Forget those apocalyptic predictions of a thousand lost Conservative council seats. In the end the losses totalled 1,063. Every Conservative strategist thinks ‘something must be done’. But what is that something? More house building? More tax cuts? More ‘true Conservative’ values? More Boris? We talk to former Brexit minister David Davis about his party and what it does next.
The results are in. And it was a complete drubbing for Rishi Sunak’s Tories. His first big electoral test and it can only go down as one massive fail. Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens are reviving in every direction. The Prime Minister is putting a brave face on it, but do the results suggest the Conservatives are doomed at the polls in 2024? In this election special show Lewis takes you through the results and what we can glean from Election 2023.
America's First Lady has just flown in for the King's coronation - without her husband the President. Donald Trump calls it 'disgraceful'. But today on The News Agents we get reaction from the Ambassador herself. Why are Americans so obsessed with our monarchy? Is Biden too old to run again?What mistakes have been made within the special relationship? And what is her favourite British swear word? You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents i...
New laws to curb the power of protest have been pushed through parliament - just days before the Coronation. Penalties include a 12 month prison sentence for protestors who block roads. Are we happy to see more powers in the hands of the police? And how do they feel about the new obligation to arrest? Also - is Sue Gray going to be allowed to take her new job? And will Simon Case be able to keep his? A former permanent secretary says no… You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-playe...
Keir Starmer has admitted the Labour party will 'move on' from his original commitment to abandon tuition fees. What does that mean? Is there a solution to what is essentially a bad graduate tax? And why should we believe pledges that keep on getting torn up? Also, as Princess Anne unironically endorses the current size of the monarchy, we ask how we feel about the Coronation and the pledge of allegiance to our King. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Vid...
Richard Sharp - the embattled, embroiled BBC Chairman has resigned after a report by The Commissioner for Public Appointments found a perceived conflict of interest and a breach of the Governance Code. But this story goes much wider than one man, one job and an £800k loan to Boris Johnson. It asks questions of the institutions that run Britain: a 'jobs for the boys culture’, a toxic legacy bestowed by the former Prime Minister, and questions about the Cabinet Secretary’s conduct. Where does this...
For the first time ever, voter ID will be required at the polling stations next week for the May local council elections in England. It may not seem like a big ask - many countries in Europe already demand it. Yet it's triggering alarm bells. Why has the government introduced a solution to a problem (voter fraud) that didn't exist? Why has it restricted the kinds of ID you're allowed to bring? And why has it refused to accept the advice - even from senior Conservatives - saying the changes could...
The renting crisis in Britain is unsustainable. More than sixty percent of private renters faced a rent rise last year - and they're already spending around 32 percent of their income on housing. Today on The News Agents we hear from those who are struggling to even get on the rental ladder - properties are massively over subscribed. Some tenants are putting down payments on flats they haven't even seen. Others are seeing deposits withheld and are blamed (and charged) for the disrepairs their la...
As Prince Harry brings his case against the News Group Newspapers (Murdoch) at the High Court, his lawyers have made an astonishing allegation: that his brother, Prince William, reached a payout over claims his phone had been hacked. News of the settlement revealed in court documents - show the late Queen was involved in “discussions and authorisation” of the agreement. The judge may yet decide to throw the case out for coming too late. But if not Harry, we are told, is determined to see it thro...
Stay indoors! We continue to advise all British nationals in Sudan to stay indoors wherever possible. We recognise circumstances will vary in different locations. You should exercise your own judgement about your circumstances, including whether to relocate at your own risk. This is the current advice from the Foreign Office - who have managed to evacuate UK diplomatic staff, but are struggling to help up to 3,000 UK citizens stuck in the warzone that is Sudan - many now fearing for their lives....
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has resigned. The inquiry into whether he bullied staff has finally been published. Its conclusion? Raab is a bully. Lewis explores the reports findings and asks what it means for one of his closest allies — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
Tom Parker Bowles is a food writer and critic with strong views on coronation chicken, UK farming and... of course, quiche. His mum is about to be crowned Queen - so today we chat about the monarchy, the dos and don'ts of royal food, protest and a certain Harry. And we chat through the political ramifications of Rishi Sunak's response to the bullying inquiry into Dominic Raab. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Or...
This is your midweek episode of Succession. Because Rupert Murdoch - aka Logan Roy - has shelled out nearly 800 million dollars to settle a defamation suit brought by Dominion - a company that makes voting machines. Fox News had tried to claim the voting machines manipulated the result of the 2020 presidential election to make Trump lose. Which was clearly bollocks. Late last night, Fox settled out of court - to make the trial of the century go away. Today we get inside the Murdoch mind with for...
Another high profile arrest in the SNP. This time, Party Treasurer Colin Beattie - who was called in for questioning in the inquiry into party finances - specifically the concerns over £600,000 raised by supporters to fund a second independence referendum. It's been a rocky few weeks since Sturgeon announced her resignation in February. The arrest of her husband and Chief Executive of the SNP, the blue evidence tent in their garden, the removal of a camper van from the in-laws in Dunfermline, le...
Animal Rights Protestors are being blamed for the death of a racehorse at the Grand National this weekend after they forced a delay which - trainers say - agitated the animals. Animal Rising - the protestors - say: Don't blame us - horses are dying on racecourses; with or without the delays. But they're delighted we're now having a conversation about animal cruelty, sport and what happens to thoroughbred horses if racing stops. We speak to Ed Chamberlin who saw it all unfold with his own eyes - ...
If you thought the overturning of Roe v Wade- the constitutional right to an abortion in the United States was the end of it in 2022, then 2023 has other ideas. Or rather the radical, anti-abortion groups in the United States have other ideas. Just this week, Florida’s Governor (and presidential hopeful) Republican Ron DeSantis introduced a six week abortion ban in the third biggest state in the country. And in Texas, a Trump-appointed judge ruled that a drug used in over 50% of abortions in Ame...
China's President Xi Jinping has told his troops they should be ready for real combat. So now we are wondering if Taiwan will be the next Ukraine. It comes after a week of China sabre-rattling in the Taiwan straits - surrounding the island on all sides with a blockade. France's President Macron is just back from Beijing where he's set the cat amongst the pigeon's with some ill-judged comments about Taiwan. In fact, the Elysee Palace thought them so ill-judged they ordered their removal from the ...
We've been told off-record that Joe Biden might be Irish. Obviously, unattributable. So keep it under your hat. He's the latest in a long line of US Presidents who feels the pull of the Emerald Isle very strongly and traces his ancestry back there by 180 years. But he begins the day in Belfast - reflecting on the Good Friday peace accord 25 years ago. But can he get power-sharing back on track? Or is he too scared to even mention it? And we look at the delights and dangers of a world exclusive i...
Labour’s Easter weekend attack ads about the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak specifically have been called 'politics of the gutter' by, awkwardly, Labour’s former Home Secretary David Blunkett. Lewis is joined by Steve Reed, the party’s Shadow Justice Secretary, who was behind the campaign. He, as you’ll hear is entirely unapologetic. Is this the start of a new period of a more vicious politics? And NHS surgeons may be about to face their own #MeToo moment, with female surgeons coming forward to s...
There are two questions that accompany any political scandal. What did you know and when did you know it? After questioning Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell for eleven hours yesterday, police are back at their Glasgow house, and there's still a blue evidence tent in the garden. It comes just a week after the leadership election of new SNP First Minister Humza Yousaf, seen as the Sturgeon succession candidate. So what should we make of the timing of all this? And what are the political imp...
When we left you Trump was on the cusp of entering the Manhattan criminal court as an arrested man. That didn't go well. A door was flung shut in his face. And the indignities began. In this special all-nighter episode of The News Agents we take you through the charges against him, the reaction, the defence and the speech to his supporters in Mar-a-Lago. We speak to a key member of Trump's campaign team who was with him in the wings moments before he went on stage. You can watch our episodes in ...
Donald Trump will today become the first US president to appear in court on criminal charges. He arrived in NYC late yesterday and will shortly be heading to Lower Manhattan District Court to have his fingerprints taken and hear the 34 charges of improper business dealings being levelled against him. Will the criminal charges stack up? Will Trump keep his cool? And will his supporters take to the streets in protest? In Part One we take you through the process step-by-step. In Part 2 - tomorrow m...
Rishi Sunak has pledged to end the 'political correctness' that stops police arresting child sex abusers from ethnic minority backgrounds. The scandals of Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford show how badly things can go wrong for victims when the perpetrators are seen to be beyond the law. But Labour's West Yorkshire mayor has called it 'dog whistle politics' - and some are wondering why the Conservatives are borrowing the far right language of Tommy Robinson. Is it possible to have a nuanced debate? A...
For the first time in American history a former president has been indicted (charged) with a criminal offence. Donald Trump will appear in a New York court on Tuesday afternoon. Do the charges stack up? Will they help Trump or hinder Trump? And how is this unprecedented moment going to impact the Presidential Race of 2024.? Spoiler alert - you can actually campaign from behind bars... You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global P...
Ten years on from the horse meat crisis, a new scandal has engulfed almost the entire food retail sector. Huge quantities of foreign pork - sometimes tens of thousands of tonnes a week - has been passed off, fraudulently as British. One meat processor - who can't be named for legal reasons - has been accused by former employees of 'washing' hams that are visibly rotten, or mixing bad meat with fresh produce. They even allege paperwork - which would pick up infections like bacteria or E.coli - wa...
THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS TO BE HOUSED ON LUXURY CRUISE SHIP screamed the headline in the Daily Express. That was in February of 2016. And it never happened. The idea has been mooted in various ways about ten times in the last decades - including by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor in 2020. Each time the idea is dropped for being unworkable, unaffordable or illegal. So why do we keep falling for it? Also - should the descendants of slave owners be making reparations to the people or the places the...
Jeremy Corbyn will not be allowed to stand for Labour at the next election. That’s despite the fact he’s been an MP in Islington North since 1983 and led Labour at two general elections- nothing like it has ever happened before. Jon and Lewis explain why Labour’s ruling body has made the move and why Labour’s left might not be as weak as you might think. And the News Agents are joined by a secret agent, or at least someone, who was. Sir Richard Dearlove was the head of MI6 during the Iraq War. T...
More mass protests in the streets- this time in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the rest of Israel. Millions of Israelis believe their democracy to be in jeopardy. The airport is blocked, universities out of action, a general strike has been called. Even the diplomats won’t go to work. With academic and expert Ayala Panievsky, we explain why so many - both within the Israeli state and in the population at large - believe Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to transform the country’s judicial system to be a gro...
In this special episode of The News Agents, Lewis travels to Paris to find out why the City of Lights is on fire. Amidst the tear gas, the riot police, the stun grenades and the flames, The News Agents ask- what's happened? why is it this bad? And why could this riot be the start of a new, far-right, European order? It all comes as huge protests have erupted across France after President Emmanuel Macron forced through a rise in the country’s pension age. You can watch our episodes in full at htt...
Keir Starmer spent the morning in Stoke-on-Trent. Not WOKE-on-Trent, as one hilarious Tory Red-wall-er reminded him. But attempts to fire up the culture war are something Rishi Sunak wants no part in. And recent polling suggests it's the right call. Today we look at the state of play of the two main political parties and what the numbers are currently telling us -with James Kanagasoorium of Focaldata. And we ask whether we mind have a billionaire prime minister who pays a million pound tax bill....
