Pod Save the UK

With just one week to go until the election, Rishi Sunak’s chances of avoiding a landslide defeat might have just got slimmer - all thanks to “gamble-gate”.  Nish and Coco are joined by political correspondent Liz Bates to discuss the betting scandal plaguing the government. Sunak vowed to lead the world in “standards of decency” but has been very slow to act. Might this mean a complete wipeout fo...

The major parties have failed to pledge to make the radical changes needed to save our planet from climate catastrophe - but people power may well save us yet.  Nish and Coco are joined by conservationist Chris Packham to find out what more our politicians need to do and how citizens can get involved. Chris also questions the wisdom of Taylor Swift’s private jet usage and brings a suggestion of ho...

It’s been a horrendous campaign for the Conservatives so far, careening from disaster to catastrophe, but the Tories don't have the exclusive on political drama. This week Nish and Coco focus on the action in the devolved nations, with a particular focus on Wales and Northern Ireland.  First, we check in with Welsh Journalist Will Hayward to learn about the recent vote of no confidence in First Mi...

Following a week of political manifestoes dropping from UK parties - Nish & Coco take a deep-dive investigation to see how they hold up against one another. With a focus on manifestoes that have left-wing approaches - they discuss what policies are the most realistic and which hold up the best under scrutiny.  Joined by political journalist Zoe Grünewald, Nish & Coco look closely at welfar...

The polls are indicating a landslide victory for Labour come the election on July 4th. But that hasn’t stopped the calls - from both the left and the right - for citizens to vote tactically. But what does that really mean in Britain’s broken electoral system? Joining Nish and Coco on the PSUK sofa is Femi Oluwole, activist and campaigner, and Joe Twyman, a seasoned pollster covering his 9th electi...

The UK’s sorry state of affairs when it comes to water and railways is both a massive problem and an opportunity for the incoming government. Water companies are teetering on the brink of collapse and it feels inevitable that they will soon fall back in to public ownership. But how can we pay for renationalised services?  Cat Hobbs from We Own It talks to Nish and Coco about the history of privati...

In week two of the campaigns for the upcoming General Election - the fight for the centre vote has become a focal point. But the crucial question remains - what will this do for the future of politics in the UK? Are we at risk of losing diversity across parties? And as Keir Starmer appears to be purging the left-wing factions of the Labour Party, Nish and Coco speak to former Labour leader and now...

It’s week one of the campaign and after a comical series of false starts, Rishi Sunak and the Tories have fired the first shots in a campaign of generational warfare.  Nish and Coco are joined by political correspondent Liz Bates to find out if there are votes to be won in these wedge politics. Later, they speak to Christine Jardine from the Liberal Democrats about their differences with Labour as...

Nish and Coco are joined by Abigail Thorn (actress, writer and host of PhilosophyTube) and Freddy McConnell (writer and journalist) to examine the issues facing the trans and non-binary community in the UK today.  In recent news, the current Tory government has proposed new guidelines for education in schools across England. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said that gender identity should not b...

Nish and Coco bring you a hot off-the-press special look at the announcement of a UK general election. On Wednesday 22nd May - Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the next general election will be on Thursday 4th July 2024. It appeared to be a sudden decision that surprised even his own Conservative MPs. But this announcement brings a whole host of questions with it. What key issues will this ele...

The UK is officially out of recession - Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have been banging the drum of the 0.6% GDP growth in the Jan-March quarter, but are things actually getting better? George Monbiot drops into the studio to demystify Neoliberalism - the invisible economic doctrine that has influenced UK politics and policy since the Thatcher years. George also brings some fresh ideas fo...

“A hung Parliament” - it’s not quite admitting defeat, but the new media lines from Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party suggest that even the Government knows its days are numbered. Nish and Coco unpack Sunak’s shock admission and some of the highlights from the local elections.  Comedian, actor and activist (and old colleague of Nish) Aisling Bea drops in to talk about campaigning against food...

While the results from elections across England & Wales are still rolling in - the signs so far are pointing to a disastrous outcome for the Conservative party. So Nish & Coco have jumped on for this special bonus episode to pop the champagne - asking exactly what it means ahead of the General Election - whenever that will eventually be called!  Liz Bates from Sky News joins Nish and Coco...

The Westminster rumour mill went into overdrive last weekend peddling an ultimately incorrect rumour that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was due to call a summer election. With suggestions that this rumour was started by the Labour Party, Nish and Coco ask whether progressives might be starting to control the narrative. And might that change in power balance towards the Left also be coming to the fore...

Rishi Sunak finally ‘got Rwanda done’ after a long and dramatic night as his Safety of Rwanda Bill ping-ponged between the Common and the Lords. Our guest, the Green MP Caroline Lucas, tells Coco what it was like to be in Westminster that night and criticises Rishi Sunak for holding a drinks party while the Bill - which she describes as “a piece of performative cruelty” - was still being debated i...

On a busy week of news as MPs return to Parliament, Nish and Coco are joined by the Labour MP Jess Phillips. She gives her take on the investigation into Angela Rayner’s tax affairs, and reveals the toll it’s taking on her party’s deputy leader.  A discussion on Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel leads Jess to reveal her family links to Iran, and there’s some rare praise for Rishi Sunak for his...

Coco is back from holiday and the first order of business is for Nish to explain the Westminster “honeypot” scandal, which has seen the vice-chairman of the 1922 committee resign. But beyond a salacious story about MPs texting, what are the broader security issues this raises? Nish and Coco also take issue with Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting attacking “middle-class lefties” in a tabloid new...

With the Government’s controversial Rwanda Bill currently stuck between the Commons and the Lords, this timely special episode focuses on the UK’s asylum policy. Nish takes up an invitation to speak about the issue at the House of Lords. The event has been organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, in conjunction with the makers of a new film called Io Capitano - which follows the...

As Westminster goes on its Easter holidays, Nish and Coco reflect on a busy end of term that saw a couple of ministerial resignations and a diplomatic row with China. Nish asks if Lord Cameron’s post No.10 activities leave him compromised in dealing with China as Foreign Minister. Coco also raises the plight of the WASPI women, who lost out due to the change in pension age - will they ever see any...

This week Nish and Coco ask if our politics is on sale to those with the deepest pockets? The Conservative Party would love us all to move on from the row around the £15 million donation from Frank Hester, but it’s a story that highlights the often murky world of political funding. Nish and Coco talk to investigative journalist Peter Geoghagen about what the rules are, what donors get for their mo...

Another shocker of a week for the Conservatives which saw their biggest donor caught up in a race row, and their former Deputy Chairman defect to Reform UK. Beth Rigby, Political Editor at Sky News, tells Nish and Coco that the Tories don’t want to give back the £10 million they received from Frank Hester last year, despite the racist language he’s alleged to have used about the MP Diane Abbott. B...

Did the Chancellor’s much anticipated pre-election budget fall flat? Nish and Coco pick over the details and wonder why our public services are being sacrificed for the sake of tax cuts. There’s reaction from Westminster from political journalist Kiran Stacey, who says that there are signs of the budget unravelling already. Rachelle Earwaker from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says it does nothing...

With a huge lead in the polls, all the signs point to Keir Starmer moving into Downing Street by the end of the year, so how well do we know the man who would be PM? Guest co-presenter Liz Bates attempts to get behind the rather dull public image, by interrogating Tom Baldwin, who spent hours talking to Starmer for his new authoritative biography of the Labour leader. The conversation takes an emo...

Nish and guest co-presenter Liz Bates set the scene on what went on to become a chaotic night  in the Commons, that put speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s job at risk. They call out the “pathetic and petty” political game playing that sought to use the suffering of people in Gaza to embarrass the  Labour Party. There are also harsh words for Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch for using the Commons to settle sc...

A week that was supposed to bring more woe for Rishi Sunak has turned into arguably the biggest test of Keir Starmer’s leadership. Labour has had to suspend two of its parliamentary candidates for making comments about Israel. For Starmer, who’s staked his reputation on ridding Labour of anti-semitism, it’s been hugely embarrassing. Nish and Coco reflect on the farcical situation in Rochdale, wher...