t was front-page news when earlier this year, rapper and businessman Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was arrested after facing a wave of civil lawsuits related to allegations including sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and rape. Then earlier this month, an amended lawsuit filed in a federal court in New York alleged that fellow rap star Jay-Z had raped a 13-year-old girl with Combs during a party in 2000, an allegation Jay-Z has denied, calling it a “blackmail attempt” by the lawyer who is behind it a...
Dec 20, 2024•32 min
Gisèle Pelicot’s courage, resilience and fortitude in publically proving a decade of rape and sexual abuse at the hands of her husband and fifty other men has transformed her from septuagenarian grandmother to French national hero. Dominique Pelicot will go down as one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, having been sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging Gisèle and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the south of France. Kamal and Camilla speak to The Telegra...
Dec 19, 2024•42 min
It is surely an image for the history books. Nigel Farage stood next to two billionaires, one of them Elon Musk, at Donald Trump’s Florida estate. The X owner is reported to be considering donating as much as $100 million to Reform UK. Is this foreign interference in our politics? And what would a history-making donation to Farage’s party mean for Labour and the Tories? Plus, political editor Ben Riley-Smith has been speaking to Keir Starmer about Russia and tax - on board a frigate in Estonia, ...
Dec 18, 2024•43 min
New figures show that not only has the economy contracted, but job hiring is at a record low. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves strode into Downing Street on July 5th talking about just one thing - growth. But since then the government has raised employers’ national insurance contributions, slapped taxes on farmers, slashed winter fuel allowance and now worse news still - the economy officially shrunk in October and the number of job vacancies is at a record low. So, is Rachel Reeves the worst chan...
Dec 17, 2024•40 min
A Chinese businessman and alleged spy has now been identified as Yang Tengbo after a court order protecting his identity was lifted. He was banned from the UK last week amid claims he had formed an "unusual degree of trust" with the Duke of York - Prince Andrew. Judges were told the businessman was attempting to leverage the disgraced Prince's influence. Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith joins us in The Daily T studio to explain why the alleged spy could be one of many such Chines...
Dec 16, 2024•39 min
Today The Daily T is a festive food and drink special! We’re diving into some taste tests to figure out which supermarket is winning Christmas this year. Is their smoked salmon worth the hype? Who’s got the best mince pies? And—brace yourselves—do festive bao buns belong on your holiday table? Plus, we’ll dish out the ultimate do’s and don’ts for Christmas Day. Joining us are our resident food writers, William Sitwell and Xanthe Clay who have compiled the best of this year's festive offerings so...
Dec 13, 2024•47 min
And the latest Saudi sportswashing as they get the 2034 World Cup Labour has unveiled the biggest changes to - and liberalisation of - planning laws in a generation to help deliver on its promise of 1.5 million new homes this parliament. With the Tories worrying that concerns of local people will be “completely swept aside”, Camilla and Kamal speak to shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake who also claims the “majority” of the 1.5 million new homes will be for immigrants. Plus, Saudi Arabia h...
Dec 12, 2024•41 min
Robert Jenrick, shadow justice secretary and former Tory leadership contender, joins Kamal and Camilla in the studio to discuss Labour's multi-billion pound grand plans to build four new super-prisons. The prisons will create 14,000 new places, but Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood says we’re still going to run out of space within three years. They will also be forced through the planning process by Angela Rayner under powers that allow the objections of local towns and villages to be overruled....
Dec 11, 2024•39 min
Another day, another defection to Reform. Billionaire property tycoon Nick Candy renounced his Conservative Party membership to join Farage, blaming “too many broken promises” from his former party. Camilla was in Westminster to catch up with Farage and Candy, who said he will give a "seven-figure" sum to Reform UK when he becomes the party's treasurer in the new year. Kamal and Camilla consider where this leaves Kemi Badenoch - does she need to be more scrappy to keep Farage at bay? And after a...
Dec 10, 2024•37 min
With journalist Ruth Sherlock quite literally on the road to Damascus and Tom Tugendhat MP in the studio In a whirlwind 48 hours, more than half a century of brutal Assad family rule in Syria came to an end this weekend. Rebel forces entered Damascus after a lightning offensive that forced the Syrian president to flee on a plane to Moscow. Kamal and Camilla speak to Ruth Sherlock - who after years of reporting on the Syrian civil war is en-route back into the country - about the chaotic scenes o...
Dec 09, 2024•49 min
More than 9 million people of working age in the UK are not looking for a job or able to start work. Meanwhile sickness and disability benefits cost the taxpayer £48 billion a year. Following his Channel 4 documentary on the issue, former Spectator editor Fraser Nelson visits some of most workless areas of the country to understand why Britain isn’t working - and how a solution is essential to get the economy growing. Plus, Labour MP Rachael Maskell has said “there is nothing safe” about the ass...
Dec 06, 2024•43 min
Keir Starmer delivered his ‘plan for change’ in a key speech at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, setting out what he called 'milestones' for his government. It comes after a challenging five months in office for Labour, but they denied that it was an emergency relaunch, despite their plummeting approval rates. Camilla and Ben Riley-Smith are at Pinewood to react to the Government's new plans and ask the current Cabinet (including Lisa Nandy, Yvette Cooper, and Ed Miliband) what it all means. A...
Dec 05, 2024•41 min
ConHome founder Tim Montgomerie has jumped ship. The Conservative Party lost another prominent member this week to Reform - this time an even bigger blow - over broken promises on immigration. Amid reports that Elon Musk is planning to give $100 million to Reform, Tim Montgomerie told Kamal and Gordon that he “certainly wouldn’t say no” to the cash and that the Tories have become “too broad a church”. Plus, a row over rainbow armbands is engulfing British football. Are they a gesture of support ...
Dec 04, 2024•49 min
In a big foreign policy speech on Monday night, the Prime Minister warned Donald Trump that the UK would not side with America against the EU when he re-enters the White House next year. The comments come after speculation that the President-elect may launch a trade war against the EU and reduce support for Ukraine and even NATO . Kamal and Camilla consider whether Britain will have to choose between the “special relationship” and closer ties to the EU under a Trump administration. And PR disast...
Dec 03, 2024•41 min
Masterchef host Gregg Wallace has responded to allegations of inappropriate behaviour via an Instagram message, claiming the accusations have only come from “middle-class women of a certain age” . The presenter has since apologised - but questions remain for the BBC and for Banijay, the production company behind MasterChef, as to why they didn’t act sooner over Wallace’s alleged behaviour. Kamal and Camilla are joined by The Telegraph’s Sophie Barnes who helped to break the story for our investi...
Dec 02, 2024•37 min
In recent years, politicians appearing in reality TV shows has become something of a trend - think Matt Hancock and Nigel Farage on I'm a Celebrity, Ed Balls on Strictly, or Penny Mordaunt on Splash! The latest to join their ranks is former cabinet minister Jacob Rees Mogg, who earlier this year let cameras into his 17th century stately home in Somerset, where he lives with his wife and six children. Jacob joins Camilla and Kamal over breakfast in the Daily Tea studio, to discuss how his childre...
Nov 30, 2024•28 min
The assisted dying bill may have cleared its first hurdle in the House of Commons, but could it still be blocked? In a historic vote in parliament this afternoon, MPs voted for the legislation by 330 to 275, a majority of 55 – but it faces a long road to potentially becoming law. Meanwhile the government has suffered its first cabinet resignation, as Louise Haigh has stepped down as transport secretary following reports that she was once convicted of fraud. Kamal and Gordon ask: why are we only ...
Nov 29, 2024•42 min
We asked the Reform leader about his ambition to be PM. After their rapid rise and shock success in the general election, Reform UK is getting serious. Nigel Farage’s party has surged to 100,000 members and is focusing on grassroots campaigning, setting up branches across the country. Can they force out the Tories to become Labour’s main political challenger by 2029? At a Reform event in central London as revised figures show net migration hit nearly 1 million last year, Kamal and Camilla catch ...
Nov 28, 2024•33 min
And Boris Johnson gives us his views on the assisted dying bill with 48 hours to go... After nearly 120 years of service, the car company Vauxhall is planning to shut its Luton van-making factory in a move that puts 1,100 jobs at risk. Owner Stellantis has blamed the government’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate for the cuts. Kamal and Camilla discuss the impact net zero is having on the car industry and if it's actually worth it. And what can we learn from Canada's assisted dying laws? As En...
Nov 27, 2024•47 min
Kamal and Camilla speak to the man behind the controversial document: Kevin Roberts. President-elect Donald Trump spent much of his campaign distancing himself from "Project 2025", but he’s now brought several key conservatives tied to the initiative into his administration. So what exactly is it? The 900-page policy wish list was drawn up by the Heritage Foundation, one of Washington's most prominent right-wing think tanks. Kamal and Camilla chat to its president, Kevin Roberts, about the think...
Nov 26, 2024•47 min
Days before Parliament votes on the controversial assisted dying bill, the Government itself is divided. That’s despite being told to remain neutral on the issue. It’s another example of Keir Starmer and Labour doing politics poorly. Kamal and Camilla ask: Why let such a contested subject be rushed through via a private members’ bill? And can we really have an informed discussion about assisted dying when palliative care in the UK is so bad? Plus, 2 million people have signed a petition calling ...
Nov 25, 2024•33 min
A special episode after 1000 days of war. It’s been a turbulent week for Ukraine, which was finally given approval to use US and UK-supplied long range missiles but also faced intensified Russian attacks. As the third anniversary of Russia’s full scale invasion approaches, Tim and Kamal ask what the coming months could hold for the conflict. Will Trump’s White House force Kyiv to cede territory? Will Zelensky stand down? And what’s the role of China in all this? They’re joined by Ukraine: The La...
Nov 22, 2024•38 min
Why the death of the former deputy prime minister matters more to Labour now than they realise One of the key figures of the New Labour government John Prescott, died this morning aged 86. Kamal and Tim Stanley reflect on their encounters with the former Deputy Prime Minister, and why Keir Starmer's government could do with a 'Prescott' figure that can connect with parts of the Labour party and the wider electorate others can't. Plus, former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith is in the ...
Nov 21, 2024•44 min
Labour tell big tech firms to get a grip on harmful online content, or they could ban platforms for children altogether... On the front page of today’s Telegraph, Peter Kyle has told Ofcom - the communications regulator - that it needs to apply far more pressure on social media firms and tech giants in order to protect children online. If it doesn’t, the government will consider a social media ban for under 16s. Kamal and Gordon Rayner speak to the campaign group Smartphone Free Childhood who wa...
Nov 20, 2024•44 min
Jeremy Clarkson and Nigel Farage joined the rally. Rachel Reeves’ Budget has backfired spectacularly, with thousands of farmers protesting in central London today against the introduction of inheritance tax on farmland. Kamal and Gordon joined the demonstration in a very wet Westminster to speak to furious farmers who say the future of British agriculture is at risk. They also hear from shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage about how Labour simply doesn't...
Nov 19, 2024•37 min
Allowing Ukraine to strike targets in Russia with US-supplied missiles has enraged the Kremlin Kamal and Gordon Rayner are joined by Ukraine: The Latest presenters Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley to ask why, with 63 days left in office, Biden has taken a decision that risks significantly escalating the conflict in Ukraine - particularly when his successor has already vowed to scale back support for Ukraine. Plus, with Donald Trump having made a litany of controversial nominations for his cabin...
Nov 18, 2024•42 min
Tim sat down with the controversial Canadian psychologist. Jordan Peterson, best known for the self-help book 12 Rules for Life, has become a guru to many young men on the political right for wading into contested debates around gender and free speech. Now he wants to introduce his audience of millions to religion, with a new book that argues the Bible is the ideal foundation for modern society. Tim joins Kamal to reflect on his wide-ranging interview with the psychologist and conservative comme...
Nov 15, 2024•46 min
The police are investigating The Telegraph's Allison Pearson for a social media post despite everyday crime going largely unsolved. Essex Police chose the morning of Remembrance Sunday to visit our Telegraph colleague Allison Pearson and inform her they were investigating a year-old social media post under Section 17 of the Public Order Act 1986 relating to material “likely or intended to cause racial hatred”. Kamal and Tim Stanley ask why our police forces seem perfectly capable of following up...
Nov 14, 2024•40 min
And how Labour's Budget it threatening family firms. President-elect Donald Trump is handing out big jobs before his January inauguration and has announced that billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will head a new Department of Government Efficiency to cut bureaucracy in the US Government. Kamal and Tim discuss Trump's current cabinet picks and if cutting the size of the state actually works. Plus, we're joined by the owner of a 135-year-old steelmaker who says he won’t be able to pass his...
Nov 13, 2024•47 min
The Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned - the former Conservative Party leader reacts in real time. William Hague, former Tory leader and foreign secretary, is running for election again - this time to become chancellor of Oxford University. He joins Kamal and Gordon in the studio to explain his concerns about freedom of speech on campuses, how Starmer should convince Trump to back Ukraine, and why he would vote against the assisted dying bill. We want to hear from you! Email us at TheDailyT@t...
Nov 12, 2024•44 min
