The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Boris Johnson wants to blow up the Brexit talks with an Internal Market Bill that shatters international law. Will it blow up in his face? And on the six-month anniversary of Britain locking down for the first time, we’re joined by Miatta Fahnbulleh of the New Economics Foundation to discuss how the Government got COVID so very wrong. Presented by Andrew Harrison with Ros Taylor and Alex Andreou....

Digital disinformation from hostile powers is attacking our democracies, but do our politicians even want to stop it? Disinformation expert, security specialist and former US intelligence officer MATTHEW FERRARO talks to Nina Schick about the evolving threat of information pollution, who’s next on the fakers’ hitlists, and why Russia hates 5G. “To fight back against Russian propaganda, you need to...

What can you do when your society is responsible for racist atrocities? What should you do? One country trying to atone for their past is Germany. Susan Neiman, moral philosopher and author of ‘Learning from the Germans’, told Ros Taylor about what the U.S. can learn from the way Germany deals with its past, and why the English have been even slower than America in facing up to their national crim...

According to recent polls, half of Britain would not trust a COVID vaccine, and a majority of Republican voters in the US believe in the bizarre QAnon theory. So why are these crazy notions becoming so widespread? Political communications specialist AMIL KHAN told Arthur Snell all about how these theories start, the role social media plays in making them mainstream, and the psychology of those beh...

As the Government tears up its own promises on Northern Ireland with its Internal Markets Bill, the don of legal experts David Allen Green explains the enormity of this breach of international law, why the Government has provoked constitutional crisis on not one but four fronts… and how it could play out. Spoiler: “This will not end well.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant produ...

After a summer filled with u-turns and policy failures galore, and with the road to 2021 looking incredibly treacherous, will Boris survive the Autumn? Plus, did Extinction Rebellion undermine their cause by blocking everyone’s Saturday papers being delivered? And will we see ‘Mock The Weak’ on our screens as the new BBC Director General Tim Davie promises more right-wing comedy? “The Government i...

A vaccine is seen as the primary route out of the COVID19 crisis, but only half of Brits surveyed by Kings College London say they would be likely to get one. Professor HEIDI LARSON, director of The Vaccine Confidence Project, tells Ros Taylor the reasons people give for not wanting a vaccine, and how we can build public trust in health interventions. “If Facebook closed their doors tomorrow, thes...

Britain’s woeful electoral system wastes millions of votes and consistently enables minority rule. KLINA JORDAN, joint CEO of the ‘Make Votes Matter’ campaign, tells Naomi Smith why Labour should make implementing proportional representation their first priority in Government, and offers some key rebuttals to common PR myths. “People have been campaigning on this issue for 130 years” “Labour have...

Coronavirus has changed life as we know it, especially for those who work in our health service. Dr Dominic Pimenta resigned from the NHS over Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip to Durham, and his new book ‘Duty of Care’, describes the brutal experience of working on the COVID-19 frontline. Dominic tells Alex Andreou about his work in the NHS during the pandemic, from the initial murmurings coming ou...

Last week the Government introduced legislation aiming to curb the ruinous practice of deforestation, but how will this fit in with Brexit trade policy? What more should the Government be doing on environmental matters? And how damaging have populists Trump and Bolsonaro been in the battle against climate change? UCL professor of global change science SIMON LEWIS talks to Justin Quirk about the fu...

With the polls seemingly stacked against him, what dirty tactics will Donald Trump need to deploy if he’s to triumph in November’s election? And what will his victory, or demise, mean for the Western world? UCL Politics Professor Dr Julie Norman joins us to discuss the upcoming campaign. Plus - what the does the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny mean for Russia’s fight for democracy? And...

What is an obsession with politics doing to our psychology – and vice versa? Which weird psychology drives the Johnson Government’s mix of belligerence and incompetence? The Guardian’s Rafael Behr talks to Ian Dunt about the deep, unconscious roots of solidarity, polarisation, anger and ideological commitment, and the contents of the government’s subconscious engine room. If Dominic Cummings wants...

On top of COVID, a No Deal Brexit could push Britain’s already dire food poverty situation into crisis. And if we fall onto a Global Tariff for foodstuffs it will mean drastically limited kitchen staples and increased prices all round. The Shadow Food, Farming and Rural Affairs Minister, Labour MP Daniel Zeichner , joins Naomi Smith to explain the danger of a twin crisis in food supply and food po...

We were living in a golden age of craft beer… and then COVID hit. Will the pandemic tally wound Britain’s independent beer makers? Or are government ignorance and Big Brewing more of a threat to this life-enhancing industry? Britain’s leading beer writer PETE BROWN – author of Craft: An Argument: Why The Term 'Craft Beer' Is Completely Undefinable, Hopelessly Misunderstood And Absolutely Essential...

As Republicans gather (virtually) to anoint the Great Helmsman, how will Trump’s warnings of an American apocalypse play outside his radicalised base? UCL Global Politics professor Brian Klaas and The Atlantic ’s Yasmeen Serhan join us to decide who’s the weirdest and most worrying at the Trump Family Telethon. Plus, your package was left in a safe place! Has the pandemic ended consumerism as we k...

The COVID pandemic has given unscrupulous data traffickers the opportunity they needed to hoover up vast quantities of private patient data , with Government connivance – and often with Government funding. Investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed tells Alex Andreou what is happening to our private information, and what we need to do to stop an information grab that the Government is concealing from u...

Bullying and sexual harassment are a blight on Parliament – and Westminster has been slow to deal with it. Cofounder of Women in Westminster and campaigner on the winning Starmer and Sadiq Khan campaigns Tara Jane O’Reilly talks to Ian Dunt about the measures women have to take to stay safe in Westminster; and whether the new independent complaints procedure will make a positive difference. “When...

Why do we believe lies just because there’s a graph attached? How can we develop a sixth sense to detect statistical disinformation? Data scientist and University of Washington professor Jevin D West , co-author of Calling Bullsh*t: The Art Of Scepticism In A Data Driven World , talks to Ros Taylor about the warping of COVID statistics by selection bias… how our brains are built to fall victim to...

What should we watch out for in the impending confrontation between India and China, the world’s largest democracy and the world’s largest autocratic superpower? And how does Pakistan fit in? Prof GUY BURTON of Vesalius College in Brussels joins Arthur Snell to explain the sources of these tensions between the world’s two most populous countries, what leaders Xi and Modi want, why they’re ignoring...

A-Levelling down: can the Government just style out a total betrayal of hardworking strivers? And will Gavin Williamson stay unsacked before you finish this paragraph? Former MEP Caroline Voaden joins us to channel the rage of parents and teenagers everywhere. Plus: Will the shine go off the Chancellor as Sunakmania gives way to the Rishicession ? And what are we going to eat when Hard Brexit stri...

The Government’s new planning ideas hand a huge advantage to developers, with no-question greenlights for permissions in new “growth” and “renewal” areas. Is this a real fix for the housing crisis or just another free market free-for-all? STEVE COLE of Clarion Group – the UK’s largest housing association and also a developer – tells Naomi Smith why our housing crisis is so entrenched, and why the...

What makes comedy happen? Our most celebrated impressionist RORY BREMNER talks to Alex Andreou about how his ADHD drives his own work – plus tracking and tracing Boris Johnson’s offspring, how hard it is to pin down a take on today’s political mediocrities, Brexit, and of course the loss to COVID of his great friend and colleague Tim Brooke-Taylor. And yes, there WILL be impressions…  “Fire, bank...

Job losses are surging, but the next wave of mass unemployment won’t be like the ones in the 80s, the 90s or the financial crisis of 2008. The Institute for Government’s GILES WILKES – economist and past special advisor to Vince Cable and Theresa May – tells Andrew Harrison why the old remedies for joblessness won’t work, how COVID has robbed the Government of room to manoeuvre, and what sort of i...

Belarus is convulsed by pro-democracy demonstrations, the opposition leader has fled in fear and the EU is threatening to reimpose sanctions. Yet pig-farmer turned strongman Alexander Lukashenko shows no sign of relinquishing his 26-year grip on power. Professor Andrew Wilson of UCL, the author of Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship , talks to Dorian Lynskey about how Lukashenko rigs elections...

Since before the Referendum, rivers of untraceable money have flowed through our politics, washing away accountability and benefiting secretive and powerful people. Peter Geoghegan of openDemocracy joins us to discuss the revelations of his new book Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics – and explore what we need to do when technology outpaces the law. Plus: Which zone is your home? Wh...