As we record, the government is on standby in case Thames Water collapses. The country's largest water company has £14billion of debt, and is rudderless after the exit of their chief executive. It's prompting many to ask questions about privitisation more widely. How did bills get so high, as quality got so bad? That's before you even get on to the shit in the sea. We ask what we've learnt about taking essential industries out of public control. And, we discuss football, national identity, brexi...
Jun 28, 2023•37 min
Matt Hancock appeared before the Covid inquiry to offer a profound apology. He threw the government pandemic strategy under a bus with his assessment that the covid strategy had been “completely wrong“. Two years ago our gratitude to health workers knew no bounds. This week the harsh reality set in: as the PM confirmed he wouldn’t be able to meet the public pay review recommendations for wage rises. What does that say about our relationship with the NHS? And we talk to actor Tom Hollander curren...
Jun 27, 2023•36 min
On Saturday morning it looked like we might see the collapse of one of the world's longest standing dictators, Vladimir Putin. By Monday things were suspiciously calm, and the uprising against him - by his own former chef - was being flat out denied. So what just happened in Russia? Was it the start of a revolution? Or a massive mistake? Will this weaken Putin's grip or strengthen his hand? And what to make of the mercenary leader - Prigozhin- who is literally in it for the money? We talk war ta...
Jun 26, 2023•37 min
This week, the world has been captivated ( and wrapped up in hope) by the tragedy of the five people who've died in an attempt to visit the wreck of the Titanic. Jon sits in for Lewis this week and asks whether extreme tourism is going too far - whether we should push the boundaries of exploration (even if at potential great cost to others) and why the public; and the media, have been transfixed by the story. And we speak to Peter Kyle, Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, on the anniversary of Br...
Jun 23, 2023•33 min
For the thirteenth time in a row interest rates have gone up. They’re now at 5% - the highest level since 2008. What is the knock on effect for all of us paying mortgages? Why are we struggling so much more than other countries to bring down inflation? And what will the political ramifications to all this be - will it make it easier for Labour to win an election - or will people rally to their government at a time of crisis and prefer the devil they know, to the devil they don't?...
Jun 22, 2023•35 min
The world is watching a vessel we cant even find. Newsrooms are counting down the hours of oxygen they think are left in the Titan capsule. International rescue teams are putting resources and lives at risk to bring back the missing five. What drives our obssession with this story? And how comfortably does it sit when we know thousands of people die at sea every year. We hear from a former NASA Astronaut and accident investigator. We also talk to Spencer Matthews - his brother Michael died climb...
Jun 21, 2023•38 min
We have now learnt that just seven MPs supported Boris Johnson in last night's vote in parliament. But 235 of his colleagues abstained from it all together. Why was this so hard for the governing party? What does this tell us about the relationship between Rishi Sunak and his predecessor? And why was Theresa May the only former PM to make the case for its importance? We also ask the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley how many criminals he believes are still working within the police force - and wh...
Jun 20, 2023•38 min
The Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has just confirmed to The News Agents that the Met are looking at the video evidence of a party during lockdown - (thank you Sunday Mirror) with a view to opening another investigation. We have the full exchange on today's episode - and hear his views on politicians telling the Met how to do their jobs. Suella Braverman just suggested she'd fully support the Met 'ramping up stop and search'. Hmmm. We also ask why Rishi Sunak is trying to be anywhere else but ...
Jun 19, 2023•34 min
Boris Johnson has dominated the headlines this week. But, peek behind the bluster and noise, and the country has far bigger fish to fry. The question is whether Rishi Sunak's government, his five point plan, is more sashimi than seared. Boris Johnson distracts everybody. He's hard to avoid. But there's a cost- we ignore what is really driving our politics and voters. The truth is, when you dig down into the problems Rishi Sunak himself identified, many are worsening. In this episode, we go beyon...
Jun 16, 2023•45 min
Boris Johnson repeatedly knowingly misled the House of Commons, in other words he repeatedly lied. These are the conclusions and findings of Parliament's Privileges Committee, established unanimously by MPs to investigate claims Johnson knowingly misled them over partygate, thereby breaking rule no 1 of the British constitution: never *ever* lie to the Commons. It's a huge political day and although Johnson has already fled Parliament by resigning, the consequences ...
Jun 15, 2023•58 min
After the small matter of his federal indictment, Trump went back to doing what he does best - fundraising and shouting about witch hunts and pretending to be a political prisoner of sorts. Jon is in Miami, James Comey - the former FBI Director who created such a stir in the 2016 presidential election with his reinvestigation into Hillary Clinton - is in News Agents HQ. And Lewis has been catching up with PMQs and Peerages.
Jun 14, 2023•46 min
Welcome to The News Agents USA - a new weekly podcast hosted by Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel. Episodes are available every Tuesday on Global Player and on all other platforms from Wednesday.
Jun 13, 2023•46 sec
The News Agents are on the move this week. Jon is in Miami, where Donald Trump is due to be formally arraigned by a federal court. The man in the golfing gear brings us the latest from Florida and speaks to the legion of Mega die hards who have assembled outside the courthouse. Meanwhile, Lewis has been on his own tour of the central belt of Scotland, where the SNP are still reeling from the shock arrest of former leader and First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. He speaks to SNP MSP James Dornan and ...
Jun 13, 2023•39 min
How should an incumbent handle their big beast predecessor? Rishi Sunak discovered the satisfaction of a drive by shooting - accusing Boris Johnson of asking him to break the rules. Later on in the day, Johnson told LBC that Sunak's claims were "rubbish". In Scotland, Humza Yousaf has meanwhile refused to suspend his SNP mentor Nicola Sturgeon - arrested and released without charge over the weekend. What does this behaviour tell us about the way the parties are handing scandal in their midst? We...
Jun 12, 2023•45 min
Boris Johnson quits as an MP after being handed the findings of the Privileges Committee report into whether he knowingly misled parliament. In this emergency episode, Lewis (yes, him again), Emily and Jon pick apart this extraordinary day in UK politics.
Jun 09, 2023•32 min
Boris Johnson's long-awaited resignation honours list has been published. It means some of his closest aides throughout the partygate scandal will sit in the House of Lords for life, and his list also honours former cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel. Just minutes before the list came out, Nadine Dorries - the former culture secretary and a close ally of Boris Johnson - quit as an MP with immediate effect, triggering a by-election in her Mid-Bedfordshire seat, hours after she said...
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Rishi Sunak has reportedly waved through Boris Johnson's controversial and much-talked about honours list. Why? And what does this mean at the slightly grubbier end of British politics. Caroline Lucas is to step down from Parliament after 13 years of flying the Green Party flag. Is the beginning of a rebirth in left-wing politics, or is it more like the beginning of the end? And how does the newspaper industry cover Prince Harry when they’re part of the trial?
Jun 08, 2023•37 min
Golf as we know it has just been sold, kind of wholesale, to Saudi Arabia. The gulf state is acquiring lots of high end sports brands right now. And it's using sportswashing to reposition itself as a diplomat on the world stage. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has run into trouble with the unions by promising an end to new oil fields in the North Sea. He wants his own Inflation Reduction Act creating green jobs for the future. But can we afford it? And UFOs are no longer the stuff of conspiracy nutters ...
Jun 07, 2023•40 min
Prince Harry has blamed the tabloid press for the rift with his brother, the break up of former relationships and what he describes as a narrowing circle of friends. The Mirror - who he's suing today at the High Court - say he's been through a lot but technically it wasn't their hacking... So who is going to win this one? And as Mike Pence - Trump's former Vice President - enters the race to be President of the USA, we talk to a man who thinks neither will make it to the final round. Anthony Sca...
Jun 06, 2023•43 min
MPs are allowed to donate however much they wish of their private money to whomever they chose. In 2018, as per The Mirror, when Rishi Sunak was just an MP - the family donated more than 3 million dollars to a private tech college in California - previously attended by his wife. Fast forward to 2023 where a primary school in his constituency has spent nearly a year fundraising to find 10k to buy school kids computers. We talk to a mum who's been at the coalface of the bake sales and is wondering...
Jun 05, 2023•41 min
The government has taken the Covid inquiry, that it set up and poured so much public and private faith in, to court. What the f•••?! We try to make sense of this with Lara Spirit of The Times And.. is the mortgage market fast becoming a serious economic crisis in the UK?
Jun 02, 2023•34 min
Boris Johnson has, finally, and perhaps reluctantly, handed over a ton of WhatsApp messages between him and others while he was PM at the height of the Covid pandemic. But what will the Cabinet Office do with him, and what does this mean for Johnson, Sunak and the Conservative Party? And, we talk to a spokesperson and member of Just Stop Oil. When do the ends justify the means when it comes to civil disobedience? Are they now crossing a line?
Jun 01, 2023•37 min
Keir Starmer's column on Wednesday morning in right-wing tabloid newspaper The Express is another step in the Labour leader's transformation from all guns blazing Remainer to born again Brexiteer. But he's not the first Labour leader to turn to the right-leaning press to prove his prime ministerial credentials as the next general election draws ever closer. What does this mean for Labour and where does this leave Britain's place in the world, and its relationship with Europe if Labour are the ne...
May 31, 2023•32 min
It started with a tabloid story that a male and female presenter on daytime TV were no longer getting on. Big deal. It was accompanied by darker rumours about Philip Schofield, a fixture on television for decades. And then the wisps of smoke on a hillside became a full scale wildfire, tearing through ITV. His relationship with a much younger man have now turned this into a daytime chat show into peak time drama, and questions are now growing for ITV senior management. An ITV statement on Saturda...
May 30, 2023•36 min
London Mayor Sadiq Khan joins Lewis Goodall on The News Agents in a wide-ranging interview shedding light on working with Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Rishi Sunak. He also talks about his PTSD after getting death threats and his new book, Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency.
May 26, 2023•32 min
We'll be looking at sex, lies and Downing Street later in this episode with a writer who worked in Number10 - and we'll be asking if politicians REALLY want an honest conversation about Immigration - but we begin with the newest launch failure by Elon Musk. This one involved not a rocket but a presidential candidate - who thinks he can beat Donald Trump. If that was ever true, it feels much more unlikely today after the campaign launch went up in flames.
May 25, 2023•32 min
Does it matter if Boris Johnson broke more Covid rules by inviting guests to his country home, Chequers, when the rest of the country was in lockdown? His former advisor Guto Harri says it's time to get over it. There are more important things to discuss. But we're not so sure the country is quite so ready to forgive and move on. What does it say about the country in which we live, if rules no longer count and if the civil servants who report wrongdoing are threatened with legal action? Later we...
May 24, 2023•40 min
Celebrations at Newcastle United as they qualify for the Champions League. It's a success story for the club, team and fans - but it's all been helped by new money from their Saudi backers. Today we look at a future of football as nation states - securing victories on the pitch, battling geopolitics off it. And we look at the investigation by The Athletic journalist Adam Crafton, who reveals the pressure Boris Johnson's government brought to bear on the Premier League during the Saudi takeover o...
May 23, 2023•37 min
Did Home Secretary Suella Braverman break the ministerial code by asking civil servants to help her avoid a public speed awareness course? She insists there's nothing to see here - she's taken the points on her licence and wants to move on. Her allies insist she's the victim of a smear campaign by those who don't like her immigration policies. But today on the News Agents we talk to former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland who asks what she was doing at the National Conservatism conference, and ...
May 22, 2023•33 min
When Matt Hancock visited News Agents HQ yesterday, he repeatedly refused to answer questions about decisions he made in government during the pandemic. And it got us thinking about why so many politicians struggle to admit when they’ve got things wrong. Today Lewis asks why is it - in politics - that sorry always seems to be the hardest word?
May 19, 2023•29 min
