Chopper's Politics

Yvette Cooper MP joins Christopher Hope on the week that Rishi Sunak unveiled his plans to tackle illegal immigration. Conservatives think that illegal migration is the one policy area where the party can beat Labour, but the Shadow Home Secretary unsurprisingly disagrees. She tells Chopper that Labour ministers will set themselves the objective to stop all small boats' crossings in the Engli...

More than 100,000 WhatsApp messages. 2.3 million words - the equivalent of three copies of the King James Bible.  You’ve read the headlines about the Telegraph’s extraordinary examination of the Lockdown Files - and now you can hear from some of the journalists behind it.  Christopher Hope is joined by the woman with the WhatsApps, Isabel Oakeshott , and Investigations Editor C...

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, alongside the European Union president Ursula von der Leyen, announced details of the Windsor Framework this week, a deal he's hoping will put an end to the past six and a half years of wrangling to an end. So is the Brexit hurly-burly done? Has the battle been finally won?  Joining Christopher Hope in the Red Lion to chew the fat is former Brexit adviser to Theres...

Boris Johnson is turning into one regular headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. So this week Christopher Hope is looking at three spheres where the former PM is intent on sticking his oar in. First, the Brexit impasse in Northern Ireland. The DUP's Sammy Wilson joins Chopper to discuss whether Boris' interventions on a trade deal are helpful, whether a change in Westminster leadership could mak...

Well, if there was any danger of recess getting boring, Nicola Sturgeon had other ideas. Just as Chopper was taking a well-earned holiday, the First Minister shocked Scotland and the United Kingdom by resigning after eight years in the job. So where does this leave Scotland and the future of the union, and what will be the ripple effect on Westminster? The Telegraph's Gordon Rayner and Alan Cochra...

New deputy chair of the Conservative Party, Nickie Aiken MP joins Christopher Hope in the Red Lion this week to vigorously defend her co-chair Lee Anderson, after he got into hot water this week for his views on hanging. The MP for Cities of London and Westminster blames the coverage of her colleague on snobbery from "intelligentsia", plus she decries polling in the Telegraph this week that puts t...

This week, Christopher Hope  returns to his spiritual home, the Red Lion pub, to discuss, you guessed it, Brexit. Three years on from leaving the E.U., many grumblings rumble on. So joining Chris to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol, the Union and more, David Jones (Deputy Chairman of the European Research Group) & Alex Phillips (Former Brexit Party MEP & GB News Broadcaster). In...

Christopher Hope swaps the Red Lion for Number 11 Downing Street this week, as he sits down with Jeremy Hunt . The Chancellor tells Chopper that he and the Prime Minister are committed to cutting taxes, but won't be drawn on when, and that his focus this year will be on business and taking advantage of Brexit. Plus, he tries to woo the over 50s back into work, rules out running for leader again, a...

The last of the Hope family's Christmas cake joins the guests in the Red Lion this week, and Wes Streeting is the first to take Christopher Hope up on the offer of having a slice. The Shadow Health Secretary insists that Labour wouldn't be the "fun police" to ban cakes in offices following comments this week from the chair of the Food Standards Agency, explains why he won't "wag his finger" at peo...

Rebecca Pow joins Christopher Hope in the Red Lion for some coffee in a china mug, as the Environment minister talks about the announcement that plastic cutlery, plates and polystyrene cups will soon be banned. She also reveals that a 'cash for trash' scheme looks set to get the green light, so get your litter pickers ready! Also on the podcast, John Baron expresses his dismay at the Foreign Offic...

On the week that the Prime Minister announced his 5 promises to voters, Science Minister George Freeman joins Christopher Hope to give his suggestions for 5 reasons to be cheerful, including getting rid of EU red tape, focusing on the "10% daft regulations" first. Also on the podcast, Shadow Cabinet Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds reacts to Sir Keir Starmer's reappropriation of the Brexit slogan "Tak...

2023 is almost upon us, so join Christopher Hope, Gordon Rayner and Camilla Tominey to reflect on the wacky year just gone in Westminster. We've had four Chancellors, three Prime Ministers, two different monarchs and one 'tractor' watching MP, so plenty to discuss, plus a look ahead to what might be in store in the New Year. For 30 days' free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ch...

Twas the strike before Christmas... on this week's festive edition of Choppers' Politics: Frances O'Grady gives her final interview as the General Secretary of the TUC, discussing strikes and the current gridlock between union leaders and the government. Robert Halfon MP , previously an outspoken and campaigning backbencher, swings by the Red Lion pub to explain how now, as a Minister of State in...

Sir Robert Buckland KC and Jonathan Gullis bring their views on how to tackle the migrant crisis to the Red Lion this week. Robert Buckland calls talk of withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights "a red herring" fuelled by the fact the word Europe is "catnip" for some of his Conservative colleagues. Then Jonathan Gullis talks about his failed Bill to force Rishi Sunak to ignore ruli...

James Sunderland , former Colonel in the Royal Logistics Corps, joins Christopher Hope in the Red Lion to talk about why the MP for Bracknell thinks the government needs to stop relying on the armed forces to step in over strike action and suggests that "Mr Lynch and his cronies" should perhaps try earning what soldiers earn. Strong words. Also on the podcast, UK Director of think-tank More in Com...

All of Christopher Hope 's guests this week are encouraging or have taken a leap of faith . Former Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke, now in the freedom of the backbenches, joins Chopper in the Red Lion to urge his fellow conservatives to rethink onshore windfarms and central housing targets and not fall for a "NIMBY's charter".  Also on the podcast, William Wragg , MP for Hazel Grove, disc...

Sir Keir Starmer comes to Telegraph Towers and Christopher Hope hands over the microphone, as the politics class of St George's School, Harpenden, grill the Labour Leader. Up for discussion: Unions and the Union, as Mr Starmer defends not standing on picket lines with striking works and discusses his stance on indyref2, and he talks tax and claims that Labour is the party of sound money. Plus, who...

Well, what a difference 7 weeks makes. The Telegraph's Camilla Tominey and Gordon Rayner join Christopher Hope to give us the top lines of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement, somewhat different in tone to his predecessors less than two months ago. Also on the podcast, David Jones , MP for Clwyd West and prominent ERG member, gives his withering assessment of Mr Hunt's tax hikes (5/10, must...

Leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, joins Christopher Hope for a wide ranging chat about tax cuts, new open cast coal mines and veterans running the police, amongst other subjects. The former Brexit Party leader claims that in the fortnight since Truss resigned 4,534 people have signed up to join Reform UK - and that the Tories should be quaking. Tice sees the party's rise in popularity as a sign o...

James Heappey joins Christopher Hope in the Red Lion ahead of Remembrance Day. The Armed Forces Minister reflects on the wearing of the poppy, decrying poppy shaming saying that you should choose to commemorate in a considered way, not wear a poppy out of obligation. Plus he discusses pausing to think of his service in Afghanistan with the Rifles during Remembrance services. Also on the podcast, S...

Political debate is running at a quieter pace after the breakneck speeds of the last few weeks, so here at Chopper's Politics we're serving you some red meat topics of discussion this week. Ed Miliband  joins  Christopher Hope  to discuss the importance of COP and why climate change isn't just a Left issue. Plus the former Labour leader gives his advice to Liz Truss on how to handle...

Sir Iain Duncan Smith joins Christopher Hope to talk about the Conservative's latest leader (third time lucky?) and the country's new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. The former party leader warns that a combination of "higher taxes and big, big sweeping cuts" could plunge the UK "into deep recession" and urges Liz Truss to not intervene too much from the backbenches. Plus Chopper is joined by the Tel...

Jacob Rees-Mogg joins Christopher Hope to make his case for why Boris Johnson needs to take back the reins of the Tory party and the nation, following Liz Truss's shock resignation yesterday. He talks about the former PM's strong mandate and how the numbers already flocking to support him have been "pleasantly surprising". The Business Secretary also warns colleagues calling for a spell in opposit...

When the last episode of Chopper's Politics was published, we had a different Chancellor. By the time the next one comes out, we may well have another Prime Minister, the way this week is going. The Telegraph's own Ben Riley-Smith and Tony Diver join Christopher Hope to talk about burning the mini-Budget, if the Tories' time is up, and if (whisper it listeners) it might be an idea to bring back Bo...

Charles Lewington , a former Press Secretary when Sir John Major was Prime Minister, joins Christopher Hope to talk about why he thinks Liz Truss will have to trim more measures from her mini-Budget to save her premiership, and whether Ben Wallace or Rishi Sunak could be the installed alternatives if the PM was forced to resign. Also in the Red Lion, the new Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Com...