Newscast

Today, the Metropolitan Police say they are reviewing allegations of misconduct in public office after new files suggest Peter Mandelson sent government information to Jeffrey Epstein. Lord Mandelson seemingly forwarded internal emails sent and recieved while he was business secretary in 2009 from senior politicians to Epstein. Adam is joined by political correspondent Joe Pike in Westminster to d...

A second woman is alleging that she was sent to the UK by Jeffrey Epstein for a sexual encounter with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor following the release of more documentation from the Epstein files. The encounter allegedly occurred at the former prince's residence, Royal Lodge, in 2010. BBC News has asked Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for comment, but so far he has not responded to these accusations. L...

More than three million pages of documents related to the sex offender - Jeffrey Epstein - were released on Friday. New pictures appear to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor kneeling over a female lying on the ground, as well as emails to and from a man referred to as “The Duke”. Other emails show Epstein sent £10,000 to Lord Peter Mandelson's husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva in 2009, and the US Presi...

Today, Keir Starmer continues his reset trip to China. Adam and Alex are joined by James Landale and Sarah Montague to discuss the geopolitical significance of the Prime Minister’s visit to China plus what’s actually been agreed for British businesses. Plus, is President Trump preparing another strike on Iran? And, Andy Burnham has spoken out about the briefing culture in Westminster. You can now...

Today, Sir Keir Starmer has been meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the first time a sitting British PM has visited China in eight years. Although a host of trade deals were announced, including visa free entry for UK travellers, there have been fewer agreements than expected from the trip. Adam is joined in studio by deputy economics editor, Darshini David to chat about what we know so...

Today, Kemi Badenoch, gave a speech addressing Conservative defectors and detractors. Adam chats to Alex, in Westminster about how Kemi Badenoch’s speech accused her opponents of ‘psychodrama’, called defectors ‘drama queens’ and presented her vision for the future of the Conservative party. And we catch up with Chris in Beijing about what he’s seen and heard so far on his trip with the Prime Mini...

We’re only four weeks into the new year, but it feels like a year’s worth of news has happened already. So Radio 4 asked us to do a (very early) review of 2026 so far, and we thought we’d put it in your feed as a bonus episode. Adam and Henry are in the studio. Chris joins from home as he prepares in all sorts of ways for a trip to China with the Prime Minister. They chat through the fights of the...

Today, the chancellor has announced a package of support for pubs and music venues after the government was forced to U-turn on their plans to bump up business rates. BBC Business editor Simon Jack joins Adam to explain the measures, whilst political correspondent Joe Pike drops by to unpack the government’s other big announcement of the day - capping ground rents at £250 a year for leaseholders....

Today, Adam and Chris discuss ex-Conservative home secretary Suella Braverman defecting to Reform. She’s the third sitting Tory MP to do so in the last eleven days. Also happening in Westminster — the Prime Minister has been defending the decision to block Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election. It’s reported that 50 Labour MPs wrote to Keir Starmer to com...

Today, Andy Burnham has said he is "disappointed" after being blocked from standing as a candidate for the upcoming parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton by Labour's ruling body. As a directly elected mayor, Burnham had to get approval from Labour's national executive committee (NEC), after he applied to be a candidate on Saturday. But Labour said the party had decided to deny him permiss...

Today, members of the Labour National Executive Committee (NEC) met to make a decision on whether or not to let Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham run for MP for Gorton and Denton in its upcoming by-election. We discuss who could vote which way and whether it could lead to Prime Minister Keir Starmer facing a leadership challenge after the May elections. Joe Pike, political correspondent, joins...

Today, Andy Burnham has confirmed he is officially seeking permission to enter the running to become MP for Gorton and Denton in the upcoming by-election, opening the possibility for him to contest Keir Starmer’s leadership. However, Burnham has to get approval from Labour's ruling national executive committee, which Keir Starmer and some of his allies are on, before he can enter the race to be th...

Today, President Trump’s actions at Davos have caused a stir - but have they moved the dial on how other world leaders respond to the US President? The President used his two days at the World Economic Forum at Davos to set out his worldview in a wide-ranging speech, agree what he called a 'framework of future deal' over Greenland and hold an inauguration for his ‘Board of Peace’. Adam and Chris a...

Today, President Trump has wrapped up his second and final day at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The President held an inauguration for his new “Board of Peace” and met with Ukraine’s President Zelensky - which Zelensky said included agreeing post-war security guarantees for his country. BBC chief North America correspondent Gary O’Donoghue and the Economist’s Shashank Joshi break it all down....

Today, Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum at Davos to confirm he wants ‘immediate negotiations’ to acquire Greenland but ‘won’t use force’. Adam is joined by Faisal Islam, who was in the room watching Trump speak, and Caitriona Perry in Washington to decode President Trump’s wide-ranging speech. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BB...

Today, the UK Government has defended its decision to hand over the Chagos Islands after Donald Trump called the deal “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY!” on Truth Social. Adam and Chris put the president’s comments to Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, and ask whether Keir Starmer’s relationship with Donald Trump is being tested by his social media posts. And, we hear Darren Jones’ visi...

President Trump has said he no longer feels “an obligation to think purely of peace” after not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His comments came via text message to the Prime Minister of Norway after he threatened eight European countries with new tariffs over their position on Greenland. The president said that while peace would "always be predominant" he "can now think about what is good an...

Today we look at President Donald Trump’s plans to impose further tariffs on European countries, including the UK, because of their oppostition to the US taking over Greenland. As well as the UK, Trump announced a 10% tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland. They would come into force on 1 February, but could later rise to 25% - and would last unt...

Today, we hear from Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly took her own life in 2017. An inquest found social media content contributed "more than minimally" to Molly’s death. Since then Ian has campaigned for greater safety online. So why is Ian opposed to a ban for under 16s? Laura and Paddy in the Newscast studio to discuss the arguments for and against, and why there seems to be increasing support...

Adam and Laura are joined by BBC political correspondent Joe Pike to break down Laura’s interview with Robert Jenrick. They discuss why he says he picked country over party and if his move could unite the right or divide it further. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our...

Laura speaks to Reform’s newest MP, Robert Jenrick, in his first full interview after he was sacked by the Conservatives and hired by Reform just over 24 hours ago. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord Get...

In the 2000th episode of Newscast, Adam and Chris return for second helpings as Robert Jenrick’s defection to Reform is confirmed. Following his dramatic sacking via social media this morning, Jenrick appeared on stage with Reform leader Nigel Farage this afternoon to announce that he was joining the party. Farage told reporters that although they had been negotiating the possibility of Jenrick jo...

Kemi Badenoch has sensationally sacked shadow minister Robert Jenrick claiming he was secretly plotting to defect from the party in a way that was “as damaging as possible”. Reform has refused to confirm if Jenrick was planning to defect, although party leader Nigel Farage has said he ‘might’ buy him a sympathy pint. While Labour and the Lib Dems have been quick off the mark to take advantage of t...

Today, Adam is joined by Henry Zeffman and home affairs commentator Danny Shaw to discuss the findings of a report that stopped Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a Europa league match last November. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says the report shows there was a "failure of leadership" at the top of West Midlands Police. We also discuss why has Keir Starmer decided to change his plans to imple...

Today President Trump has urged Iranians to keep protesting, saying that “help is on its way.” News agencies and BBC journalists are reporting that the death toll after anti-government protests is now in its thousands, as the state-imposed internet blackout continues. But what does President Trump mean and what’s next for Iran? Adam is joined by BBC World and BBC Persian senior reporter, Siavash A...