On 15 September 2008 the world changed forever. The collapse of Lehman Brothers Bank heralded the financial crash and the worst recession in 60 years. It would change our politics - perhaps forever. One man predicted the scale and depth of what was to come - the chancellor who fought to stabilise the UK economy on the brink of collapse. That was Alistair Darling, whose death was announced this afternoon. Today we look at the impact that extraordinary time and his critical interventions had on th...
Nov 30, 2023•40 min
With The Telegraph newspaper up for sale we are asking a wider question about who owns our news. Does it matter if foreign parties have a stake ? Does it matter if foreign governments do? And can an owner remain truly impartial when their business depends upon it? We discuss the intersection between politics, newspaper coverage and big money. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Planning Producer: Alex Barnett Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Pr...
Nov 29, 2023•38 min
Rishi Sunak has cancelled a meeting with the visiting Greek PM. Downing Street says it was because he raised the issue of the return of the Elgin Marbles/Parthenon Sculptures on the BBC, after expressly being asked not to. The Greeks say no such deal was ever made, and they didn't fancy a downgraded meeting with the Deputy PM Oliver Dowden. Meanwhile Keir Starmer's team say he had a very productive meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis on immigration and security - and they find it odd that a NATO al...
Nov 28, 2023•33 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.
Nov 28, 2023•2 min
Net migration is at an all-time high. Almost three times higher - ironically - than before the Brexit vote. If everyone agrees it’s unsustainable then which parts of it do we want cut? And if migrants are actually plugging vital gaps in our economy then why can’t we say so? Also today - New Zealand has just U-turned on its smoking ban. Will we stick to ours? And where is Labour now on that 28 billion pounds promised for green spending… Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: ...
Nov 27, 2023•42 min
Oscar-winning and BAFTA-winning actress Olivia Colman joins The News Agents in a rare broadcast interview to talk about her work: on screen, and off-screen with the charity she's a patron of: Tender. Together with Susie McDonald - CEO of Tender - she explains the importance of preventative efforts iin domestic violence cases in supplementing the work of charities supporting survivors of abuse. And she talks the new season of The Crown, the writers strike and how press intrusion has radically cha...
Nov 26, 2023•30 min
As Israel and Hamas exchange hostages for prisoners, the worst riots in decades break out on the streets of Dublin (at the egging on of one Conor McGregor) and a far-right, anti-Islam populist wins in the socially liberal, deeply pro-EU Netherlands - what's happened in the world after a fortnight of all-consuming British political psychodrama. Lewis talks to Secunder Kermani, Channel 4's Foreign Correspondent who's spent most of the last 2 months on the ground Israel, POLITICO EU's Dutch reporte...
Nov 24, 2023•38 min
A quick trip to Downing Street for The News Agents today and an interview with the Chancellor fresh from his Autumn Statement. How does he explain those real term cuts to public spending? What does he make of todays immigration figures? And does he miss Suella? Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Rory Symon & James Cropper You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News...
Nov 23, 2023•25 min
The government is running out of chances to change the course of politics. Today’s Autumn Statement was one of them. It was billed by PM Rishi Sunak and Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, as a tax-cutting budget, a reward for the tough economic decisions they’d taken earlier. But have they really cut your taxes? And is the economic situation really much improved since they told us there was no room for cutting taxes? Forget the spin, this is what the Autumn Statement really told us about where our economy...
Nov 22, 2023•33 min
In the past couple of days, the Covid Inquiry has seen the two most powerful scientists in the country during the height of the pandemic - Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance - give evidence. What they've said has intensified the spotlight on Rishi Sunak - the architect of Eat Out to Help Out - of which testimony has revealed scientists weren't aware before the scheme was rolled out. Is this intensifying the pressure on the PM? And, ahead of the budget - tax cuts. But what kind? Are ...
Nov 21, 2023•42 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.
Nov 21, 2023•1 min
What should the government do if the Supreme Court calls their policy unlawful? Simples. Just change the law. It’s not the Christmas cracker joke answer for some in the Conservative Party who are actively trying to get the PM to do just that. Today, a former Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland, spells out the damage that would do. Later, we ask what the decapitation of Sam Altman at the top of OpenAI tells us. Was he going too fast towards an unregulated AI world? And is it too late to put the geni...
Nov 20, 2023•42 min
Lewis travels up to Aberdeenshire to speak exclusively - and at length- to the Leader of the Opposition - Sir Keir Starmer after the mother of all British political weeks. Editor: Gabriel Radus Social Media Editor & Video Production: Rory Symon Field Production: Gabriel Radus & Rory Symon You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents". And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.co...
Nov 17, 2023•35 min
Jess Philips - one of the 8 frontbenchers who voted against the Labour whip last night - gives her first interview to us since resigning last night from her position as Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding- to 'vote with her constituents and her heart'. Will this damage party morale and weaken Keir Starmer? Or will it show a different side to the politics of disagreement? Also, Rishi Sunak is undaunted by yesterday's excoriating judgmenet from the Supreme Court, making his Rwan...
Nov 16, 2023•38 min
Within minutes of the Supreme Court ruling - that the government’s Rwanda scheme was ’unlawful’. Deputy chairman Lee Anderson was out of the traps saying ministers should ‘go ahead and put planes in the air to Rwanda anyway’. He has a way with words. But 50 other Tory colleagues weren’t that far off the sentiment, urging Rishi to change UK immigration law to make it work. The government was warned - by the Lords - a year ago the whole scheme would be found unlawful. But perhaps this was never ab...
Nov 15, 2023•33 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.
Nov 15, 2023•2 min
Who is in charge of cabinet now, with two prime ministers sitting around the table? And are they aligned on domestic, as well as foreign policy? One day after Westminster was knocked off it’s feet by the reshuffle how is the move going down in the rest of the country. And what exactly IS a minister for common sense? Later - those protests, the ceasefire and the Labour vote. AND we have our own merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Ga...
Nov 14, 2023•33 min
By 9am this morning, Suella began her own lifestyle choice of homelessness - sacked as Home Secretary. But the big news was still to come. David Cameron emerged from Number 10 Downing Street as both a) the new Foreign Secretary and b) a Lord. This reshuffle has definitely given the Rishi's cabinet a Pulp Fiction-style adrenalin shot to the heart. But will it put him back in control of the political agenda? From what we've seen so far, the patrician centrists are back in control and the populists...
Nov 13, 2023•34 min
Emily reports from Georgia, the eye of the Donald Trump legal storm, where he was caught on tape trying to get an election official to 'find' him more votes to win the 2020 election. A year out from 2024, is this purple state closer to staying blue or turning MAGA red? The latter could tip the election in Trump's favour. And she heads to South Carolina, to find out about the woman who could well be waiting in the wings in case Trump falls foul of his legal woes. ---- Emily and Jon host a weekly ...
Nov 11, 2023•45 min
Suella Braverman is (still) the Home Secretary. That's despite ongoing calls from within her own party for the Prime Minister to sack her for comments she made about the police and so-called 'hate-marches' in an article in The Times, which wasn't signed off by No.10. We speak to senior backbench Tory Tim Loughton, author of The New Snobbery David Skelton, as well as More In Common's Luke Tryl - and we ask who Suella's extreme politics and language really speaks for. Later, we look at the far-rig...
Nov 10, 2023•37 min
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
