Suella Braverman is in trouble- again. It's almost like she invites it. This time she's written a piece for The Times which is being slammed as inflammatory. She's compared the Gaza protests with The Troubles and suggested the police treat right-wing and left-wing protests by different standards, and strongly suggests this Saturday's should be banned. She has called into question a very old principle, that of police independence from the government. To make it worse, it appears No.10 ...
Nov 09, 2023•35 min
Fiona Hill is one of the most powerful British people of the 21st century but the chances are you haven’t even heard of her. She’s advised three presidents of the United States on foreign policy, especially on Putin’s Russia. She gave evidence at Trump’s first impeachment. at this time of international chaos, of an America which feels inside and out, on the edge, there could be no better time to talk to this woman with a unique perch on American power, British decline, and how in the end, all ro...
Nov 08, 2023•38 min
Today we examine what was in the King's Speech - and what was left out. Suella's controversial "lifestyle choice" tents for the homeless were dropped. What does this tell us about the relationship between Sunak and his Home Secretary? Also as Nikki Haley pushes into 2nd place in the Republican race to run for president, we are in her home town in South Carolina. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Producers: Ror...
Nov 07, 2023•42 min
There are tremors amongst Democrats today - and the makings of a victory lap for Trump fans - after polling one year out from a Presidential election shows the challenge Biden is facing in key swing states. America should know their next president a year today, and in the key state of Georgia we are talking to voters and their politicians about why they’re ready to see Trump back in office. Later, is homelessness a lifestyle choice ? Suella thinks so. Will taking away people’s tents actually mak...
Nov 06, 2023•48 min
In an extended interview, Jon speaks to Layla Moran, the only MP with Palestinian heritage and the Lib Dem MP for West Oxford and Abingdon. She talks about her family in Gaza, peace talks and how hope gets her through everyday. Editor: Tom Hughes Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Producers: Jack McKay & Arvind Badewal You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"....
Nov 03, 2023•32 min
Did former Health Secretary Matt Hancock think the best person to decide who should live and die during the pandemic was... Matt Hancock? That was the accusation levelled by former NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens in the Covid inquiry. Luckily, the hypothetical situation never materialised but how happy do we feel about politicians playing god? And… as the deputy cabinet secretary describes a Downing Street in which not a day went by without rules being breached, we ask whether it’s tim...
Nov 02, 2023•35 min
How should the police be responding to the government’s call to arrest more people on "hate marches" (sic Suella). Do laws need to change? Do specific chants cross the legal line? And what is the terror threat like over all in the UK right now? We have an extended interview with Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley on protest, policing and public trust. In response to Sir Mark's comments about the Attorney General's Office, an AGO spokesperson said: "There has been no delay in the charging process f...
Nov 01, 2023•39 min
So, three guesses whose WhatsApps gave us our episode title today. That’s right, Dominic Cummings was up in front of the Covid inquiry where we were given a glimpse of his affection for cabinet colleagues... We also heard from No10 Comms director Lee Cain - his pal - together they paint a picture of the dysfunction that dominated decision making in the early months of Covid. What do the WhatsApp messages really tell us? And is any of this helping those who want resolution and an explanation for ...
Oct 31, 2023•31 min
Emily and Jon host a weekly US politics podcast; giving you everything you need to know about the world of US politics and how it affects you. Episodes are available every Tuesday, on Global Player. Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
Oct 31, 2023•4 min
Israel began a prolonged ground invasion in northern Gaza this weekend, it continued targeted airstrikes in the region and temporarily cut off communications there. It says it wants to eliminate Hamas "surgically", but with so many civilians killed, what is Israel's endgame? Emily and Jon speak to Mark Regev - a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Israeli ambassador to the UK. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Social Media Edi...
Oct 30, 2023•39 min
Is Suella Braverman nailed on to be the next Tory leader? Will Donald Trump win the presidency from a prison cell? And...when are The News Agents going on tour? Emily, Jon and Montana correspondent Lewis Goodall answer your questions in this special edition of The News Agents. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Video Producers: Rory Symon & Ben Bate You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"...
Oct 27, 2023•37 min
Last night - after Israel's Prime Minister addressed the nation - the troops went into Gaza. It was a raid that paved the way for what Netanyahu promised would be the ground invasion to come. But what is the end game here? And are any of Israel's allies prepared to try and stop them? We talk to the Economist's Defence Editor Shashank Joshi about how Israel is preparing for war and what the end game might be. Also - has Keir Starmer done enough to reassure large Muslim communities - and others - ...
Oct 26, 2023•36 min
Labour Muslim MPs have had a long meeting with leader Keir Starmer in which they expressed their discontent with their leader for not explicitly calling on Israel to do more to save civilian life in Gaza. He’s also seen at least 23 councillors step down over their frustration with Labour's position. Does the Labour leader need to do more to offer reassurance to Muslim voters and MPs? And why is it so problematic to ask for a ceasefire? Editor: Tom Hughes Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Planning Prod...
Oct 25, 2023•29 min
Rishi Sunak’s premiership is almost one year old. Is this where the Tory party wants to be 12 months out from an election? Can a party that’s been in power for 13 years win again? And what has to happen to make that possible? We talk to Ben Riley-Smith author of The Right to Rule and political editor of The Telegraph. Editor: Tom Hughes Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Planning Producer: Alex Barnett Social Media Producer: Phoebe Dampare-Osei Video Producers: Rory Symon & Ben Bate You can listen ...
Oct 24, 2023•46 min
Emily and Jon host a weekly US politics podcast; giving you everything you need to know about the world of US politics and how it affects you. Episodes are available every Tuesday, on Global Player. Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
Oct 24, 2023•1 min
Should it be a crime to shout "jihad" on the streets of London during a protest to support Palestinian rights? The Home Secretary had a meeting with Met Commissioner Mark Rowley to ask why the police weren't prepared to arrest those seeking to incite "violence or hatred" on Britain's streets. Context is everything of course, and jihad can mean many things. So where does free speech collide with threatening behaviour - when hate crime has risen so sharply since the October 7th Hamas attacks? We s...
Oct 23, 2023•33 min
Two massive by-election losses in Tory heartland. Are Rishi Sunak's hopes of holding onto his premiership next year in tatters? They may still win Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire back in next year's general election, but that doesn't arrest the growing expectation that there is a distinct possibility the Conservatives could soon face electoral annihilation. We speak to Lara Spirit, editor of The Times' Red Box, to understand the political implications for the Tories and Sunak in the wake of last n...
Oct 20, 2023•49 min
Just one day after the US president Joe Biden, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is on the ground in Israel pleading for the lives of British hostages and facing calls from Netanyahu for Britain’s “continuous support “. Rishi like Biden, is walking a fine line. We talk to Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor of The Economist about what's next as Western leaders scramble in the search for de-escalation. And later - is Sam Bankman-Freid a crook or a victim of a political pile-on? Once anticipated to be the wor...
Oct 19, 2023•40 min
A deadly inhumane attack on a Gazan hospital by Israeli forces killing hundreds. Or, a failed rocket by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, aimed at Israel, landing accidentally in a hospital car park killing dozens. We are at that inevitable stage of the conflict where truth has become another casualty. How does Biden - who's just landed in Israel - attempt to forge a path of peace through such differing narratives? And what happens when the truth comes out, if no one chooses to believe it? We talk to L...
Oct 18, 2023•39 min
The Israeli military has denied that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but there are now reports of people drinking toilet water to survive. So will Joe Biden's visit tomorrow make any difference in the hope for peace in the middle east, and help accelerate a resolution to the current conflict? And will the Rafah crossing open into Egypt to allow for food and medical supplies into Gaza, and for the safe passage of people out? And as Humza Yousaf makes makes his first leader's speech at the...
Oct 17, 2023•34 min
Emily and Jon host a weekly US politics podcast; giving you everything you need to know about the world of US politics and how it affects you. Episodes are available every Tuesday, on Global Player. Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
Oct 17, 2023•2 min
Over the weekend, Palestinian flags flooded central London as thousands marched for 'Free Palestine'. But has legitimate support for the rights of Palestinian citizens been merged with more sinister support, or acquiescence of, the presence of Hamas, a deeply illiberal, misogynistic, homophobic and anti-semitic terrorist organisation, in Gaza and the Palestinian territories? And as Israel starts to evacuate parts of the north of the country - is Hezbollah - the Islamist militant group in Lebanon...
Oct 16, 2023•37 min
Israeli officials have told Gazan citizens to leave the north and head south ahead of a potential ground invasion - retaliating after a week of war crimes perpetrated by Hamas on Israeli soil. 1.1million people - the number of people roughly in Birmingham, trekking largely on foot, down one of two roads, in the middle of a war. Is that possible? Most think not. Are many, many thousands of Palestinian civilians about to get caught up in warfare that will see so many lives, on both sides, lost? Is...
Oct 13, 2023•41 min
There are an estimated 150 hostages in Gaza - all ages, all nationalities, some taken from their beds as they slept. How does Israel even begin to contemplate ground war when so many of its people are the other side of that border? And how do you begin to negotiate with terrorists when they've broken every rule of war with the sheer evil of their acts? We speak to an expert in hostage negotiation Rachel Briggs OBE. Later, we discuss the SNP defection to- checks notes - the Conservative party, an...
Oct 12, 2023•40 min
Keir Starmer was asked live on LBC how far he'd be prepared to see Israel go in response to Hamas. Would he support a blockade? A siege of Gaza? And that's where the questions get tough. Israel has the world's sympathies right now - but no one wants to see this escalated into an existential middle east war. Who is prepared to say so? And later, we talk about the new BBC drama about Jimmy Savile and "hiding in plain sight" with Meirion Jones, the journalist who first tried to tell the world Jimmy...
Oct 11, 2023•42 min
The News Agents at the Labour Party Conference: Day 2 If Sir Keir Starmer was looking for a bit of sparkle today in his Leader's speech he shouldn’t have worried: it came to find him in the shape of a glitter-throwing protestor before he’d had the chance to say a word. Undeterred, he took to shirt sleeves and spelled out a working class mantra of aspiration and renewal for a country on its knees. Was it enough? Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Plannin...
Oct 10, 2023•34 min
Emily and Jon host a weekly podcast; giving you everything you need to know about the world of US politics and how it affects you. Episodes are available every Tuesday, on Global Player. Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
Oct 10, 2023•1 min
The News Agents at the Labour Party Conference: Day 1 The Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves joins The News Agents following her speech in Liverpool. We discuss her plans to tax tech firms, her unwillingness to tax the rich and the Labour members carrying Palestinian flags outside the conference centre. We also talk about the war that has begun formally today in Israel, after Hamas carried out a series of terror attacks this weekend. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura...
Oct 09, 2023•57 min
In the biggest story of the past week - a flagship, important, party conference week for the Prime Minister, he announced the scrapping of the biggest infrastructure project in Britain in a decade. A project that many saw key to levelling up the north of the country. But, is 'scrapping' it even that easy, that possible? And what's to say what they've promised in its place will come to fruition? We then go to Scotland and a seismic result in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, where the Labour Party ha...
Oct 06, 2023•50 min
The Tory conference is over, but the next one - Labour - looms large. What will Sir Keir Starmer do with the new look rail plans? Will they resurrect HS2 or get into line behind Sunak's plans? And whilst the mood of the country may demand change, how confident is Labour or bringing them on side? Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Planning Producer: Alex Barnett Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith You can listen to this...
Oct 05, 2023•40 min
