Why Britain needs to wake up to extremism

Coffee House Shots

Dec 16, 2025•16 min

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Episode description

As the world reacts to the attacks on Bondi Beach in Australia, Conservative peer Paul Goodman joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss the failure of successive British governments to properly tackle extremism – especially Islamist extremism – over the past two decades. In the post 'War On Terror' era, there was a reluctance by some to discuss the problem openly as it got tied up in other polarising topics like immigration. Though that reluctance appears to be fading, Paul argues that there is a 'communalist air of voting' in British politics now, and he warns of the dangers that face British politics if fragmentation becomes entrenched in party politics.

Plus – Trump is suing the BBC for $5 billion. What's his motivation?

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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