The News Agents

Latest Episodes:

Lords, Ladies, and Boris Johnson's honour Jun 08, 2023

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Rishi Sunak has reportedly waved through Boris Johnson's controversial and much-talked about honours list. Why? And what does this mean at the slightly grubbier end of British politics.

Caroline Lucas is to step down from Parliament after 13 years of flying the Green Party flag. Is the beginning of a rebirth in left-wing politics, or is it more like the beginning of the end?

And how does the newspaper industry cover Prince Harry when they’re part of the trial?

Saudi Arabia: The Golf State? Jun 07, 2023

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Golf as we know it has just been sold, kind of wholesale, to Saudi Arabia.

The gulf state is acquiring lots of high end sports brands right now. And it's using sportswashing to reposition itself as a diplomat on the world stage.

Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has run into trouble with the unions by promising an end to new oil fields in the North Sea. He wants his own Inflation Reduction Act creating green jobs for the future. But can we afford it?

And UFOs are no longer the stuff of conspiracy nutters - Congress has now promised protection to whistleblowers who will come forward to tell us what alien aeriel sightings they've spotted in our skies. Why is this happening now?

Prince Harry takes the stand Jun 06, 2023

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Prince Harry has blamed the tabloid press for the rift with his brother, the break up of former relationships and what he describes as a narrowing circle of friends.

The Mirror - who he's suing today at the High Court - say he's been through a lot but technically it wasn't their hacking... So who is going to win this one?

And as Mike Pence - Trump's former Vice President - enters the race to be President of the USA, we talk to a man who thinks neither will make it to the final round.

Anthony Scaramucci was Trump's comms director for ten and a half days. He's full of the gossip of the biggest race in town.

Why did Rishi Sunak donate $3m to a private school in California? Jun 05, 2023

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MPs are allowed to donate however much they wish of their private money to whomever they chose.

In 2018, as per The Mirror, when Rishi Sunak was just an MP - the family donated more than 3 million dollars to a private tech college in California - previously attended by his wife.

Fast forward to 2023 where a primary school in his constituency has spent nearly a year fundraising to find 10k to buy school kids computers.

We talk to a mum who's been at the coalface of the bake sales and is wondering why she had to work so hard to drum up a fraction of Sunak's donation.

We also look at the narratives -loud and soft - coming out of Ukraine and ask if the military counter-offensive is finally underway.

Why is Rishi Sunak taking the Covid inquiry to court? Jun 02, 2023

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The government has taken the Covid inquiry, that it set up and poured so much public and private faith in, to court. What the f•••?!

We try to make sense of this with Lara Spirit of The Times

And.. is the mortgage market fast becoming a serious economic crisis in the UK?

What's up with Boris Johnson's WhatsApps? Jun 01, 2023

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Boris Johnson has, finally, and perhaps reluctantly, handed over a ton of WhatsApp messages between him and others while he was PM at the height of the Covid pandemic. But what will the Cabinet Office do with him, and what does this mean for Johnson, Sunak and the Conservative Party?

And, we talk to a spokesperson and member of Just Stop Oil. When do the ends justify the means when it comes to civil disobedience? Are they now crossing a line?

Keir Starmer: born again Brexiteer? May 31, 2023

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Keir Starmer's column on Wednesday morning in right-wing tabloid newspaper The Express is another step in the Labour leader's transformation from all guns blazing Remainer to born again Brexiteer. But he's not the first Labour leader to turn to the right-leaning press to prove his prime ministerial credentials as the next general election draws ever closer.

What does this mean for Labour and where does this leave Britain's place in the world, and its relationship with Europe if Labour are the next government in power? And what on earth is 'Securonomics' - the new economic model Starmer's potential Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched in Washington DC last week that will seek to boost post-Brexit Britain.

Plus - the curious case of Joe Biden's former advisor fleeing to Moscow to seek 'safety' and citizenship. Hmm.

The Phillip Schofield scandal and the future of ITV May 30, 2023

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It started with a tabloid story that a male and female presenter on daytime TV were no longer getting on. Big deal.

It was accompanied by darker rumours about Philip Schofield, a fixture on television for decades. And then the wisps of smoke on a hillside became a full scale wildfire, tearing through ITV.

His relationship with a much younger man have now turned this into a daytime chat show into peak time drama, and questions are now growing for ITV senior management.

An ITV statement on Saturday responded to allegations that ITV ignored any potential relationship Schofield had at ITV.

“ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated.

"Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip's then agency YMU.

"Phillip’s statement [a few days ago] reveals that he lied to people at ITV… over this relationship."

Sadiq Khan on Boris, Brexit and his PTSD May 26, 2023

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London Mayor Sadiq Khan joins Lewis Goodall on The News Agents in a wide-ranging interview shedding light on working with Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Rishi Sunak.

He also talks about his PTSD after getting death threats and his new book, Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency.

Elon Musk and the man who wants to take on Trump May 25, 2023

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We'll be looking at sex, lies and Downing Street later in this episode with a writer who worked in Number10 - and we'll be asking if politicians REALLY want an honest conversation about Immigration - but we begin with the newest launch failure by Elon Musk.

This one involved not a rocket but a presidential candidate - who thinks he can beat Donald Trump.

If that was ever true, it feels much more unlikely today after the campaign launch went up in flames.