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
Rishi Sunak was on his feet in a speech that was frankly too long. It ripped up HS2 and replaced it with a nebulous Northern Network pledge. It promised to rethink A levels and ban young people from smoking. There was nothing on housing, energy, social care , the environment - it felt, indeed, like the end of the road. Has he convinced anyone he is the future ? And what will Labour do with the cancelled project now? Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Pl...
Oct 04, 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 04, 2023•53 sec
The News Agents at the Conservative Party Conference: Day 2 What does Conservatism look like in 2023? At their party conference in Manchester this year, the right of the party are being very vocal about redefining how their party looks. We hear from the politican whose drawn the biggest crowds at the event this year... not a government monster but former UKIP leader, Nigel Farage. And the PM still hasn't announced his decision on the northern leg of HS2 - we talk to West Midlands Mayor Andy Stre...
Oct 03, 2023•37 min
The News Agents at the Conservative Party Conference: Day 1 The queue to see the former PM stretched right the way through the Midland Hotel in Manchester. And it wasn’t to see her apologise for the chaos she caused to the economy a year ago. No, these are die hard Trussites. They love her, hate taxes and want to rip up regulation. She’s the most popular politician here - and that’s a headache for the PM who still hasn’t got his lines straight on major policy announcements that appear utterly mu...
Oct 02, 2023•37 min
Northern France is full of the ghosts of British history. Today it haunts our present. The News Agents went undercover and spoke directly to a people smuggler - who traffics asylum seekers across the Channel in small boats for thousands of pounds a traveller. Lewis reports from the beaches of Dunkirk. Field Producer & Newsgathering Producer: Rory Symon Editor: Gabriel Radus Executive Editor: Tom Hughes Commissioning Editor: Vicky Etchells The News Agents Investigates is presented by Lewis Go...
Sep 30, 2023•23 min
Michael Heseltine is a politician with a long political memory. He heard Neville Chamberlain declare war on Germany in 1939. He saw Suez unfold. He attended Churchill’s funeral. He’s served Conservative prime minister after Conservative prime minister and became the man who eventually even brought down Margaret Thatcher. He never reached the highest office himself, but having seen so many who did up close, and witnessed so much of Britain’s political journey over the last century, there can be f...
Sep 29, 2023•38 min
Rishi Sunak has refused to answer whether his government is set to scrap the Northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester. The indecision is already creating division within the Conservative Party ahead of the party conference next week. So today we ask whether Rishi Sunak really cares about the north of England. And we look at the latest "flip-flop" from Labour leader Keir Starmer. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Planning Producer: Alex Bar...
Sep 28, 2023•32 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.
Sep 28, 2023•55 sec
Laurence Fox's weird sexist rant last night on GB News got short shrift from the organisation which immediately suspended him from the platform, and followed on later by suspending their presenter, Dan Wootton. But GB news has still got plenty of presenters on its books who spout conspiracy, confect outrage, and misinform. This didnt come from nowhere - so why is everyone suddenly arguing this is a turning point for the fledgling broadcaster? We discuss the growth and the direction of GB News. L...
Sep 27, 2023•40 min
Suella Braverman wants to make it harder for people to call themselves a refugee. She's in Washington setting out her case for a major overhaul of the UN Refugee Convention - signed in 1951 in the aftermath of the Second World War (but updated continually since). She says the numbers of people crossing the channel now make it unsustainable. Is she right? And where are her numbers coming from.... Also today we speak to Naomi Klein on the war against objective truth - her new book is about being c...
Sep 26, 2023•40 min
