11 bills in a recent monarchs speech, because i think it would have been a queen's speech. so the system then in the politics did we learn who labour is from the bills? i think we did not that there was anything new in it, b

to give you a bit more geography, either end of whitehall is also cordoned off by police officers.our bouquets of flowers have been put on the barrier of downing street. we understand those are floral tributes paying tribute to those young children who were murdered in southport the other day. at the moment quiet here but it certainly has been rather loud in the past couple of hours. hope the past couple of hours. how would ou the past couple of hours. how would you describe — the past couple of hours. how would you describe it _ the past couple of hours. how would you describe it now? _ the past couple of hours. how would you describe it now? is _ the past couple of hours. how would you describe it now? is quieter- the past couple of hours. how would you describe it now? is quieter than| you describe it now? is quieter than it has been. is there any thought that numbers could resurface onto the streets? i that numbers could resurface onto the streets?— the streets? i think there's a sense of olice the streets? i think there's a sense of police rrot _ the streets? i think there's a

money needs to stop flowing around whitehall and flown directly to those areas, to allow those mayorswth. mil way and it gets better outcomes, in terms of growth-— terms of growth. all of them as a welcoming _ terms of growth. all of them as a welcoming what _ terms of growth. all of them as a welcoming what has _ terms of growth. all of them as a welcoming what has been - terms of growth. all of them as a i welcoming what has been announced and of course, house—building and growth fits together. the flip side, you have to put that into context with, you get big decisions like hs2 being made in whitehall in london and you can see the impact a decision like that makes compared to what you are talking about? buried in the detail— what you are talking about? buried in the detail of— what you are talking about? buried in the detail of those _ what you are talking about? buried in the detail of those pages - what you are talking about? buried in the detail of those pages of- in the detail of those pages of detailed notes, the hybrid bill to build a new railway between manchester airport an

for their communities, and that does require us to be bold and are pushing power and resource out of whitehallore when i returned from the four nations i shall hold a meeting of the metro meas to discuss with them their part in delivering the growth that we need across the united kingdom —— mayors. that will include nonmetro mayors. that will include nonmetro mayors. there is no monopoly on good ideas, and i am nota mayors. there is no monopoly on good ideas, and i am not a tribal politician. the principal i operate to, whether it is mayors or other elected representatives is that where regional leaders want to deliverfor where regional leaders want to deliver for their where regional leaders want to deliverfor their area, then regardless of the colour of that rosette, my door is open and my government will work with them. chris, what did you make of the press conference and the way in which the prime minister handled himself, and the message that he was trying to get across so soon into his premiership?— his premiership? yes, good afternoon- _ his premiership? yes, good afternoon. this _ his

let's try and talk to the whitehall editor at the financial times, the whitehall editor at the financialtimescy fisher. persevering in turning out to be what is not a very summery day, a lot today just today we know keir starmer has had to work today already appointing the team, sent them off to begin the work saying there is a lot to do. what is at the top of his to do list do we get the sense of right now?— sense of right now? given the tiahtness sense of right now? given the tightness of — sense of right now? given the tightness of the _ sense of right now? given the tightness of the public - sense of right now? given the l tightness of the public finances sense of right now? given the - tightness of the public finances he will hit the ground running straightaway with the central mission which is to drive economic growth. to that end we are expecting over the next few days possibly even the weekends to get going with some significant planning reforms, possibly re—imposing house—building targets and also rewriting the national planning framework which its guidance to planning authorities in

earlier i spoke to claire ellicott, whitehall editor for the daily mail and lizzy buchan, deputy politicalirror. clear to me what she knew about rumours that rishi sunak has been appointing a shadow cabinet. not really. i think they've starting to appoint some people. so rishi sunak appointed stuart andrew the chief whip, and i think stuart anderson and richard harris, who have been whips as well, have also been appointed. but the real question with the tories is actually the leadership, what are they going to do next. the leadership, what are they going to do next? and we're hearing from different camps that they they might do it quickly or they might go long. rishi sunak has said that he'll stay on as leader of the opposition, as the party leader, while he makes those decisions. but the party has got some real questions about where it goes next. it needs to analyse the reform vote and what that means for the party and, you know, the mps left, which side of the party are they going to be on? quite. they've got fewer mps now haven't they, lizzie? yeah. their numbers have been drastically r

police barricaded whitehall, and mobile units were parked in side streets around westminster.s from a trans pride event in central london. our reporter tom symonds is in central london. bring us up—to—date on what is happening where you are. bring us up-to-date on what is happening where you are. there are rotests in happening where you are. there are protests in central— happening where you are. there are protests in central london _ happening where you are. there are protests in central london pretty . protests in central london pretty much every weekend, but this weekend's particularly difficult for the police force to deal with here. over here we have our line of one unit of police, brought in when there is trouble, they are standing by, we have not seen too much trouble. as you said, three different protests. a transcribed protest, stand up to racism protest, and a large protest that has been put together by the far right activist tommy robinson. i have reported on a few of his protests in the past and i think this is the biggest i have seen. trafalgar square is full of h

in april, 1947, two stern gang terrorists attempted to blow up the colonial office in whitehall, in the center of london. they planted bomb containing 24 sticks of explosives at dover house, headquarters at the colonial office, but it failed to go off. two months later in june 1947, a stearn gang cell operating in italy posted 21 letter bombs to senior british politicians and cabinet. members including prime minister clement attle, foreign secretary ernest bevin, and chancellor of the exche stafford, cryps, as well as winston churchill. most of the letter bombs were intercepted, but some reached their intended recipient and failed to go off. the conservative parties anthony eden carried letter bomb disguised in a book around with him for a whole day until he was warned of the plot. the stern gang recruited british jews to their terror cells by approaching the right-wing youth movement, beta and the hebrew legion. group, the leader of the cell, nakov huruti, who died in 2022, describes how he recruited a number of jewish sympathizers in britain to his cell. he received funds from an unid

in april, 1947, two stone gang terrorists attempted to blow up the colonial office in whitehall in the center of london. they planted bomb containing 24 sticks of explosives at dover house, headquarters of the colonial office, but it failed to go off. two months later in june 1947, a sternang cell operating in italy posted 21 letter bombs to senior british politicians, and cabinet members including prime minister clement attle, foreign secretary ernest bevin, and chancellor of the ex-checker, stafford, cryps, as well as winston churchill. most of the letter bombs were intercepted, but some reached their intended recipient and failed to go off. the conservative party's anthony eden carried letter bomb disguised in a book around with him for a whole day until he was warned of the plot. the stone gang recruited british jews to their terror cells by approaching the right-wing zionist youth movement better and the hebrew legion group. the leader of the cell, yakov huruti, who died in 2022, describes in his memoirs how he recruited a number of jewish sympathizers in britain to his cell. rece

they are coming back onto whitehall. they are coming back onto whitehall.o service, and that is how we will govern. country first, party second. yet if i'm honest service is merely a precondition of hope and it is surely clear to everyone that our country needs a bigger reset, a rediscovery of who we are, because no matter how fierce the storms of history, one of the great strengths of this nation has always been our ability to navigate away to calmer waters and yet this depends on politicians. particularly those who stand for stability and moderation, as i do. recognising when we must change course. for too long now, we have turned a blind eye as millions slid into greater insecurity. nurses, builders, drivers, carers. people doing the right thing, working harder every day, recognise at moments like this before, yet as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, their lives are ignored. i wanted to say very clearly to those people, not this time. changing a country is not this time. changing a country is not like flicking a switch. the world is now a more volatil

sir keir said he's planning to loosen whitehall's tight grip over big cities and regions through a newh. it follows warnings by the local government association of a £6 billion funding gap in the local authority sector. conservative mayor for the tees valley, ben houchen, told gb news the meeting went well. >> it was very positive actually. i was really pleasantly surprised that he was really energetic, really keen. he wanted to work with us and he was very open to the idea of much more devolution, which has changed with different prime ministers over the last 10 or 15 years, depending on which one it is. so ultimately we're going to have to keep him to his word. if he keeps his promises, then it looks very promising for further devolution and ultimately it looks very promising that we can get on and deliver for our regions . regions. >> suella braverman is blaming liberal conservatives for the tories election defeat . speaking tories election defeat. speaking at the national conservatism conference in washington, the former home secretary said the party was taken, had taken a good hid

what's been said about j d events reaction to the announcement of drums vp pick came swiftly from the whitehall sto, biden had this to say about right. events that he picks a big game about helping working last people. but he and trump one to raise taxes on little across families well pushing for great to tax cuts for the rich. well, i don't intend to let them, and if you're with me, that's what both of biden wrote, then pitching, directing people to a donations page. well that's now across to chaper tennessee, he's outside that republican convention with protests. does she have? what's the messages from the post test as the if the status vs is wrapped up, we have another one coming up, but that 5 cool messages to fight the republicans, racist and reaction. we agenda the standard palestine defend women's elderly g q and reproductive rights defends of expands and they've been rights and advocate for peace, justice and equality for all of them as you very much like the campus encampments for goals that we will look. yep, that's a real connection being made, but you know, all of these different is

and it's an age—old whitehall problem, this, all the silos and so on.en can help with sorting some of that stuff out, then hopefully that will be a good contribution. so if he says the welfare system isn't helping or if some other parts of that... you know, we can bring it together a wee bit more. that is where the boards can operate. now, you've a couple of times said we haven't got any money. you know, and you still haven't got any money even though you've got a majority. tony blair, your old boss, was pretty stark this week. now, as well as saying you needed to embrace technology, he said this week that you should look carefully at this election result. that reform uk, seen as such a problem for the tory party, could be a problem for labour as well. do you share that view? well, i spoke at his event the other day and i said, in the context of this changing political landscape, that curiosity is a duty of political leadership. i was brought up on traditional labour tory fights. they were, in the main, about tax and spend. not always. i mean, in recent

doesn't seem to have been violence there from what we have seen, and there has also been arrests on whitehalls reportedly a process, so suddenly that mix of latent anger, frustration is whipped up on social media and the terrible events here are meeting that police forces are having to be extra vigilant. thank you, daniel sandford. and another man arrives today to lay flowers on the pilot close behind me. people really do keep coming to there is still huge grief here, and anger and sadness, depending who you talk to about the violence. it was just a couple of streets away this time last night. judith moritz has spent the day in southport setting the mood. when a knifeman walked into leanne lucas's dance class she showed incredible bravery, shielding the children from danger. her cousin has told bbc how she is doing now. all we know is she's still not out of the woods yet but she is definitely talking. we're not allowed to say too much. but she is a hero. the attack has devastated this community and made an impact far beyond here. nine—year—old alice aguiar, elsie dot stancombe, aged seven, an

as he drove at the very short distance from whitehall, the top the mile to fucking palace where he will meet king charles and in a brief hold is the king of these resignation. as prime minister, as you say, you know, an absolutely bruising election. you can say you could hear it in his words. the silence disappointed he sounds defeats a difficult day at the end of a number of difficult days just 2 days ago versus who was insisting entirely against the owns and in the face, or in numerous opinion. polls against him that he still believes that it was an opportunity to win. well, that was certainly never to come to pass for, excuse me. not who became prime minister in october 2022 just 20 months ago. cooling and election for july. the 4th. it's going to go to that soon. he could have gone on many people, so he would wait at least until they've been in office for 2 years until they turn the when economic signifies had managed to improve even better, he went early. it was a bad campaign for him except that campaign. so his party, they were gas off the gasket that the day celebrations fairly.

and before going out to kabul, i was running a little cell in whitehall, trying to work out how we wouldl my direction from the prime minister to keep that embassy open. maybe just worth reminding why we had an embassy there. we'd been there for 20 years to help the afghan state counter al-qaeda, the threat to us that produced the 9/11 attacks. of course, we also needed to do the planning for what would happen if it went wrong. and my expectation was that it would probably go wrong on my watch. but that was the task. interesting. so your expectation was that this mission you'd been set to keep the embassy open was impossible? so from the very beginning, you clearly had deep foreboding. to say the least, very difficult. impossible, you know, that's a big word. but our...my intention was to give it our best shot. but was there a lot of wishful thinking amongst those who were your masters and bosses in london, thinking of, you know, the foreign secretary, thinking even of the prime minister? was there, in your view, a political wishful—thinking mindset? yeah, so i think that's a question th

and before going out to kabul, i was running a little cell in whitehall, trying to work out how we would direction from the prime minister to keep that embassy open. maybe just worth reminding why we had an embassy there. we'd been there for 20 years to help the afghan state counter al-qaeda, the threat to us that produced the 9/11 attacks. of course, we also needed to do the planning for what would happen if it went wrong. and my expectation was that it would probably go wrong on my watch. but that was the task. interesting. so your expectation was that this mission you'd been set to keep the embassy open was impossible? so from the very beginning, you clearly had deep foreboding. to say the least, very difficult. impossible, you know, that's a big word. but our...my intention was to give it our best shot. but was there a lot of wishful thinking amongst those who were your masters and bosses in london, thinking of, you know, the foreign secretary, thinking even of the prime minister? was there, in your view, a political wishful—thinking mindset? yeah, so i think that's a question that r

let's show you the scenes earlier on this evening in whitehall.on in riot gear, trying to contain the protest by imposing strict conditions on marchers and leading away those not abiding by the protocols. earlier, we saw further protests bubble up in hartlepool, where police have had to take to the streets in riot gear, and also in north manchester, where police deployed helicopter support following protests outside a hotel where protesters believed asylum seekers were being housed. well, in london, officers wrestled protesters to the ground and led them away in handcuffs after they confronted lines of riot police shouting stop the boats! meanwhile, in southport, officers have called in support from neighbouring forces after last night's riots outside a mosque in the town. and tonight , merseyside police and tonight, merseyside police have said within the last hour that they've arrested a fifth man in connection with the disorder. yesterday after a suspect was recognised from footage filmed at the scene. well, the disorder broke out following spec

you know devolving power away from whitehall and, you know, diminishing your own power up to a point,ut they feel that that's the best way it works, that local people know what is best for their area. and that's a much better way to govern. and talking about, um, giving away power, i've been reading the this the national wealth fund that rachel reeves, the chancellor, says she's going to set up. um, she was talking about the first steps for that today, and it's based on this task force that she appointed, which included people like mark carney and lots of ceos of banks and stuff. um, and i nowjust trying to find. yeah. so yeah, basically they're gonna they're gonna set this up. it's probably for, for the first few billions that they, that they invest in this national wealth fund are actually going to be through existing funds, because we've already got quite a few banks like the infrastructure bank and things like that. but my favourite bit of the recommendation is that, and i quote, the case will need to be made for a relaxation of public sector and procurement constraints to attract

during the war as an officer in the royal navy she worked in whitehall creating maps of the normandyding craft. we travelled with her to northern france as she saw the beaches she had plotted painstakingly, but until now never seen. it looks absolutely wonderful, so clear and so blue, and it's so attractive. i don't suppose it looked like that then really, when you're so worried about it, expecting things to happen. are these the ones i am supposed to have made? these are the maps you made. amazing. and we were able to show her and original invasion map, again something she saw for the first time. for her birthday last year, christian recreated the flight she had first taken during the second world war, having missed the last train to her new posting in limit, she met a pilot at a cocktail party and, never being one to miss an opportunity, she accepted his offer of a lift in his aircraft. and as we flew back from bath to plymouth, he dived over all sorts of cows and things to make it more exciting for me. i loved that, i think he was hoping i'd be frightened, but it is absolutely my

we have in london, lucy fisher, who's a whitehall editor at the financial times and a host of the political fix podcasts as an officer and eastburn. we have 10 bell who's a professor of politics at queen mary university in london, and also in london as peter gig. and who was a political commentator on sunday times best selling author of the book, democracy for sale. thank you so much for your time with us on inside story peter. i'll start with you 1st. when you look at the scale and the challenges that the u. k. faces that the speech meet the needs of the british people. and that's kind of the big question people going to be asking on the back of the she did totes on the big themes of the general election. and the beginning seems to be dealt with wholesalers, things like house things, live transports, particularly housing. and it's a king's be, so what you've got is very much an outline of these sorts of 5 bills. it's not saving so many areas. what exactly we're going to be looking at, what we can see and what's very clearly signal is a much more an intervention space than what you've seen

former senior civil servant alan evans will be here to reveal the inner workings of whitehall.nd the scenes of the corridors of power. when the government changes, how do the new government ministers get to gnps new government ministers get to grips with their portfolios and their priorities? who guides and supports them ? the answer is the supports them? the answer is the private secretaries in the private, in the minister's private, in the minister's private office. alan evans, a former senior civil servant, indeed a former private secretary to michael portillo, has lifted the lid on this vital but little known cog in the machinery of government. in his new book, the intimacy of power and alan joins me now, alan, does the private secretary to a minister work for the minister or to civil service bosses? >> well, thank you for inviting me on. me on. >> me on. >> and a good question. and if i might remind you, you probably don't remember this, but in 1994, when you interviewed me to be your principal private secretary, that was one of the questions you asked me. >> and i think m

i remember i walked down whitehall, it was amazed. civil servants everywhere, all over the street, holding placards, not in the office doing their work. i was a minister for several years. i had the privilege of working with some brilliant and bright civil servants, particularly in your private offices and minister. they really work for you and they're part of the team . you and they're part of the team. but, you know, we can't be surprised that they're delighted that sir keir starmer has come in. he's been a career civil servant his whole life. his chief of staff is a career civil servant. they are just part all part of the same problem. and what politicians should come in do is provide leadership. they should come in and say, look, we have a plan. the british public have a plan. the british public have sent us here to deliver this plan and the civil service, civil servants should implement that plan, not just be a sort of law unto themselves, which i think is what we've seen over the last few years. >> you know, that didn't happen w

we have in london, lucy fisher, who's a whitehall editor at the financial times, and the host of the political fix podcasts and an offer in eastbourne, we have 10 bell who's a professor of politics at queen mary university in london, and also in london as peter gig and who was a political commentator on sunday times best selling author of the book, democracy for sale. thank you so much for your time with us on inside story peter. i'll start with you 1st. when you look at the scale and the challenges that the u. k. faces that the speech meet the needs of the british people, and that's kind of the big question people going to be asking on the box of the see did totes on the big themes of the general election. and the beginning seems to be taught to goals. things like house things live trans boards, particularly housing. and it's a king's be. so what you've got is very much an outline of these sorts of 5 bills. it's not saving so many areas. what exactly we're going to be looking at, what we can see and what's very clearly signal is a much more an intervention to space than what you've

and that has been noted by the kind of whitehall machine who i think many of whom were sort of preparing on sunday to welcome, you know, ministers a, b, c and d and then realising they had a because b, c and d hadn't actually been appointed. and of course, a famous political podcaster has gone into the house of lords or will be going into the house of lords and then into the education department. you never told me. congratulations. no, i'm completely politically neutral. um, um, i also have no managerial or executive skills. um, yeah. jacqui smith is who i'm talking about. yeah. so, yeah. jacqui smith is returning former labour home secretary. heading into the department for education as a junior minister, or certainly morejunior than being a secretary of state. it means that, yeah, iain dale is hunting for a successor on the for the many podcast. so there's a reshuffle going on in broadcasting as well as in, uh, as well as in government. i mean, if he'd been selected as a tory candidate, that podcast would just have vanished because both their presenters would be working, working for po

this is about introducing new structures in whitehall to break down the silos that exist in departmentsrious departments in order to ensure that he is pushing for those five missions which are growth, breaking down barriers to opportunity, bring nhs on a better footing, getting ge energy going. i think making sure the civil savants listening today's is or pick up. but i think he wanting to politics once you get into downing street you are easily derailed by everyday events. so keeping on track with this programme for government and not being sidetracked. it programme for government and not being sidetracked.— being sidetracked. it interesting what lucy said _ being sidetracked. it interesting what lucy said that _ being sidetracked. it interesting what lucy said that about - being sidetracked. it interesting what lucy said that about him . what lucy said that about him wanting to listen to mayors and not just labour mayors. he said it on friday as well that he wants to be a prime minister for the people who didn't vote labour, and that the people who voted labour for the first time. , .

we have in london, lucy fisher, who's a whitehall editor of the financial times and a host of the political fix podcasts as an officer and eastburn. we have tim bell who's a professor of politics, the queen mary university in london, and also in london as peter gig. and who's a political commentator on sunday times best selling author of the book, democracy for sale. thank you so much for your time with us on inside story peter. i'll start with you 1st. when you look at the scale and the challenges that the u. k. face is that the speech meet the needs of the british people. and that's kind of the big question, difficult to be asking on the back of the she did touch on the big themes of the general election in the beginning teams. you've got to holfer's, things like house things live transport. i'm particularly housing and it's a king's be so what you've got is very much an outline of these sorts of 5 bills. it's not saving so many areas. what exactly we're going to be looking at, what we can see and what's very clearly signal is a much more an intervention to space than what you've seen in

you mentioned the woman in whitehall, _ the public services.- help them, will you? this is another| problem that the conservatives have shamefully ran away from. this issue has been going on for years. it is a serious... report has been produced by the ombudsman. it requires serious consideration and we are going through all of the details of that at the moment. we will continue to engage with the waspi women and campaigners, that is something the ministerfor pensions campaigners, that is something the minister for pensions will be working on. but we are determined to deal with these problems and not run away from them and leave us to deal with the mess the conservatives have left and we will take action and set out our plans as soon as possible. overpaid carers and other issues viewers have talked about. you listin: all viewers have talked about. you listing all the _ viewers have talked about. gm, listing all the problems they have left us with. listing all the problems they have left us with-— listing all the problems they have left us with.

in the last few moments that whitehall crisis officials are now coordinating an output response, he'set office briefing rooms , those sort of briefing rooms, those sort of those bunkers where they gather to deliver contingency plans across the civil service and government that's being organised now, he said that whitehall crisis officials are coordinating their response to this major. it outage and that pat mcfadden, the cabinet minister, is in close contact with those teams so we could see a government response later today as well. wow, extraordinary. >> charlie peters , thank you. >> charlie peters, thank you. and it just goes to show our reliance on technology and these juggernaut tech giants, the likes of crowdstrike, who's involved in this situation, amazon web services, another big one. if something happens like a rogue software update, all hell breaks loose. keep letting us know how it's affecting you at home. gb views @gbnews. com i think not least the most popular issue at the moment is paying for groceries and things in the supermarket, at the bakery and so on. having to rev

minister angela rayner's so—called devolution revolution is promising to transfer more powers out of whitehalln ever before. she's written to council leaders urging them to partner with the government. >> we know that putting those powers in the hands of local leaders is a really important way of driving that economic growth, and if we can get economic growth up across the country, which is one of our central missions as a government, that's the way to make people better off. >> james murray there, speaking to us earlier on breakfast. well, those are the latest gb news headlines for now i'm sam francis. your next update at 10:00. >> for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com. forward slash alerts . gbnews.com. forward slash alerts. >> hello, good morning and welcome to britain's newsroom live across the united kingdom on gb news. with me ben leo in for andrew pierce who's on his houbobs for andrew pierce who's on his holibobs for this is and of course bev turner. >> so a tearful donald trump arrived at the republic

that has been noted by the kind of whitehall machine who i think many of whom were sort of preparing are famous political broadcaster will be going into the house of lords and then into the education department. you never told me that, congratulations. ida. education department. you never told me that, congratulations.— me that, congratulations. no, i'm completely _ me that, congratulations. no, i'm completely political— me that, congratulations. no, i'm completely political neutral, i i me that, congratulations. no, i'm| completely political neutral, i also have no managerial extremes or skills. . . . ~ have no managerial extremes or skills. , . . ~ ,, , skills. jackie smith is returning labour skills. jackie smith is returning labour home _ skills. jackie smith is returning labour home secretary i skills. jackie smith is returning| labour home secretary heading skills. jackie smith is returning i labour home secretary heading into the department for education as a junior minister or certainly more junior than being as secretary of state. it means that annandale is hunting for a suc

sue gray, was a very senior civil servant for a long time and understands how all the mechanics of whitehall, some of those things will be much more advanced than others, as you say. and that's when the sort of parliamentary timetabling comes into effect, what bills were going to be putting up first. so both in 1997 and actually again in 2010, in the department for education, both the teams, i think it was david blunkett in 97 and michael gove in 2010, they had a very clear vision for what they wanted to do with education. they had most of the bills actually already drafted and ready to go, and a very clear plan of what they were going to do and going and enacting it. now, certainly in gove's case, probably the most successful thing that government did because they were prepared and they were ready for it. and other bills will take more time. and we have a real bottleneck in the uk, where there's a small team of people actually drafting the legislation to get it ready. and those people, obviously they hold the pen. they've got an awful lot of power, unlike the american system, where it's sen

. >> no longer the man in whitehall knowing best but you in epsom knowing best., then, doesn't employ many people. it keeps employing more and more people. no it does, it does. and the more people it employs, the more inefficient it gets. well that's what the record tells us. >> what do we make of this? i didn't quite get the full the full description, but a nod to i new legislation to regulate the powerful , quote unquote, ai revolution. >> well, good luck with that, though . though. >> it's going to be there was always going to be something in there, wasn't there, about the ai revolution. again, i think it was it was a brush stroke. it was it was a brush stroke. it was a nod. here we have the technocrat in waiting and the and he went before, so rishi sunak and keir starmer, they're talking looking very friendly to one another. you know gone are the animosities of the run up to the animosities of the run up to the election. we've got jeremy hunt there in the background. you could see rachel reeves, a new chancellor, smiling. angela rayner was smiling. the sense

the prime minister has pledged to loosen whitehall�*s tight grip over big cities and regions, startingsting, because for a longtime been calling for extra powers, they believe that more powers devolved from westminster out around the country to people like them, then it is going to allow decision—making to be quicker and faster, especially things like building and infrastructure. but what will that mean in reality? but sir keir starmer will also have to address uncomfortable questions over local government finance, housing, and transport. let's speak now to the minister for levelling up, housing and communities, jim mcmahon. thank you forjoining us. i know it is a busy time for all of you as you get used to your new positions and all of these meetings going on. we will talk about levelling up in a moment. can i ask you first about ukraine? we are getting details on all the time of these terrible attacks yesterday, 41 people killed in a number of missile strikes, including a number of children. that hospital in kyiv. i know the new prime minister has condemned it and described his attac

moment that all went spectacularly wrong for franklin when he ended up being abused by the privy council whitehallre this moment, i think franklin is desperately trying to bring things back in some of order. and i mean, he really being driven to distraction by the utter stupidity of british politicians. well, that's something that hasn't changed in the past of a millennium, i have to say. but from the stand packed to see the i don't know. i mean, it's just if you go back to to the policy making of 1765 onwards, there's so many. mr. jobs. and i think there was a huge emotional tie between. the colonies and great britain. and it's almost astonishing in hindsight, looking back, i think there was obviously going to be some rupture at some point. but the fact that it happened so soon and in history is it's something which is remarkable to me. but you get someone like william franklin franklin's son and and i, i quote him right at the beginning saying, we wish the great britain was a ship and we could bring it over and anchor next to it. i mean, this is this idea, you know, all the best culture, the bes

of the will of the people when we had that referendum and it was throughout all the departments in whitehallthat, so i think liz is right to a degree. it's a great shame because we do have some brilliant civil servants, and we know we'll have friends who have worked with great people in there, but it is about leadership. and, and i think the sue gray issue that, that you raised, i don't think that that, that was something to be very proud of. really? yeah. because, you know, it was you're talking about a very influential person at the heart of downing street, the heart of downing street, and then everything that sort of, you know , flew from there. so, you know, flew from there. so, you know, flew from there. so, you know, flew from there. so, you know, i just hope now it all gets back together again. it's very important for us in the united kingdom, but i think liz was right. and she was also right on the bank of england. and i said that a long time ago, liz truss didn't crash the economy on her own. nobody crashes the economy on their own. we knew that the fed were looking at interest rate

of the will of the people when we had that referendum and it was throughout all the departments in whitehall that, so i think liz is right to a degree. it's a great shame because we do have some brilliant civil servants, and we know we'll have friends who have worked with great people in there, but it is about leadership. and, and i think the sue gray issue that, that you raised, i don't think that that, that was something to be very proud of. really? yeah. because, you know, it was you're talking about a very influential person at the heart of downing street, the heart of downing street, and then everything that sort of, you know , flew from there. so, you know, flew from there. so, you know, flew from there. so, you know, flew from there. so, you know, i just hope now it all gets back together again. it's very important for us in the united kingdom, but i think liz was right. and she was also right on the bank of england. and i said that a long time ago, liz truss didn't crash the economy on her own. nobody crashes the economy on their own. we knew that the fed were looking at interest rat

devolving power away from whitehall and diminishing your own power up to and diminishing your own powerand talking about giving away power. _ way to govern. and talking about giving away power, i've - way to govern. and talking about giving away power, i've been - way to govern. and talking about - giving away power, i've been reading the national wealth fund that rachel reeves, the chancellor, says she'll set up. she was talking about the first steps for that today — it's based on this task force he appointed which include people like mark carney and lots of ceos and banks and stuff. i'm nowjust trying to find... basically they will set this up, for the first few billions that they invest in this national wealth fund, they will be through existing funds because we've already got quite a few banks like the infrastructure bank and things like that. but my favourite bit of the recommendation is that, and i quote, "the case will need to be made for relaxation of private sector and procurement restraints to attract officials of sufficient experience and calibre to work for this national wea

during the war as an officer in the royal navy she worked in whitehall creating maps of the normandypose it looked like that then really, when you're so worried about it, expecting things to happen. a re these the ones i am supposed to have made? these are the maps you made. amazing. and we were able to show her and original invasion map, again something she saw for the first time. for her birthday last year, christian recreated the flight she had first taken during the second world war, having missed the last train to her new posting in limit, she met a pilot at a cocktail party and never being one to miss an opportunity, she accepted his offer of a lift in his aircraft. and as we flew back from bath to plymouth, he dived over all sorts of cows and things to make it more exciting for me. i loved that, i think he was hoping i'd be frightened, but it is absolutely my sort of thing, and i was hoping we might loop the loop but unfortunately, perhaps fortunately or i might have fallen out. her family continued to be amazed and inspired by our life that belies and defies her age. it is un

the permanent secretaries of whitehall, 60% of them went to private schools, 65% of our judges went toools. where in this policy is the progressive nature that will actually lead to a redistribution of opportunity and not just going on a raid of middle class parents who can afford to send their kids to private schools. it's such a good point, aaron, because the billionaires who can afford to send their children to private school, the multi—millionaires they will not be touched by this 20% vat. >> so what you're going to get is those parents who often have help from grandparents as well. now the doctors, the lawyers, the professions. if you like, who have spoken to granny and granddad and they've said, you know what, we're not going to leave you so much in our will, but we want to put this into the kids education. now, those families are the ones who are going to be hit by this. it's almost like if it's not broken, don't fix it. this, this sort of two tier system is ideologically, of course, fundamentally, of course, it's sort of wrong in inverted commas that you can pay to give your ch