If you are raped in London today, you could be waiting until 2030 for a trial. Justice secretary David Lammy has stated that 60 per cent of rape victims drop their cases whilst waiting for the trial. Rape Crisis estimates 1 in 6 women go to the police. Oli Dugmore is joined by Labour MP Natalie Fleet, who has written for the New Statesman on the fight for justice for victims of rape. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them ...
Dec 10, 2025•42 min
Why does the Reform leader spend so much time in the US? Freddie Hayward has been speaking to him to find out. -- Winston Churchill had an American mother. Boris Johnson was a dual citizen. But if Nigel Farage makes it to Downing Street, he’ll have closer ties to the US than any other British PM. That’s the argument of our correspondent Freddie Hayward, who joins Oli Dugmore on Daily Politics. He's been speaking to Farage and the MAGA figures he calls friends to find out how the Reform leader ho...
Dec 09, 2025•28 min
Keir Starmer described Green party policy as “nuts” and “dangerous” in an interview with the Observer yesterday. But is he underestimating one of Labour’s biggest threats? And is Starmer alienating a generation of young voters who might run into the arms of Zack Polanski? Rachel Cunliffe is joined by George Eaton and Will Dunn. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every mo...
Dec 08, 2025•42 min
As the UK grapples with cost of living pressures, geopolitical shocks and a shifting political landscape, the case for net zero remains strong - but the story around it seems to have stalled. How can policymakers, businesses and campaigners reconnect climate action with public priorities such as jobs, growth, energy security and household bills? In this episode host Jon Bernstein is joined by Benj Sykes, UK Country Manager at Ørsted, Polly Billington, Labour MP and founder of Climate 100, and Da...
Dec 07, 2025•29 min
Is the Labour Party holding true to its founding principles? Have we lost trust in the police? Are we in a recession? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Luke O’Reilly and Rachel Cunliffe to answer your questions. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...
Dec 06, 2025•29 min
A recent result from pollsters Find Out Now has put Labour support at just 14%, behind Reform, the Tories and the Greens. Just how bad are these polling numbers for Labour? Oli Dugmore is joined by the New Statesman’s senior data journalist and polling expert Ben Walker to discuss. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via emai...
Dec 05, 2025•29 min
Four senior Labour politicians are on manoeuvres. Ailbhe Rea reveals who's in the running to replace Keir Starmer. -- Keir Starmer has become desperately unpopular. All eyes now are looking towards the May 2026 local elections. A disappointing performance by Labour could prompt the Prime Minister to resign. And senior Labour figures are already positioning themselves to replace him. Ailbhe Rea and Rachel Cunliffe join Anoosh Chakelian to explore the most likely candidates, and the impact their m...
Dec 04, 2025•36 min
After months of deliberation it’s been decided, it’s not our party, it’s not their party, it’s Your Party. This weekend, thousands of the new left party’s delegates flooded into a conference centre in Liverpool to try and decide the future life and fate of the movement. But in keeping with the last 5 months of trials and tribulations, in-fighting and spats between the co-founding camps of Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn, things didn’t run smoothly. Is it his party? Or her party? And is this real...
Dec 03, 2025•28 min
In the past three weeks, 12 prisoners have been accidentally released - Justice Secretary David Lammy announced this morning. This is in addition to the 91 who’ve also been mistakenly freed in England and Wales in the last six months. It’s fair to say, the justice system is in a bad way - leaking from the sides. Trying his best to mop this up, Lammy also announced today that jury trials in England and Wales should be scrapped except for in extreme cases. Oli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe ...
Dec 02, 2025•24 min
Keir Starmer has backed Rachel Reeves – but the Prime Minister has miscalculated. After weekend front pages accused the Chancellor of lying about the "fiscal black hole" which, Reeves says, necessitated last week's tax-and-spend budget, the PM has given a speech supporting Reeves and saying he's "proud" of the budget. Meanwhile polling reveals a majority believe "the cost of living crisis will never end", and see no hope for improvements in their immediate future. Tom McTague and Rachel Cunliffe...
Dec 01, 2025•30 min
Another bit has fallen off Labour’s car as its MPs flee Westminster and bid a hasty retreat to their constituencies. This time, Labour has been accused of breaking another manifesto promise by pulling a major one eighty on workers rights. Oli Dugmore is joined by Ailbhe Rea. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every...
Nov 29, 2025•24 min
It’s Black Friday and consumers are hunting for bargains. However, are Brits spending more and more money on goods that are getting worse and worse? Will Dunn joins Anoosh Chakelian to discuss his theory of "crapflation". Will also spent time this week in an enormous pile of trash, dumped by organised criminals in a field in Oxfordshire. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newslette...
Nov 28, 2025•27 min
While many on the left were calling for a wealth tax, yesterday the Chancellor delivered a smorgasbord of stealth taxes. How will this platter of sneaky revenue streams boost the government’s finances? And what does it mean in the longterm, economically, for the country? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman's business editor, Will Dunn, and political editor, Ailbhe Rea. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them eve...
Nov 27, 2025•27 min
Tax in Britain will rise to an all-time high following Rachel Reeves’ budget. The Chancellor has unveiled her latest budget. She’s promised to remove the two-child benefit cap, freeze income tax brackets and introduce a new mansion tax. Labour deny they are breaking their manifesto pledge to avoid raising income tax, while critics claim the freeze is doing just that. The Office for Budget Responsibility, who disastrously published their assessment before the Chancellor had made her statement to ...
Nov 26, 2025•24 min
The Chancellor has admitted that the economy feels stuck. But will tomorrow’s budget, which promises to “grip the cost of living” and looks likely to freeze income tax thresholds, actually do anything to help? Oli Dugmore is joined by the New Statesman's editor Tom McTague and political editor Ailbhe Rea. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best...
Nov 25, 2025•42 min
This summer, MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana announced the launch of the provisionally named ‘Your Party’. The new party was created to fill a gap on the left-wing of British politics that many believe Keir Starmer and his Labour government are ignoring. However, the launch process has not been smooth. Our political correspondent Megan Kenyon has been following all the updates from Your Party, and secured this exclusive interview with Jeremy Corbyn. They discuss whether Corbyn will lead the ...
Nov 24, 2025•33 min
For so long a fixture of public debate in the US, the software company Palantir is now increasingly being talked about here in Britain. In September the UK government announced a £1.5bn investment by Palantir in the military. It already has contracts with the police and the NHS. So, should we be worried? Tanjil Rashid is joined by journalist James Vincent. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily...
Nov 22, 2025•32 min
Whilst Your Party and the Green Party attempt to occupy the space on the left of British politics that they feel Labour has abandoned, our listener asks, what about the British communist parties? Oli Dugmore is joined by Tom McTague to discuss this, along with other listener questions on political briefings to the press and whether Labour can make a comeback. READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/the-sketch/2025/11/britains-young-communists-are-ready-for-revolution LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Downl...
Nov 21, 2025•42 min
Shabana Mahmood was back in the Commons today outlining her controversial immigration plans. Meanwhile, Clive Lewis said he’d give up his seat for Andy Burnham and a Labour MP defects to the Greens. In the second half of the podcast, Calum Weir from Labour Together tells us what really matters to Britain. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe and Ailbhe Rea. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get...
Nov 20, 2025•43 min
Meet the money men with Britain's future in their hands. * Next week Rachel Reeves will deliver her budget and, for all the talk of fiscal rules, headroom and tax rises, there is a higher power she must contend with. When the Chancellor goes for meetings in the City, she is rarely introduced to the people whose job it is to press the button on buying or selling several hundred million pounds’ worth of gilts. It is to these people that we have been speaking in the run-up to the Budget. You would ...
Nov 19, 2025•35 min
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has set out her plans for the biggest shake up of asylum laws in 40 years. It divided the Labour party, impressed some Conservatives and even earned the home sec an invite to join Reform. But what will it mean in the long term for Britain, and for the families affected? Oli Dugmore is joined by Anoosh Chakelian and Rachel Cunliffe. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our...
Nov 18, 2025•32 min
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, has unveiled a series of changes to the migration and asylum system. The plans, which have been trailed over the weekend, have been met with scorn from within the Labour party. “This approach isn’t just morally wrong” the MP Richard Burgeon tweeted earlier today, “it’s politically disastrous.” Oli Dugmore is joined by Ethan Croft. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Ge...
Nov 17, 2025•26 min
"If he feels talking about his favourite novel is politically disadvantageous, that's a sad state of affairs" - David Szalay on Keir Starmer's reading habits. -- David Szalay is the winner of the 2025 Booker Prize for Fiction. He disputes claims that his novel, Flesh, is a tale of modern masculinity as reviewers have claimed. Though it certainly explores the male expression of emotion. In Flesh, Szalay's protagonist, István, navigates sexual grooming, violence and prison before rising to the ran...
Nov 16, 2025•22 min
We share our strategy advice for the Labour rebels allegedly trying to oust Keir Starmer. Ailbhe Rea and Luke O'Reilly join Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions. In this episode: What's the best strategy for Labour rebels hoping to dethrone Starmer? How much power does a party chair wield? Can any politicians affect positive change? LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsle...
Nov 15, 2025•19 min
After weeks of preparing to break their manifesto pledge, Starmer and Reeves have ditched their plans to raise income tax. They’re scared it would have angered their MPs and voters, amid a dire performance in the polls. How will Reeves plug the £30 billion gap in public finances if she doesn’t raise income tax? Oli Dugmore is joined by Ailbhe Rea and Will Dunn to discuss. READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/morning-call/2025/11/whats-behind-labours-income-tax-u-turn LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Do...
Nov 14, 2025•28 min
The BBC is still reeling from the dramatic resignation announcement of its director general Tim Davie on Sunday. Rachel Cunliffe gets Lewis Goodall’s insider perspective, drawing on his time working on BBC’s Newsnight programme. Lewis also shares his thoughts on the leadership threats surrounding Keir Starmer. READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2025/11/trumps-attack-can-rescue-the-bbc LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question –...
Nov 13, 2025•34 min
Labour hit its lowest-ever poll rating last week, coming fourth at just 17 per cent. Westminster is full of chatter about a leadership coup at the hands of Wes Streeting. And Labour MPs and government aides alike are dismayed by Keir Starmer’s leadership and the state of No 10. Has the Prime Minister reached the point of no return? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by our new political editor Ailbhe Rea to discuss her cover story. Read: Does Keir Starmer realise how much trouble he’s in? LISTEN AD-FREE...
Nov 12, 2025•35 min
It's now "impossible" to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees. Can COP30 achieve anything material at all? -- Keir Starmer has been in Brazil ahead of COP30 - the world’s largest annual climate meeting - where world leaders were told it’s now “virtually impossible” to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. That’s according to the UN’s chief meteorologist. Brazil wants money to protect the rainforests, but Starmer doesn’t want to give it. Meanwhile China, India and the US – three of the biggest emit...
Nov 11, 2025•37 min
Yesterday evening, BBC director general Tim Davie resigned, as first reported in the New Statesman by our new political editor Ailbhe Rea, along with his head of news, Deborah Turness. In the end, it came down to a Panorama documentary accused of featuring a misleadingly edited speech by Donald Trump. But, having weathered years of BBC scandals, could Davie’s departure be described as death by a thousand cuts? Oli Dugmore is joined by Hannah Barnes to discuss. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New...
Nov 10, 2025•29 min
Has Labour let down Millennials? Are tax hikes on the horizon? And what would happen to the commonwealth if Britain dumped our King? Rachel Cunliffe joins Anoosh Chakelian to answer listener questions. Treat yourself or someone special to big ideas, bold politics and proper journalism from just £2 this Christmas when you subscribe to the New Statesman. Subscribe today at newstatesman.com/xmaspod25 Ask us a question LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ ...
Nov 08, 2025•26 min
