The News Agents
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Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall – three of the UK’s top journalists – host a daily news podcast: The News Agents.
They’re not just here to tell you what's happening, but why. Expect astute analysis and explanation of the day's news – and a healthy dose of scepticism and the ability to laugh at it all when needed!
Episodes are available every weekday afternoon. You can listen to The News Agents on Alexa, just say "Alexa ask Global Player to play The News Agents"
The News Agents is a Global Player Original podcast and a Persephonica production.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
2 days ago
Matt Hancock takes the stand
Matt Hancock has had his moment in the Covid Inquiry's sun. In characteristic form, he's been an appropriate mix of quoteworthy, weird and often both. At the heart of his testimony lies some extraordinary allegations. We dig deep.
And in the latest of our extended political interviews, we talk to veteran Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, about her battles with the far right, the far left and how identity politics has brought her own rising sense of Jewishness to the forefront of her politics.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: 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.com
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3 days ago
2008, Alistair Darling, and the day the world changed forever
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 this country - and we talk to his mentee - the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves about the man he was.
Later we reflect on the death of a statesman and foreign affairs titan - Henry Kissinger - at the age of 100 and ask if the man who witnessed an entire century will be better remembered for good or ill.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: 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.com
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4 days ago
Does it matter who owns our news?
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 Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly
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.com
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5 days ago
Why has Rishi snubbed the Greeks?
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 ally was sent home empty handed. What does the row tell us about the PM's concerns? Also on the show, Lawrence Fox is fighting a libel case at the High Court to get his name cleared after he was called 'a racist' on twitter. We discuss.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly
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.com
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5 days ago
This week on The News Agents USA: Sean Spicer: Trump's Press Secretary on Trump, truth and 2024
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.
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6 days ago
Why are the Tories arguing over immigration?
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: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: 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.com
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Nov 26, 2023
Olivia Colman on domestic violence, paparazzi and The Crown
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 changed her personal life.
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: 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.com
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Nov 24, 2023
Hostages in Gaza, riots in Ireland and (election) shockwaves in the Netherlands
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 reporter Pieter Haeck and Virgin Media News Correspondent Richard Chambers.
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal
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.com
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Nov 23, 2023
Is worrying about public service cuts “left wing"?
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 Agents".
And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.The NewsAgentsStore.com
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Nov 22, 2023
Is Jeremy Hunt really cutting our taxes?
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 and politics is going next.
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal
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.com
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Nov 21, 2023
Is the Covid Inquiry coming for Rishi Sunak?
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 they politically motivated? And will they actually leave you better off?
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal
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.com
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Nov 21, 2023
This week on The News Agents USA: Why is Joe Biden haemorrhaging support from young voters?
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.
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Nov 20, 2023
Is the 'Suellafication' of the Tory party over?
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 genie back in the bottle, if so?
And... MAGA. Argentine style.
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal
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.com
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Nov 17, 2023
Sir Keir Starmer on Cameron, a Gaza ceasefire and Rwanda
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.com
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Nov 16, 2023
Has Labour's rebellion weakened Keir Starmer?
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 Rwanda plan unlawful. He's got a new plan though don't worry! But will it actually get off (quite literally) the ground?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
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".
And, The News Agents now have merch!
To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com
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Nov 15, 2023
Is the illegal Rwanda plan dead for good?
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 about Rwanda or policy, but about party confidence in the PM.
Where is he now? Why isn't the party talking about the drop of inflation on a day of good economic news? And does the new Home Secretary think the Rwanda plan was batshit?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
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 Th…
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Nov 15, 2023
This week on The News Agents USA: Are Republicans changing their stance on abortion?
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.
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Nov 14, 2023
One cabinet, two prime ministers
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: Gabriel Radus
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".
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Nov 13, 2023
Cameron in, Suella out
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 are being shown the door. But how long can the calm last?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
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".
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Nov 11, 2023
USA Special: Dispatch from the Deep South - is the US about to give Trump a second chance?
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.
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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.
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Nov 10, 2023
Who does Suella really speak for?
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-right Vox party in Spain after its co-founder Alejo Vidal-Quadras was shot in the face yesterday in an attempted assassination attempt.
Editor: Gabriel Radus
Senior 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".
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Nov 9, 2023
Is Suella trying to get the sack?
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 asked for changes to The Times piece, only for them to be ignored by Braverman's team.
On today's show, is Sunak finally about to sack his Home Secretary, and if not, why not?
Editor: Gabriel Radus
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".
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Nov 8, 2023
How Putin is betting everything on Trump
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 roads lead back to the Kremlin.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
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".
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Nov 7, 2023
The King’s Speech and Suella’s disappearing tents
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: Rory Symon, Jack McKay & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Nov 6, 2023
Why is Trump beating Biden in the polls?
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 make them leave the streets, or will they just get colder?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producers: Rory Symon, Jack McKay & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Nov 3, 2023
Is there hope for peace in the Middle East?
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".
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Nov 2, 2023
Covid inquiry: Was Matt Hancock "playing God”?
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 time for an amnesty on all those citizens still facing fines and trials?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producers: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Nov 1, 2023
Are the police getting the protests right?
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 for the two women who were arrested on suspicion of displaying images in support of Hamas.
"CPS received a complete version of the police report in the early hours of this morning – this was passed on to AGO at midday today for permission to consent to prosecute and this is being dealt with this evening as a matter of urgency."
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Prod…
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Oct 31, 2023
The Covid Inquiry: F***pigs, morons and c***s
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 their loved one’s deaths?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producers: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 31, 2023
This week on The News Agents USA: America’s most conservative senator: The Exclusive
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.
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Oct 30, 2023
What is Israel’s endgame?
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 Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producers: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 27, 2023
Your questions answered: a listener special
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".
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Oct 26, 2023
What is Netanyahu's next move?
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 - he understands their pain over the loss of life in Gaza? What do they need to hear him say if a ground war begins?
And the US finally have a Speaker. And it's a guy that frankly, no one has ever heard of. Who is he?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
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".
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Oct 25, 2023
Why is pressure mounting on Keir Starmer to call for a ceasefire?
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 Producer: Alex Barnett
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".
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Oct 24, 2023
A year of Rishi - can he keep the Tories in power?
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 to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 24, 2023
This week on The News Agents USA: Is Liz Cheney coming for Donald Trump?
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.
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Oct 23, 2023
Should it be a crime to shout "jihad"?
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 speak to one of the country's top voices on counter terrorism, Sir Peter Fahy - who warns politicians not to put community relations in jeopardy.
And - after historic by election losses last week what is the Tory strategy? And is the chancellor going to stick around to find out?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Producer: Phoebe Dampare-Osei
Video Producers: Rory Symon & Ben Bate
You can listen to…
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Oct 20, 2023
Are the Tories heading for extinction?
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 night's results.
And - a voice from each party.
Tory MP Robin Walker, who, despite campaigning in Mid Beds is still confident his party can recover (though one might say there's a slight falter in his voice);
Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper tries to dampen her party's disappointment;
and Labour shadow secretary Peter Kyle, who led the Labour campaign in Mid Beds has a thing or two (or three) to say about the Lib Dem's campaign - which he calls 'filth'.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Produce…
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Oct 19, 2023
The rise and fall of a crypto billionaire
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 world's first trillionaire he’s now got a "99.5% chance" of going to prison for fraud for 115...years.
We speak to Michael Lewis - of 'Moneyball' and 'The Big Short' fame. He’s written a biography of SBF - Going Infinite - and talks to us about understanding the man many can't.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Producer: Phoebe Dampare-Osei
Video Producers: Rory Symon & Ben Bate
You can list…
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Oct 18, 2023
The misinformation of war
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 Lord Simon McDonald, who not only called time on misinformation in the Boris Johnson era - famously over what the former PM knew and denied - but was also Israel’s ambassador in the years of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in the mid 2000s.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producers: Rory Symon & Ben Bate
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask G…
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Oct 17, 2023
Can there ever be peace in the Middle East?
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 SNP conference in Aberdeen today, we ask whether the party has really refocused its aim of independence.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
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".
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Oct 17, 2023
This week on The News Agents USA: Is Biden going to Israel a bad idea?
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.
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Oct 16, 2023
The UK politics of Israel-Palestine
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 far stronger than Hamas with equal hate for everything Jewish and Israeli - about to get heavily involved in what could soon become a regional war? We ask former UK Ambassador in Beirut, British diplomat Tom Fletcher.
Poland went to the polls over the weekend - and voted in their masses for more pro-European, less far-right governance. We talk to Jakub Krupa, Polish journalist, about what this means.
And another MP is suspended for sexual misconduct. The train of sleaze in Westminster trudge…
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Oct 13, 2023
Is Israel about to commit war crimes?
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? Israel say they're acting proportionately - but are they about to commit war crimes, and why are British politicians largely happy with this interpretation?
We speak to the former Director of Prosecutions at the International Criminal Court, Fabricio Guariglia, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Alicia Kearns, author of The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine & A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: A Palestine Story, Nathan Thrall, and military expert…
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Oct 12, 2023
How does Israel get its hostages back?
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, and we ask whether judges are going to let convicted rapists roam free because our prisons are now full. The former barrister who broke that story for the Times, Catherinke Baksi, is with us.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Rory Symon
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 11, 2023
How far will Israel go in response to Hamas terrorism?
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 Savile was a monster.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producers: Rory Symon & Charlie Clinton
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 10, 2023
Starmer's speech: has he done enough to win a majority?
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
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Rory Symon
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 10, 2023
This week on The News Agents USA: A power vacuum in Washington and chaos in the Middle East
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.
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Oct 9, 2023
War in Israel, and an interview with Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves
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 FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Rory Symon
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 6, 2023
Rishi Sunak’s Great British Train Robbery
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 have romped home to victory, unseating a decent SNP majority. What significance will results like this have in determining how Labour will do in next year's general election?
And Lewis sits down with Dawn Butler, to talk race (and racism), Suella's 'multiculturalism' rhetoric, her journey to being a Labour MP and former shadow minister and the state of the Labour Party going ahead into next week's conference.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Plan…
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Oct 5, 2023
Sunak suffers a Tory backlash - but what will Labour do next?
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 4, 2023
Sunak's speech: Has he cost himself the next election?
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
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 4, 2023
This week on The News Agents USA: MCCARTHY SACKED: Why is the Republican Party eating itself alive?
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.
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Oct 3, 2023
The Radicalisation of the Conservative Party
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 Street about his campaign to keep the train line going north of Birmingham.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
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Oct 2, 2023
One year on: Are the Tories still Liz Truss' party?
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 muddled.
We discuss the shape of the Conservative Party on Monday of the Manchester conference and speak to International Development minister Andrew Mitchell.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Ori…
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Sep 30, 2023
The News Agents Investigates: Hunting A People Smuggler
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 Goodall.
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original podcast.
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Sep 29, 2023
Michael Heseltine on Suella, Enoch Powell and saving Liverpool
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 few who can offer more perspective, more wisdom about the state we are in and where we might yet go, than he.
In the latest of our extended political interviews, Lewis talks to Heseltine about his life, his journey, his passionate belief that we must re-enter the EU and how he worries that the current Home Secretary is echoing the rhetoric and division of Enoch Powell.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social…
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Sep 28, 2023
Does Rishi Sunak care about the North?
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 Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 28, 2023
This week on The News Agents USA: Can any other Republican beat Donald Trump? The second debate
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.
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Sep 27, 2023
We need to talk about GB News
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.
Later, We look at 'the Voice' referendum in Australia into Aboriginal representation. Is this the Aussie's brexit moment? And will it tear the country apart?
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Sep 26, 2023
Is it too easy to be considered a refugee? Suella says so.
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 confused with a conspiracy theorist.
And Lewis is back from the Lib Dem conference and an interview with Ed Davey.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 25, 2023
Is Rishi ditching a tax that would make him and his mates richer?
Rishi Sunak and his lectern are promising 'long term decisions for a brighter future'. But just whose future is getting brighter?
Plans for HS2 are in chaos after rumours the PM might be about to ditch the wildly over-budget rail project. He's called environmental policies heavy handed - and ditched some of those targets. And now his ministers are starting to suggest that inheritance tax could be 'deeply punitive'. Will that be axed too?
And we discuss the outlier poll for ABC news which gives Trump a 10 point lead over Biden in a presidential election.
[Clip credit: Trevor Phillips on Sky News]
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 22, 2023
Who is the real Russell Brand? An interview with Gordon Smart
Gordon Smart was the editor of The Scottish Sun, and deputy editor of the Sun. But before that, he was the paper's showbiz editor who got to know very well, among others, Russell Brand. He sits down with Emily and Lewis to talk about the man that's been accused of sexual assault and rape, as well as debauchery in tabloid journalism and showbiz in the 2000s and 2010s.
Russell Brand denies all allegations of sexual impropriety.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 21, 2023
Rupert Murdoch resigns
92 year old Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of News Corp, the owner of The Sun, The Times and Fox News - he was in charge of his media empire for 70 years.
In true Succession style, his eldest son, Lachlan takes over. Emily and Lewis ask one of his former prodigal sons, Gordon Smart - who once was deputy editor of The Sun and editor of The Scottish Sun - about the man who used to be his boss.
And later, we discuss the ramifications of Rishi Sunak's changes to his net-zero policies.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 20, 2023
Is this Sunak's 'moment of shame'?
Zac Goldsmith, one time energy minister, who resigned from Rishi Sunak's government, has accused his old boss of delivering a 'moment of shame' after he revealed plans to adjust (water down) his commitment to green policies.
Rishi Sunak was propelled into explaining his new position in a hastily arranged press conference after details were leaked to the BBC. What effect will these changes have environmentally, economically, and politically.
And why are Tory MPs now tearing strips off each other? We speak to Lord Greg Barker - former energy minister and Anna Valero who advises the chancellor.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 19, 2023
Can you really cancel Russell Brand?
Youtube has announced it's demonetising Russell Brand's video content on its site - in other words, pulling the ads from the content he makes. The BBC and Channel 4 have said they are withdrawing 'some' Russell Brand content.
But in an age where Brand can reach 6.5 million subscribers and sell out Wembley, does any of this stuff really hurt him?
Also today, we hear from the son of Jimmy Lai - the world's richest political prisoner -and British citizen - who has stood up for Democracy against Chinese dictators. Why hasnt the UK government done more to fight for his freedom?
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 19, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Will America continue to make Russell Brand rich?
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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Sep 18, 2023
Bringing down Russell Brand
**CW: This podcast includes discussions of rape and sexual assault**
This weekend saw the culmination of an extraordinary piece of investigative journalism that began four years ago. In 2019 Russell Brand - now accused of rape and sexual assault by women featured in the Sunday Times and Dispatches investigation - began a path of reinvention as a “ wellness guru “, eschewing main stream media platforms for a YouTube following of over six million.
So was the defensive reaction by so many of his fans already baked in? We discuss with Rosamund Urwin and Louisa Compton who broke the story.
Later, just when you thought it was safe to go back to your mortgage broker, Liz Truss is back. She’s unrepentant, she’s back on the tax cutting path and she says none of what happened was her fault...
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…
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Sep 15, 2023
Why we need to talk about wealth
There is no money left.
The reason Britain can afford less and less is apparently because we have no money. It's why we can't spend on schools, on hospitals, on defence. But what if it's not actually about scarcity at all?
Today, Lewis reimagines our state's finances and argues why we need to talk about wealth.
And - it's the first time in US history that a sitting President's child has been criminally prosecuted. Lewis talks to Olivier Knox of the Washington Post about what it means for Joe Biden and his bid to be re-elected ahead of Donald Trump now that his son Hunter is now facing serious jail time, should he be found guilty.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Prod…
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Sep 14, 2023
Could Starmer make Britain “a dumping ground” for migrants?
Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, has accused the Leader of the Opposition of having no balls. No, she seriously did - comparing Sir Keir Starmer to flip flop beach Ken.
But beach Ken, as it happens, is currently talking to Europol at The Hague trying to work out a plan to stop small boats by treating people smugglers like terrorists.
The Tories say it will make us a dumping ground for migrants. We discuss.
And as former presidential candidate Mitt Romney quits the US Senate, we ask what this tells us about US politics.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 13, 2023
Why do we have to choose between new homes and clean water?
BREAKING NEWS: Rishi Sunak’s SpAd has hit back at Keir Starmer's ‘Inaction Man‘ gag and called him - wait for it - a ‘man of action’.
But first, Labour is voting against the government’s bill to build more new homes.
Why?
Because the Tories say they would rip up old EU environmental regulation to get morew homes built. Do we really have to choose between the two? Conservatives argue the ‘nutrient neutral ‘ regulations are out dated. Labour says it’s ridiculous to wait 13 years for a solution which then endangers the land.
And Later we give the Lib Dems the right to respond to the row over the by-election in Nadine Dorries' old seat.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original a…
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Sep 12, 2023
Let the election battle begin: can Labour actually win?
"The battle for the General Election is getting started" - that was the message from Labour's Deputy Leader today.
Angela Rayner made also a promise to change anti-strike laws within the first 100 days of a Labour government, in her speech to the TUC.
So on the day that Labour gets serious about the next election, Emily hears from Labour's Peter Kyle - the new Shadow Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology.
He's also running their campaign in the Mid Bedfordshire by-election and claims the Lib Dems there have launched "personal attacks" on the Labour candidate there.
The Lib Dems say no personal attacks have been made. A source said:
"People in Mid Bedfordshire are disappointed that Labour have chosen a London councillor as a candidate to represent their rural towns and villages. After Nadine Dorries, people want a local MP, not someone who has been parachuted in."
And could there be a spy for China in Parliament? If so, how did they get there and what damage could b…
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Sep 12, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Vladimir Putin: Trump's Russian running mate?
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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Sep 11, 2023
What is behind our mental health pandemic?
*CW: This episode contains discussions about suicide*
More than a hundred of you - our listeners - have been in touch to share your own experiences with mental health care (or lack of it) in this country.
Collectively, you paint a picture of a system in crisis, a pandemic particularly amongst the young which we cannot deal with.
We hear from Roman Kemp - who's called on the government to put mental health provision in all our schools.
And we talk to those working on the front line who offer their understanding of brain chemistry - where it's going wrong and what's happening in our society.
Samaritans have helplines open to all callers including young people 24/7. They also respond to emails and have an online chat system that uses volunteers and not bots. You can find Samaritans by calling 116 123.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smit…
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Sep 8, 2023
David Lammy on Brexit, Trump and beers with Keir
David Lammy, the next Foreign Secretary?
This felt like the week when Labour really began to be treated as a government-in-waiting.
One area which has barely been considered is how the party will handle foreign policy, Britain’s place on the world stage.
David Lammy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, talks to Lewis at length about what he wants to do if he gets that top job and his political journey.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 7, 2023
So, how do you catch a prisoner on the run?
How does a man wearing red and white check trousers escape from a prison underneath a moving truck?
Daniel Khalife - as we record - is still on the run. So where has he gone, how did he do it and what are the implications of the whole saga?
Also on today's episode - Chris Pincher resigns as an MP, Britain (sort of) rejoins the... via the Horizon project) and we discuss abortion laws in Mexico.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 6, 2023
Suella’s own goal
Could Suella's new Illegal Immigration Act be about to backfire horribly on the Home Office?
Over the last year, money to house asylum seekers has come from the Department for International Aid. It's taken nearly 30 percent of their budget or just over £3.7billion.
But the introduction of the new law - which criminalises asylum seekers - means that the government is no longer allowed under OECD rules to spend Aid money on them.
Instead - the money looks like it may have to come from the Home office itself.
Yup - all the money this government would prefer to be spending on policing, anti-terror, fire services etc. Was this a big fat own goal? Or is the government prepared to break international rules to avoid the change?
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player…
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Sep 5, 2023
Don't panic! Gillian Keegan says only SOME of our schools are unsafe
A government poster warning us "MOST SCHOOLS ARE UNAFFECTED" by lethal crumbling concrete may not offer the reassurance the Department for Education is aiming for. Indeed it was a gift to Labour - whose comms department instantly retorted with "Most swimmers not at risk of sharks".
So what has happened to capital spending on schools since the Conservatives came to power? And what on earth is going on inside Number 10?
Later, we look at why Birmingham City Council has gone bust.... with our own resident Brummie.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Sep 5, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Could a 'treason clause' kick Trump off the ballot?
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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Sep 4, 2023
Why has everyone sat on their arses instead of thanking Gillian Keegan?
The blame for the school concrete scandal has landed right at the Prime Minister's feet - after a former civil servant from the Department for Education revealed it was Chancellor Sunak that cut the funding for rebuilding schools five years ago.
But it's his Education Secretary - Gillian Keegan - who's conducting the political heat today after a sweary off-mic rant which she is almost certainly now regretting. In fact she gave a subsequent apology ON mic.
The News Agents are back - yes all three - asking what it means for our children's education - and how damaging it is to the Sunak government. And as Keir Starmer shuffles his top team, we ask what it tells us about Labour's priorities a year out from an election.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play…
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Sep 1, 2023
Broadcasting's past, present and future - with David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby is one of the biggest names in the history of broadcasting. From election nights, to iconic political panel shows, to huge Royal occasions - he's been at the forefront of TV and radio news and politics for decades. He's also had a front seat for the shift in the industry's relationship with both politicians and the audience.
In an end-of-summer special extended interview, David Dimbleby reflects on the biggest moments from his phenomenal career and talks to Lewis about his memoir: Keep Talking.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 31, 2023
Is Rishi "rearranging the deckchairs" on the Titanic?
The PM announces a mini-reshuffle, with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace leaving the post and Grant Shapps warming a new Cabinet seat for the fifth time in less than a year. Claire Coutinho becomes the new Energy Security Secretary. But does this do anything to help arrest the Conservatives' seemingly-inevitable slide toward electoral defeat next year (if the polls are to be believed). We ask Lara Spirit, of The Times.
Jon talks to Leah Williamson, Lionesses' captain and Arsenal defender, about her team missing out in the World Cup final and the furore around Luis Rubiales and the Spanish FA in the match's aftermath.
And Jon also speaks to former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. He talks Trump, populism and whether Australia is ready to become a republic.
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 episode on Al…
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Aug 30, 2023
1st Birthday Special: Your questions answered
It's The News Agents' first birthday. So we open the floor for questions from you, the listener.
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 episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 29, 2023
It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? The Spanish sexism row.
A tumultuous week in Spain continues as Luis Rubiales, the Head of the Spanish FA, refuses to resign after kissing footballer Jenni Hermoso on the lips in the aftermath of Spain's World Cup win. His mother is on day 2 of a hunger strike, locking herself inside a church. You couldn't write it.
So Lewis and Jon discuss the wider repercussions of this sexism row with Spanish lawyer Miriam Gonzalez Durantez.
They also speak with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan about his controversial ULEZ extension, and whether it threatens to create divisions within the Labour party between Khan and Keir Starmer.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 29, 2023
This week on The News Agents: Why are there still racist killings in America?
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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Aug 25, 2023
The Donald Trump mugshot
Donald Trump has been indicted again. But this time, it was the full works, including obligatory mugshot. This mugshot, of a scowling, glowering Trump appeared all over social media, at Trump's own hand, as he returned to Twitter (currently ridiculously known as X) to urge his followers to "NEVER SURRENDER!"
Jon makes an unusual appearance on a Friday, but couldn't resist it in the wake of the legal nightmare the US now finds itself inhabiting. He joins Lewis to discuss what's different about this indictment, what next and why Trump seems to draw vitality and strength from something as incredible as being arrested.
You can hear about the GOP debate and the Trump saga on The News Agents USA - listen here.
And Lewis talks to the King of the Dance himself, Sir Matthew Bourne, choreographer extraordinaire about his new production of Romeo Juliet in London's Saddlers Wells, the return of homophobia and why the government never seems to understand the arts.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior P…
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Aug 24, 2023
Prigozhin dead: Is Putin stronger than ever?
Yevgeny Prigozhin is apparently dead, two months after he marched the Wagner mercenary group to Moscow in a mutiny that appeared to be a very embarrassing weekend for Vladimir Putin.
Yesterday, a private plane crash also killed nine others, including his right hand man, the co-founder of the Wagner group, Dmitry Utkin.
So what actually happened? Was it an act of revenge from Putin? And is he now stronger than ever?
Jon and Lewis speak to Alicia Kearns MP, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and ask foreign affairs expert Tim Marshall about the future for Russia.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
You can listen to this episode on Alexa, just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 23, 2023
Where the f*** is Nadine Dorries?
It's 75 days since Nadine Dorries announced she was standing down as an MP with "immediate effect"... but she's still the MP for Mid Bedfordshire and getting paid for it.
Since announcing she'd go in June, Dorries has received calls to go from local councils, politicians and even the Prime Minister. She's also been criticised for effectively going missing. So what has she been up to?
And tonight is a big night in American politics - it's the first debate to choose the Republican candidate for the 2024 election and one very familiar face won't be there.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 22, 2023
Manchester United's Greenwood U-Turn: The inside story
Mason Greenwood won't play for Manchester United again.
Greenwood was one of the most exciting talents in world football two years ago, before he was arrested and charged for attempted rape, coercive control and assault. The charges were dropped by the CPS in February this year.
The final decision on Greenwood's place at the club was announced yesterday, with a "mutual deicison" that he will be leaving. But just last week, there were rumours of a plan to bring the player back. So what happened? And what changed?
Jon and Lewis talk to The Athletic's Adam Crafton, who has the inside story of what went on at Manchester United last week and we hear from TV presenter and fan of the club, Rachel Riley.
Later, we take a look at the government's stance on small boats crossing the channel. Sunak said months ago that stopping the boats would be attainable. It seems he's now changed his tune.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor…
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Aug 22, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - the big debate, coming soon
It's debate night in Milwaukee tonight. The big hitters of the Republican Party will all be there, fighting it out in the first chance to be on the same stage together. That is, all bar one, notable frontrunner; former President Donald Trump.
Emily and Jon will be in your The News Agents: USA feeds tomorrow morning (Thursday) digesting the overnight debate. See you then!
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Aug 21, 2023
Should Lucy Letby have been made to go to court?
Lucy Letby has been given a whole life order for her crimes. She joins only a small group of prisoners to be given a sentence so severe that they can never be considered for parole. But she wasn't in court today to hear it for herself. She chose not to appear, much to the victims' families fury.
The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition want the law to be changed to force criminals to face their days of reckoning in person. It sounds simple - but is it? Lewis discusses with a former Old Bailey judge and a victim of the Manchester Arena Attacks whose own cowardly perpetrator also refused to confront the court.
And after the Lionesses' near miss in Sydney we ask why politicians always sound so weird when talking about football. We talk to the politico's politico and genuine football obsessive, Lord Danny Finkelstein.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
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Aug 18, 2023
Did Covid-19 leak from a lab?
Covid is back in the news - there is a new mutation of Omicron which is potentially more infectious than the last.
Some are sounding the alarm. We talk about whether you should be worried (spoiler -probably not). But while it's in the news we thought we'd examine a question long lurking at the sidelines of the Covid news story - where did it come from?
Is the lab leak theory increasingly credible? Plenty in Washington, including big elements of the Biden administration think so. And if it is - why are we not talking about it? What might be the biggest story of our time?
Lewis talks to a leading expert who sits on SAGE and a journalist who has done the running on the story from the very beginning.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Producers: Rory Symon and Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
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Aug 17, 2023
Are ministers right to say: don't worry too much about exam results?
It's A-level results day and the message from the Education Secretary is to urge students not to worry too much about the results, that no-one will ask about them in 10 years' time.
The PM has also said that there are plenty of other options available to those who didn't get the grades they need. But is this really the message for ministers to send to kids who have been studying for these things for years?
And would they be saying the same to their own kids? We also analyse whether this was the year to revert to a 2019 marking system, with a generation still deeply affected by the pandemic.
Jon and Lewis also discuss the life and broadcasting legacy of chat show king Michael Parkinson who has died at the age of 88. He invented the chat show format for UK television. We talk through the changes in TV which have taken place over the last half century and why we won't see Parky's like again.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning:…
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Aug 16, 2023
A financial turning point for women's football? The Lionesses reach the WC final
England's women's football team reach the World Cup final, beating the hosts Australia. But with the highest paid footballer in the equivalent of the Premier League paid less in a year than some male players get in a week, will this prove a watershed moment in attempts by many to push for greater financial parity? We speak to Kieran Maguire, football economist.
And back in the world of Westminster - what does falling inflation mean? A governmental success in one of their key targets, or is this the calm before the storm with wages and public sector - both inherently inflationary - rising. We speak to editor of Red Box, Lara Spirit.
commentary courtesy of BBC Sport.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Will Gibson-Smith
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 16, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Why is Donald Trump being charged like a mafia boss?
Emily and Jon host a new 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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Aug 15, 2023
How many suspected spies are there in the UK?
What were three spies living in Great Yarmouth and Harrow doing in the UK? Today it was revealed that three Bulgarian nationals were arrested in February and they've been in custody since - they were apparently working for Russian security services. They're awaiting trial but yet to enter any pleas.
They'd been in the country for years, even baking cakes for their neighbours. So what were they up to? And how common is it for Russian spies to be hanging around in Britain? Jon asks former head of the MI6 Russia desk, Christopher Steele.
And exactly two years on from the Taliban taking back power in Afghanistan, we talk to journalist Yalda Hakim about the conflict and discuss her work to get Afghan women back into education.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Rory Symon
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 14, 2023
Morality in football: should Manchester United bring back Mason Greenwood?
Mason Greenwood was one of the most exciting talents in world football two years ago. A superstar in the making.
But in January 2022, a social media video surfaced of Greenwood - he was arrested on suspicion of rape, coercive behaviour and assault - suspended by United, and he's not played since.
But, charges were dropped earlier this year and the club now have a decision to make. Should Greenwood play for their club again? Or should they take a moral stand? We talk to The Athletic's Adam Crafton, and Em, who's protesting at tonight's Premier League opener.
And we look at the government ditching cancer screening targets. Is this a good idea if they're constantly being missed... or does this just mean that more people will not be seen before it's too late? We speak to former Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Rory Symo…
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Aug 11, 2023
Has 'Small Boats Week' been a disaster for the Tories?
A week that was dedicated to show that the Conservatives have a plan on how to 'stop the boats' has instead been dominated by tragedy - the death of 41 migrants in the sea near Lampedusa while the deputy chair of the Tory party told Channel-crossing migrants to 'f*** off' back to France - and farce - as 39 asylum seekers were removed off barge accommodation just days after moving in due to a bacterial infection in the nearby waters.
Has this week been a major step back for Rishi Sunak in his attempts to fulfil one of his flagship policies? We discuss with Sir Craig Oliver, former director of communications at No.10.
We talk parliamentary standards with Sir Chris Bryant - and Gary Lineker joins us to justify to heartbroken Spurs fan Jon why Harry Kane is right to leave Tottenham for Bayern Munich.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Rory Symon
The News…
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Aug 10, 2023
How students are getting screwed…again
Generation screwed. A hoard of students tens of thousands of pounds in debt, but with nothing to show for it. We speak to students who've been affected and hear from the university and college union boss, Jo Grady- who backs the striking staff.
And, the Tory internecine warfare continues after a shambolic selection process to pick their candidate for London mayor. But do they still have a pathway to win next year's election with Trump-fan Susan Hall if Jeremy Corbyn throws his hat in the ring?
And... some marriage advice for Lewis ahead of his wedding.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Rory Symon
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 9, 2023
Will Rishi Sunak now tell Lee Anderson to "f*** off"?
Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party Lee Anderson went on TV last night and openly admitted that his own party are failing to 'stop the boats'. That's the same party that announced at the start of this year that one of their five priorities was to ... stop the boats.
Anderson has always been a law unto himself, and sometimes this has worked to Rishi Sunak's benefit. But is he now becoming a serious problem for the Tories as they try to build their case for re-election next year?
And - we speak to the Emily Bolton - founder of Appeal, the charity that helped Andy Malkinson get out of prison - after we spoke to Malkinson yesterday. She has shocking revelations about the state of the prison and justice system in the UK today.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Rory Symon
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 8, 2023
The man jailed for 17 years for a crime he didn’t commit
Andrew Malkinson was convicted of rape in 2003 and it took nearly two decades for this miscarriage of justice to be corrected. But it could have happened much earlier, were it not for the police repeatedly bungling the case, or perhaps worse. Andrew joins Jon and Lewis for an extended conversation about his time in jail, what the police did wrong and what it tells us about the justice system itself.
A content warning - the episodes contains mentions of rape and suicide.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Rory Symon
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 8, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Trump, the law, and The Lord
Emily and Jon host a new 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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Aug 7, 2023
So Suella's putting asylum seekers on a barge
It's "small boats week" on the government media grid; or that was the idea.
It looks like it could have been over before it began.
Jon is back, and with Lewis they chew over why the government keeps pointing to a policy area on which it's failed.
They also talk through the Home Secretary's latest great idea as to where to house up to 500 asylum seekers. The Bibby Stockholm, a huge barge currently moored off the Isle of Portland.
And we preview the latest and fourth indictment coming for Trump, likely this week.
Meanwhile...Matt Hancock has been pretending to be Ken, from Barbie. It gives the silly season a bad name.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Rory Symon
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 4, 2023
Will the indictments actually help Donald Trump?
Donald Trump was indicted for a third time this week and a fourth is on the way. He emerged from a DC courthouse this week actually inviting more - he thinks it's helping him, feeding into a long-established persecution complex which he feels will been a key asset in his bid to be re-elected.
In this episode, we ask a simple question: is he right? And is he right everywhere? If it is helping him secure the Republican nomination, will all this actually end up hurting his chances of obtaining the thing he truly craves - the presidency itself?
And in the latest of our extended political conversations Lewis talks to Labour peer and refugee champion Lord Alf Dubbs about a political life which stretches back to Clement Attlee and Nazi-occupied Prague.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Video Producer: Will Gibson Smith
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 3, 2023
Sunak, Starmer, and the death of the political interview
Rishi Sunak isn’t much good at interviews. Sir Keir Starmer isn’t that much better. It follows a pattern of politicians become less and less willing to take part in political interviews, which they see as increasingly pointless, all risk and no gain. We ask, does it matter? And why does our democracy lose, as a result?
And interest rates rose for again- now at a 15 year high.
Torsten Bell joins Lewis to explain where it leaves households and Rishi Sunak’s re-election chances.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson Smith
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 2, 2023
Donald Trump vs. The United States
Donald Trump has been indicted. Again.
But this is the most serious of the lot - a series of conspiracies against the republic itself and an attempt to subvert an election. Emily and Lewis talk what it means for America, Trump and 2024.
Jon got bored on holiday and couldn’t resist popping up either.
We speak to Trump's former Deputy Press Secretary, Hogan Gidley.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson Smith
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 1, 2023
Are house prices about to plummet?
House prices have fallen an average of 4% in the last year due to rising interest rates and the knock on effect on mortgages.
How low will they go and does anyone think we're on the cusp of a housing crash? We ask esteemed economist Roger Bootle.
Also - we’re in Ukraine which has been hitting back - drone attacks on Russian apartment blocks in Moscow. Putin calls it “terrorism“.
What does this tell us about the Ukrainian offensive? We speak to Andrew Harding, foreign correspondent and author of Small, Stubborn Town; Life, Death and Defiance in Ukraine.
And how the Great Crested Newt is playing havoc with Boris Johnson’s plan for a swimming pool.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson Smith
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Aug 1, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Has the Republican party become 'a cult'?
Emily and Jon host a new 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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Jul 31, 2023
Is Rishi on 'the wrong side of history'?
Rishi Sunak is handing out around one hundred new oil and gas licences for North Sea drilling and says it is entirely consistent with his plans for net-zero. But his former energy minister has said the government is 'on the wrong side of history'.
Can you get to clean energy by going back for more fossil fuels? Will voters thank him at the ballot box if he can make the transition less painful?
And what do the Independence-intent SNP make of this? We ask their leader for Westminster, Stephen Flynn.
Later, we ask what's happening in Niger? As a military coup in one of the world's poorest countries leaves it wide open to Russian mercenary influence. We talk to journalist and geopolitical expert Tim Marshall.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Producer: Will Gibson Smith
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Jul 28, 2023
Andy Burnham on Keir Starmer, Manchester United, and the police
The Mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, says he is a "place first" not a "policy first" politician.
In a week where the Greater Manchester Police have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, Lewis travels to Manchester to meet the Mayor and ask him whether he has confidence in the force.
In today's The News Agents, we talk about his relationship with Keir Starmer and the central Labour party, the potential Qatari takeover of Manchester United and the Mayor's political ambitions going forward.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior producer: Gabriel Radus
Field producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Video producer: Will Gibson Smith
Social media editor: Georgia Foxwell
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Jul 27, 2023
How could an innocent man spend 17 years in prison?
Andrew Malkinson spent 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Yesterday the Court of Appeal finally cleared his name.
It is a failure so serious, so unthinkable it barely makes sense. But today Mr Malkinson laid the blame firmly at the door of the police who- he says- concealed and destroyed evidence to mask their mistake.
Why isn't this a crime? And what should happen now? We ask a former Director of Public Prosecution, Lord Ken Macdonald.
Later, we look at the curious, budding relationship between Italy's hard-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni and America's President Joe Biden as they meet for talks at the White House.
And - we bring you the letter written to Nadine Dorries ... from a town council in Mid Beds.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning: Alex Barnett
Video producers: Rory Symon & Will Gibson Smith
Social media editor: Georgia Foxwell
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Prod…
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Jul 26, 2023
The climate crisis - is it already out of control?
Is the global climate crisis already out of control? Lewis' special report from Southern Spain.
And, as the boss of NatWest resigns over the Farage - Coutts crisis - why has one man and his bank account consumed national news?
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning: Alex Barnett
Video producers: Rory Symon & Will Gibson Smith
Social media editor: Georgia Foxwell
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Jul 26, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Why is Ron DeSantis sinking?
Emily and Jon host a new 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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Jul 25, 2023
Why have Labour changed their position on trans rights?
Labour have promised to simplify and reform the Gender Recognition Act that helps trans people officially change their gender identity.
Self ID will NOT be Labour policy - you will still need a medical assessment to transition. And they are drawing clear lines between sex and gender.
Will this help politicians answer the toxic question of whether a woman can have a penis? And what does it tell us about Labour's direction of electoral travel? Who are they trying to please?
Later we look at the protests in Israel and what the new 'reasonableness vote' means for Israel's claim on democracy.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning: Alex Barnett
Video producers: Rory Symon & Will Gibson Smith
Social media editor: Georgia Foxwell
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Jul 24, 2023
Europe's on fire - so why are politicians scared of green policies?
The pictures from Greece tell a horrifying story of people running for their lives from the wildfires. Southern Europe is locked in unprecedented heatwaves across the continent.
But the headlines tell a different story - of our two main parties starting to shift the narrative about net-zero policy - after what seems like a singular By-election upset in Uxbridge.
The British public - according to recent YouGov polls - are firmly behind green policies - as long as it doesn't personally hurt too much. So why are politicians behaving like it's something we can all 'put off until later' when the crisis is clearly on our doorstep and our own economy depends upon us getting it?
And - we report from Spain on the election that has left the country in political stasis and questions about whether the far right Vox party has peaked.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning: Alex Barnett
Video producers: Rory Symon & Will Gibson Smith
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Jul 21, 2023
Why is Rishi Sunak acting like he won?
Three by-elections and a win each for the three main parties. Labour won with the biggest electoral swing in their history in Selby and Ainsty, the Lib Dems won a huge majority in Somerton and Frome and the Conservatives just about held their seat in Uxbridge.
On the surface, the set of results are better than what the Tories had anticipated. But, better than terrible can still be pretty bad.
And does Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan need to rethink his ULEZ zone if Labour want to avoid struggling in next year's inner city campaigning? It sounds like Keir Starmer and Labour think so.
We're joined in News Agents HQ by Labour's Emily Thornberry and Sarah Olney from the Liberal Democrats to pick apart the results, and what this could mean for Tories, Labour and Lib Dems ahead of next year's general election.
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full…
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Jul 20, 2023
Why is Nigel Farage at war with his bank?
What is really up with Nigel Farage's bank account? We discuss, and hear from the man at the centre of what's quickly become a national banking storm.
And Defence Committee Chair and senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood published a video earlier this week extolling the virtues of Afghanistan. Sort of forgetting that the country is led by the murderous Taliban regime. He now faces a no confidence vote. Why on earth did he do that?
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Jul 19, 2023
Three by-elections and a Barbie movie
Tomorrow voters in three English constituencies will head to the polls. Will the good news on inflation and car plants help Rishi Sunak? Will the backlash over child benefits harm Keir Starmer?
Or will none of it make any difference? Has the county already found an inflection point where it's looking for change? We hear from the pollster Lord Andrew Cooper.
And we talk to Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo about Barbie and her fall from paradise.
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Jul 18, 2023
Is Rishi's reshuffle imminent?
Defence secretary Ben Wallace has been one of the stalwarts of this government at a time when many cabinet positions have been musical chairs. But last weekend he suddenly announced he was quitting front line politics. In his first interview since the news broke - he tells Jon why and confirms he's heard rumours of a cabinet reshuffle in the coming days.
Later we hear from Jamie Oliver who has been fighting to make Britain’s kids healthier for almost twenty years. Who could forget the infamous turkey twizzler episode - and backlash - as the chef-turned-food campaigner took on the stodgy school dinner.
Today he’s back with a vengeance telling The News Agents Keir Starmer needs to provide free school means for 800,000 children on universal credit - and warning that his refusal to overturn the two child benefit cap will push thousands more into food poverty.
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Jul 18, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Is Trump about to be charged for citing the January 6th riots?
Emily and Jon host a new 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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Jul 17, 2023
Another pledge broken: will Starmer face a backlash from his party?
What's happening to Keir Starmer's policies? Yesterday he ditched another one, confirming that he would maintain the Conservative austerity policy that saw child benefit scrapped after two children.
Cue major backlash - and today a resignation from a Labour mayor (famously no fan of Starmer) citing too many broken promises from the leader. Meanwhile, Keir is warming to his theme of fiscal prudence. Is it enough to convince people that Labour has a fresh promise?
Later, we look at the resurgence of the morality police in Iran - over women who've ditched their head coverings. Is it a sign of confidence in the draconian regime - or are they losing their grip on the public ?
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Jul 14, 2023
Wes Streeting on class, trans rights and binge drinking
Shadow Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, grew up in poverty with his single mother on an east London council estate. But if Labour win the next election, he's nailed on to be in the cabinet.
His life story - which includes Christine Keeler, finding his feet at Cambridge and coming out as gay - is something he's kept relatively quiet about until the publication of his memoir: One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up.
In this special edition of The News Agents, Lewis speaks to the Labour MP for Ilford North about class, sexuality and religion, and he asks him about his political ambitions
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Jul 13, 2023
Could Huw Edwards have a case for libel?
The world's worst kept secret was revealed last night when Huw Edwards was named as the BBC presenter at the centre of the media storm.
In an emotional statement, his wife revealed he was in hospital and in a bad way. The Sun decided not to print further allegations. The BBC's own news teams went ahead with new breaking stories.
Where do we draw the line between HR complaints and investigative reporting?
Former editor of The Sun, David Yelland, is back with us - he asks if the BBC understand the asymmetric war being waged on it by News UK.
And later - has Boris Johnson really forgotten the pin number of his mobile phone?
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Jul 12, 2023
Why hasn't Boris Johnson handed over his phone to the Covid inquiry?
'I love deadlines ... I love the whooshing sound they make when they go by.'
Monday 4pm was the cut off for Boris Johnson to hand over his phone and Whatsapp messages to the Covid Inquiry. 48 hours later that phone still hasn't reached its end destination.
Johnson says he's cooperating. The phone is with his lawyers. But the inquiry is waiting...
Meanwhile the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has delivered a shot across the bows to his old boss accusing those who criticise the civil service of 'self-defeating cowardice'.
On today's episode we look at the political fall out and we also ask how an organisation like the BBC should cover a story about itself from the inside.
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Jul 11, 2023
Naming, shaming and a second allegation
Another day of stories about a high profile BBC presenter at the centre of a sex scandal and and still no name.
Come 4pm, BBC News announced a second young person had come forward with a complaint about the same presenter.
We explore how privacy laws work in the media, when social media plays such a huge role - is this the Wild West when it comes to keeping a name out of the public domain?
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Jul 11, 2023
This week on The News Agents: USA - Is Biden really that 'rock-solid' with the UK?
Emily and Jon host a new 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 exclusively on Global Player and all other platforms every Wednesday.
Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.
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Jul 10, 2023
The Sun, The Scandal and the BBC
The front pages proclaim just one story in town: the sex photos that were allegedly sold by an underage crack addict to a top BBC presenter.
But look a little deeper, and there may be more to this story than meets the eye. What do we know about the money that's changed hands? What does it tell us about the relationship between The Sun newspaper and the BBC? And where is the line between privacy and transparency?
Today we talk to former editor of The Sun, David Yelland, who tells us whether he would have published this story. And we ask what it tells us about media power in the digital age.
Later, we look at the sudden collapse of the Dutch government, over asylum issues. Does anyone in Europe have an answer to small boats?
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Jul 7, 2023
Zuckerberg v Musk: it's war
Mark Zuckerberg launched his new platform, Threads, this week. It's designed to knock Twitter - owned Elon Musk - off of its perch.
This story is a parable of our age. Men of unbelievable wealth and unbelievable power locking battle. Whoever wins, if anyone wins, it will have reverberations on our culture, on our politics, on the tapestry of our lives.
And Lewis also talks to the SNP leader for Westminster, Stephen Flynn MP, about his political make-up.
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Jul 6, 2023
Perverts, weirdos and by-elections
The prospect of another by-election looms after Parliament's standards committee recommended an eight-week suspension of former Conservative whip, Chris Pincher.
If the name is familiar, it’s because he was arguably the one who sealed the fate of Boris Johnson and led ultimately to his resignation.
Today we discuss the ramifications of the sexual assault and we look at Keir Starmer's pledge to give working class kids better oracy skills.
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Jul 5, 2023
The interview Boris Johnson won't want you to see
Exclusive footage of Boris Johnson from the One Decision Podcast has been shared with The News Agents.
He was facing questions from hosts Julia Macfarlane and Richard Dearlove about Ukraine, democracy and global security.
Towards the end, Julia asked him about his own response to British democracy - his refusal to accept the findings of the 'kangaroo court' privileges committee into his wrongdoing.
She also asked him about Chris Pincher - the deputy chief whip who resigned from government over sexual assault allegations - and that's where Johnson's answers got really odd...
Later on the show we talk about the escalating violence in Israel and Jenin, and why Netanyahu's personal fortunes may be influencing his military moves...
Joining The News Agents today were freelance journalist Julia Macfarlane, Channel 4's foreign correspondent Secunder Kermani, & Cambridge Gates Scholar and expert on populism, Ayala Panievsky.
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Jul 4, 2023
The toxic culture of Westminster: An MP resigns on air
The SNP's deputy leader in Westminster, Mhairi Black MP, joins us exclusively in News Agents HQ to announce she's stepping down at the next election.
We discuss the "toxic" culture that's led to Black - the youngest MP in 350 years when she was elected in 2015 - to leave parliament, and we ask why so many other MPs won't be standing again.
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Jul 3, 2023
Are the 'New Conservatives' a help or a headache for Rishi Sunak?
If you landed in this country and wondered what its problems were you might see the long queues for the health services, the high inflation, the shortage of workers to fill public sector jobs and the difficulties the country has with its supply chains.
The New Conservatives are a new fringe Conservative group trying to solve a different problem.
They think we need to cut immigration numbers by 400k, stop foreign workers visas, and offer the jobs (that we can't currently fill) to British workers. So that's now on Rishi's plate for him to ponder.
We talk to their leader Tom Hunt and ask him how he'd get Brits to do those jobs.
And after the press regulator IPSO ruled the Jeremy Clarkson column in the Sun was 'sexist, pejorative and prejudicial' we talk to IPSO's chairman Lord Faulks.
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Jun 30, 2023
Does Rishi Sunak care about climate change?
Rishi Sunak and now former government minister Lord Zac Goldsmith have a war of words over why Goldsmith resigned this morning. Sunak says its because of the latest Privileges Committee report. Goldsmith says it's because Sunak and his government are not serious about climate change.
It comes in a week where it's been announced that this June has been the hottest ever, and the head of the Climate Change Committee, Lord Deben, questions how serious the Conservative government are about sticking to net zero policies. Does Rishi Sunak not care about climate change? We speak to Lord Deben himself, Ed Conway, Economics Editor at Sky News, and Lara Spirit of The Times.
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Jun 29, 2023
A nightmare verdict for Suella's dream
The Court of Appeal thwarts Home Secretary Suella Braverman's eye-wateringly expensive Rwanda plan (for now) - cue a government appeal and derision and fury from a number of Tory MPs, some of whom have also been named in the latest Privileges Committee report for their choice language on Twitter and other social media platforms in response to the findings against Boris Johnson a couple of weeks ago.
And why are there riots on the streets of Paris? We talk to writer Nabila Ramdani who's reporting on the streets.
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Jun 28, 2023
How water became a dirty word
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, brexit , and what it means to lose - with the cast and director of Dear England - James Graham's latest play at the National Theatre.
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Jun 27, 2023
Matt Hancock says sorry for Covid
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 currently staring in The Patriots - a play about Putin and modern Russia when the country itself is shifting.
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Jun 26, 2023
Has Putin lost control?
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 tactics and the psychology of an autocrat.
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Jun 23, 2023
The Titan submersible: when is tourism too extreme?
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 Brexit.
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Jun 22, 2023
Who's to blame for this mortgage pain?
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?
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Jun 21, 2023
Lost at sea - why are we obsessed with the sunken sub?
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 climbing Mount Everest - he explains the adventurers' mindset and tells us how important it was to bring Michael's body home.
Later we discuss the downfall of Crispin Odey - named the Harvey Weinstein of the City of London - by his alleged victims of sexual assault - with one of the women who broke the story, the Financial Times' Madison Marriage.
When approached by the Financial Times for comment, Crispin Odey denied the claims against him and a law firm representing Odey Asset Management declin…
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Jun 20, 2023
Will Rishi regret running from the vote?
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 what he's doing about it.
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Jun 19, 2023
Why are Tories bottling the 'Partygate' vote?
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 the Commons tonight for that vote on the Privileges Committee report into Boris Johnson. What does it say when our leaders dont like showing...erm...leadership.
Particularly one's who've promised to restore integrity and transparency to the job...
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Jun 16, 2023
Why Boris is the least of Rishi's problems
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 beyond the Boris Johnson roadshow and examine the big structural forces driving British politics which largely explain why Sunak can't seem to shift the polls.
Meanwhile, Emily has turned up at a tech conference, which will amuse anyone who has ever watched her try and work out how to use her iPad. Aside from trying to get tech support she's been talking to tech entrepreneur Euan Blair (yes, of the Blair's).
And we get an update on a tragedy in the Med with C4 News Foreign Correspondent, Secunder…
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Jun 15, 2023
The many lies of Boris Johnson
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 are still massive. Johnson wanted his place in the history books, in becoming the first PM to be found to have lied to the Commons, judged by his own peers, he's finally got it.
Emily, Lewis and Jon talk through this latest day in the lows and lows of Boris Johnson's recent political career: what it means for Sunak, for the Tories, for the man himself and for Parliament.
The agents are joined by the woman who brought Johnson down, Guardian Political Editor Pippa Crerar; former Chief of Staff to Theresa May, Lord…
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Jun 14, 2023
In prison and running for President - is this the future for Trump?
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.
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Jun 13, 2023
The News Agents USA - Trailer - The News Agents USA
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.
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Jun 13, 2023
The Fury of Trump (and Nadine Dorries)
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 Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
We of course also find the time to chew over Nadine Dorries’ allegation that she didn’t get a peerage because of her background. Rather than because she was, you know, already a democratically elected representative.
Just another day in politics on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Jun 12, 2023
Sunak v Johnson: it's war
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 talk to Lord Nicholas Soames - grandchild of Churchill about the man who thought he was Churchill. And to Douglas Ross - Tory Leader in Scotland.
We hear from Jon on his way to Miami and reflect on the partygate grandfather of them all - Silvio Berlusconi who has died.
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Jun 9, 2023
EMERGENCY EPISODE: Boris Johnson Quits Parliament
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.
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Jun 9, 2023
Labour's disappearing £28bn... and Nadine resigns
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 on TV that she didn't want that...
And the Labour party are also causing a stir after watering down their flagship pledge to spend £28 billion a year on green technology.
The policy was supposed to power Britain’s next industrial revolution. But now Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has rowed back the plans - blaming the Conservative party for “crashing the economy”. Lewis asks what it means for Labour, as they aim for election victory.
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Jun 8, 2023
Lords, Ladies, and Boris Johnson's honour
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?
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Jun 7, 2023
Saudi Arabia: The Golf State?
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 - Congress has now promised protection to whistleblowers who will come forward to tell us what alien aeriel sightings they've spotted in our skies. Why is this happening now?
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Jun 6, 2023
Prince Harry takes the stand
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 Scaramucci was Trump's comms director for ten and a half days. He's full of the gossip of the biggest race in town.
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Jun 5, 2023
Why did Rishi Sunak donate $3m to a private school in California?
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 why she had to work so hard to drum up a fraction of Sunak's donation.
We also look at the narratives -loud and soft - coming out of Ukraine and ask if the military counter-offensive is finally underway.
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Jun 2, 2023
Why is Rishi Sunak taking the Covid inquiry to court?
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?
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Jun 1, 2023
What's up with Boris Johnson's WhatsApps?
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?
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May 31, 2023
Keir Starmer: born again Brexiteer?
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 next government in power? And what on earth is 'Securonomics' - the new economic model Starmer's potential Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched in Washington DC last week that will seek to boost post-Brexit Britain.
Plus - the curious case of Joe Biden's former advisor fleeing to Moscow to seek 'safety' and citizenship. Hmm.
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May 30, 2023
The Phillip Schofield scandal and the future of ITV
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 Saturday responded to allegations that ITV ignored any potential relationship Schofield had at ITV.
“ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.
"Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip's then agency YMU.
"Phillip’s statement [a few days ago] reveals that he lied to people at ITV… over this relationship."
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May 26, 2023
Sadiq Khan on Boris, Brexit and his PTSD
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.
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May 25, 2023
Elon Musk and the man who wants to take on Trump
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.
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May 24, 2023
Partygate: Boris Johnson breaks the rules (again)
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 look at the latest Presidential hopeful to take on Donald Trump - Ron DeSantis, Florida Governor, who is launching his campaign on Twitter.
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May 23, 2023
How Johnson's government pressured the Premier League into the Saudi takeover
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 of Newcastle, the failure of which he said would be "an immediate risk" to the UK/Saudi relationship.
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May 22, 2023
Speedy Suella: How long can she last?
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 whether she is committed to 'collective cabinet responsibility' - a subtle dig at her own prime ministerial ambitions perhaps?
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May 19, 2023
Why can't politicians just say sorry?
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?
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May 18, 2023
Exclusive: Matt Hancock on NatCon, Covid, WhatsApps and “being human”
Matt Hancock, this afternoon, walked into The News Agents bunker for the first time. In this full, unedited interview, he tells us what he makes of the right of the Conservative Party, why he gave Isabel Oakeshott 100,000 of his WhatsApp messages, and he tells us who he thinks leaked the video revealing his affair with his aide at the height of Covid restrictions.
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May 17, 2023
Why is Liz Truss provoking China?
The MP for South West Norfolk has made a speech in Taiwan urging the UK Government to treat China as a security threat.
She's the first former PM to visit Taiwan since Margaret Thatcher.
China - which is seeking 'reunification' with Taiwain - has called it a 'dangerous stunt'. Many in Truss's own party feel the same way.
But is there sense in her message even if she's the wrong one to deliver it? And what is she hoping to achieve - for the world, her party and herself?
And, later, we speak to Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz about playing twins in her drama 'Dead Ringers', moves to curtail women's rights in the US, her husband James Bond, and Lewis' acorn.
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May 16, 2023
NatCon: fruitcakes, fringe, or future of the Tory Party?
Today we take you behind the scenes at Nat Con: the Conservative-ish conference taking place in London this week. It's a meeting of hard Brexiteers, nationalists, libertarians, and the 'anti woke'.
With a smattering of Holocaust minimisers, homophobes and climate-deniers thrown in for good measure. It's an exciting place - attended by senior cabinet ministers too - and today we ask if they are the fringe or the future of the Conservative Party.
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May 15, 2023
Alastair Campbell on war, w**kers and winning elections
A warning: explicit language from the very start of the episode.
Alastair Campbell meets the The News Agents in the ultimate podcast mash up. We ask him about his "wanker switch" and what happens when things go wrong live on air. And about the Starmer strategy for quiet winning.
We also talk war, Murdoch and tactical voting.
Later we hear from Jacob Rees Mogg who admits the Voter ID legislation was gerrymandering.
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May 12, 2023
Ukraine: a war without end?
It's Eurovision weekend. But the biggest party in Europe will not take place in Ukraine -last year’s victor - but in Liverpool.
This episode is not about Eurovision, but instead asking where we are with the Ukraine war, over 400 days since its start. With more than 9000 Ukrainian civilians dead, are we any closer to the conflict’s end? We take you in depth and discover how everything hinges on the Ukrainian counter offensive, now finally coming.
And in our latest My Political Make Up interview we talk to Labour MP and Shadow Minister for Women, Jess Phillips.
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May 11, 2023
Met corruption and Britain’s biggest unsolved crime
Daniel Morgan, a young private investigator, was murdered in a carpark in 1987. His killer has never been brought to justice.
Three and a half decades on the Met Police have discovered a "locked file of documents" that were never handed over to the inquiry looking into police failures.
Today on The News Agents we ask London Mayor his response to what just happened, whether the police should be trusted with new powers and whether corruption lies at the heart of what went wrong.
We also take you to the car crash debate of the last 24 hours. For the first time since 2016, CNN decided to give Donald Trump a live town hall forum with a studio audience... the day after a jury found him liable for sex abuse.
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May 10, 2023
President Trump: Sexual abuser
Is America prepared to elect a president found to have sexually abused a woman in a department store?
A New York civil court took just three hours to find Trump liable for abuse and defamation although it cleared him of rape.
The response to the verdict has been achingly familiar. Senior Republicans calling the case a witch hunt and the jury "a joke".
Trump probably isn’t the first sex abuser to have held high office. But he’s the first to have been found to have done so by a US jury. He's going to appeal the decision but if his own party are willing to tolerate it and denigrate the rule of law anyway - what does that tell us about America?
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.
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May 9, 2023
Will the Tories move even further to the right?
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.
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May 5, 2023
Elections 2023: Are the Tories doomed?
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.
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May 4, 2023
The US Ambassador on Biden, Harry and Meghan & Sunak vs Truss
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 is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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May 3, 2023
Suella's new powers to curb protest
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…
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The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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May 2, 2023
Will the real Keir Starmer please stand up
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/Videos
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Apr 28, 2023
Richard Sharp resigns: The Boris loan and the BBC
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 all leave the BBC, the Civil Service and Rishi Sunak? We discuss.
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.
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Apr 27, 2023
Why is it becoming harder for you to vote?
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 lead to massive disenfranchisement and disillusionment with the democratic system.
We'll be talking about how to vote, and what these elections could tell us about the political winds.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Apr 26, 2023
The rental crisis - no end in sight?
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 landlords should have fixed.
We hear from tenants, a landlord, an estate agent and someone who's been analyisng the housing market for a decade.
And we bring you the latest blows from PMQs.
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.
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Apr 25, 2023
Prince Harry V Rupert Murdoch
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 through to the end, whatever the personal cost. Murdoch has already paid out millions for phone hacking here - and last week nearly a billion dollars in the Dominion lawsuit. Was Tucker Carlson's rapid departure connected?
Also, we look at Joe Biden's 2024 presidential bid, discuss ageism in politics, and discover who Ming Campbell beat in a hundred metres race in Stanford in 1967.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos
The News Agents is a Global…
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Apr 24, 2023
The Brits trapped in Sudan's warzone
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.
Should the government be telling people to sit tight? Or get out.
And as Dominic Raab exits stage left, his parting shot is at an 'activist' civil service. Was Whitehall really out to get him? We discuss.
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.
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Apr 21, 2023
Raab Resigns
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.
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Apr 20, 2023
Queen Camilla's son on The News Agents
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 Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Apr 19, 2023
Fox News Lies - and Murdoch pays millions
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 former Sun Newspaper editor David Yelland.
We also ask why food is getting ever more expensive with the latest inflation figures.
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.
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Apr 18, 2023
SNP - it's getting worse
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, leaked conversations that surfaced two years ago and now the second arrest.
What is this doing to the party, to independence and to Scottish voters?
And we ask what power Russia has in Africa and how it's channeled through the many tentacles of the Wagner group.
These Russian mercenaries are thought to be behind the violence in Sudan, and wield huge power all over the continent - fighting that is paid for in gold and diamonds. How close are they to Putin?
You can watch our episodes in full a…
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Apr 17, 2023
Is horse racing becoming the new bullfighting?
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 - as the head of ITV's horse racing presenting team.
And to Claudia Penna-Rojas from Animal Rising. We also discuss Rishi Sunak's finances - he's under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner.
And we ask if we should all be better at maths - with maths lover and teacher Bobby Seagull.
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.
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Apr 14, 2023
Abortion in America: Illegal by stealth?
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 America, should never have been legal in the first place. Chaos reigns and once again, the Supreme Court will decide.
On a special deep dive of The News Agents we explore both of these cases and ask whether, as part of a culmination of a five decade political strategy and movement, abortion in America will be abolished, by stealth.
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.
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Apr 13, 2023
Liz Truss, the deep state and China
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 interview he gave. We discuss the damage done, and we hear from Liz Truss in Washington who goes off on one.
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.
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Apr 12, 2023
"I’m Joe Biden and I’m Irish"
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 interview.
Who has the power when Elon Musk is in the seat?
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.
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Apr 11, 2023
Are Labour's attack ads 'gutter politics'?
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 say that sexual assault and misogyny within surgery is commonplace.
Lewis talks to Rachel Sylvester, who has written for The Times on the subject and Roshana Mehdian-Staffel, an orthopaedic surgeon who has spoken out about her experiences.
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.
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Apr 6, 2023
Why are the police searching Nicola Sturgeon's house?
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 implications if it was pre arranged?
We ask the leader of the SNP in Westminster, Stephen Flynn.
And we talk e-scooters after 90% of Parisians vote to ban them from Paris.
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.
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Apr 5, 2023
The People v Donald Trump - Part 2: Trump in the Dock
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 full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Apr 4, 2023
The People v Donald Trump - Part 1
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 morning - the Trump fightback.
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.
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Apr 3, 2023
Child grooming, 'political correctness' and dog whistle politics
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?
And the Italian newspapers are writing today about our 'Fifteen Hour Dover Brexit queues'. Is everyone pointing to Brexit except the British government?
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.
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Mar 31, 2023
Is Donald Trump going to jail?
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 Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 30, 2023
Britain's Rotten Meat Scandal
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 - was being falsified. We talk to the Farmers Weekly journalist who broke the story Abi Kay. And we dip into the 'vagina-scented' ski slopes of Utah to visit the trial of the century - Gwyneth Paltrow v Terry Sanderson.
At the time of publication, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) had not provided us with a comment after we approached them.
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.…
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Mar 29, 2023
The Government's Ship Idea
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 they have hurt? We talk to Laura Trevelyan who's family has decided to make amends for their own past.
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.
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Mar 28, 2023
Will Corbyn get his revenge?
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.
Twenty years on we talk to him about how he and his fellow intelligence officers got it so catastrophically wrong on Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (or lack thereof), whether or not he regrets the invasion and how life is different for young spooks, today.
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.
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Mar 27, 2023
Led by Bibi, Led by Humza & Led By Donkeys
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 gross violation of democracy.
We explore whether this could finally be the end for Bibi and what it could mean for the wider Middle East.
And we usher in a new SNP leader after a divisive race, and talk to the investigative journalist behind the new Led By Donkeys sting.
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.
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Mar 24, 2023
Why is Paris burning?
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 https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 23, 2023
Our billionaire PM and his £1 million tax bill
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. Lewis is on the streets of Paris where they are rioting. And not just because of something he said.
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.
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Mar 22, 2023
Boris Johnson Swears He's Telling the Truth
Boris Johnson told the parliamentary inquiry that he HAD misled parliament, but he hadn't meant to.
His repeated defence was that he hadn't been advised what he was saying might be wrong (he had). And that other people hadn't told him that rules might have been broken (they had). He insisted that the leaving parties he'd attended had been essential work and berated Downing Street itself for having too many corridors to make parties safer.
Sir Bernard Jenkin led the charge asking what he would have told a press conference if the rest of the country had wanted to hold leaving parties too. Now the committee goes away to consider its findings and its verdict. We dissect the afternoon and that Stormont Brake vote that briefly interrupted proceedings.
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.
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Mar 21, 2023
The (sexist, racist, homophobic) Met Police
The Met Police - so says the explosive Casey Review released today - is a bullying boys club in which predators flourish.
Rape evidence is thrown out - because of broken fridges.
Eye-watering force is used against Black people.
Gay officers are scared of their colleagues.
So what happens now? And will this diminish public trust in the force even further? The author of the review Baroness Louise Casey joins us.
Plus we get hold of Boris Johnson's defence dossier. He argues he didn't mean to mislead Parliament, only called it a party because the media did and doesn't understand why he's accused of breaking rules when everyone else did too. So yes. that one.
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.
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Mar 20, 2023
Can Boris Johnson defend the indefensible?
Boris Johnson has submitted evidence to the Privileges Committee which will be judging whether he set out to mislead the House of Commons over Partygate.
He argues that 'he was advised he wasn't breaking any rules' - which might seem odd coming from the person who in fact made up those rules. We now await publication of his defence.
Also today - why the DUP won't vote for Sunak's latest Brexit deal: The Windsor Framework.
And - on Iranian New Year we speak to Anoosheh Ashoori and his daughter Elika. Anoosheh emerged from Evin prison a year ago after being falsely arrested. He tells us of his hunger strike, his suicide attempts and his torture - and why he's now feeling optimistic for Iran.
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.
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Mar 17, 2023
Is the SNP falling apart?
After nearly a decade of stability spearheaded by Nicola Sturgeon, why do the SNP look like they're imploding? The three candidates after her job are spending day after day taking lumps out of each other. Polling suggests that the only thing that they're hurting though is their common goal: Scottish independence.
We speak to one of the candidates who's attack on the independence of the leadership process has been called 'Trumpian'. And we speak to a senior SNP MP about what this is doing to the political party that, just seven weeks ago, resembled an immovable object in the way of both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.
And for some weekend listening. We ask a Labour grandee and parliamentary history-maker what it was like to be the first female Black MP in the House of Commons.
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.
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Mar 16, 2023
Jeremy Hunt on junior doctors, Brexit and his Budget
The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt finished his early morning media round and then came for a coffee with the News Agents.
We asked how many doctors would re-enter the workforce with his pension changes.
How Brexit will effect our growth longer term.
And where his childcare ideas came from....
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.
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Mar 15, 2023
The Budget: Will the rich get richer?
Today's bombshell rabbit (to mix a metaphor) was the Chancellor's promise to abolish the lifetime allowance on pensions.
If you're super-rich it's time to crack open the champagne. If you're working age and well-paid, it might keep you in your job longer - at least that's the aim- but this is against a backdrop where household disposable income is falling at its fastest rate since the 1950s.
We talk childcare, taxation, potholes, and Brexit beer.
Later, we revisit the question of BBC impartiality after leaked emails show an editor succumbing to pressure from Boris Johnson's Number 10 during the pandemic.
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.
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Mar 14, 2023
Suella's asylum plan - why dozens of Tory MPs aren't backing it.
Last night more than forty Conservative MPs refused to back Suella's new plan for immigration.
One- the former Lord Chancellor - called it 'ineffective authoritarianism'.
Another - the former Immigration Minister - called it 'an absolute horror'.
So today we tackle the policy head on. Is it legal? Is it humane? And will it lead fewer people taking small boats?
We also look at police violence against women. The numbers are unbelievable - how, out of 1500 officers facing accusations of violence, have only 13 been dismissed.
Is the force 'institutionally sexist'?
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 13, 2023
The BBC vs. Lineker: They think it’s all over ... it isn’t
Gary Lineker will be back on air this weekend.
And BBC Director General Tim Davie has apologised to viewers for the weekend's schedule disruptions.
They'd like this row to go away now.
Except it won't.
Where does it leave the BBC Chair and his Tory donations and friendships? Where does it leave the social media activities of other high profile talent? And what does impartiality mean - if it's being dictated by the government?
We speak to Armando Iannucci - who coined the phrase omnishambles a decade ago...
And we look at the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and ask if over the weekend we got close to another financial crash.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 10, 2023
The BBC takes Gary Lineker off air
The BBC have told Gary Lineker he won't be presenting Match of the Day on Saturday night. Emily, Jon and Lewis bring you their immediate reaction.
Protests against drag queen story readings for kids have been gaining momentum in the US and increasingly the UK. This week in London there was a clash between protestors, arguing about whether these kinds of activities - where drag queens read stories to children - should be allowed to take place. Lewis asks what happens at these readings, why people are concerned, and looks at why this might develop into the latest frontier in a culture war.
And is Georgia running back to sugar daddy Russia?
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 9, 2023
Will Macron block Rishi's small boats plan?
The coveted Crimes against the English Language award goes to Penny Mordaunt today for mangling almost a dozen football analogies into one short Commons speech. We are still trying to work out what a left wing striker is but for now what you need to know is that the Conservative frontbench is nervously awaiting a response to their small boats policy from President Macron tomorrow when Rishi Sunak goes to Paris.
The News Agents hear their might be a firm Gallic 'non' coming. So what happens to the returns policy then? And is that why Conservatives want to carry on talking about Gary Lineker for as long as they feasibly can...
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 8, 2023
Should Gary Lineker be free to speak his mind?
Gary Lineker has responded to the furore surrounding his tweet on the government's asylum policy with the promise to 'keep speaking for those with no voice'.
It's being reported on the BBC News website - whist - we understand - the BBC is currently trying to give Lineker 'a frank talking to' for breaking impartiality rules.
How do the BBC rules on impartiality work? We speak here from a little experience... And can Suella Braverman defend her language - and her policy more generally - to the country?
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 7, 2023
Is Suella prepared to break international law?
The Tories have produced - at last count - over forty different failed policies to stop channel crossings.
Today, Suella Braverman came up with the latest.
It will prevent anyone arriving here by small boat from claiming asylum or doing so in the future. And it promises to detain them for 28 days after which they will be returned.
Without quite explaining where... or how.
We ask if this desperate measure will break the Geneva Convention - the UN Convention of Human Rights - and talk to former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 6, 2023
The Johnson Family Honours List
Is Boris Johnson’s dad going to receive a knighthood? Is anyone else in the Johnson family? We speak to Rachel Johnson who opens up about family relationships and how it works if your brother is Prime Minister.
We also ask why Keir Starmer seems to be unwilling or unable to answer a simple question: when did he first appoint Sue Gray? Does this all go back to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case?
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 3, 2023
Isabel Oakeshott: Why I did it
We talk to the woman who has started a war with Matt Hancock- journalist Isabel Oakeshott. He was her source and she turned on him by taking 100,000 of her Whatsapp messages to The Telegraph. The revelations have gripped Westminster- she tells us there’s more to come. We talk to her about her motivations.
And we talk all things Sue Gray, that once famous woman of Westminster who investigated Boris Johnson and Partygate, off to become…Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff.You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 2, 2023
Will we ever escape Boris Johnson?
Boris Johnson is back. But then again, he never really went away. In a speech today at a soft power forum, he takes a swing at Rishi Sunak and his Windsor Framework after two days of lying low. We discuss the continual Johnson-shaped fly in the Sunak ointment.
And Jon and Lewis go through the latest Hancock WhatsApp developments in the Lockdown Files story, and talk to Mehdi Hasan, MSNBC anchor and author of Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading and Public Speaking to talk about misinformation in the US media.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Mar 1, 2023
Inside Matt Hancock's WhatsApps
The Telegraph have released a slew of Matt Hancock's Whatsapp messages from when he was Health Secretary, at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Lewis and Jon discuss the politics of the investigation, and the ethics, or lack thereof, of the journalist behind the release of the messages. And is Matt Hancock, quite simply, a plonker?
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 28, 2023
Has Rishi sunk Boris?
We said yesterday that Rishi Sunak had taken a massive gamble announcing a new deal for Northern Ireland without having necessarily laid the political groundwork beforehand.
Well, 24 hours later, and it feels like he might have pulled off a blinder. The far-right of his Tory party are...quiet, and the DUP seem cautiously optimistic. Perhaps most importantly, Boris Johnson, a key potential spanner in Sunak's works, hasn't poked his head above the parapet. Could this be the start of a Conservative government rising from the ashes of internecine warfare? And could that well prove problematic for one Keir Starmer?
And in the podcast, we talk to someone who knows a thing or two about significant Irish agreements: former Taoiseach from 1997-2008, Bertie Ahern, who orchestrated the Good Friday Agreement with Tony Blair's Labour government back in 1998, some 25 years ago.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
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Feb 27, 2023
Sunak's gamble
For Northern Ireland Protocol, now read Windsor Framework.
A beaming Rishi Sunak and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, have signed what MIGHT come to be seen as an historic agreement to solve the conundrum of the status of Northern Ireland post-Brexit.
Might, because we don't know how the loyalist, unionist DUP will react, nor the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party, the ERG, potentially led by mischief-maker-in-chief, Boris Johnson. What Sunak has negotiated is a victory for pragmatic policy-making. But the raw politics still looks precarious.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 24, 2023
Bernie Sanders on Biden, Corbyn, and billionaires
U.S. Senator, Chair of the Budget Committee and TikTok sensation Bernie Sanders joins Lewis and Jon in the studio. He spoke about Joe Biden’s presidency, whether Jeremy Corbyn should stand as an independent candidate, and his new book It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 23, 2023
Let Them Eat Turnips
The environment and food secretary has suggested that - faced with a tomato shortage - people should just eat turnips instead.
It’s all a bit Marie Antoinette but just a bit more depressing.
Today we look at the long-term problem behind our current empty shelves with Observer food critic Jay Rayner.
And on the eve of the anniversary of Russia's second invasion of Ukraine, London's streets are blue and yellow - but is Putin successfully negotiating the West's economic sanctions? We ask corruption hunter-in-chief Bill Browder.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 22, 2023
Shamima Begum: should we forgive the IS bride?
Most fifteen year olds do stupid things.
Rarely do they join a terrorist organisation in Syria. But today. Shamima Begum - the ISIS bride - lost her appeal - and with it her chance to regain UK citizenship. Do we feel safer as a country? Or soulless? And as Kate Forbes - committed Christian and SNP Finance Minister makes her case to lead Scotland, we ask another committed Christian, MP Tim Farron - once Lib Dem leader, now podcast host - if politics and religion can ever mix in Britain.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 21, 2023
Putin, the Protocol and the Press
There is too much news today. Frankly.
Putin tried to convince a domestic audience that NATO started the war in Ukraine, Rishi Sunak tried to face down Tory doubters telling him to drop his Northern Ireland deal, and the press and media are mulling over how to respond to accusations of intrusion by Nicola Bulley's grieving family.
We hear from Northern Ireland Shadow Secretary Peter Kyle, Putin's former speechwriter Abbas Gallyanov, and former Head of News at ITN and formerly of broadcasting regulator Ofcom's Stewart Purvis.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 20, 2023
What is Boris Johnson up to?
Boris Johnson has been slapped down by a senior Conservative for his interventions on Rishi Sunak's latest Brexit deal over Northern Ireland.
Is the former PM stirring up trouble to pave the way for a comeback?
In the first interview since he left office, Johnson's former Director of Comms Guto Harri speaks exclusively to The News Agents and has a message for his old boss.
And Lewis comes back from Rotherham, where he was over the weekend reporting on a far-right protest gathered outside a hotel housing asylum seekers. He tells us what he heard and saw.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 17, 2023
Is the Union bouncing back?
Rishi Sunak has been in Belfast, hoping he can be the Prime Minister to finally answer the question on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Can he break Brexit gridlock?
And elsewhere in the United Kingdom questions over the strength of the Union have been raised by Nicola Sturgeon's decision to quit as leader of the Scottish National Party.
Does her resignation signal the the start of the decline of the independence movement?
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 16, 2023
Nicola Bulley: Have the police said too much?
Lancashire Police have come under-fire for the revelations they made overnight about the missing mother Nicola Bulley who's not been seen for nearly three weeks. Why did they say so much - after weeks of near silence?
And how damaging has that been to trust in the police?
And we look at another communications disaster in the making - a train derailment in Ohio is threatening environmental catastrophe. Yet the authorities are accused of a cover up - and conspiracy theories are starting to flourish.....
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 15, 2023
Sturgeon resigns
Sturgeon is stepping down as Scotland's First Minister.
Jeremy Corbyn is banned from standing as a Labour MP.
If there’s a broad News Agents take away it’s this: be careful about sitting down with Lewis Goodall.
Today we look at what may lie behind Sturgeon's decision and what it could mean for Scottish independence.
And we ask Diane Abbott - old friend of Jeremy Corbyn - is she backs the current or former Labour leader now.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 14, 2023
Gender Identity, Children and the NHS
The only NHS service in England to offer gender identity services to children announced it would be closing down last year - after years of whistleblowers who worked there trying to raise the alarm about a scandal in their midst: a failure to safeguard some of the country's most vulnerable young adults.
What went wrong?
And how much did the toxic political climate at the time over trans issues contribute to a work practice that was not fit for purpose. We talk to the investigative reporter Hannah Barnes who's new book Time to Think reflects her years spent talking to those involved - the staff, the families and most importantly, the children themselves.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 13, 2023
Why is Joe Biden shooting down UFOs?
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the airspace, another one gets shot down. What are these unidentified flying objects? Are they *just* balloons? And are there more of them now or are we just noticing them more?
What does it tell us about a) the sky b) the relations we now have with one of our biggest trading partners, China.
And - missing in action? Jon Sopel has finally turned up ... on Prime Time Australian TV. We are merciless, as you would expect.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 10, 2023
Is it now too expensive to have kids?
Childcare in Britain is broken and yet it is almost never talked about. Why? In this episode, Lewis dissects why Labour thinks this could be the key to a majority at the next election and why in 21st century Britain having children is fast becoming a luxury item.
We talk you through how the system has become so expensive and the fact that families increasingly find themselves wondering whether it’s worth both parents staying in work - or worth even having children at all.
We also bring you up to date with the ongoing set of scandals engulfing sexual crimes and the Metropolitan Police and- horrifyingly- whether there may be even more to come.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 9, 2023
Turkey-Syria earthquakes: How do we aid people under authoritarian regimes?
Authoritarian regimes in both Syria and Turkey make a devastating situation even more complicated. How do we get aid in to help quake victims when the humanitarian corridors are limited and social media communication is censored?
In Turkey many want to know where the 30 billion pounds of funding that was meant to make buildings earthquake-proof has gone.
Meanwhile, Russia is on the move - coming to Syria's rescue. What's the agenda there? We asked former Foreign Secretary and International Rescue Committee head David Miliband, Minister for Development Andrew Mitchell, and the Times's Hannah Lucinda Smith, who has lived in the regions for years and visited the quake epicentre this week.
The DEC is launching the Turkey-Syria Earthquake to deliver vital aid in the aftermath of earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria and raise funds to help its 15 charities to scale up their work to reach more of the millions of people affected. People need help now. Please donate at dec.org.uk.
You…
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Feb 8, 2023
Zelenskyy wants wings: Will Rishi grant his request for fighter jets?
With a mere couple of hours notice that Ukraine's President Zelensky was in town, The News Agents dropped everything to get to Westminster Hall to hear him address both houses of Parliament.
A speech that began with gracious tributes quickly got to its blunt point: A request for 'wings' - fighter jets - which the US and UK previously turned down.
So will this historic demand change the minds of the world leaders? In the hall were both the PM and former PM Boris Johnson. Zelensky paid thanks to both.
But The News Agents heard murmurings that Boris Johnson was muttering - all the way through the speech - about Rishi. We're sure it was all good thoughts...
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 7, 2023
High Drama, Low Politics: James Norton joins the cast
Rishi Sunak has had his first proper reshuffle (excluding the one he did as soon as he started).
What do the changes tell us about the priorities of this government? And what has he left?
TL:DR Dominica Raab remains in his job.
Then, we shift to the Calder Valley. James Norton is in HQ and talks playing a rapist, being from Yorkshire and what the PM is getting wrong with the arts.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 6, 2023
All (Dis) Quiet on the Westminster Front
Liz Truss is back.
And oh.
So are those pauses.
She tells Spectator TV she doesn't want to be PM again but she does want to promote her economic ideas. (You remember the ones that nearly melted the markets). We ask why there has been so little self reflection. And if her economic diagnosis might one day prove right...
And we speak to Malte Grunert - producer of the world's most harrowing film, All Quiet on the Western Front about German attitudes to war, modern warfare and German history.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 3, 2023
Jeremy Corbyn on strikes, Starmer and anti-Semitism
Jeremy Corbyn’s time as Labour leader was one of the most extraordinary periods of modern politics. For a while he seemed like he’d moved the posts of politics. And yet now, he is a political ghost. He isn’t even a Labour MP.
In this wide ranging and exclusive interview, Lewis talks to the man himself, at length about the prime ministers he knew, the biggest period of industrial unrest for decades, his successor, his suspension and the anti-Semitism saga which engulfed his leadership.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 2, 2023
The Return of Liz Truss?!
Little birdies have told The News Agents we can shortly expect Liz Truss to re-emerge onto the political scene.
She's going to reiterate her ideology and perhaps address some of what went wrong in those fateful 49 days. Don't think of this as another bid for PM. She may be wanting to offer a Conservative template for future generations - think America's Republican firebrand Barry Goldwater in the 1960's who paved the way for Reaganism.
And on the subject of Republicans - the Culture Wars in the US are back with a vengeance. Donald Trump is talking transgender, Ron DeSantis is taking on race.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Feb 1, 2023
Full-on, dirty political gossip
A Labour MP has put the cat amongst the pigeons by calling Israel's government 'fascist' in the House of Commons.
She's been hauled in front of Keir Starmer. Watch this space. We'll be talking about the rising tensions and indeed violence in Israel - but we also wanted to take you behind the scenes to some of the briefings we have been hearing about those Dominic Raab bullying allegations and Boris Johnson's stately trip to the USA.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Jan 31, 2023
Is the UK regretting Brexit?
Brexit is three years old. And like a raging toddler after a missed lunchtime nap it's kicking and screaming its way through our national consciousness creating chaos as it goes. New polls suggest a sizeable proportion of those who voted for Brexit now regret it. What do those who created the Brexit deal make of it now? We talk at length to Lord David Frost - architect of the Northern Ireland Protocol and Chief Brexit Negotiator about why he still believes in it.
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Jan 30, 2023
Are the Tories suffering from 'Long Boris'?
New polls show more bad news for Rishi Sunak less than a day after his decisive action to sack his ministerial-code breaking Conservative Party Chair, Nadhim Zahawi. Why can't the PM catch a break? And is the Zahawi saga over - or is there more to come out?
We speak to former Chief of Staff at No.10 Gavin Barwell about what's happening at Tory HQ.
And, who do you trust more: Boris Johnson, or the Kremlin?
You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Jan 27, 2023
Nicola Sturgeon on Gender, Starmer and Prince Harry
We travel to Edinburgh and Holyrood, the home of the Scottish Parliament, and sit down in a meeting room in the belly of the building housing Scottish power.
In walks one of the most formidable people on this sceptred isle. Nicola Sturgeon. She gamely gives us nearly an hour of her time.
She’s the great survivor of British politics. She’s on her fifth Tory Prime Minister. She’s bestrode Scottish politics for a decade. And in the last weeks she’s found herself central to the British political conversation once again. Lewis talks to Scotland’s First Minister about her controversial Gender Recognition Reform Bill, about the coming battle (or deal?) with Labour and Keir Starmer, about the strengths and weaknesses of the prime ministers who have come and gone and who she’s observed, and even a bit on Prince Harry.
And, after finding out pre-interview that she's a regular listener of the podcast(!), who does she prefer: Emily or Jon?
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Rory Symo…
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Jan 26, 2023
Is Britain becoming irrelevant?
The News Agents are on Nadhim-watch. Alas there have been no actual sightings of him this week, but he’s been talked about plenty.
And now, the head of HMRC has been speaking about tax penalties, and not helpfully for the Tory party chairman, who appears to be edging ever closer to the brink.
There was further bad news for the government this morning as the latest car production figures show production is now down to its lowest level for over 60 years. Why? Is it another stark illustration of Britain's shrinking manufacturing industries?
And Donald Trump has got his Facebook account back, but he’s very much on probation.
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus
Editor: Tom Hughes
Executive Producer: Dino Sofos
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.c…
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Jan 25, 2023
Is the job too big for Rishi Sunak?
In Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon, Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer landed the blow that seems to have thus far defined political discourse since PM Rishi Sunak took office. Is he too weak to sack ministers when he needs to? Is the job just too big for him? We discuss.
And, Germany and the US have agreed to send tanks to Ukraine to help ward off Russia's invasion. Are tanks useful in modern warfare? What does this mean for the Ukrainian war effort? And will this shift the dial in a war that appears to be stagnating? We ask the former Commanding Officer of one of Britain's tank regiments, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus
Editor: Tom Hughes
Executive Producer: Dino Sofos
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer…
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Jan 24, 2023
Is Sunak too weak to sack Zahawi?
Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs are now becoming a problem for Rishi Sunak. The PM has asked for a full acount of what happened - a change of tune from last week when he said there was nothing to see. Does the PM show resilience from holding on to a colleague under-fire? Or weakness by refusing to face the awkward facts?
And we speak to YouTube megastar Nas Daily about Chat GPT and replacing creatives with AI, artificial intelligence.
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus
Editor: Tom Hughes
Executive Producer: Dino Sofos
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
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Jan 23, 2023
Are the Tories running the BBC?
The BBC's mantra is that impartiality - and the perception of impartiality - must be at its core.
Yet following revelations in The Sunday Times we are coming to understand the nature of the relationship between the former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his financial needs, and the current Chairman of the BBC - an old friend of his, Richard Sharp.
Today, we ask why the Chairman failed to declare details that might have compromised that impartiality. And we speak to former Chair of the BBC Board Diane Coyle, who is horrified at what has emerged.
We approached the BBC for comment before publishing this episode.
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus
Editor: Tom Hughes
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents…
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Jan 20, 2023
Degrees, Debt, Despair: uni students in 2023
In our 100th episode, are students the forgotten part of our society? They're facing the cost of living crisis, a now near-permanent graduate tax, and many complain about the quality of their courses.
On this episode Lewis spends time with a group of Manchester students whose halls have vermin, and for which they're paying a pretty penny. And we take you through one of the biggest misunderstandings of modern British politics- how the student loan system, has stopped really working as a loans system, and is now, for all intents and purposes, a stealth tax.
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Production: Gabriel Radus
Editor: Ellie Clifford
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
Th…
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Jan 19, 2023
Sir Keir Starmer on Brexit, the Met Police and "being a lad"
Up an icy cold Swiss mountain, Sir Keir Starmer talked exclusively and at length to The News Agents. Will the UK ever rejoin the EU? What should happen to the Metropolitan Police and what do his kids think of his political ambition?
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus
Editor: Tom Hughes
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
The News Agents is executive produced by Dino Sofos.
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Jan 18, 2023
Brexit home truths at Davos
Emily and Jon are in the Swiss mountain village of Davos. Luckily, for them, they're in the same mountain village as some of the world's most important people. It’s a power magnet, and a place to find out what people are thinking about Britain right now.
We catch up wih William Hague - former Tory leader - who tells us Brexit is to blame for the collapse of the company Britishvolt. And we doorstep filmmaker Richard Curtis, of Love Actually. And with the Managing Director of The World Bank.
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus & Dino Sofos
Editor: Tom Hughes
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
The News Agents is executive produ…
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Jan 17, 2023
The Union and Gender politics collide
Two of the big conflicts which define British politics- the culture war and the war for the Union, have fused together.
The Scottish government's controversial Gender Recognition Bill, which would make it easier for people to legally change their gender and hailed by some as a great advance for trans rights, has been blocked, vetoed by the UK government.
UK ministers claim it would impact UK wide equalities legislation. In this episode, Lewis takes you through both the substance of the issue at hand but also how it is just the latest staging post on a constitutional clash of wills between Westminster and Holyrood, and how both issues, already fraught and volatile, are becoming interwoven making both all the more unstable still.
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus
Editor: Tom Hughes
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-age…
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Jan 16, 2023
Suella, The Home Office and the Holocaust survivor
It's quite a thing to pick a fight with a Holocaust survivor.
But this weekend, The Home Office asked for the removal of a social media clip that showed Joan Salter MBE confronting Home Secretary Suella Braverman over what she called 'dehumanising' rhetoric around refugees.
The Home Office said the clip did not show the full exchange and had been heavily edited. Was the clip unfair? In stepping in, did the Home Office act out of order? And what does it tell us more widely about the government's communications issues after a weekend where Rishi Sunak also came unstuck with questioning over Scottish independence. We talk to former Director of Comms at Downing Street Sir Craig Oliver about how you get this stuff right.
And, classified documents at three of Biden's residences. Is this any different to Trump's document hoarding at Mar-a-Lago? And does this reinvigorate Trump's 2024 presidential bid and stymie Biden's re-election tilt?
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith…
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Jan 13, 2023
Is Labour shifting on Brexit?
It's been said for years that Labour have been too scared to touch the political lightning rod of Brexit, for fear of losing yet another general election.
But, what if that dial is shifting now? What if Keir Starmer's party feel so comfortable in their lead in the polls that the question of Brexit is reopened? He's been in Belfast, today, outlining measures that would soften the terms of the Brexit the UK subjected itself to two years ago. We talk to Labour MP Chris Bryant, and political commentator Steve Richards about whether Starmer is playing his cards right.
And, the epidemic of homelessness gets worse. Lewis visits a food station in Central London to talk to the homeless about a crisis and speaks to the CEO of Shelter Polly Neate about the increase of families without a permanent home.
Research: Megan McElroy
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus & Ellie Clifford
Editor: Tom Hughes
For exclusive daily videos fr…
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Jan 12, 2023
Northern Ireland: Brexit's biggest headache
Keir Starmer is heading to Belfast and believes his party can help unlock the stalemate there. What does it take to make Brexit's biggest headache - the question of Northern Ireland - go away?
And could you explain it if you needed to ? We set Lewis Goodall to the challenge with a list of banned words...
And Tony Blair's former Chief of Staff in No.10, Jonathan Powell, helps demystify one of the sharpest political thorns in the British Isles.
Socials: Georgia Foxwell
Video: Will Gibson-Smith
Planning: Alex Barnett
Production: Gabriel Radus
Editor: Tom Hughes
For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/
The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
The News Agents is executive produced by Dino Sofos.