The News Agents

Donald Trump is running for president again... to the surprise of no one. Not even the legion advisors telling him now was a really really bad time to announce it. He's on a bit of a low - the midterm results were a stinging rejection of the candidates he backed - and the election deniers were - ultimately - rejected at the polls. You can hear a very on-message, subdued Trump in the speech he made...

A second minister in two weeks faces serious allegations of bullying. Are our corridors of power a breeding ground for bullyboy behaviour? We speak to Liz Bates, political correspondent at Sky News, who has delved deep into the alleged toxic culture that appears endemic in Westminster. And we're joined by the former Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Ge...

Comedian Joe Lycett is offering ten thousand pounds to an LGBTQ+ charity if David Beckham pulls out of his multi-zillion dollar ambassadorial role in Qatar's World Cup. He calls on Beckham as a role model and ally to think about gay football fans in a country that criminalises homosexuality. The News Agents have been hearing of the growing unease from members of the LGBTQ+ community who feel a dee...

We often hear about mortgage rates going up, but perhaps not enough scrutiny is paid on the private renting sector... a sector that has enormous demand, and next to no supply. It's a sector that burns a mile-wide hole in the coffers of students, young professionals, families and many more. The Mini-Budget just seven weeks ago exacerbated the crisis to near breaking point. But who's to blame? And h...

Major TV series The Crown is back - series five - and it deals with one of the most painful and excruciatingly public decades of recent Royal history. Diana's tell-all book with Andrew Morton, Charles's intimate phonecalls with Camilla, the Queen's popularity with her public and the early years of the young Prince William and Prince Harry. Every new season brings with it questions as to what is fa...

We've been up all night waiting for the US midterm election results to come through so you could wake up at your leisure. TLDR: Trump-backed candidates didn't really take off, Trump's Republican rival soared to victory and the Democrats look - at the time of recording - as if they've emerged with less damage than they might have feared. What does that mean for the next presidential contest? Does i...

It's hard to imagine leaving a job in disrepute but then giving 20 of your mates a top honour that allows them to create the laws of this country. Well, maybe it isn't that hard to imagine. It's what Boris Johnson appears to have done with his Resignation Honours List. Lara Spirit of the Times tells us that four sitting MPs want to accept peerages without immediately giving up their seats in the H...

When Liz Truss was looking to galvanise not just the Tory party but the nation in her conference speech, she turned to Just Stop Oil protesters for help. She believed their fractious, disruptive, an d potentially dangerous tactics would make her 'anti growth' point better than any positive messaging she had hitherto used. As it turned out, she's now gone and they are still here - this morning bloc...

Elon Musk has begun laying off staff at Twitter, a week after taking sole control of the company. He says he’s “freed the bird” but does freedom of speech on the platform come at the price of political stability and threats to democracy? Lewis speaks to a range of guests from the tech industry, including a founding member of Twitter, Jason Goldman. Planning: Melissa Tutesigensi Socials: Georgia Fo...

In less than a week America will head to the polls for the midterms - the first national elections of the Biden presidency since the January 6th insurrection. Biden has told Americans that democracy is on the ballot - with hundreds of Republican candidates refusing to say whether they’ll accept the election outcome next week. Many more within the GOP continue to accept and propagate ‘The Big Lie’-...

As we record today's episode, Benjamin Netanyahu - currrently on trial for corruption charges - is about to (re)become Israel's PM. He's been in power for 17 years out of the last 25. And this time, it's all thanks to the Religious Zionism faction - a theocratic movement far far to his right that doesn't altogether believe in democracy. What does this mean for Israel, her neighbours, the Arab vote...

So much heat surrounds the issue of immigration. And the person in charge of decision making is Home Secretary Suella Braverman - and she's at the centre of a political storm over alleged multiple security breaches. Today The News Agents ask where the crisis lies, and what the numbers really tell us. We speak to the former Brexit secretary David Davis - does he have confidence in the Home Secretar...

Gary Lineker tells us about the burger he shared with David Beckham in a hotel bar in Zurich the night before England was knocked out of the bid to host the 2018 Football world cup. What happened next, he says, was unbelievable. Qatar - against virtually every single odd - was chosen to host the 2022 tournament. The REST, as they say IS HISTORY. Fast forward 12 years and Gary speaks of his respons...

After weeks of political chaos, the real cost of the crisis is beginning to reveal itself. Lewis is joined this week by New Statesman columnist Martha Gill. They speak to Tim Durrant, Associate Director at the Institute for Government, about the staggering bill to the taxpayer, caused by an unprecedented number of ministerial redundancies over the summer. They look to Northern Ireland, and a grid-...

We’ve had the Brexit Opportunities Minister and the Brexit Benefits Department but weirdly - we still can’t point to what those are. Today we ask if the UK economy is measurably worse off after Brexit (spoiler : the answer is yes) and what the solutions are. We hear the position of business, and talk to Tony Danker, the Director General of the Confederate of Business Industry. We look at the metri...

The Lib Dems have called for an investigation into why Suella Braverman is back in her role as home secretary one week after she resigned and apologised for security leaks, and a day after Rishi Sunak promised a government of integrity. Labour tabled an urgent question to ask the same thing in the House of Commons today. But the Home Secretary didn't appear to even turn up. Instead, it was left to...

Liz Truss and her podium left Downing Street around ten thirty this morning, with a brief nod to bravery and her excellent plans for cutting taxes. Rishi Sunak came in an hour later - new podium - and talked about restoring integrity and professionalism to the office of PM. There were no prizes for guessing who he meant. He also made clear he was there because of Liz Truss mistakes. it sounded pre...

At 1.57pm this afternoon, Penny Mordaunt's team were still insisting she would make it through to the final run off with Rushi Sunak to become Britain's next prime minister. But, just two minutes before the 2pm deadline, she pulled out of the race, crowning Rishi Sunak as the next Conservative party leader and the UK's first British Asian Prime Minister. It's quite a moment. Today The News Agents...

The News Agents convene for a special Sunday night episode. Jon, Emily and Lewis talk through the big news breaking just an hour or so earlier that Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister, has decided *not* to throw his hat in the ring for this truncated leadership election, despite the backing of dozens of MPs and sizeable support amongst Conservative Party members. It paves the way for one of e...

In the week to end all weeks, we've lurched from the shortest prime ministerial era *ever* to the potential return of the last PM... who's only been an ex-PM for 45 days. The race to be our next Conservative Prime Minister is well and truly on (again!). Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt has already thrown her hat into the ring, and the rumour is that former Chancellor Rishi Sunak will...

A day after announcing that she was a 'fighter, not a quitter', Prime Minister Liz Truss quits. A disastrous 24 hours for the Conservative government culminated in the PM's ousting at lunchtime today. She's the shortest serving Prime Minister in British political history. Today's episode looks at the events that led to Truss’ resignation after just 45 days in office, the candidates in the running...

After Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned, the Prime Minister appointed one of her fiercest critics, Grant Shapps, to the post. Her Conservative project seems dead in the water, and after tonight’s chaos, Lewis and Jon discuss in this emergency episode whether the final nail has been drilled into the coffin of Liz Truss’ government. Production: Ellie Clifford & Gabriel Radus

We were about to publish this episode... and then the Home Secretary resigned. It came amidst a backdrop of a day in which an embattled prime minister had to face a series of tough questions from members of her own party, and the party opposite, at Prime Minister's Questions. The chaos in British politics continues. Planning: Melissa Tutesigensi Social Editor: Ollie McGrath Production: Gabriel Rad...

After yesterday's stunning economic U-turn, today was a day where it was eerily quiet... almost too quiet. Why? Have the Conservatives finally decided to coalesce around their beleaguered leader? Was Jeremy Hunt's announcement enough to quell the baying wolves? It certainly calmed the markets down. We explore what's happening now, what manoeuvring could be going on behind the scenes, and how pivot...

Today saw one of the biggest political U-turns in the UK for decades. The new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt appeared on our TV screens announcing a raft of economic changes. Liz Truss, our Prime Minister, was nowhere to be seen. We ask four questions today: 1) What just happened? 2) Why has the Government done it? 3) What does it mean for you, the listener? 4) And what does it mean for Truss and the chan...