Cross Section

For the season finale before the summer break, Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster share reflections from the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast in Westminster, President Trump's influence over a red card, the unfolding story surrounding Nigel Farage's relationship with a cryptocurrency convicted billionaire and the role of the UK church in embodying a message of hope at a time of na...

In this week’s episode of Cross Section, Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster discuss the leading political and cultural headlines. The team begin with a conversation about King Charles’ announcement that he is redefining his role as monarch from “Defender of the Faith” to protecting “the space for faith within the multi-faith nation”. What are the implications for his role as the head of...

Is Britain ungovernable? This week on Cross Section, Alicia Edmund, Danny Webster and Zanna Meynell unpack a hugely significant week in British politics. Following Andy Burnham’s win in the Makerfield by-election last week, Monday saw Keir Starmer announce his resignation. What will this period of political limbo look like? How can we engage? And where can we put our hope when things are so unstab...

On today's episode of Cross Section, Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster try to make sense of Lauren Edward's decision to reintroduce the assisted dying / suicide bill, t-up the political permutations ahead of Thursday's Makerfield by-election and discuss the government’s latest announcement about a social media ban for under 16 year olds.  https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Docs/PDF/Council/Voting...

On today's episode, Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster cover a whole range of issues from calls to boycott HelloFresh, to a seven-minute standing ovation for the Pope in the Spanish parliament, what energy drink would Jesus drink? to the number of openly Christian players at this year's World Cup. It's becoming the new normal to see Christianity discussed in the cultural space, so the te...

Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster return to Cross Section to review this week’s key news stories. They begin with a news roundup covering calls to withdraw mainstream media platforms from influencer Bonnie Blue, Tony Blair’s intervention on what has gone wrong in Britain and Alan Milburn’s warning about rising numbers of young people not in education, employment or training.   The main...

In this week’s episode of Cross Section, Danny Webster and Zanna Meynell are joined by Mark Gilmore, policy advisor at the Evangelical Alliance. Conversation turns to the damp squib that was the King’s Speech . It serves as a reminder that we cannot place all our hopes in politics. The team discuss the implications of potential conversion practices legislation and the significance of that for Chri...

In this week's episode of Cross Section, the team discuss the conviction of Clive Johnston after he preached John 3:16 in a buffer zone, deep dive the election results and Keir Starmer's fragility as Prime Minister. How as Christians can we respond to this chaos? What are our freedoms and where can we turn when the world feels so fractured? Chapters: 00:00 Welcome 01:19 Abortion buffer zone case 0...

In this week’s episode of Cross Section, Peter Lynas, Danny Webster and Alicia Edmund sit down to discuss the latest headlines. The episode begins with some light-hearted stories: Peter reviews the Devil Wears Prada 2, and the rest of the panel discuss the Met Gala outfits that caught their eye.   Conversation turns to the sad news that broke yesterday around Sam Allberry being stepped down from l...

In this week’s episode of Cross Section, the team discuss the stopped assisted suicide bill. How has this happened? Could a similar bill come into the next parliamentary session? The team discuss the likelihood of assisted suicide returning and the fact that even if it doesn't return as a political conversation, it is still a cultural one. They also reflect on the church's role in talking about th...

In this week’s episode, the Cross Section team discuss integrity in public life. This week we have seen the Peter Mandelson vetting controversy, the sacking and parliamentary testimony of Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins, and questions around Starmer’s leadership. Will the prime minister survive? What are the political implications for government authority and the upcoming King’s Speech? ...

This special Cross Section episode focuses on the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections on 7 May. Lynne Patterson and Chris Ringland from the Evangelical Alliance Scotland team join Zanna as they discuss their vision for Scotland, the current church and cultural context, and the political landscape. Lynne describes spiritual openness, Church of Scotland closures and mergers, and growing ethnic an...

In the final episode of Season 13, Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster unpack the recent news from the Bible Society – that the YouGov data from The Quiet Revival report was invalid and has been discounted. How can we respond to this news? While this is hard to process, we must remember that the findings haven’t been proven ‘wrong’ but are unreliable. The team point to other surveys, chur...

Kay Morgan-Gurr, co-founder of the Additional Needs Alliance, and Alicia Edmund discuss the politics of disability and the attitudes that underly how we approach disability within the church. They also cover how proposed changes to both Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provision and disability benefits will impact those living with disabilities. Chapters: 0:00     Welcome 1:04     K...

Peter Lynas, Danny Webster and Zanna Meynell discuss the row over the Iftar prayer in Trafalgar Square. They talk about Nick Timothy's comment 'mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination.' How do we respond to this? What is the line with freedom of religion and speech? The team also talk about the Evangelical Alliance's new report Confident faith, contested culture and what this s...

Join Alicia Edmund, Danny Webster and Peter Lynas as they discuss stories at the intersection of faith, news and culture. They discuss Louis Theroux's 'Inside the Manosphere' Netflix documentary. What has it revealed? How does the Bible speak into it and this cultural moment? The team also talk about the significant vote in the House of Lords regarding the decriminalisation of abortion. There have...

In this week's episode of Cross Section, Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster sit down to discuss the headlines. They cover Wes Huff's appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast. He took 9 months to say yes to doing it and his clear articulation of Christianity is a call to us all! Steven Bartlett is beginning to revaluate his atheism and asking important questions.  Meanwhile, Claude AI was...

Zanna Meynell, David Smyth, Rani Joshi and Damilola Makinde sit down for an honest and nuanced conversation about VAWG, the government’s new strategy to reduce it and what we can be doing in our churches. They cover what we can do about both our young girls and boys, the nuances involved in people’s experiences coming from different cultures and backgrounds, and how our churches can be safer, more...

Peter Lynas, Danny Webster and Zanna Meynell discuss this week’s headlines. The team cover the Green's victory at the Gorton and Denton by-election, the conflict in the Middle East and the assisted suicide bills in Westminster and Scotland. How as Christians should we navigate these situations? Iran conflict and the Greens' victory: Christians react - Evangelical Alliance https://www.eauk.org/news...

In this week’s episode of Cross Section, Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster discuss the latest headlines. The episode begins in conversation about the BBC’s failure to bleep out a racial slur said by John Davidson who has Tourette’s in their BAFTAs coverage. They also cover Peter Mandelson’s recent arrest. Conversation then focuses on both Reform and Restore UK’s use of the Christian val...

In this week's episode of Cross Section, Danny Webster, Alicia Edmund and Zanna Meynell unpack the spiritual, cultural and political headlines. A recent report from Youthscape has revealed that gen Z see Jesus as having 'a God complex' and mansplaining. How is this reflective of this cultural moment? The team also discuss the ongoing fallout from Mandelson's relationship with Epstein and what this...

The Cross Section team are joined by Jo Frost, director of communications and engagement for the Evangelical Alliance. They begin by discussing some key stories including Jelly Roll's speech at the Grammys, the red pilling Steven Bartlett controversy and the validity of the Quiet Revival stats. For the majority of the episode, the panel discuss Christians on the left of politics. Who are some of t...

Peter Lynas, Danny Webster and Alicia Edmund unpack this week's headlines. They cover the controversy around Andy Burnham and Keir Starmer - what is happening with the Labour Party? Conversation also covers ICE and Trump and the ongoing conversation around migration and the recent scandal involving Bethel.  The team then pull back the curtain to look at this cultural and political era - how do we...

This week's biggest news stories are discussed by the Cross Section team. They unpack the rising discussion around banning social media for under 16s - should this happen? What would it look like if it did? Conversation moves onto the many defections to Reform that we have seen. Last Sunday saw Robert Jenrick, others have followed, who could be next? The episode concludes in reaction to the alarmi...

Cross Section is back for 2026. In this week's episode Peter Lynas, Alicia Edmund and Danny Webster discuss the dominating stories from the first two weeks of the year. This includes all that has been happening across the globe in the US, Venezuela, Greenland and Iran. Discussion moves onto the controversy around Grok AI and other cultural stories and how Christians can engage and respond. https:/...