The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Your guide to news in the week ahead. Does Gove’s country house meeting indicate that the Brexit edifice is cracking? Civil service spending on government “credit cards” explodes by 70%. The Turkish earthquake exposes colossal corruption and corner-cutting in the country’s construction industry. Will Erdoğan finally pay a price? And in Ukraine, things take a turn for the worse in Bakhmut. Arthur S...

Extra Edition: What can a bloody, violent, horribly funny comic book cop tell us about policing in the real world? 2000AD comic’s Judge Dredd began in 1977 as a brutal satire on law and order for delinquent kids – and then Dredd’s world of militarised police started to come true. Is Dredd a warning of the future or a manual for how to oppress a society? Lifelong Dredd fan Andrew Harrison talks to...

The Palace of Westminster is crumbling. There are risks of fires, floods and the walls are stacked with asbestos. Will Parliament ever get fixed? And will it take someone being hurt for movement to happen? Marie Le Conte is joined by Dr. Alexandra Meakin , a lecturer at the University of Leeds whose PhD thesis was titled Understanding the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster, to di...

Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union this week and focused on wanting to “finish the job”. Can he achieve his goals despite a split Congress? Julie Norman , co-director of UCL’s Centre on US Politics, joins Alex Andreou to discuss the US president’s standing, hopes and the limits to his power in the second half of his first term – and whether he’ll run for a second…  “Biden knows the politic...

During China’s Cultural Revolution, pupils murdered their teachers, children betrayed their parents and society was torn apart in the name of progress. Decades on, it inspires both horror and nostalgia — but is rarely mentioned in public. Tania Branigan, author of Red Memory , tells Ros Taylor how China’s citizens deal with the Revolution’s violent legacy – and what it can teach us about China tod...

How do we overcome opportunist strongmen leaders, who grab power while nations are in turmoil? As countries battle stagnant growth, high inflation and inept governments, we’ve seen a rise in autocracies. Charles Dunst, author of Defeating the Dictators : How Democracy Can Prevail in the Age of the Strongman joins Andrew Harrison to ask what the allure of these dictators is and why they are thrivin...

Is a deal over the Northern Ireland protocol really imminent? Due to Northern Ireland’s land border with the Republic, there were always going to need to be unique arrangements post-Brexit. A resolution of some kind is being touted, but what might this look like? Amanda Ferguson , a Belfast-based freelance journalist and commentator, joins Ros Taylor to discuss. “I think Boris Johnson knew exactly...

Imagine nuclear missiles are flying towards the UK and you’re in charge of our response. What do you do? It’s unlikely you’ll have to make this tough a decision – but we all face pressure and choices. How do our brains behave under tension? Moran Cerf , a neuroscientist at the Kellogg School of Management, talks to Ros Taylor about the psychological pitfalls in human decision-making. “Our brains a...

Liz Truss has broken her silence, a mere 100 days after leaving office – what Tory drama will this spark in the days ahead? And with Johnson in the headlines, why do our former Prime Ministers continue to haunt us? Plus we look at the NHS strikes and the Chinese balloon mystery. Jacob Jarvis is joined by Hannah Fearn to give you the low-down on the week ahead in politics. “Truss's lack of self-awa...

The mafia conjures up images of the Sopranos rather than hardened criminals for many of us. So what is it really – and how has it changed? With the arrest of mobster Matteo Messina Denaro putting mafia violence back in the spotlight, Felia Allum, author of Camorristi, Politicians, and Businessmen: The Transformation of Organized Crime in Post-war Naples , joins Alex Andreou to discuss the changing...

White House Chief of Staff sounds like a pretty big job, right? But what do they actually do? With Ron Klain departing from the role, Jeff Zients has been chosen as his successor. What does Biden need from him? Jacob Jarvis is joined by David B. Cohen , a professor of political science at the University of Akron who is co-authoring The President's Chief of Staff: Evolution of a White House Institu...

HS2 has been beset with calamity – what promises have the Government broken on this flagship project? Christian Wolmar , journalist and train expert, joins Ros Taylor to discuss what has gone wrong and why it’s so hard to build a high-speed railway in Britain. “HS2 is costing £100 million a week – imagine the end cost.” “We never holistically planned the project, and we’ve muddled through to huge...

Germany’s delay sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine frustrated European allies – will it do lasting damage to relations on the continent? Was this a missed opportunity for Scholz to have led the way internationally in the fight against Russia? Alex Andreou speaks to Jeremy Cliffe , New Statesman ’s writer-at-large based in Berlin, to discuss Germany’s position and what it tells us about the nation....

Why are so many over-50s leaving the workforce – and can we get them back? With people changing how they live post-pandemic, large numbers have left the labour market. What made them make this shift? And how are the NHS and care crises also playing into this? Ros Taylor is joined by Scott Corfe , director of Public First, to discuss.  “The overwhelming majority of these people who have dropped out...

From making works of art to writing essays and driving cars – is there anything AI can’t do? Dr. Stephanie Hare, author of Technology Is Not Neutral: A Short Guide to Technology Ethics , joins Andrew Harrison to ask how worried we should be about new technologies, how we can make them better, and if we should let robots vote.  “Fashions change, and we might get tired of AI in the same way we got t...

Nadhim Zahawi was unceremoniously but entirely predictably sacked at the weekend – what will be the Tory fallout? We forecast the sleaze as the Government continues to fight fires on all fronts. Plus we look at the widespread strikes and the latest from Ukraine. Ros Taylor is joined by Arthur Snell to outline the days ahead. “Zahawi projected the image of someone who isn’t in touch with normal peo...

Millennials and Gen Z are ditching the booze, while older generations are sticking to the same habits. What does this changing approach to drinking by young people mean? Professor John Holmes of the University of Sheffield joins Ros Taylor to find out what our drinking habits tell us about society as a whole. “Young people are drinking less in most high income countries. They’re either not drinkin...

Billions of dollars are spent on political campaigns in the US, even by the losers. Where is the money going? Jacob Jarvis speaks to Kyle Tharp , managing editor of FWIW News , to ask about the trends in political strategy, where cash is being wasted and how fundraising is the “wild west of American politics”.  “Republican campaigns are very old school and rely a lot on right wing media to carry w...

As sea levels rise, flooding will become more likely across the globe. But is Britain prepared for the inevitable rising waters? Ros Taylor is joined by Hannah Cloke , professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, to assess when floods might hit and how to prepare for them.  “We are going to see many more floods in the summer.” “Our great pressure for housing is making flooding inevitable.”...

The abrupt end of China's Zero Covid policy shocked the world. What do we know about the consequences of this change in tack? Accurate figures from Xi Jinping’s Government are hard to come by and the Chinese people are torn in two directions: with excitement about opening up and fear as Covid rips through the population. Cindy Yu , assistant editor at The Spectator , joins Alex Andreou to find out...

Austerity is a staple fixture of our political system. How did it become such a dominant economic policy? And is it really a ‘prudent’ and ‘realistic’ way of organising our economics? Philosopher and historian Clara Mattei , author of The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism joins Ahir Shah to explore how austerity came to become the water we swim in and wh...

Airbnb has enabled people to earn more by letting second houses as holiday lets than to families. What does this mean for locals in tourist areas? With housing provision at an all time low, the Welsh Government is looking at a system of carrots and sticks to incentivise landlords to prioritise locals. Can this problem be fixed? Dr Steffan Evans from the Bevan Foundation talks to Hannah Fearn about...

Fasten your seatbelts, because it’s going to be a rocky week in UK politics as sleaze comes back with a vengeance. How will Sunak handle backlash to his car misdemeanour, Johnson’s loan scandal and Zahawi’s ongoing tax quagmire. Plus, we look at the latest news on strikes. Alex Andreou talks to Jacob Jarvis to outline the week ahead. “Part of the government is so incestuous, it doesn’t even realis...

Emmanuel Macron feels firmly like an elder statesman of Europe – but while his global prowess grows, how is he doing at home? With his power held together by coalition, can he be the reformer he wants to be? Sophie Pedder , Paris bureau chief for The Economist , speaks to Ros Taylor to discuss the French president’s changes in tack and the future of his nation’s politics.  “It has been forced on h...

As Donald Trump bleeds out politically, a new generation of paranoid and conspiracy-minded MAGA Republicans has captured the party. A nightmare hardcore Freedom Caucus holds House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hostage, and nationally, the GOP just gets crazier. Do we have to steel ourselves for MAGA 2.0 – a deTrumpified extreme right in America? UCL politics professor Brian Klaas tells Andrew Harrison wh...