Special addition: Tim Montgomerie is joined by Phil Collins, Jill Sherman and Phillip Webster after an extraordinary day which has seen an extensive cabinet reshuffle.The panel attempt to answer the following:1. Is this still a reforming govt?2. Has the reshuffle met expectations for women?3. Is the Eurosceptic movement for an election or to last?Subscribe via iTunes: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/did-you-read Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 15, 2014•22 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Rachel Sylvester, Fay Schlesinger and Matthew Syed.Rachel SylvesterDavid Cameron is carrying out a reshuffle for women. How patronising. The truth is the Tories are struggling to get local associations to choose female candidates, and have failed to tackle the off-putting culture of the House of Commons. All the parties need more than tokenism to woo women voters.Fay SchlesingerIn 1961, a new law challenged the so-called sanctity of life and raised fears of a 'slippe...
Jul 15, 2014•30 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Daniel Finkelstein, Ann Treneman and Patrick Kidd. Daniel Finkelstein: “The recent death of Gerry Conlon and the compensation paid to the wrongly convicted youths accused of raping the Central Park jogger, should remind us of the danger of hysteria and panic to the operation of the justice system. This week as I review the child abuse debate I wonder if we have forgotten this.” Ann Treneman: “Are we seeing the return of Parliament as a power in the land? On Monday, t...
Jul 08, 2014•26 min
This week, Tim Montgomerie is joined by Francis Elliott, Matthew Parris and Jenni Russell. DYR? Francis ElliottIf David Cameron really wants the European Commission to be an agent for change and a place where dynamic politicians go to complete a glittering career two of his arguments from the Juncker J'accuse speech last week - then why on earth is he poised to send Andrew Lansley to Brussels?Matthew ParrisNeither my time nor my capacity for enquiry and deliberation are unlimited. So I have deci...
Jul 01, 2014•27 min
Philip Collins steps in for Tim Montgomerie and is joined by Suzy Jagger, Phil Webster and Patrick Kidd.Suzy JaggerThis month's surprise - and to date, devastatingly successful - assault by Isis on Northern Iraq has led to a new cat's cradle of shifting internAtional alliances. The West has found itself to be a new uncomfortable bedfellow with Tehran. How do we manage these new allegiances? And are we right to blame much of the crisis deepening in the region to President Obama's complete absence...
Jun 24, 2014•20 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Melanie Phillips, Alice Thomson and Roger Alton.Melanie PhillipsPeople say the Iraq debacle has happened because we went in and got rid of strong man Saddam. On the contrary, it's because the US and UK got out of Iraq, allowing Maliki to alienate the Sunnis. Leaving a strong man in place hasn't worked in Syria, and Saddam would have run his own jihadi gangs. This chaos directly threatens the West, as did Saddam, but the main focus should be on the head of the snake, ...
Jun 17, 2014•33 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Libby Purves, Daniel Finkelstein and newcomer, Giles Whittell.Libby PurvesAnn Widdecombe complains that it is ‘very difficult” to be an active Christian in Britain today. She says that Militant secularism stops people in workplaces from wearing crosses, saying God bless, or offering to pray for people - and that - quotes “stances of conscience” are prevented by political correctness and equality law. I say - render unto Caesar: and show don’t tell...and that applies ...
Jun 10, 2014•31 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Matthew Parris, Ann Treneman and David Aaronovitch. Matthew ParrisSpain's King Juan Carlos was respected in the 1980s for his brave refusal to support a coup against democracy. That respect has been squandered: hence (in part) the abdication, but are we smug in pointing this out? The fading of British republicanism in recent decades has been enormously dependent on the growing personal popularity of our Queen. Our real monarchists are probably a minority. The majorit...
Jun 03, 2014•26 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Jenni Russell, Philip Webster and Hugo Rifkind.Jenni gives advice to David Cameron:Cameron needs to become a radical dynamic insurgent, not the calm patrician chairman he is now. He must fight internationally to get companies like Amazon and Google to pay proper tax, change the rules on benefit and housing so recent arrivals can't claim, raise the minimum wage and enforce it, and restrict the right of people from the EU's poorest countries to work here.Phil gives adv...
May 27, 2014•28 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Rachel Sylvester, Philip Webster and Stephan Shakespeare to discuss the following:Is UKIP here to stay as Britain's fourth party?Can Clegg do anything to revive the Lib Dems or is he finished as a political force?How big is Labour's Ed Miliband problem? Tory HQ is unconvinced that Labour's vote drops whenever he appears on TV.How big is the gap now between London and the rest of England?Which of the three big Parties has most reason to panic over the next few days?Su...
May 23, 2014•26 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Alice Thomson, Richard Fletcher and Daniel Finkelstein.Alice Thomson discusses the moral implications of singer Gary Barlow's tax footing. Is it difficult to sympathise with the Take That star?Richard Fletcher puts forward the argument that the decision of a corporate acquisition should be left to shareholders and executives rather than MPs. And Daniel Finkelstein argues that England's expectations in World Cup competitions are far too high considering the size of th...
May 13, 2014•25 min
Phillip Collins is joined by Hugo Rifkind, Fay Schlesinger and Patrick Kidd.Hugo RIfkind, "For three decades, Max Clifford was the guru of the dirty secret. Looking back today, though, very few of the revelations he brought to tabloids - 'man sleeps with woman' - seem all that interesting. I think we're becoming a less censorious society and, in the process, leaving the people with real dirt, such as Clifford himself, fewer places to hide."Fay Schlesinger, "Across the rich world crime is falling...
May 06, 2014•26 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Matthew Parris, Rachel Sylvester and Melanie Phillips. Matthew Parris, "I don't believe David Cameron should resign if Scotland is lost this September. But I think he's in great danger. It will be said that he was too cavalier and too soft a touch in conceding this referendum on these terms, and that he "lost the Union" in a fit of inattention. We will be in stormy and uncharted waters if the answer is Yes. I believe an early or a postponed general election would be ...
Apr 29, 2014•23 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by David Aaronovitch, Juliet Samuel and Robbie Millen.David Aaronovitch, "Lucky Scotland! Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is there this week, amid what seem like a co-ordinated series of warnings about the impact of a 'Yes' vote on the UK's defence capabilities. Are these scare tactics, or are these warnings essentially true? And even if they are, might they not be counter-productive? It is very hard to judge."Juliet Samuel, "With Greece reentering international bond m...
Apr 15, 2014•27 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Jenni Russell, Peter Brookes and Phil Collins.Jenni Russell, "Maria Miller isn't being fairly judged because she has three powerful constituencies prepared to think the worst of her."Peter Brookes, "I feel instinctively against an across the board amnesty for murder in Northern Ireland as proposed on our front page this week by Peter Hain."Phil Collins, "The Royal Tour brings out the worst in the press."Subscribe via iTunes: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/did-you-read S...
Apr 08, 2014•27 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Hugo Rifkind, Alice Thomson and David Aaronovitch. Hugo Rifkind: "Teenagers and young people have never been so close to their parents in outlook, interest and core morality as they are today. Yet, the same time, they must look forward to a future in which they will lack many of the opportunities and privileges that an earlier generation enjoyed. Why aren't they more angry and rebellious? And, if the rebellion ever comes, how will it look?"Alice Thomson: "The Cindere...
Apr 01, 2014•26 min
Ann Treneman is joined by Matthew Parris, Libby Purves and Fay Schlesinger.Matthew Parris: "Ukraine: the Western powers should have decided in advance what their sticking point was, and privately communicated this to Moscow. Obviously it should have been that Russia could have Ukraine without a fuss if it was done in an orderly way. Instead they've squawked their protests at every inch taken, usually after it's been taken. The impression is simply of impotent and uncoordinated posturing."Libby P...
Mar 25, 2014•21 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Daniel Finkelstein, Jenni Russell and Roger Boyes.Daniel Finkelstein: "It's time to scrap the Budget. We now have two major fiscal events a year - the Budget and the Autumn statement. This encourages gimmicks, reduces strategic thinking and makes it harder to plan. We should move from one event to two and then to Budgets every two years."Jenni Russell: "There's a violent subculture inside our police forces that's out of control. Three recent cases caught on CCTV have...
Mar 18, 2014•29 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Rachel Sylvester, Philip Webster and Alice Thomson. Rachel Sylvester: “Ukip has been dismissed as “fruitcakes and loonies”, “gadflies and cranks”. Nigel Farage’s “barmy army” is cynical and hypocritical, with a streak of nastiness running through it. But the other parties ignore it at their peril. Ukip is a symptom of deep social and economic divides.”Philip Webster: “Nick Clegg was forced by a briefing that went wrong into suggesting that, like Margaret Thatcher, he...
Mar 11, 2014•26 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Roger Boyes, Ann Treneman and Matt Ridley. Ukraine gave away its nuclear arsenal 20 years ago. Roger Boyes asks if the country would have fared better in its showdown with Russia if it had kept the bomb. 'Why don't the media take Nigel Farage seriously?' Asks Ann Treneman, after attending UKIP's national spring conference in Torquay. Is he really the most interesting politician out there at the moment?Matt Ridley draws focus on E-cigarettes and their potential health...
Mar 04, 2014•27 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Hugo Rifkind, Alice Thomson and Libby Purves.Hugo Rifkind says it's not the fault of the NHS or the Government that a pioneering programme to create a shared database of patient information has been suspended. It's ours. Are we too shrill when it comes to personal data?Alice Thomson suggests that we need to teach girls to be more robust and to realise that A* grades don't necessarily define them. Mary Beard, Angela Merkel, Clare Balding - are these the role models we...
Feb 25, 2014•26 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by David Aaronovitch, Juliet Samuel and Fay Schlesinger. David Aaronovitch looks at the forthcoming Scottish referendum for independence and says 'up until now, the 'Yes' people have been able to fantasise about how easily an independent Scotland will be able to dictate its own separation terms.' But has this fantasy been given a reality check?Juliet Samuel asks if the Bank of England is being overly optimistic after it revised its GDP growth forecast for this year to 3...
Feb 18, 2014•27 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Jenni Russell, Oliver Kamm and Roger Boyes.Jenni Russell agrees in the principles of banning smoking in cars where children are present, after MPs voted in the law this week, however, will it end up - in practice - as yet another pointless and unenforceable law?Oliver Kamm states that 'The Swiss vote to curb EU immigration is a depressing indication of the potency of populist politics in European debate.' Are the current control of immigration within Europe far too t...
Feb 11, 2014•25 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Philip Collins, Matthew Parris and Rachel Sylvester. Subscribers to The Times will be familiar with the passionate divide of opinion between Philip Collins and Matthew Parris regarding the qualities of David Cameron's leadership. Philip Collins argues that David Cameron has yet to answer the question of what kind of country he wants to lead - "what would a second-term Cameron government actually want to do?"Matthew Parris draws focus towards Cameron's Conservatives p...
Feb 04, 2014•25 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Ian King, David Aaronovitch and Libby Purves.Ian King argues that Labour, led by Ed Miliband, has abandoned any pretence that they will form a constructive working relationship with business or wealth-creators with his pledge to reintroduce the 50p additional rate of income tax.David Aaronovitch says that parties strive to emphasise their differences where there is little - to create "blue water" for the sake of it.Libby Purves states - in no uncertain terms - that w...
Jan 28, 2014•22 min
Tim Montgomerie is joined by Daniel Finkelstein, Alice Thomson and Matthew Parris.Daniel Finkelstein argues the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats must spend much political energy on a divorce agreement, a protocol for the last year of office and the conduct of a General Election. Alice Thomson discusses the role of institutional care from a personal perspective. Matthew Parris sympathises with the younger generation when it comes to the lack of feedback they receive in the job market and the c...
Jan 21, 2014•24 min
Phil Collins is once again in the hot seat and joined by Peter Brookes, Matthew Parris and Ann Treneman.Peter Brookes talks about forming opinions on a variety of issues using his heart over his head. Is it dangerous to form strong opinions without expert knowledge? Matthew Parris wants a crackdown on the 'anti-Europe' ring-leaders in the Conservative Party. Does there need to be more honesty from the backbenchers regarding their stance on Europe? Ann Treneman looks at the funding debate between...
Jan 14, 2014•22 min
Phil Collins is in the hot seat this week and is joined by Rachel Sylvester, Daniel Finkelstein and Hugo Rifkind. Rachel Sylvester assess David Cameron reverting to type on his current stance on welfare, immigration, crime, Europe and pensioners. Nigel Farage recently suggested that Enoch Powell's "basic principle" - that immigration causes tension - is still relevant today. Hugo Rifkind argues this is not the case.Daniel Finkelstein argues for a hypothecated NHS tax to ease the pressure of incr...
Jan 07, 2014•23 min
Special 2014 edition: Tim Montgomerie is joined by Ann Treneman, Roger Boyes and David Aaronovitch to discuss some potential big talking points in the year ahead.Subscribe in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/did-you-readSubscribe to The Times: www.thetimes.co.uk' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 31, 2013•27 min
Extended special enhanced edition: Tim Montgomerie is joined by cartoonist Peter Brookes, and columnists Jenni Russell and Hugo Rifkind to review the biggest talking points of 2013.Subscribe in iTunes: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/did-you-readSubscribe to The Times: www.thetimes.co.uk' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 24, 2013•32 min
