The Julia Hartley-Brewer Show

Over a million young people aged 16 to 24 are currently not in education, employment or training. Former Cabinet Minister Alan Milburn argues that without urgent action, that figure could rise to one in six within five years.  How has this happened? Milburn points to young people’s ‘aspiration’, but a job market that is failing them, following increases to employer’s national insurance and th...

Tony Blair has dropped a political bombshell on Keir Starmer's desk.  In a scathing 5,700-word essay, the former Prime Minister and three-time election winner says Labour has no coherent plan to fix Britain, is governing from a "soft left comfort zone," and will lose the next general election unless it ditches net zero, slashes the welfare bill, stops the boats, and stops pretending that swap...

Nicola Sturgeon's estranged husband Peter Murrell has pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,000 from SNP party funds. That money was used for four coffee machines worth £9,000, £2,000 on salt and pepper shakers, an £80,000 Jaguar, and a motorhome parked on his mother's driveway. Sturgeon claims she knew absolutely nothing about where the money came from. Julia Hartley-Brewer is joined by Tom Slater, e...

The Office for National Statistics has released the migration figures for the last quarter — and whilst the government is celebrating, Julia Hartley-Brewer isn't buying it.  She's joined by Reform UK Councillor and Deputy Leader of Durham County Council Darren Grimes, who forcefully argues that nobody voted for the rampant levels of migration over the past decades.  From David Cameron's...

Scrutiny of Andy Burnham, Labour’s candidate for Makerfield, continues.  As the Labour party wrangles over who should be leader, Andy Burnham is hoping a successful campaign in Makerfield will prove to party and country that he can beat Reform and turn a hitherto spectacularly unpopular government around.  But after his U-turn on Brexit, now his commitment to trans ideology is coming und...

All eyes are on the Makerfield by-election, where Andy Burnham is hoping he can scrape through a tight race, beat Reform and become Labour leader… and then the PM.   His hopes are coming under strain as the media, and his political rivals, train their eyes on him. Both Wes Streeting and Keir Starmer said over the weekend they would want to (eventually) look at re-joining the EU.  That pl...

Keir Starmer is (currently!) vowing to lead Britain through its current crisis — but are his supporters falling away?  James Lyons, Starmer's former Director of Communications at Number 10, joins Julia to dissect the Prime Minister's extraordinary resilience — or delusion, depending on who you ask.  With U-turns piling up, MPs briefing against him, and a leadership circus consuming Westm...

Keir Starmer is defying his own party, the public, and political gravity.  But is he going anywhere? After a humiliating set of local, Welsh, and Scottish election results, the knives are out in the Parliamentary Labour Party.  Yet the would-be challengers — Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband — can't seem to land a blow.  Spiked Online's Brendan O'Neill joins Ju...

Can Keir Starmer survive the increasing assault on his leadership? In a dramatic, fast-paced day of political turmoil, cabinet ministers including Yvette Cooper, Shabana Mahmood and John Healey are reported to have told the Prime Minister he must set out a timetable to leave. Meanwhile, more and more MPs and even ministers have publicly called for him to go.  Yet Starmer is digging in, daring...

Julia Hartley-Brewer examines Keir Starmer’s chances of staying as prime minister.  After Labour lost over 1500 councillors in local elections on Thursday, the floodgates have opened: over 50 MPs have demanded Keir Starmer resign. They want a leadership contest - with Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting all listed as potential candidates.  To garner any remaining support, the P...

Julia Hartley-Brewer and Claire Pearsall discuss the news that Australia is preparing to receive - and arrest - ISIS linked families.  With Chris Phillips, former counter terror officer, she questions the repatriation of “walking time bombs” who may have committed serious crimes following Islamist radicalisation.  The conversation shifts to the latest health panic: the Hantavirus. As Bri...

Zack Polanski’s Green Party surge comes under fierce scrutiny as Julia Hartley-Brewer asks whether the bubble has finally burst amid allegations of antisemitism, radical policies and growing questions over the party leader’s past claims. Former Senior Military Intelligence Officer Philip Ingram MBE joins Julia to examine the Greens’ controversial platform — from wealth taxes and net zero targets t...

Keir Starmer faces mounting pressure on borders, crime and national security as small boat arrivals over the Channel head towards 200,000 since the crisis began. Only a fraction have been removed from Britain. Julia Hartley-Brewer is joined by Spiked Online editor Tom Slater to take on the biggest stories shaking Westminster: alleged Iranian attempts to destabilise Britain, rising antisemitism on...

Julia Hartley-Brewer takes on the day’s biggest stories as Keir Starmer faces a crunch Commons showdown over claims he misled Parliament on Peter Mandelson’s vetting. With bombshell evidence, Labour unrest and fresh questions over trust, competence and cover-up, is the Prime Minister finished? Plus, the King addresses Congress, shoplifting chaos on Britain’s high streets, and growing alarm over Ir...

Julia Hartley-Brewer takes on the biggest stories shaking Britain and beyond — from growing pressure on Keir Starmer over sleaze claims and Labour infighting, to the latest Donald Trump assassination attempt, royal diplomacy in America, and outrage over attacks on British troops. Ruthless, fair and unmissable, this is the Julia Hartley-Brewer Podcast from Talk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

Keir Starmer says closer co-operation with France will help stop the small boats crisis — but is Britain paying hundreds of millions for more failure and inaction? Alex Phillips - stepping in for Julia - is joined by former Border Force chief Tony Smith to break down Labour’s latest Channel deal, including the extra cash for France, the promise of tougher beach enforcement, the role of French riot...

Keir Starmer is facing fresh questions over the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal after the explosive evidence from former senior civil servant Olly Robbins — and the pressure on No.10 is building. Julia Hartley-Brewer asks: is the Prime Minister a dead man walking? With claims of disquiet from inside Downing Street, accusations of “jobs for the boys”, and Labour figures openly turning on their own...

Keir Starmer is under huge pressure after Sir Olly Robbins gave explosive evidence on the Peter Mandelson appointment — as he describes an 'atmosphere of pressure' to approve Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Julia reacts to the extraordinary claims that Mandelson’s appointment was effectively treated as a done deal before the vetting process had run its course, with senior figures allegedly pushi...

Did Keir Starmer really not know Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting — or is Downing Street’s defence simply impossible to believe? In this episode of The Julia Hartley Brewer Podcast , Julia is joined by commentator Dan Hodges and former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith to dissect the growing row over Peter Mandelson’s appointment, the claims that officials knew for weeks, and th...

Keir Starmer is under fierce pressure after explosive claims surrounding Peter Mandelson’s appointment and the handling of his security vetting – as reports emerge that Mandelson FAILED the vetting.  Keir Starmer says (implausibly) that the Foreign Office failed to tell cabinet that he had failed.  On Talk today, Ben Habib and former Sun political editor Trevor Kavanagh tear into the Pri...

Public anger erupted into protests after Surrey Police refused to release meaningful descriptions of the men suspected of a shocking alleged gang rape in Epsom — while deploying riot police to the peaceful demonstration by local residents demanding answers.  The response begs the question: are authorities more interested in managing public reaction than protecting the public? Former military...

Rachel Reeves blames Donald Trump for the fallout from the Iran conflict just as the IMF warns Britain could suffer the biggest economic shock among developed nations. Julia Hartley-Brewer asks if this is really Trump’s fault, or whether Labour’s high-tax, net zero agenda left the UK dangerously exposed to soaring energy prices, weak growth and another brutal hit to living standards. Also in this...

Three little girls — Bebe King, aged six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, aged nine — are dead. Eight more children carry life-changing injuries. And a devastating Phase One inquiry report has confirmed what many of us already feared: this was a preventable catastrophe, ignored because of incompetent parenting, a failure to take responsibility, and squeamishness about A...

Chris Parry and Julia discuss the Southport Inquiry - which found major failings among government agencies who failed to take responsibility for Axel Rudacabana - despite warning signals that he was a threat. The report also blamed his parents for their failure to prevent Mr Rudacabana’s attack.  Meanwhile, Keir Starmer is facing fury over plans critics say would tie Britain back to Brussels...

As the Iran ceasefire descends into confusion and fresh strikes raise fears of a wider regional war, Julia Hartley-Brewer asks the question many Britons will be thinking: why is Keir Starmer posing as a global statesman abroad when he cannot even control the English Channel at home? Brendan O’Neill, Chief Political Writer at spiked , joins Julia to tear into the misinformation surrounding Israel,...