Newscast

A report by MPs says the UK’s early response to Covid-19 was one of the country’s worst public health failures. Professor Sir John Bell joins Adam and James to look back on the momentous decisions made in March 2020. As the financial fallout from the pandemic continues, the number of job vacancies in the UK has hit a record 1.1million. Why aren’t those jobs filled – and what does it mean for the e...

William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk, is going into space for real. He’s swapping the Starship Enterprise for Jeff Bezos’s space travel company, Blue Origin. Fellow Canadian and astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield tells us what he can expect. Also, the latest on gas prices and why the rise is such a problem for British steel companies. Gareth Stace of UK Steel explains what he wants the government to...

John Bird, co-founder of The Big Issue, warns of the risk of mass homelessness at a time when prices are going up. He tells us he wants the government to spend £1 trillion to fix the problem. First up though, Dr Amir Khan drops by to explain why this year’s flu jab campaign is the biggest ever. Like his boxing namesake, he wants people to get jabbed. And the UK is eating less MEAT but still too mu...

Energy bills could rise further Martin Lewis says for the first time ever, he is telling consumers to do nothing! He explains to Laura, Adam and Chris what is going on with energy prices and gives his advice. And Robert Jenrick, former housing minister, says that parliament cannot buckle over planning reforms. He also admits that the cost of living crisis is going to be challenging for all of us....

Music legends are selling off the rights to their music for millions... And with Tina Turner being the latest, music man, Chris Cooke, explains how it all works. And Laura is on a train again... this time breaking down the Prime Minister’s big conference speech. What did he say and, more importantly, what didn't he say? Also, everyone's talking about universal credit, but how does it actually work...

Police face a moment of reckoning...   The government has announced an inquiry into the "systematic failures" that led to the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer. Zoe Billingham, who was recently commissioned by the Home Secretary to write a report on violence against women and girls, talks us through it all.   And, after Facebook, WhatsApp and Insta were hit by the blackout on Monday, Vi...

Exposing £££ secrets of some of the world’s richest people... The Pandora Papers is a leak of almost 12 million documents that reveals hidden wealth, tax avoidance and, in some cases, money laundering by some of the world's rich and powerful. The BBC's Andy Verity takes us through it all.. And Adam is back on the road again! This time he's at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, talkin...

The newly-elected Green Party co-leaders, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, come straight to the Newscast studio to talk about the future of the party and the planet, plus blues dancing and chickpea curry. And before that, Australia is relaxing its strict pandemic border policy. We speak to Newscaster Sharon, who's living in London but is desperate to reunite with her family in Sydney. Today’s Newsc...

Met Police chief under pressure to quit. As Sarah Everard’s murderer is given a whole life sentence, the Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick is under pressure to resign. The chair of the Home Affairs select committee Yvette Cooper joins Laura, Adam and Chris to discuss what needs to be done to protect women and girls. Plus former M16 chief Sir Alex Younger talks about the current threats to Brit...

Labour's leader, Sir Keir Starmer, faced heckles during his first in-person conference speech… Comedian Susie McCabe shares some tips on how to deal with it, and Adam, Laura, and Chris catch up on how it went. Also, criminology professor, James Treadwell, talks us through the history of protesting. It's after climate change activists, Insulate Britain’s, defiance of a court order by blocking part...

He could spend the rest of his life behind bars... As R Kelly awaits sentencing, Jim DeRogatis, the music journalist who was one of the first people to break the allegations 20 years ago, talks us through the history and implications of the case.    And as Netflix reveals its viewing figures to much fanfare at an industry conference, technology journalist Stuart Miles sits down with Adam to flick...

Filling up on Labour conference, Germany elections and HGV news. Shadow cabinet minister, Andy McDonald, has quit Labour’s frontbench with a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer on the eve of his major speech to the Brighton delegates. He’s accused the Labour leader of making the party “more divided than ever” and breaking promises to members over working conditions. Adam and Laura are on the confe...

People are talking about the UK's fuel queues. Driver shortages, an energy crisis and rising inflation... But are we really heading towards a new "Winter of Discontent" (like the one in 1978)? To find out, we’ve got the BBC’s political reporter from back in the day, Nick Jones.   And the killing of 28-year-old primary school teacher, Sabina Nessa, in south-east London, has reignited the conversati...

Labour’s internal wranglings ahead of party conference John McDonnell talks to Laura, Adam and Chris about Keir Starmer, internal party politics and how to win the next general election, ahead of the Labour party conference. But the big question is, will he be taking his trombone? And Laura spills the beans about her trip across the Atlantic and how Boris Johnson was received by the UN and in part...

World leaders look at their climate commitments at the UN General Assembly. As President Xi Jinping announces that China will stop building overseas coal-fired power plants during his address, Nick Mabey, Chief Executive of climate change think-tank E3G, explains how it feeds into the upcoming COP26 conference in Glasgow. With households facing a perfect storm of higher bills at home and at the ch...

Behind the scenes with Boris Johnson stateside. Laura explains what’s going on at the UN General Assembly in New York City. And, it was 20 years ago that a young African boy was murdered and dumped in the River Thames but the police still haven’t solved the case. The BBC’s Angus Crawford, who has followed the murder mystery since the very start, talks Adam through the investigation. Today’s Newsca...

Energy prices have gone up… but the government says there is no chance that the lights will go out. The BBC's Simon Jack explains what it all might mean for our heating bills this winter. Adam speaks to the Lib Dem leader, Sir Ed Davey, after his party's conference this weekend. How does he think he'll win over voters (the answer is by “knocking down the Blue wall" apparently)? Also, Laura is in N...

Len McCluskey, the outgoing Unite union leader, chats to Adam about Labour’s chances at the next general election, and why he still wants Sir Keir Starmer to become prime minister even though he doesn’t trust him. And...Attention travellers: we have some breaking news about changes to the government’s rules on going abroad. Also, Newsnight’s Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban is here to explain why the...

John Whittingdale reflects on losing his job. In his first interview since getting the sack, former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale tells Laura and Adam that he was told to make room for young up-and-coming Tory MPs. And former Education Secretary Justine Greening expresses her concerns about social mobility in the cabinet. Today’s Newscast was made by Maz Ebtehaj and Rick Kelsey. Today’s edit...

In… out… shake it all about! On a busy day in Westminster, Laura and Adam discuss the latest moves around the cabinet table as Boris Johnson reshuffles the pack following a feisty PMQs. With inflation rising at the sharpest rate since records began in 1997, Business correspondent Katie Prescott explains what’s going on in the UK economy. And as Shamima Begum makes a renewed appeal to return to the...

The government announces England's pandemic plans for winter. Fergus and Vicki are here with Adam to go through the ‘Plan A’, which includes booster jabs, and the potentially more dramatic ‘Plan B’. Vaccine passports haven’t been ruled out. And in a surreal turn of events at the announcement, Boris Johnson and Professor Chris Whitty ended up in a spat with rapper Nicki Minaj – and even our very ow...

Top doctors recommend more teens get the jab. Chris Whitty and his fellow Chief Medical Officers say healthy children aged between 12 and 15 should be offered one dose of a Covid vaccine. As Fergus Walsh tells us, it’s now up to ministers to decide. We also hear from a headteacher about whether it could help reduce disruption to education. Meanwhile, North Korea has tested a new long-range cruise...

Inside the President’s War Room. As we mark a major anniversary of the shocking attacks on the United States, the filmmaker Adam Wishart tells us about his latest documentary. We hear an unprecedented account of how the White House reacted to 9/11 and how the decisions made that day affected the world for the next two decades. Meanwhile, with Emma Raducanu preparing for the US Open singles final,...

Are social care plans a vote winner or loser? Boris Johnson’s former friend and colleague Nick Boles joins Laura, Adam and Chris from his holiday in Ibiza, to give his verdict on the government’s new tax for social care. He once proposed a very similar system himself. And Chief Executive of Ipsos Mori Ben Page tells us about the public’s attitude to the government’s new policy and why Labour have...

Is hydrogen on its way to saving the planet? The government is hoping low-carbon hydrogen can make a big difference to how we sustainably generate energy in the UK. Business minister Lord Callanan joins Adam to explain how it could enter our daily lives. And Neil Kermode from the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney pops in to tell us how he’s turning the islands on to hydrogen. Also, a histori...