James O'Brien Daily

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with Keir Starmer and other European leaders, are meeting Donald Trump today in an effort to end the Ukraine War. Just last night Russian drone attacks killed at least 10 people across Ukraine. Lewis discusses this pivotal moment with Hanna Hopko, Former head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament & Co-founder International Ce...

The long awaited meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will be taking place today in Alaska. Putin will inevitably seek the handover of Ukrainian territory as part of any “peace” agreement. Is this already a win for Putin? If he and Trump carve up Ukraine today, then what can Ukraine and Europe do about it? James' Europe-based callers share their viewpoints. And, along with A-Level exam...

Sir Keir Starmer held a breakfast meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of Donald Trump and Putin's summit on Friday, at which they'll discuss ending the war in Ukraine. What the results of that summit will be is anyone’s guess. Can you conceive of a world in which a united Europe stands against Russia - without the US? And, James dives back into yesterday’s conversation o...

The police are being encouraged to disclose the ethnicity and nationality of suspects charged in high-profile cases, with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper saying that the government and the public want "greater transparency". Why is the government encouraging this? An attempt to appease right-wing liars, diffuse right-wing lies, or something else? And, LBC has been granted exclusive access to a new po...

Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky isn’t invited - not surprising, seeing as Trump consistently blames him for the ongoing war. What’s the point of this meeting and why does Trump seem to blame Zelensky? And, today, the government announced that 40,000 future tradespeople will be up-skilled in new...

Yvette Cooper has defended the arrest of more than 500 people holding signs expressing their opposition to genocide and support of Palestine Action, a proscribed terror group. Around half of them were aged 60 and above - including almost 100 people who were in their 70s. James also speaks to Tamer Almisshal, senior presenter at Al Jazeera Arabic, to discuss Israel’s killing of five Al Jazeera jour...

Benjamin Netanyahu has approved plans for the "takeover of Gaza City" ahead of a full military occupation of the entirety of Gaza. Condemned by those calling for an end to the war, Sir Keir Starmer stated the decision is "wrong" and has called on Israel to reconsider. What is Netanyahu's endgame and and how should world leaders react? This episode was recorded on the 8th August. Catch James O’Brie...

Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali is facing calls to resign after claims she evicted tenants from an east London townhouse, shortly before re-listing the property at £700 increased rent a month. This practice will soon be illegal under the government’s upcoming Renters’ Rights Bill. Should she stay or should she go? And, in an interview about her childhood in Nigeria and hatred of rule-breakers,...

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for information about police suspects such as nationality and immigration status to be shared with the public. This comes amidst growing far-right unrest about - most recently - the alleged rape of a 12 year old girl in Nuneaton. The suspects are reportedly Afghan, with Reform UK claiming they’re asylum seekers. Will more transparency diffuse racist propagan...

The latest YouGov polling shows that over half of Brits incorrectly think more migrants are in the UK illegally than legally. In reality, 96% of immigrants are here legally. How did this catastrophic misconception happen and what can be done about it? And, the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, has accused Sir Keir Starmer of giving Hamas a “prize for terror”, regarding the Prime Minister’s s...

Sir Keir Starmer is giving serious consideration to the idea of introducing a digital ID system - in defiance of longstanding warnings by civil liberty advocates. Are you for or against digital ID, and why? And, Channel 4 has aired a documentary detailing 6 months in the life of Bonnie Blue, the pornographic actress who claims to have slept with 1,057 men in one day. Why are so many of us disturbe...

Heathrow Airport has submitted its “shovel-ready” plans for a third runway that’d allow 750 additional flights a day over London and, according to the government, generate 100,000 jobs. The Prime Minister loves the idea, whereas London Mayor Sadiq Khan is fighting tooth and nail against it. Who’s side are you on and why?  And, the main internship scheme that draws university students to the c...

Britain’s biggest police force is set to more than double its use of live facial recognition. Many are worries about the ethical use of the technology, particularly considering its complete lack of regulation. When do you stop using tech that does good, in order to prevent it being used for something bad in the future? And, Brits are “cheating the system” to get hold of weight-loss jabs before the...

Sir Keir Starmer has announced that the UK will join the other 147 UN nations that recognise the sovereign state of Palestinian, unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire, amongst other conditions. Why has Starmer done this now and what is this likely to achieve? And, for the first time ever, No 10 is hosting a reception for social media influencers at Downing Street, in an attempt to reach voters on pl...

A year ago today, the nation was struck by the horrific Southport killings, in which three young girls were murdered. Today, Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of UK terrorism legislation, told LBC that there should be a total ban on social media for under 16s. He believes social media can radicalise young people and fuel such crimes. Do you agree? And, loss of community spaces like youth clu...

James analyses the current swathe of headlines such as “Deprivation and immigration straining social cohesion, says Rayner”, “Demonstrators clash at Epping hotel as protests spread nationwide” and “Two in five arrested for last summer’s UK riots had been reported for domestic abuse.” When the entire media and political class is portraying the UK as on the brink of catastrophe, how do we hold on to...

Under new laws beginning today, under-13s in the UK must be barred from social media. How will it work and are there aspects of online identity verification that politicians might not have considered?  Joining James to discuss the new laws is Lisa Kenevan, whose son Isaac died aged just 13 in a tragedy that she believes was caused by social media exposure. Now she and the parents of three oth...

The BMA has said NHS bosses will be putting patients at risk from tomorrow's resident doctors' strike. Only non-urgent care will be cancelled - a move that will spread senior doctors too thinly according to the union. Considering their 22% pay rise across the last 2 years, do you support the doctor’s strikes this time round? Also, new data shows a third of 20 to 34-year-old men in the UK still liv...

Following two riots outside an asylum hotel in Epping last week, Sir Keir Starmer is demanding urgent action to avoid a repeat of last summer’s far-right violence. What should they do? Also, have you ever experienced brain fog? According to a new study, the Covid-19 pandemic may have aged our brains prematurely. Do you think this has happened to you? And, more than 100 NGOs warn that "mass starvat...

Israel has launched another offensive in Gaza, targeting the main hub for humanitarian efforts in the strip, Deir al-Balah, amid warnings of Palestinian starvation. This latest assault comes just after Israel killed at least 85 Palestinians waiting for aid on Sunday, in what has become almost daily slaughter. Yesterday, a joint statement issued by the UK and 27 other nations condemned Israel for t...

Water regulator Ofwat will be scrapped and replaced with a new watchdog to “prevent the abuses of the past”, including an estimated £85 billion being extracted from the UK water industry, with next to no investment. Simple question here - what has happened to our water and why? Also, the Lionesses have decided to stop taking the knee to protest against racism before their Euro 2025 matches. T...

MP Diane Abbott has said it "is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out" after the party suspended her for a second time over comments she made about the racism experienced by black people in comparison to the Jewish and Traveller communities. What do you think of comments? And, former Masterchef presenter John Torode has been sacked by the BBC for allegedly using the N-word twice. It’s been r...

Four MPs have been suspended by Labour for their rebellion against welfare cuts earlier this month. One of them, Rachel Maskell, described the cuts as "Dickensian” and belonging to a “different era and a different party". She’ll now sit as an independent and says that the suspension won’t silence her. What do you think about this moment of Starmer’s premiership and what makes a rebellion righteous...

The previous government withheld news of their operation to relocate 24,000 Afghans to the UK in order to protect some of those that they’d put at risk of Taliban attack after a Ministry of Defence data leak. So, why did the government cover it up? Also, the two men that cut down the Sycamore Gap Tree have both been jailed for four years and three months. Is this a fair punishment? James is joined...

Secondary school pupils in England are to be taught about "incel" culture, with a focus on positive role models for boys in efforts to tackle “manosphere” related misogyny. To help understand the importance of this, James asks what it’s like to grow up without a positive role model as a boy. And, James is joined by Lewis Goodall for the breaking story on which he’s been working for 2 years, but wa...