The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our third series of Westminster Reimagined . In six special episodes Iannucci explores parts of British public life he believes to be broken, and is joined by guests from inside and outside Westminster to work out how to fix them. In this final episode of the season Iannucci and Anoosh Chakelian, the New Statesman ’s Britain editor, examine whet...
Dec 09, 2022•33 min
Keir Starmer dubbed Rishi Sunak the “blancmange prime minister” – comparing him to a particularly weak and wobbly dessert – after he U-turned on new onshore wind farms and mandatory housing targets this week under pressure from Tory MPs. Rachel Wearmouth and Freddie Hayward are joined by Andrew Marr, the New Statesman ’s political editor, to discuss Sunak’s struggle to control a divided Tory party as the prospect of electoral defeat looms. They also cover Rachel’...
Dec 08, 2022•21 min
Keir Starmer has used Winchester, the elite independent school Rishi Sunak attended, to attack the Tory party over tax benefits for private schools, saying it amounted to “trickle-down education”. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister defended private schools as a personal choice, accusing Starmer of “attacking the hard-working aspirations of millions of people in this country”. Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Sam Freedman, a former senior adviser on schools at the Department of Education, to discus...
Dec 05, 2022•20 min
The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our third series of Westminster Reimagined . In six special episodes, Iannucci explores the parts of British public life he believes are broken and works out how to fix them with guests from inside and outside Westminster. In this episode, Iannucci and Anoosh Chakelian, the New Statesman ’s Britain editor, discuss the B-word. Six years after Britain voted to ...
Dec 02, 2022•40 min
For the first time since 2010, constituency boundaries are set to be redrawn. The Boundary Commission for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has published its final proposals, to be followed by final recommendations in 2023 that are likely to be adopted in time for the next election. Anoosh Chakelian and Rachel Wearmouth are joined by Ben Walker, who has made a detailed map of the changes for England and Wales for the New Stateman’s State of the Nation. The tea...
Dec 01, 2022•25 min
As the Conservative Party deadline approaches for MPs to say whether they want to run in the next election, many young Tory MPs have already announced that they’ve had enough, including the Bishop Auckland MP Dehanna Davison. Charlotte Ivers, the Times Radio presenter and columnist for the New Statesman and Sunday Times , joins Rachel Cunliffe to talk about why this is, and how Rishi Sunak’s first month in office has gone. They also talk about whether Matt Hancock’s third place...
Nov 28, 2022•23 min
The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our third series of Westminster Reimagined . In six special episodes Iannucci explores parts of British public life he believes to be broken, and is joined by guests from inside and outside Westminster to work out how to fix things. In this episode, Iannucci and Anoosh Chakelian, the New Statesman ’s Britain editor, look at how politics can operate in a post-truth wo...
Nov 25, 2022•38 min
Rishi Sunak has denied reports that the government is preparing to seek a “Swiss-style” deal with the EU over the next decade to rebuild economic ties with the trading bloc. Rachel Cunliffe, Rachel Wearmouth and Freddie Hayward discuss why the Prime Minister is incurring the wrath of hardline Tory Brexiteers, the signs of rising public discontent with Brexit, and whether this is a window of opportunity for Labour. Meanwhile Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has once again come under fire as ...
Nov 24, 2022•25 min
In 2014, the then prime minister David Cameron commissioned a review into a worrying global phenomenon: an increase in drug-resistant infections. “If we fail to act,” he warned, “we are looking at an almost unthinkable scenario where antibiotics no longer work and we are cast back into the dark ages of medicine.” The economist Jim O’Neill, who chaired the review, predicted that by 2050 “ten million lives a year” and a “cumulative cost of $100trn of economic output” would...
Nov 23, 2022•30 min
In a special episode of the New Statesman podcast, recorded live at the Cambridge Literary Festival, Rachel Wearmouth, Freddie Hayward and Ben Walker look back at the last few weeks in politics, including the fall out from the Autumn Statement, how Rishi Sunak is going down with voters and whether Labour is finding its voice. Then they take questions from the audience on everything from Brexit, to Jeremy Corbyn running as independent parliamentary candidate, to whether it matters if ...
Nov 21, 2022•59 min
The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our third series of Westminster Reimagined . In six special episodes Iannucci explores parts of British public life he believes to be broken, and is joined by guests from inside and outside Westminster to work out how to fix things. In this episode, Iannucci and Anoosh Chakelian, the New Statesman ’s Britain editor, examine whether the UK is falling apar...
Nov 18, 2022•44 min
Rachel Cunliffe, Freddie Hayward and Rachel Wearmouth dissect the Autumn Statement, which will leave Britain with highest tax burden since the Second World War. They discuss what to make of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s bleak forecast that living standards are set to collapse by the largest amount on record, and recap how we got to this point just 55 days after Kwasi Kwarteng’s ill-fated tax-cutting “mini-Budget”. If you have a question for You Ask Us, go to newstatesman.com/...
Nov 17, 2022•20 min
As Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt prepare for a Budget that will likely mean years of austerity, Rachel Cunliffe talks to the Conservative commentator John Oxley about the mess the party finds itself in. They discuss whether the damage done by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng is reversible, or if the party was in terminal decline anyway. Plus, what hopes Tories have at the next election and the impact of euroscepticism on the party. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 14, 2022•30 min
The legendary writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our third series of Westminster Reimagined . Across six special episodes, Iannucci explores parts of British public life he believes to be broken, and is joined by guests from both inside and outside the Westminster world to work out how to fix things. In this episode, the American satirist and broadcaster Jon Stewart and British radio pres...
Nov 11, 2022•44 min
Gavin Williamson has resigned from the cabinet as minister without portfolio after a string of bullying allegations, including expletive-laden texts to a female colleague. It’s not the first time he has lost a government job: he was sacked twice before, under Theresa May and Boris Johnson. Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth, Freddie Hayward and Emma Haslett discuss the scandal and controversies that pepper Williamson’s career, and what his resignation tells us about the Rishi Suna...
Nov 10, 2022•23 min
As Cop27, the UN climate conference, starts in Egypt, Anoosh Chakelian is joined by India Bourke, our environment correspondent, to discuss why Rishi Sunak U-turned and is now attending, what might be announced and why it’s disappointing that the leaders of so many other countries are not going. Read more: Carbon emissions tracker 2022: How do countries compare? Greta Thunberg on why Cop27 is a “scam” “I haven’t met a politician ready to do what it takes”: Greta Thunberg ...
Nov 07, 2022•27 min
The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci, returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our third series of Westminster Reimagined . In six special episodes Iannucci explores parts of British public life he believes to be broken, and is joined by guests from inside and outside Westminster to work out how to fix things. In this episode, Iannucci and Anoosh Chakelian, the New Statesman ’s Britain editor, examine why in Britain the rich...
Nov 04, 2022•38 min
Anoosh Chakelian, the New Statesman’s Britain editor, is joined by Andrew Marr, political editor, and Rachel Wearmouth, deputy political editor, to assess Rishi Sunak’s first ten days in Downing Street, from the damaging re-appointment of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary to mixed messages on his government’s commitment to the climate. They discuss his tricky mandate, the prospect of tax rises and spending cuts, and how Keir Starmer is facing up to him. Then in You Ask Us: is it ever OK to comm...
Nov 03, 2022•28 min
With the Conservatives on to their fifth prime minister in just six years, we talk to the political scientist and author Brian Klaas about the leadership problem in politics: why the top jobs attract the worst people; why it was a good thing that Truss was able to fail so quickly; and what we need to do to defend democracy. If you have a question for You Ask Us, go to newstatesman.com/youaskus Read more: Brian Klaas on why we choose the wrong leaders Hosted on Acast. See...
Oct 31, 2022•33 min
Rishi Sunak attended his first PMQs on Wednesday 26 October, and seemed to buoy up his divided party with Johnsonite attack lines on Labour – but can he hold on to unity and win back the country’s trust? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe, Rachel Wearmouth and our business editor, Will Dunn, to discuss Sunak’s first few days in charge, the fallout from his reappointment of Suella Braverman, and what to expect from the now-delayed Autumn Statement. Then, in You Ask Us, they answe...
Oct 27, 2022•30 min
The UK is to have a new prime minister whose policies are unknown and no one but Tory MPs voted for. Public appetite for a general election is high. What will Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, do when he officially enters No 10, and why did Boris Johnson drop out of the Conservative leadership race this weekend? Anoosh Chakelian, the New Statesman’s Britain Editor, is joined by Rachel Wearmouth, Deputy Political Editor, and our polling expert Ben Walker to analyse the challenges ahead, what Su...
Oct 24, 2022•26 min
In this bonus episode of the New Statesman Podcast , Rachel Cunliffe interviews the Daily Star deputy editor-in-chief Jon Livesey about how a lettuce livestream helped chronicle the downfall of Liz Truss’s calamitous time in office. They talk about why it cut through to the public, what’s happening to the lettuce now, and which vegetable will come next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 21, 2022•7 min
Liz Truss has announced she will stand down as prime minister after her government was plunged into chaos yesterday. The Home Secretary was forced to resign, the chief whip attempted to resign, and Tory MPs were allegedly manhandled and reduced to tears over a fracking vote which was (maybe?) a vote of confidence. Rachel Cunliffe, Ben Walker and Rachel Wearmouth discuss Liz Truss’s resignation and then Freddie Hayward joins the podcast to take us through how the madness unfolded, min...
Oct 20, 2022•24 min
In a desperate attempt to stabilise the financial markets Jeremy Hunt, the newly appointed Chancellor, has reversed “almost all” of the tax cuts announced in the government’s mini-Budget just three weeks ago. Anoosh Chakelian and Harry Lambert discuss the measures announced in Hunt’s emergency statement this morning, reports that he is now acting effectively as a caretaker PM, and who would succeed Liz Truss should she be ousted. In You Ask Us, a listener asks if the Tories can get away with swi...
Oct 17, 2022•19 min
Emma Haslett, The New Statesman ’s associate business editor, speaks to Gary Stevenson, an economist and former trader for Citibank, a job he initially won in a card game. In 2011 he became the bank’s most profitable trader globally by correctly predicting the economy would not recover from the 2008 financial crash. In 2014 Stevenson quit his job, and he now campaigns against wealth inequality and educates people on economics via his YouTube channel, GarysEcon...
Oct 16, 2022•25 min
What was left of Liz Truss’s authority visibly dissipated in Prime Minister’s Questions this week. As Freddie Hayward reports, the atmosphere was “funereal”, with the Prime Minister repeating “I’m genuinely unclear” and refusing to talk about market turmoil or tax cuts, only the government’s energy package. Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Cunliffe, Rachel Wearmouth and Freddie Hayward discuss the criticism of the mini-Budget and what Truss’s options are, whether Kwasi Kwarteng will survive as Chancello...
Oct 14, 2022•25 min
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Dale Vince, a green energy industrialist and founder of Ecotricity, a renewable energy company. Vince’s book Manifesto: How a Maverick Entrepreneur Took On British Energy and Won was published in 2020, charting his journey from leaving school aged 15, to becoming a New Age traveller, and finally into the weird world that is Britain’s energy market. They discuss the government’s response to Britain’s energy and cost-of-living crises versus Labour’s...
Oct 11, 2022•21 min
As conference season ends, our Political Editor, Andrew Marr, discusses the Conservative and Labour conferences with Freddie Hayward and Anoosh Chakelian. They reflect on the mood at the Conservative Party conference, whether Liz Truss will get any policy through parliament and if Labour really is more confident that it could return to government. Then in You Ask Us they answer a listener’s question on whether Keir Starmer is trying to be more left-wing. Read Anoosh’s piece ...
Oct 06, 2022•19 min
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Freddie Hayward, Rachel Wearmouth and Harry Lambert, who are reporting from the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. They describe a sense of discord and dissent, with Liz Truss’s U-turn on abolishing the top rate of income tax damaging her credibility and emboldening Tory rebels. The team discuss the open speculation by Tory MPs about who might succeed the Prime Minister, including Boris Johnson as an “off the shelf” candidate, and the party’s response to a...
Oct 04, 2022•25 min
This is a special episode recorded live at the New Statesman’s fringe event at this year’s Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Anoosh Chakelian sits down with Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan to discuss what levelling up should look like under Labour, where they stand on electoral reform and why they have very different political styles. Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit ne...
Oct 03, 2022•54 min
