Welcome to The Daily T: The Telegraph’s straight-talking, free-thinking podcast.
Join Associate Editor Camilla Tominey and Telegraph columnist Tim Stanley as they unpack the day’s biggest stories with their typical candour and humour. Listen to intelligent debate on UK politics, culture and foreign affairs. Plus, don’t miss exclusive interviews with influential figures and expert guests, from Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch to Prince Andrew’s biographer.
Get an insider’s view of the stories setting the news agenda. Listen every weekday from 5pm.
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Labour is reportedly plotting for Prime Minister’s Questions to be cancelled next week, meaning Sir Keir Starmer will avoid further scrutiny over the Mandelson scandal. Camilla and Tim react to party whips' “dodgy” manoeuvres and unpack this afternoon’s exchange between Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir, in which the PM admitted he had pushed for a plum ambassadorial role for Lord Doyle, his disgraced former communications chief. Plus, they ask whether the Cabinet is turning against the Prime Minister ...
It’s been another bruising day for Sir Keir Starmer as Sir Olly Robbins, the former top Foreign Office official sacked over the Lord Mandelson vetting row, has broken his silence. Giving evidence to MPs at the foreign affairs select committee, he accused Downing Street of applying “constant pressure” to push the appointment through despite Mandelson failing vetting checks. Camilla and Tim ask how damaging Sir Olly’s testimony will be to Keir Starmer, as Robbins revealed the Government didn’t eve...
It’s Keir Starmer’s darkest day in office. In a statement to the Commons this afternoon, the Prime Minister apologised again for appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, but stopped short of admitting to misleading the House about the vetting process. Despite the Prime Minister laying the blame squarely at the door of the Foreign Office, Camilla and Tim say that the whole sorry saga is the final nail in the coffin for Starmer’s premiership, and he must resign. Elsewhere, Camilla and Tim look...
Camilla and Hannah are joined by bestselling royal biographer Robert Hardman, author of the explosive new book Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story, to reveal the secrets and scandals that rocked the late Queen’s reign. Hardman, the only biographer to have interviewed all senior members of the Royal Family, shares exclusive, inside details sourced from family, staff, advisors, and even President Donald Trump. He explains what ex-PM David Cameron told him about the real reason An...
Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership is on the brink after it emerged that Peter Mandelson failed his vetting for the post of US ambassador, but was still appointed anyway. The Prime Minister says he wasn’t told and is “furious”, and Foreign Office civil servant Sir Olly Robbins has already become the latest “fall guy” for the Mandelson appointment, but Camilla and Jacob Rees-Mogg say Starmer is “either a knave or a fool” and must ultimately now fall on his sword. Camilla and Sir Jacob also look at th...
After a woman in Epsom was allegedly gang raped on Saturday night, protesters are calling on Surrey Police to make public descriptions of the suspects and to release CCTV of the incident. Camilla and Jacob speak to rape gangs whistleblower and former detective Maggie Oliver, who says trust in policing has broken down and that “silence is dangerous” when tensions are so high. Plus, Catholics are losing their faith…in Donald Trump, over the president’s very public spat with the Pope. As a practisi...
Defence dominated a fiery return to PMQs as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch took on Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a war of words, seizing on criticism from former Labour defence secretary and NATO secretary general Lord Robertson over what he calls “complacency” on military spending. Camilla and Jacob-Rees Mogg react to the PM being pressed on defence investment plans as he says his military advisers are wrong to call him complacent, all while the British Army has shrunk to its smallest size in centu...
With fuel prices rocketing and threats of nationwide protests in the air, Camilla and Jacob speak to Reform’s economic spokesperson Robert Jenrick, who calls on the Government to cut VAT on fuel duty by half to help households and businesses. Jenrick also calls for the deportation of Axel Rudakubana’s parents, after the inquiry into the Southport attacks found that they could have prevented their son’s horrific knife rampage, but failed in their moral duty to report his alarming behaviour in the...
Keir Starmer wants to move Britain even closer to the EU by aligning with single-market rules on food standards and carbon emissions. Not only that, but he also wants to do so using so-called “Henry VIII powers”, secondary legislation which could be approved without a Parliamentary vote. Camilla is joined by Jacob Rees-Mogg, who cannot understand why the UK would want to return to the more heavily regulated world of Brussels when the country has benefited from the flexibility of not being in the...
Camilla and Tim are joined by royal historian Hugo Vickers, author of new biography Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History , to lift the lid on what the late monarch was really like behind palace gates. Vickers, who met the Queen over 40 times, reveals how she really didn't get on with Meghan Markle - telling her off after she was rude to Windsor Castle gardeners and even fearing that the Sussexes would be wired up for recording during private meetings. Vickers also tells Camilla and Tim of his ...
Amid more dire polling for Labour and the revelation that both he and the Defence Secretary were on holiday as Donald Trump threatened to wipe Iran off the map at the weekend, Keir Starmer has now disappeared to the Middle East for meetings with Gulf state leaders. The Telegraph’s political editor Tony Diver tells Camilla and Tim that, despite him having no say in ceasefire talks, this is a desperate, last-ditch strategy to portray Starmer as an international statesman by Number 10, with a local...
Just as the Middle East appeared to be on the brink of an uncontrollable conflict, the US and Iran have announced a two-week ceasefire. The Pakistan-brokered deal will reopen the Strait of Hormuz – though with Tehran-imposed caveats – and offers “a chance at real peace”, says Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary. Sir Keir Starmer is now jetting off to the Gulf, apparently to boost the morale of British troops there. But, Camilla Tominey and Tim Stanley ask, what is the point of his Lawrence of...
Where the hell is Sir Keir Starmer? The Prime Minister has stayed out of the spotlight as the Middle East crisis escalates, holidaying while Donald Trump threatens to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”. Camilla and Tim debate whether the PM’s absence during such a critical moment is leadership or negligence. They also break down Trump’s Easter weekend spectacle with a giant bunny and his expletive-laden posts on Iran. And as Kanye West, the US rapper, is blocked from entering the UK after his con...
Prince William’s personal faith has been thrust into the spotlight, after a former royal chaplain accused the Prince of taking a “strategic and political” approach to religion. Camilla and Tim are joined by former Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II, Gavin Ashenden, to debate whether the future King’s “quiet faith” is a sign of honesty , or a worrying shift away from the deeply Christian leadership embodied by the late Queen. They discuss claims that the Prince of Wales may not be “particularly relig...
This time last year, after Reform won nearly 700 council seats, Nigel Farage told voters: if you want to know how Reform would run the country, look at your local council. The party now runs 10 county councils and expects to gain more in May. They say they have taken on woke, slashed waste and saved residents money on their council tax. But critics argue they’ve been bogged down in racism rows and broken their promises on tax. Camilla and Tim dig into the truth about Reform’s record in local gov...
Donald Trump has attacked Keir Starmer once again, telling the Telegraph that King Charles have backed him on Iran, in reference to the PM's dithering over intervention in Iran. Tim and Rachel are joined by the Telegraph’s deputy Royal editor Victoria Ward to ask if it's now up to King Charles to save the special relationship on his upcoming state visit. They also consider if Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and being ostracised over their parents’ association with Jeffrey Epstein, and whether th...
This episode explores the latest BBC scandal involving Scott Mills, who was sacked after historic sexual offense allegations. A Telegraph investigation reveals the BBC was warned a year prior but failed to act, drawing parallels with the Hugh Edwards case and a history of protecting "talent." The discussion delves into the BBC's accountability, public trust, and the delicate balance between safeguarding employees and ensuring fairness amidst unproven accusations. An interview with Hugh Edwards' publicist provides insight into his perspective on the recent documentary and his future.
The Government could cut your energy bills by drilling more in the North Sea, says shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho, but chooses not to; ideologically wedded to net zero, they instead prefer to view production of oil and gas as “climate vandalism”. Coutinho scriticises Ed Milliband for failing to use Britain’s own resources to keep energy cheap, and that in many cases his drive for net zero has ‘eradicated common sense’ when it comes to energy policy. Elsewhere, Gordon Rayner updates Tim ...
Labour has promised a tougher approach to migration, but it seems too little, too late. On Friday, Shabana Mahmood has unveiled new restrictions on visas and asylum rules as pressure grows to tackle record numbers of migrants in taxpayer-funded accommodation. Yet proposals to offer failed applicants up to £40,000 to leave the UK have triggered a backlash within Labour, with figures such as Angela Rayner questioning the approach. Rachel Johnson and Tim are joined by Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affai...
Sir Keir Starmer has called for Nick Timothy , the shadow Lord Chancellor, to be sacked after he described a Ramadan prayer event in Trafalgar Square as “an act of domination” from an “Islamist playbook”. The row has exposed divisions within the Conservatives. Leader Kemi Badenoch backed Mr Timothy, while James Cleverly, a fellow shadow secretary, distanced himself from the remarks. Tim Stanley and Rachel Johnson are joined by the man himself to unpack the political fallout of his comments for t...
Reform’s walked out of Prime Minister’s Questions this lunchtime, infuriated at Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to answer Nigel Farage’s question about small boat crossings. Reform deputy leader Richard Tice tells Camilla and Tim that his party felt it was time to “make a point” about Starmer’s “rude” and “arrogant” behaviour. Elsewhere, they also examine the timeline of Morgan McSweeney’s stolen phone, with the news it was in fact lost shortly after Peter Mandelson had been sacked. The plot thickens...
Donald Trump says he is negotiating with Iran – but won’t say who with – while, at the same time, thousands of US marines are arriving in the Middle East. Iran says reports of negotiations with the US president are “fake news” and it has placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Camilla and Tim attempt to get inside Trump's mind and ask whether he truly is negotiating with Iran with the aim of pulling off an extraordinary feat of international statecraft, or buying time to prepare for a ground invas...
Camilla and Tim react to a shocking arson attack on Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green, with the Government's antisemitism adviser Lord Mann telling The Daily T that "this wasn't random, this was done to scare the Jewish community". We also hear from the diplomat who lifts the lid on alleged Islamist sympathisers inside the Foreign Office, after civil servants attended an event celebrating the anniversary of the Iranian revolution, only weeks after the regime had begun brutally crackdown on its...
A self-made financier, a master manipulator or a fraud hiding in plain sight? Jeffrey Epstein’s story begins in Brooklyn. He was the son of working-class parents and left university without a degree. Yet somehow he talked his way into elite classrooms and, eventually, the highest tiers of Wall Street. On today’s Daily T , Camilla and our writers Mick Brown and Robert Mendick trace Epstein’s ascent from a maths-savvy teenager and eccentric teacher to a powerful operator entrusted with billions. T...
"Deranged conspiracy and melodrama". That's how Harry and Meghan have described Tom Bower's explosive new book about them - 'Betrayal' - saying it had "crossed the line from criticism into fixation". On today's Daily T, Tom joins Camilla and Tim in the studio and says that's nonsense; they're awful, and the treachery, disloyalty, and duplicity of the Sussex's post Royal life could see them being cut out of the Royal Family for good. We want to hear from you! Email us at thedailyt@telegraph.co.uk...
Is it really a Prime Minister’s Questions if the Prime Minister refuses to answer any questions? That was the frustration in the Commons this lunchtime, with Kemi Badenoch attempting to pin Sir Keir Starmer down on Peter Mandelson's appointment, but to no avail. Camilla and Tim assess a fractious and chaotic PMQs. Elsewhere, they speak to Sir Geoffrey Cox, the Conservative MP and former attorney general, after a barnstorming parliamentary speech in which he excoriated David Lammy’s plans to limi...
Rachel Reeves has used her ‘Mais Lecture’ speech at Bayes Business School to announce a ‘deeper relationship’ with the European Union, criticising Brexit for the damage it has done to the UK economy. Camilla, Tim and Allister Heath question why the Government is choosing to pursue closer relations with a bloc whose growth is a fraction of the United States’, and ask whether it’s more of an idealogical choice than a pragmatic one. Elsewhere, Camilla and Tim attend Reform’s latest press conference...
Keir Starmer has once again refused to be commit to any kind of support for the conflict in the Middle East, even after Donald Trump promised “he will remember” the UK’s lack of action. In a press conference this morning, Sir Keir also refused to clarify whether fuel duty would rise in September, with the conflict already sending forecourt prices through the roof. After a weekend that saw damning extracts of a new book that paints Sir Keir as a Prime Minister in name only, with no fixed ideas, p...
In one of his most candid interviews to date, William Hague admits to the Daily T that his stint at leader was “the least successful period of my career”. The former Conservative leader and foreign secretary tells Camilla and Tim he was too young to command the role. Hague also reveals how it felt going head to head with Tony Blair every week and opens up about the intrusion into his private life while in the public eye. Plus, he says Keir Starmer’s “flatfooted” response to the Iran war has brou...
It’s the day after the release of the Mandelson files and now attention is turning to what isn’t in the documents. Crucially, we don’t know how the Prime Minister responded once he was presented with clear evidence that the Labour peer had a close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Sir Keir has insisted to Parliament that due process was followed at all times. But Tim and Camilla ask: do the revelations contained in these files make a mockery of that claim? Plus, the Government has pushed ahead wi...
