Politics Unpacked

Matt Chorley is joined by Deputy Editor of The Times, Emma Tucker, who examines the latest attempt to deal with the migrant crisis, columnist Daniel Finkelstein who says Junior Doctors must face realities and columnist Matthew Parris on the legacy of the recently deceased Nancy Reagan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Chorley is joined by Political sketch-writer and diarist Patrick Kidd, columnist Jenni Russell and Assistant Editor of The Spectator, Isabel Hardman. Patrick Kidd:Marco Rubio is a big-eared sweaty robot with a water addiction, while Donald Trump is a stubby-fingered orange-faced pants-wetter with a dodgy hairdo. Meanwhile David Cameron makes "yer mum" jokes at Jeremy Corbyn, while Labour MPs...

Debating the UK's position in the EU: Matt Chorley is joined by Brussels Correspondent Bruno Waterfield, Columnist Melanie Phillips and the Times' Chief Political Correspondent Michael Savage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philip Aldrick:Global markets have been in meltdown but one man who may be smiling is the chancellor. Government borrowing costs have fallen to an all-time low, which make servicing the nation’s £1.5 trillion of debt cheaper. Over the next five years, Capital Economics estimates lower market interest rates and lower inflation will hand George Osborne a £20 billion windfall. He’s struggling to make...

The Opinion podcast is now the Red Box Podcast from The Times. Columnist Robert Crampton, Media Editor Elizabeth Rigby and Deputy Political Editor Sam Coates joins host Matt Chorley. Robert Crampton:The Labour Party cannot achieve a coherent position on Trident while Jeremy Corbyn is leader. The moment he said he would never use the nuclear deterrent as a future PM was the moment Labour lost the n...

Host Matt Chorley is joined by Chief Leader writer Giles Whittell and columnists Jenni Russell and Phil Collins. Giles Whittell:Hillary Clinton is going to be the next president of the United States. Of course a lot of people are going to spend a lot of time analysing this [Tuesday] morning's Iowa caucus results, but the facts are these: Trump and Cruz are unelectable in a national race. Only one...

Matt Chorley is joined by Assistant Editor Anne Ashworth and columnists Giles Coren and David Aaronovitch. Anne Ashworth:Pension tax reliefs for the higher-paid have already been reduced and more cuts are coming. The justification for this reform is fairness: the higher-paid have had it too good. But if you make company pension scheme membership less attractive to executives, this make it less lik...

On this week's panel we have columnist Rachel Sylvester on the rise of Russia (in Labour), political reporter Callum Jones on Labour’s obsession with Twitter and columnist Matthew Parris on why an Oxford college might be right to tear down a statue of Cecil Rhodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Opinion podcast is back with a brand new host. Red Box editor Matt Chorley is joined by panelists Hugo Rifkind, Oliver Kamm and Lucy Fisher. Hugo Rifkind:The Tories are sleepwalking into disaster on the EU. For David Cameron, with ministers freely campaigning on both sides, if he loses, he loses, and if he wins, he still loses. Cameron has asked his government to remain civil on Europe, which...

Host Philip Webster is joined by Robbie Millen, Philip Aldrick and Patrick Kidd in this 2016 preview special. Robbie Millen:In or Out? Leave or Remain? I have all sorts of firm views about relatively trivial issues yet on the greatest issue facing Britain I flip flop around in the no-man’s land of the undecided voter. I don’t want to be a “don’t know” that’s why I’m looking forward to the EU refer...

Host Philip Webster is joined by Ann Treneman, Stewart Wood and Daniel Finkelstein in this end-of-year special as each panelists picks a topic to debate from the past year. Ann Treneman:It's been a terrible year for getting it wrong. The Westminster Bubble called the election wrong, the Labour leadership wrong and it still can't quite believe what's happened in Scotland. But, just say, that Jeremy...

Host Philip Webster is joined by Rachel Sylvester, Libby Purves and Hugo Rifkind. Rachel Sylvester:David Cameron once said his Party had to stop banging on about Europe but now the rest of premiership is going to be defined by a referendum on Britain's relationship with the EU. The polls are narrowing and ministers who wants to stay in are increasingly worried that people will vote to leave. The e...

Opinion podcast with David Aaronovitch, Lucy Fisher and Phil Collins. --Phil Collins:The anonymous man who said, to the attacker at Leytonstone tube station, “you ain’t no Muslim, bruv” has been hailed as speaking for moderate people of all faiths and none. Quite right too. Yet the statement is, alas, not quite true. We cannot attribute murder to faith but we cannot pretend faith is entirely irrel...

Philip Webster is joined by Fay Schlesinger, Giles Whittell and Anne Ashworth. Fay Schlesinger:After Jeremy Corbyn was elected, he promised a “kinder politics”. Fast forward two months and his allies are vowing revenge on shadow cabinet ministers at odds with him over Syrian airstrikes. Even the most attractive of Corbyn’s traits are turning sour. He must drop the Mr Nice Guy act or compromise ove...

Philip Webster is joined by Stewart Wood and Daniel Finkelstein. Stewart Wood:The Syrian crisis looks set to dominate British politics for the foreseeable future. Issues around the response to terrorism in Europe, dealing with unprecedented migration flows & UK involvement in bringing the Syrian conflict to an end should be the overwhelming priorities for our Government. Given the seriousness and...

Philip Webster is joined by Alice Thomson, Roger Boyes and John McTernan. Alice Thomson:Looking at the rows of victims in Paris, they all have glossy hair, white smiles and youth. It used to be the police, establishment, businesses and commuters who were the most vulnerable to terrorism. This is the first time the Facebook generation has been targeted, on a Friday night when they're relaxing at ca...

Philip Webster is joined by Oliver Kamm, Lucy Fisher and Michael Savage. Oliver Kamm:Jeremy Corbyn has accused the chief of defence staff, Sir Nicholas Houghton, of political bias for intervening on the question of Britain's nuclear deterrent. The claim is absurd - a measure of the frivolity of Corbyn's own stance rather than any extra-constitutional manoeuvring by the armed forces. Every postwar...

Philip Webster is joined by Rachel Sylvester, Emma Tucker and Philip Collins. Rachel Sylvester:George Osborne is the most intriguing politician of our age. He’s morphed from a short termist partisan tactician to a political strategist with a long term plan. But, as the tax credit fiasco shows, his biggest flaw is that he still lacks empathy - the ability to win people over by persuading them he un...

Philip Webster is joined by Sam Coates, Hugo Rifkind and Patrick Kidd. Sam Coates:George Osborne got the strategy wrong, the tactics wrong, the politics wrong, the communications wrong and the people-handling wrong - all the things the Chancellor is meant to be good at. MPs think his reputation has taken a hit. After riding high over the summer, the Chancellor's reputation was probably due a corre...

In his final Opinion podcast, host Tim Montgomerie is joined by Rachel Sylvester, Mathew Parris and Ann Treneman. Matthew Parris:Now that we're having to take seriously the possibility (though not, I think, the likelihood) that Britain may vote to leave the EU, we need to look beyond that possible Leave vote. What happens then? The government will have to begin a lengthy negotiation about the term...

Tim Montgomerie presents the Opinion podcast direct from Manchester at The Conservative Party conference:- Daniel Finkelstein and Jenni Russell: The Times- Paul Goodman: Conservativehome.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Montgomerie presents the Opinion podcast direct from Brighton at The Labour Party conference:- Andy Burnham: Shadow Home Secretary - Matthew Parris, Lucy Fisher and Marcus Roberts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Montgomerie presents the Opinion podcast direct from Bournemouth:Norman Lamb - Liberal Democrats Patrick Kidd and Michael Savage from The TimesJulia Unwin - Joseph Rowntree Foundation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Montgomerie is joined by Philip Collins, Oliver Kamm and Libby Purves. Philip CollinsLet's skip the bit where commentators ingeniously invent reasons why Corbyn might turn out to be Clement Attlee. No, this is man of no interesting ideas and no experience of running a political operation. He has started as he is condemned to go on. In chaos. The task for the sensible Labour party is to renew i...

Tim Montgomerie is joined by Rachel Sylvester, Matthew Parris and Roger Boyes:Rachel SylvesterPoliticians ought to like the country they want to lead but the Corbynistas seem to disapprove of modern Britain. They are Roundheads in a Cavalier age, collectivists in an era dominated by individualism. There is a sense of moral superiority on the left that is as off-putting as the born-to-rule attitude...