In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, Director of Communications Callum Price is joined by Director General Lord Hannan and Editorial Director Dr Kristian Niemietz to discuss whether Britain has become ungovernable, the state of public spending since the lockdowns, and the prospect of a seventh prime minister in ten years. They also mark ten years since the Brexit referendum and turn to the politics of the summer heatwave.

The conversation looks at why successive governments struggle to control spending, with health and social security now accounting for around two thirds of the total, and why questions about the civil service, judicial activism and the constitutional reforms of the Blair years have moved to the centre of think tank debate. Lord Hannan and Dr Niemietz assess why the Brexit result remains contested a decade on, the deregulation opportunities that went unused, and the culture war that followed the vote. The discussion closes on climate policy, air conditioning and the case for adaptation rather than restriction.

The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff.

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