Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government.

I'm Catherine Hadden. Does it matter if the Prime Minister accepts a free gift or lots of free gifts?

Whether you're listening to this podcast from a corporate box or tuning in from a crowded

standard-class carriage, you'll no doubt have a view on that question.

And unfortunately, for Kirstama, it's a question that isn't going away.

So we've dressed up in our best podcast outfits, paid for by ourselves, of course,

to examine the awkward build-up to the Labour Party conference.

The PM has at least been bumped off the top of the news by his chief of staff.

It turns out that Sue Gray is paid more than the country's most senior politician,

and a lot, lot more than plenty of special advisors. So is Gray's payday a problem? And talking of money, a new IFG report has set

out how the government can save some, billions, in fact, will talk to its author and reveal where the money

can be found. And then we'll turn to the type of

policy question that the government would rather we were talking about. And that's devolution.

Because a whole load of England, 30 million people in fact, still don't have any sort of devolved

power deal. Another new IFG report, we're spoiling you, has the solution.

Joining me is our trustee advisor on many a ministerial or special advisor controversy.

That is IFG's program director Tim Durant. Tim, nice to have you here.

Hi, Kath. Great to be here.

And I'm very pleased to have as our guest, Sienna Rogers, deputy editor of the House magazine and former editor

of Labor List, hi, Sienna.

Hello.

Let's start with the build-up to Labor's conference in Birmingham, which it is fair to say

...