Alas Vine & Hitchens

On this week’s episode, as the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continues, Peter will be looking at the current situation in Iran and then Sarah and Peter will be comparing notes on their Desert Island Discs (Sarah tries unsuccessfully to convince Peter of the charms of Faithless), if the BBC ever come calling…    And the pair pore over our mailbag to chat about dogm...

On this week’s episode, Peter would like to know why Labour are taxing some private schools out of business and Sarah is asking if should we even care that Prince Harry might be coming back to the UK?    And the pair pore over our mailbag to chat about studying double smoking (and drinking cider), how e-bikes have no place even in hilly Lisbon, just how Conservative was Gordon Brown, and...

On this week’s episode, Sarah speaks candidly about her father’s recent passing, both muse on the brutality of modern politics as Kier Starmer steps down and Peter wonders why some nations crave war.   And the pair pore over our mailbag prompting Peter’s remarkable impression of an announcer on the Moscow Metro. They both offer up the funniest politicians they’ve encountered and revisit...

On this week’s episode, Sarah’s asking is eighty too old to be a world leader or any kind of politician and Peter would like to know why the Thought Police are coming after Janet and John.   And the pair pore over our mailbag to consider why Peter is s a Swissphile, to wonder what the Victorians ever did for us, how the Mamas and Papas were a musical apex for some and why is one of our p...

On this week’s episode, Peter has finally worked out how to defend the realm (so you might sleep safely in your beds), and Sarah is asking why do some authority figures often go after the wrong people, and leave the real criminals alone?   And the pair pore over our mailbag to consider Britain’s place in two world wars, the valuer of spoiling a ballot paper. What happened when Peter appeared...

On this week’s episode, Sarah is asking what happened in the brutal murder of student Henry Nowak and Peter would like to know why the Blair Creature has returned from the deep to haunt the Labour Party.    And the pair pore over our mailbag to consider what the Festival of Britain brought the UK and if we might ever see it’s like again. While Peter embraces the charms of Paris, Sarah le...

On this week’s episode, Sarah is asking why a judge thought it was a good idea to let three rapists walk free. And Peter would like to know what the deal is with ridiculous centigrade temperatures.    And the pair marvel over Peter’s rakish black eye and pore over our latest mailbag to answer listener questions on whether devolution really can work and is the blueprint for politics on a...

On this week’s episode, two worlds collide as Sarah asks why prawn cocktail and such old school culinary delights as beef bourguignon and banana splits are back on the dinner menu. And Peter will be asking if our policy of bombing foreign countries is driving up mass immigration to the UK. And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to answer listener questions on whether Kemi Badenoch is really a t...

On this week’s episode, Peter will be telling us why first past the post is a much more preferable voting model to proportional representation. And sticking with the electorate, Sarah will be asking if there should be a general election if Keir Starmer finally falls on his sword.   And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to answer listener questions on the ‘sovereign’ bases in Cyprus,...

On this week’s episode, Peter would like to know why Lucy Letby has been in prison for 2,000 days while there is still little to no evidence against her. And Sarah – struggling valiantly with bronchitis - will be telling you why she was right about Kemi Badenoch all along.    And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to ask whatever happened to civilised political debate and can it possi...

On this week’s episode, Peter would like to talk about the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, and the time his dad moved a gun across the island, while Sarah wants to talk about yet another attempt on Trump’s life and why security for MPs is so lax in the UK.  And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to ask has the Starmer Project corrupted Labour? The latest update on Peter’s long-aw...

On this week’s episode, as Sarah is ousted from her rental home, she’s asking why Labour’s so-called revolutionary renters’ act is such a damp squib and, staying with the left, Peter wants to know why this government hates independent schools so much. And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to reflect once again on the madness of King Donald and his presidential predecessor, ponder whether the G...

On this week’s episode, Sarah would like to know why the social agencies and government infrastructure let down the victims of the Southport attack so badly and Peter would simply like to ask: has Donald Trump finally gone mad?  And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to talk about Peter’s time as a member of the International Socialists, not least the donkey jacket he wore. Why cabs a...

On this week’s episode, Sarah’s wondering if it really is a good idea to introduce driverless cars to London’s streets, and sticking with transport, Peter would like to know why a new 40-mile train line, and brand spanking new station, are yet to see one single passenger train. And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to talk about Crispin Blunt’s assertion  that he should have been acquitte...

On this week’s episode, Peter will be asking why the King and Queen have decided to go visit Donald Trump at the White House after his series of insults aimed at our country. And Sarah is asking do we really need a visibility day? And why are there so many of them? And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to talk about the role of Christianity and why this modern version might be waning. The allu...

On this week’s episode, Peter would like to know why we suddenly think it’s okay to assassinate people again and Sarah is asking why would anyone want to clasp the poisoned chalice that is DG of the BBC?  And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to talk about the unblinking horror of war, the justice system and Lucy Letby and dead guests at dinner parties (don’t hold your breath waiting on a...

On this week’s episode, Peter’s getting behind Ed Davey’s call for an independent British nuclear bomb. And Sarah wants to know why some university students don’t want to share accommodation with their Jewish counterparts.  And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to talk foreign plug sockets – electricity may or may not be green in communist countries, it’s not an exact science – the scourg...

On this week’s episode, Sarah wonders if Labour’s plans to change the definition of Islamophobia is actually a threat to free speech? And, in light of Ian Huntley’s death, Peter would like to ask whether the death penalty might be better than unofficial execution by another criminal?  And the pair pore over our mailbag to mull over the case for paying MPs more (there’s no accord there), who’s...

On this week’s episode, Sarah, and Peter clash over what the future of Iran should be after the extraordinary aerial assault by the US and Israel has plunged the territory in to war.  And, on a much lighter note, the pair discuss tribal loyalties in contemporary politics, what do we think of our Australian countries and in motorcycle news (we have some!), why the cost of a motorbike might be...

On this week’s episode, Sarah is asking if the horrendous case of Gisele Pelicot is more than just an isolated incident and Peter wants to know why our boys in blue have settled on performative policing.   Plus, why has it taken Sarah over a year to realise she’s been wearing her contact lenses in the wrong eyes? The parlous state of children’s fiction in the modern age and why Peter will be...

On this week’s episode, Peter will be asking when new legislation to curb the plague of e-bikes on our streets will finally come into effect. And Sarah wants to know why parents are opting NOT to vaccinate their children against measles.   Plus, how being bullied in school can change you for ever. Football and flag flying, something neither of our presenters can really get behind. The right t...

On this week’s episode, Sarah is asking is the English literature curriculum really being dumbed down or are we simply not reading as a country anymore or simply shifting our allegiance to audiobooks? And Peter, as if to prove otherwise, will be bandying a copy of Lord of the Flies around and poring over the latest BBC adaptation.   Plus, why was Stephen Fry stalking Peter at a memorial for h...

On this week’s episode Peter will be going back 35 years to a moment in time where he stood and watched the KGB murdering people in Vilnius. And I’ll be asking why did Sarah Ferguson take her children to see Jeffrey Epstein just days after he was released from prison?  Plus, we find out the truth about magnetised train tracks (all lies!), why both 1976 and 1979 are vying for the best of all p...

On this week’s episode, Sarah is asking what can Brooklyn Beckham possibly mean when he accuses his mother of dancing ‘on him’ at his wedding? Both Sarah and Peter have a few wedding horror stories of their own to share too. Also, Peter wants to know if proposed mega police forces will just mean more constabulary cockups? His guess is yes. Plus, what do the pair make of the new ‘super’ Chines...

On this week’s episode, Peter and Sarah are asking what were you doing ten years and why is social media suddenly transfixed by 2016? And why has America decided to turn into the world’s bully?   Plus, why is Australia’s economy at such a low ebb? What the hell’s happened to civility? Why does Sarah’s fridge keep shouting at her? And when it comes to transporting coal, what’s better, the...