Pod Save the UK

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf joins Nish and Coco to reflect on the highs and lows of his first year as leader. He takes us back to the fateful Valentine’s night phone call with Nicola Sturgeon that changed his life, and tells us how he felt watching his former mentor shed a tear at the Covid Inquiry last week. The First Minister talks about the helplessness he felt when his family member...

After nearly two years without a functioning Government, are the people of Northern Ireland finally about to see the power-sharing executive return to Stormont? Nish and Coco reflect on a dramatic week with journalist Amanda Ferguson. The Labour MP Nadia Whittome talks of her frustration at her party’s stance on calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict, but says Labour’s position is now...

1 in 5 local councils in England is in danger of going bankrupt within the next two years - it’s a growing crisis that Westminster has done its best to ignore. With their budgets continually slashed, council leaders are faced with sometimes impossible choices about which services can be funded and which have to be axed. Nish and Coco discuss the crisis with a council leader, Joe Harris, and a ‘pol...

It’s groundhog day at Westminster as Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill returns to the Commons - will all the talk of rebellion come to anything this time? Nish and Coco discuss whether an opinion poll in the Telegraph was used to try to influence the debate and encourage the rebels. Plus they ask how it is that the UK has granted asylum to Rwandans AFTER signing a deal that deems the country saf...

Why did it take a TV drama to wake politicians up to what’s been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history? More than 700 sub-postmasters were convicted of theft, due to accounting discrepancies caused by the Post Office’s faulty computer system. ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office caused public outrage and has forced the Government into taking unprecedented ac...

Comedians Andy Zaltzman and Catherine Bohart return to help Nish and Coco try to predict what politics has in store for us in 2024.  There’s much debate about the possible date of the next general election…with arguments made for both November 5th and December 25th! The panel also considers whether the electorate will warm to Keir Starmer. Plus there’s also the prospect of another Trump presidency...

Comedians Andy Zaltzman and Catherine Bohart take up Nish and Coco’s challenge, to find the laughs in another chaotic year in British politics. Is it cheating that they had to deploy novelty Christmas hats? You decide. Our review of 2023 starts with a fresh-faced and optimistic Rishi Sunak making his five pledges, and ends with the Conservatives tearing themselves apart over Rwanda. In between, we...

Rishi Sunak endured one his toughest weeks yet as Prime Minister, as he faced the Covid Inquiry and tried to placate rebellious MPs. But he lived to fight another day - as does his controversial Rwanda Bill. For Westminster watchers it was all about the mooted rebellion that didn’t materialise, but for Nish and Coco, the real story was the death of an asylum seeker aboard the Bibby Stockholm barge...

Please note: This podcast includes a description of a death from Covid, that some may find distressing.  This week saw arguably the most anticipated moment of the Covid Inquiry so far, the first appearance of Boris Johnson, who was Prime Minister during the pandemic. Over two days at the hearing, he offered an apology and  admitted some mistakes were made, but defended his overall approach. In thi...

It’s been a big week in the Tories’ war on foreigners. While efforts to resuscitate the Rwanda plan continue, Nish and Coco pick over the Government’s five-point plan to reduce legal immigration. For Nish, these are measures produced by people who clearly have no lived experience of relying on the NHS or on social care. Coco points out the cruelty of minimum income plans that could split families...

Rishi Sunak’s decision to publicly snub the Greek Prime Minister in a row over the Parthenon Marbles, has left Nish and Coco wondering whether he possesses any of the skills to be a global statesman? Worrying then, that his next stop is the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. Politico’s Karl Mathiesen joins us to talk about the UK’s place in the climate debate, and the contradictions of a COP hosted by...

This week the attention of British political journalists was firmly fixed on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who unveiled big tax cuts in his much-anticipated Autumn Statement on Wednesday. The Conservative government’s cuts to National Insurance will put a few more pounds into UK payslips starting January– but at what cost? The Guardian’s Kiran Stacey joins Nish and Coco to explain what these cuts mean f...

A frantic week in UK politics, that started with the sacking of Suella Braverman and the shock return of David Cameron, took another huge twist as the Supreme Court ruled that the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. Rishi Sunak however came out fighting, announcing an emergency bill to keep the policy alive. Plenty then for Nish and Coco to get their teeth stuck into w...

Nish and Coco jump on for an emergency bonus episode to reflect on a day of high political drama. Rishi Sunak reshuffles his top team, with the axe finally falling on his controversial Home Secretary Suella Braverman. That was followed by an even bigger shock…the appointment of former Prime Minister David Cameron as Foreign Secretary. Nish and Coco reflect on Cameron’s questionable legacy since le...

King Charles’ first State Opening of Parliament as monarch, provides plenty of pomp, pageantry and politics for Nish and Coco to get stuck into. It’s a spectacle that throws up lots of questions, including who is Black Rod, and why does an MP get taken hostage by the Palace? As the Government presents its legislative agenda for the year ahead, we ask why is it so slim? Could it signal an early ele...

The latest hearings at the Covid Inquiry reveal chaos and dysfunction at the heart of Government during the pandemic. Did Boris Johnson really think Covid was nature’s way of dealing with old people? Nish and Coco sift through the swearing and the gossip to get to the heart of what really matters about the latest revelations. Coco tells Nish about her experience attending the huge rally, calling f...

As the Israel Gaza crisis continues, pressure grows on both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to back calls for a ceasefire. Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive of Amnesty International UK, explains why he supports it and what else needs to happen for it to be meaningful. He also has advice for how you can help, either through safe protest, or through donation. Nish and Coco also ‘celebrate’ Rishi Sunak’s...

The crisis in Israel and Gaza presents a huge challenge for our politicians, both internationally and at home. With protests on the streets and spikes in religious hate crimes, every word uttered by our leaders is diplomatically loaded. Nish and Coco discuss the difficulties of Labour’s position, and then return to record a fresh section at the start of this podcast in reaction to Rishi Sunak’s su...

Despite being an American, who can’t even vote in this country, Rob Delaney has become an outspoken champion of the NHS. His love for our health service was born from tragedy: losing his young son Henry to cancer. He tells Nish and Coco why we have to fight for the NHS, and compares it to an American system which enriches CEOs and advertising execs. Find out why he thinks Joe Biden is the best pre...

Coco and her special guest Femi Oluwole pore over the bin fire that was the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. Was Sunak strengthened or weakened by the whole HS2 fiasco - and what was the thinking behind wheeling out his wife for a surprise appearance? With the likes of Braverman, Truss - and even Farage - being feted by the party faithful, Coco and Femi discuss the party’s lurch to the...

The Conservative Party heads to Manchester for its Conference as rumours swirl that Rishi Sunak is going to axe the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the HS2 high speed rail line that was supposed to unlock the potential of The North - a bit awkward then! Coco and her special guest Grace Blakeley discuss why it’s all gone wrong and what it says about us as a country that we can’t seem to deliver big...

In the wake of the allegations of rape and sexual assault against Russell Brand, Nish says his behaviour was an open secret, and Brand’s TV work dried up as people refused to work with him. Nish also reveals that there are others still working in the industry about whom production staff will say “oh we don’t send young women into their dressing rooms”. Coco highlights the wider cultural issues tha...

Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy reveals what it was like in Westminster when the news broke that a parliamentary researcher, with close links to leading Tory politicians, had been arrested on suspicion of spying for China. Mr Lammy tells Nish and Coco that the atmosphere at Westminster is “febrile”, with MPs having to think carefully about who they rely on for advice and research. He...

Nish and Coco reflect on a scandal they think is a perfect metaphor for Tory-led Britain. Schools have had to close because they’ve been built using cheap and unstable concrete (called RAAC), while there are also concerns over hospitals and other public buildings. So as the country crumbles around us, who’s to blame? Labour leader Keir Starmer has reshuffled his top team ahead of next year’s expec...

More 16 to 17-year-old boys recognise Andrew Tate than Rishi Sunak - have we been guilty of underestimating the influence of Tate’s brand of toxic masculinity? Nish and Coco speak to journalist Matt Shea, who has spent years investigating the notorious misogynist. His new documentary uncovers the truth behind Tate’s ‘War Room’ club, and investigates claims members are taught how to groom women int...