Newscast

Today, the government is considering accelerating planned increases to defence spending. The news comes after the PM dropped some heavy hints that he was ready to spend more on defence during his speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Katya Adler and James Landale drop by to explain how America is trying to rewrite the global order… and get Europe to sign on and Joe Pike explains wh...

Today, Laura and Paddy are joined by correspondent Joe Pike to go through the biggest stories of the day. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called for a stronger, bolder Europe, and deeper links between the UK and the EU. He told world leadersat the Munich Security Conference “we are not the Britain of the Brexit years any more,” and Europe “must be ready to fight”. We also look at a story about...

Today, Laura and Paddy speak to Victoria Derbyshire about her exclusive UK interview with Gisèle Pelicot, the woman at the centre of France's largest rape trial. She told Victoria she was "crushed by horror" on discovering that, for years, her husband had repeatedly drugged her unconscious and invited dozens of men to rape her. Victoria spoke to her about how she waived her legal right to anonymit...

Today, we’re looking back on a tumultuous week for the Prime Minister. James and Chris are joined by Tim Shipman, political editor of The Spectator, and Professor Jane Green, Director of Nuffield Politics Research Centre and President of the British Polling Council. They discuss the Prime Minister’s moment of ‘peril’, what we’ve learned about Keir Starmer’s leadership and… which surprising celebri...

Billionaire and Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has apologised to those who were offended by his comment that “the UK has been colonised by immigrants”. He said this to a journalist at a business summit in Belgium earlier this week. Sir Keir Starmer, who condemned Sir Jim’s comments has said that he was right to apologise for causing offence. While the businessman was also criticise...

Today, Keir Starmer was given a grilling at Prime Minister’s Questions about his decision to award a peerage to Lord Doyle. Chris unpacks PMQs and the latest revelations with Alex and James, as well as an intervention from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling for police to interview Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Plus the BBC's chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet joins the podcast fro...

Today, Keir Starmer says that he will "never walk away from the country that I love” after surviving a turbulent 24 hours that saw the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar call for him to step down. Speaking to the BBC, his energy secretary Ed Miliband said the Labour Party had "looked over the precipice” and decided to back their leader leading to a rallying of support from the cabinet and other se...

Today, Keir Starmer has addressed his MPs and seems to have rallied some support after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for him to quit. In a press conference in Glasgow, Sarwar emphasised his concerns for Scotland ahead of the May elections, and told reporters “the leadership in Downing Street has to change". The move prompted statements supporting the prime minister from cabinet ministe...

Right after we published our last episode the news that Morgan McSweeney had quit as the Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff broke. So Paddy and political correspondent Joe Pike got back in the studio and got Laura up on the phone to chat through why he says he’s gone, who he is, what a chief of staff does, and who could replace him. We also look at what it means for the prime minister, a...

Today, we look at the choices facing Prime Minister Keir Starmer now the Mandelson scandal has left him weaker. Former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett has told Paddy that Starmer should sack his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney. Cabinet Secretary Pat McFadden has told Laura that Starmer should stay in the job. And the Fire Brigades Union has been the first organisation of its kind to say there...

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has told the BBC the situation facing Sir Keir Starmer is "serious" and suggested he may have been "too slow to do the right things" concerning Lord Mandelson. He also defended him as "a man of integrity" who "wants to do the right things". He spoke to the Today programme on Radio 4 in his first interview since the latest Epstein files seemed to show Lord Mandels...

Today, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces further questions about his judgement in appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, and there is a darkening mood among Labour MPs. Adam, Chris, Alex Forsyth and Daniela Relph discuss how the continuing revelations from the Epstein Files have created challenges for both the Royal Family and the government; and the different approaches taken by the King an...

Today, the Prime Minister has apologised to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador and “believing his lies”. Adam is joined by Henry in Westminster with Ailbhe Rea from the New Statesman and Luke Sullivan, Keir Starmer’s former political director to break down where the Mandelson affair leaves the Prime Minister. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker...

Today, MPs voted to release documents about Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador following a six-hour long debate. Adam and Chris unpack how Keir Starmer spoke about Mandelson at Prime Minister’s Questions, Kemi Badenoch’s line of questioning about who knew what when and the volume of questions swirling about the Prime Minister’s judgement. Plus, Laura has been following Reform UK for a n...

Today, the Metropolitan Police has launched a criminal investigation into Peter Mandelson after new files released seemed to suggest he had passed sensitive government information to Jeffrey Epstein. Lord Mandelson has resigned from the House of Lords following the latest revelations, though he retains the right to use the title of Lord. The government say they are moving to draft legislation that...

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...