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

Now, if there's one thing we've learned about US politics in recent years, it's this, don't fall out with Donald Trump. He doesn't often

forget and he rarely seems to forgive. So how have Kirstama and the Labour government

ended up being dragged into a big row with the former and maybe future president? How much of a

problem could this spat be and how ready is the UK for a possible second Trump presidency?

The Prime Minister's many miles away now,

in Samoa, in fact, for a meeting of the Commonwealth leaders. But that's not the only global

summit in the calendar this week, and lots of world leaders have chosen a different destination.

We'll ask what the UK can hope to achieve through the Commonwealth gathering. And back home,

it's been a frenetic week of government activity with reviews

announced on the NHS, sentencing, water and more. But does this type of approach really make any

difference? Joining me throughout is an IFG colleague who has read plenty of government reviews in his time,

and that's Alex Thomas. Hi, Alex. I've written a few as well. Yes, hi Emma. And I'm delighted

that Sophia Gaston's here too.

Sophia, congratulations are in order. You've got a new job. I have. You have me absolutely

fresh in post. So this is my first podcast with my new hat. And what is your new hat, Sophia?

So I'm going to be heading up the London presence for the Global Security think tank Aspie,

which has offices in Canberra and also DC and a network around Indo-Pacific.

So I'll be continuing work on UK foreign policy and also building partnerships out into Europe.

But the real focus is on bridging the

Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security theatres. Fantastic. We're very glad that you can join us.

So let's begin with what's an unexpected twist in the never-ending turns of the US presidential

...