No Holds Barred Pod

The big news of the week was the US Midterm elections that saw a resounding rejection of Trump and his policies. We talked about the key figures and the implications for global politics. Sal told us about anew disability discrimination in the form of Motability wheelchairs and the extortionate price they attract. Reform’s new bloke that looks like Grant Mitchel, Palantir have had their NHS contrac...

We chatted about the truly horrific breaking news that Reform UK councillor for Hampshire has been charged with 35 offences, including 12 of rape. This is obviously a very sensitive subject, but we tried to keep things factual and go over his background and previous controversies. Why do Reform UK have such a problem with sex offenders and racists?

We chatted through the leaked budget proposals so far — it feels like there will be little change until the next Parliament. Reform continues to flounder and sink in the polls with a Farage press conference in front of an empty auditorium. Trump is up to all sorts of shenanigans before his fate is determined in the Mid terms next week. Ai continues to remove hundreds of thousands of jobs. Strong l...

Is the USA now a Russian ally? We chatted about the most severe turn to the dark side, so far, for Donald Trump. Over the last week, he has been taking larger and larger strides towards the loving arms of Vladimir Putin.

Don took us through a fairly long list of Andy Burnham's reverse ferrets, blunders and backtracks in his very short tenure as PM.Before we are accused of Burnham bashing, both Sal and Don feel the need to point out political missteps wheresoever they occur and there are some worrying ones taking place since hid takeover in June.

We recorded this minisode a few hours before the ITV documentary dropped but still managed to cover most of the salient points. ITV dropped too many clips before the main event! We also got through some of the other insane things Reform MPs were up to last week including, murder in the English Channel, weird videos and a hoax suspicious package. Almost like they were trying to distract from someth...

Trump has been taking gigantic leaps toward Vladimir Putin this week, buying oil from him and shutting down Starlink — is he now the true global enemy? Burnham has questions to answer about Man City, and he’s not doing it very well. Reform are saying they’ll kill people in the English Channel via the Royal Navy? Will they, though? Plus Ai scalpers almost ruined a Rae concert but she manually stepp...

Sal and Don chatted through the worrying rise in online hate that is now spilling out into the real world. Have we reached the event horizon? Should the government be doing much, much more? Let us know what you think. 🤔

We chatted about the Green Party’s vote over the weekend. They passed a motion that Zionism is Racism. Clearly this is a contentious issue for many, but should it be? Sal and Don talked it through in a calm and measured manner that may hopefully bring some clarity. Is it antisemitic? Do most people understand that vote, or that it clearly defined which form of Zionism they referred to? Let us know...

It’s all about Burnham this week — his debut conference speech has been lauded as the greatest of all time by some in the media — we have slightly differing opinions. There were glaring omissions and some crucial context. Sal and Don covered it all. We also got into the bizarre story of RAF Fairford and the weird transition from Labour peer to Palantir fluffer by Tom Watson. Strong language. Polit...

We talked in depth  about the far-right and there ongoing control over the police and lifeboat services in the UK. Ofcom fail at many hurdles including GB News again. Trump’s war is really hitting home now and Palantir again. Strong language. Politics unpacked. Every week. No Holds Barred Links Our website: https://noholdsbarredpod.com Buy some merch here: https://noholdsbarredpod.com/merch/ YouTu...

Labour has spent the week dealing with the much publicised Local Government Reorganisation … by scraping it. Potentially costing local councils millions. They green lit a tourist tax for mayors but less than half the country have them. Reform spokesperson, Aaron Banks was forced to delete an extremely racist 𝕏 post. Trump’s war of choice is back on and he’s lying about 9/11. We covered the Assiste...

We recorded this episode before the news of the Reform corruption scandal erupted. Check back later for our special episode on that. Reform Roundup included many, many lies and faux pas, Jenrick being an idiot and Yusuf being a massive racist. Burnham has been busy backtracking and making claims over things he didn’t do.  America is in BIG trouble in the Middle East.  Strong language. Politics unp...

We're back with a new episode of Discussions with our special guest, James Koppert. James was our very first Discussions guest and as an expert in ADHD, we wanted to chat to him again, especially after the very disturbing and disingenuous Channel 4 documentary last week. Listen to James explain ADHD is a physical condition and the ramifications of our entire mental health system is broken. Tho...

We're back with a new episode of Discussions with our special guest, Professor Louise Raw. Louise is a fantastically interesting historian, anti-fascist campaigner and author, and it was a real pleasure to have her in the studio for a wide-ranging chat. We discussed all sorts from, depravity in society, the far-right, Louise’s history work and the joy of the Tate’s arrest. Louise wrote about t...

Reform are busy making hay while the other parties are on their holidays so it's been a very busy week in Reform UK World. Zia Yusuf went rogue and sacked Tim Montgomerie, he made up some odd polling about himself and gave himself a new nickname 'Lethal Electoral Threat' … which went down well! 😂Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman made rare appearances and Nigel is clearly on his hols.

TRIGGER WARNING — This episode contains a discussion about the tragic story of Jason Arday and references to suicide. Please skip the section if this may affect you. Minutes 32:53–45:38. We also chatted Burnham’s latest pub bore chat and Angela Rayner’s pub bore chat. We missed out John Healy’s pub bore chat, though. Reform are in dire straits, and we’re very much here for it. And we chatted about...

Andy Burnham faces his first trial by media over the killers of PC Andrew Harper, but is he trying too hard to please everyone? Reform are a global laughingstock, and we discuss. Data centres are back in the news again — in the week that swimming pools and car washes may be forced to close due to the drought, should they be allowed unlimited water? Strong language. Politics unpacked. Every week. N...

We're back with a new episode of Discussions with our special guest and candidate in this week’s Clacton by-election, John Stevens. John is standing against Nigel Farage for the Rejoin EU party on Thursday 13th August, and we were lucky to grab an hour of his very busy schedule for a fantastic chat. We talked about the lack of enthusiasm for Farage in a surprisingly large swathe of Clacton, th...

Reform have been busy trying to distract from Farage’s donation scandal by Richard Tice falling under a Parliamentary standard investigation of his own. They decided to re-announce the Royal Navy plan for the seventh time, and Sky News lapped it up.  Burnham is on holiday and it's upset some right-wing journos. BP are taking the absolute piss by profiteering from the Iran war.  Sal's under...

We're back with a new episode of Discussions with our special guest expert, climate guru and meteorologist, Jim Dale.  Jim, Sal and Don chatted about every aspect of the climate emergency we could think of. Extreme risk from weather, wildfires, escape methods and importantly, the political aspect of climate denialism that runs through the far-right and Reform UK/GB News. Jim told us about his...

Has the sleaze finally caught up to Nigel Farage, Richard Tice and Reform UK? Sal and Don discuss the ramifications of the performative Clacton by-election. Also discussed: Andy Burnham's new cabinet and polices. With wildfires raging across Europe, when will some deniers accept the climate reality? The arrest of the Tate brothers. Can Andy Burnham really focus on the north at the expense of t...

EP 10 — DISCUSSIONS with Talora — Direct Action No Holds Barred Pod, is Sal Dodgson and Don McGowan. Politics unpacked every week. News, politics and opinion. Serious and hilarious in equal measure. We're back with a new episode of Discussions with Talora. Community activism, political engagement, Anti-Zionism, Jewish identity, civil disobedience and antisemitism. We got through a huge range o...

EP 99 – AMERICAN HISTORY XXXL | Trump's fascism ramps up. Reform by-election woes. Burnham becomes leader. No Holds Barred Pod, is Sal Dodgson and Don McGowan. Politics unpacked every week. News, politics and opinion. Serious and hilarious in equal measure. We talked a lot about the USA in this episode. Trump has gone off the rails offering market insider information for massive sums of cash a...

EP 98 – DATA DRAIN | Data Centre Water Use in a Drought. Ian Byrne — Hillsborough Hero. Tasmanian Terror. No Holds Barred Pod, is Sal Dodgson and Don McGowan. Politics unpacked every week. News, politics and opinion. Serious and hilarious in equal measure. More Reform panic as Farage considers his future after Ann Widdecombe's murder. We discussed the insane energy and water usage of the count...