The News Agents

Emily, Jon and Lewis review 2022; at home and abroad. They talk Ukraine, Partygate, and having a fresh start. Part 2 out next week! Socials: Georgia Foxwell Video: Will Gibson-Smith Production: Gabriel Radus Deputy Editor: Tom Hughes Executive Producer: Dino Sofos For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-ag...

Nearly two years on from the January sixth riots, a cross-party committee is uncompromising in its findings: Donald Trump assisted in insurrection, obstruction, conspiracy to defraud and deceive. Now it’s over to the US Department of Justice. Will they make criminal charges against a president for the first time in the country's history? And what happens to the Republican Party and its leaders now...

Today, the UK High Court ruled that the UK's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful. Don't expect flights to Kigali filled with asylum seekers to take off tomorrow though; they'll be plenty of appeals and cases will need to be considered case by case. And Jon and Lewis are joined by Suzanne Lynch, of POLITICO, and Nigel Gardner, formerly a European Commission spokesman. They talk Qatargat...

Liz Truss' leadership was marred by chaos. Now, Asa Bennett, her speechwriter is in News Agents HQ, to lift the lid on the rollercoaster 49-day Truss premiership. And Lewis is joined by comedian and host of The Political Party and British Scandal podcasts Matt Forde to digest Labour's overnight by-election win and the state of the Labour party at the moment. Video: Will Gibson-Smith Production: Ga...

Nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are striking for the first time in over a century. Lewis has been down to the picket line at St. Thomas' Hospital - just opposite the Houses of Parliament - to ask what the political and economic consequences of this strike could be. And the last three parts of Harry and Meghan's Netflix doc take us inside a world of death threats, public birth, on...

Four people, at least, died this morning, after their dinghy capsized in the freezing waters of the English Channel. The more than 40 on board were trying to travel from France to England, presumably in search of a better life. And yet, the Government could stop Channel crossing deaths tomorrow or at least substantially reduce the numbers and risk of death. And Labour, the party in opposition, cou...

At the next election we will all be expected to show voter ID. Which is fine if you have a passport or a driving licence - but much much harder if you don't. The Conservative party believes the change is important to counter voter fraud -and say it's really not a big ask to get people to ID themselves at the polls when they do for so much else. Opposition parties say they are trying to find a solu...

The funding model of the NHS has always seemed sacrosanct, untouchable. We boast about having the finest service in the world - free at the point of demand to everyone. But - it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see the service is now at breaking point. The waiting lists, the A&E queues, the morale of doctors and nurses, the impending strikes and the shortage of staff more generally. So is anyon...

Lewis heads to the scene of a raucous picket line to speak to CWU union members on strike. But how much worse will strikes get this winter? Lewis casts an eye over all sectors taking industrial action over pay, workers rights and terms and conditions. And then, we talk to England vs. France. But not the football. We're joined by two French people who have lived in the UK for decades; and they disc...

Comedian Joe Lycett joins Emily and Jon in News Agents HQ. He tells us why being so angry with the government makes him do 'silly' things, 'shredding' £10,000 in a stand-off with David Beckham, and whether he'll replace Matt Lucas as the presenter of The Great British Bake-Off. Social Media: Georgia Foxwell Video: Will Gibson-Smith Production: Gabriel Radus Deputy Editor: Tom Hughes Executive Prod...

Overnight in Germany three thousand police have made two dozen arrests after uncovering a far right plot to overthrow the German state. The group were preparing for Day X- and an attempt to storm the Bundestag, the German parliament, taking MPs hostage. It’s the stuff of horror, nightmare and fantasy - conspiracy rooted in Germany's pre-war history and America's modern QAnon movement. Today we spe...

The Tory Peer Michelle Mone is to take a leave of absence from the House of Lords to 'clear her name' from the allegations she profited to the tune of more than £20 million from a PPE Covid contract. She hasn't voted in the Lords since the end of April - just days before her home was raided by the National Crime Agency. And today, Labour has urged the lower chamber, the House of Commons to vote to...

On today's episode we launch the Christmas Countdown - our (and your) favourite soundbites of political inanity of 2022. Please send in the moments you want us to revisit and react to. But before we get there, we talk about Sir Keir Starmer's plans to abolish the House of Lords and redistribute the economy more faithfully around the country. Is it justifiable to have an unelected upper chamber in...

You're 30 years old, worth billions as a result of a crypto exchange you've set up - and in the space of one Sunday afternoon it all turns to dust. What must that feel like? On this episode of The News Agents we speak to someone who's been there, done that and has got the badge (the prison sentence). Nick Leeson single-handedly brought down one of Britain's most famous financial institutions in 19...

Donald Trump is insisting he was set up by Kanye (Ye) West over that dinner party he accidentally hosted for a white supremacist leader. NBC News is reporting Trump's fury at West - who he thinks is deliberately trying to embarrass him off the electoral map. But some think Trump can do that all by himself. Today, we hear from a former advisor to two Bush presidents (George H.W & George W.) who...

Sir Keir Starmer wants private schools to pay more tax. He's also talking about removing their charitable status. Today at PMQ's he asked the PM why Winchester deserved 6 million pounds to spend on rowing clubs and rifle clubs which could be going to fund the state sector instead. Is the country where Starmer is now - or does this policy represent a polemic talking point which creates more class w...

12 Tory MPs have already announced they're standing down at the next election. That includes some young politicians who would once have represented the party's future. Today, we look at how many more are likely to follow - with a looming December 5th deadline by which they need to submit their names. We speak to Seb Payne - author of Broken Heartlands - and the Tory Peer and Pollster Robert Haywoo...

Sir Tony Blair speaks exclusively with The News Agents. He has words that may surprise Matt Hancock and Liz Truss, and a gentle message for Keir Starmer to go further. He talks about gesture politics over the banning of Qatar state advertising - and he tells us he thinks he's kissed at least one Tory. Watch the full interview with Tony Blair exclusively on Global Player. https://www.globalplayer.c...

There are thousands of homes in Britain not fit for purpose with people living in neglected and dangerous conditions - with damp, mould and vermin. Lewis talks to social housing campaigner, Kwajo Tweneboa, former Levelling Up and Housing Secretary, Simon Clarke to get to the heart of what needs to change. And playwright James Graham talks to us about the art of bringing to life political events. P...

Bird Flu is bringing Britain's farmers to their knees. The disease has killed nearly a hundred million birds world wide - nearly 4 million of them in the UK - and it poses a serious threat to our food supply. So today we're on a farm talking to a twitcher, a farmer and erm a motoring journalist. And it's all the same bloke. Jeremy Clarkson talks about the dearth of birds, the cost of feed and how...

The Supreme Court has ruled against the Scottish Parliament holding a new independence referendum without approval from Westminster. Is this the end of the fight for Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party? Lewis is joined by SNP MP Stewart Hosie and Wendy Chamberlain, Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife, to pick apart both sides of the debate. He's also joined by Financial Times’ journalist...

Dominic Raab is facing renewed allegations of bullying behaviour. In this episode we turn the clock back to the time he took out a 'confidentiality agreement' -which lawyers tell us is EXACTLY the same as an NDA; a non-disclosure agreement. In 2011 he refused to release the woman who signed it from being able to tell her side of the story. We hear from Mark Stephens, a solicitor, who shows us how...

Qatar has gone from being a quietly successful, enormously rich, largely anonymous speck on the world map to being a pariah of the Middle East. It had hoped hosting the World Cup would bring fame and more fortune - not the unedifying stink of corruption and rows about workers, women and LGBTQ+ rights. Are they wondering if it was all worth it? And will a gratifyingly rampant England victory finall...

Poverty in Britain is bad and it’s getting worse. And yet, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has set out plans to tax the British public more than ever before. Lewis travels back to Birmingham to visit a community centre which provides food and warmth for the local community, and he’s joined back in News Agents HQ by Torsten Bell, of the Resolution Foundation, and Duncan Robinson from The Economist to unpick...

The highest tax burden in decades. The biggest drop in living standards on record. The UK and its economy is stuttering into a second recession in a decade. The news today delivered by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was not good. Emily, Jon and Lewis unpack the Autumn Statement on today's episode. Planning: Melissa Tutesigensi Socials: Georgia Foxwell Video: Will Gibson-Smith Production: Gabriel Radus Dep...