The News Agents

Latest Episodes:

Our billionaire PM and his £1 million tax bill Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

Keir Starmer spent the morning in Stoke-on-Trent. Not WOKE-on-Trent, as one hilarious Tory Red-wall-er reminded him.

But attempts to fire up the culture war are something Rishi Sunak wants no part in.

And recent polling suggests it's the right call. Today we look at the state of play of the two main political parties and what the numbers are currently telling us -with James Kanagasoorium of Focaldata.

And we ask whether we mind have a billionaire prime minister who pays a million pound tax bill. Lewis is on the streets of Paris where they are rioting. And not just because of something he said.

You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Boris Johnson Swears He's Telling the Truth Mar 22, 2023

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Boris Johnson told the parliamentary inquiry that he HAD misled parliament, but he hadn't meant to.

His repeated defence was that he hadn't been advised what he was saying might be wrong (he had). And that other people hadn't told him that rules might have been broken (they had). He insisted that the leaving parties he'd attended had been essential work and berated Downing Street itself for having too many corridors to make parties safer.

Sir Bernard Jenkin led the charge asking what he would have told a press conference if the rest of the country had wanted to hold leaving parties too. Now the committee goes away to consider its findings and its verdict. We dissect the afternoon and that Stormont Brake vote that briefly interrupted proceedings.

You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The (sexist, racist, homophobic) Met Police Mar 21, 2023

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The Met Police - so says the explosive Casey Review released today - is a bullying boys club in which predators flourish.

Rape evidence is thrown out - because of broken fridges.

Eye-watering force is used against Black people.

Gay officers are scared of their colleagues.

So what happens now? And will this diminish public trust in the force even further? The author of the review Baroness Louise Casey joins us.

Plus we get hold of Boris Johnson's defence dossier. He argues he didn't mean to mislead Parliament, only called it a party because the media did and doesn't understand why he's accused of breaking rules when everyone else did too. So yes. that one.

You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Can Boris Johnson defend the indefensible? Mar 20, 2023

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Boris Johnson has submitted evidence to the Privileges Committee which will be judging whether he set out to mislead the House of Commons over Partygate.

He argues that 'he was advised he wasn't breaking any rules' - which might seem odd coming from the person who in fact made up those rules. We now await publication of his defence.

Also today - why the DUP won't vote for Sunak's latest Brexit deal: The Windsor Framework.

And - on Iranian New Year we speak to Anoosheh Ashoori and his daughter Elika. Anoosheh emerged from Evin prison a year ago after being falsely arrested. He tells us of his hunger strike, his suicide attempts and his torture - and why he's now feeling optimistic for Iran.

You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Is the SNP falling apart? Mar 17, 2023

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After nearly a decade of stability spearheaded by Nicola Sturgeon, why do the SNP look like they're imploding? The three candidates after her job are spending day after day taking lumps out of each other. Polling suggests that the only thing that they're hurting though is their common goal: Scottish independence.

We speak to one of the candidates who's attack on the independence of the leadership process has been called 'Trumpian'. And we speak to a senior SNP MP about what this is doing to the political party that, just seven weeks ago, resembled an immovable object in the way of both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

And for some weekend listening. We ask a Labour grandee and parliamentary history-maker what it was like to be the first female Black MP in the House of Commons.

You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Jeremy Hunt on junior doctors, Brexit and his Budget Mar 16, 2023

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The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt finished his early morning media round and then came for a coffee with the News Agents.

We asked how many doctors would re-enter the workforce with his pension changes.

How Brexit will effect our growth longer term.

And where his childcare ideas came from....

You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The Budget: Will the rich get richer? Mar 15, 2023

Show notes

Today's bombshell rabbit (to mix a metaphor) was the Chancellor's promise to abolish the lifetime allowance on pensions.

If you're super-rich it's time to crack open the champagne. If you're working age and well-paid, it might keep you in your job longer - at least that's the aim- but this is against a backdrop where household disposable income is falling at its fastest rate since the 1950s.

We talk childcare, taxation, potholes, and Brexit beer.

Later, we revisit the question of BBC impartiality after leaked emails show an editor succumbing to pressure from Boris Johnson's Number 10 during the pandemic.

You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Suella's asylum plan - why dozens of Tory MPs aren't backing it. Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

Last night more than forty Conservative MPs refused to back Suella's new plan for immigration.

One- the former Lord Chancellor - called it 'ineffective authoritarianism'.

Another - the former Immigration Minister - called it 'an absolute horror'.

So today we tackle the policy head on. Is it legal? Is it humane? And will it lead fewer people taking small boats?

We also look at police violence against women. The numbers are unbelievable - how, out of 1500 officers facing accusations of violence, have only 13 been dismissed.

Is the force 'institutionally sexist'?

You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The BBC vs. Lineker: They think it’s all over ... it isn’t Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

Gary Lineker will be back on air this weekend.

And BBC Director General Tim Davie has apologised to viewers for the weekend's schedule disruptions.

They'd like this row to go away now.

Except it won't.

Where does it leave the BBC Chair and his Tory donations and friendships? Where does it leave the social media activities of other high profile talent? And what does impartiality mean - if it's being dictated by the government?

We speak to Armando Iannucci - who coined the phrase omnishambles a decade ago...

And we look at the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and ask if over the weekend we got close to another financial crash.

You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The BBC takes Gary Lineker off air Mar 10, 2023

Show notes

The BBC have told Gary Lineker he won't be presenting Match of the Day on Saturday night. Emily, Jon and Lewis bring you their immediate reaction.

Protests against drag queen story readings for kids have been gaining momentum in the US and increasingly the UK. This week in London there was a clash between protestors, arguing about whether these kinds of activities - where drag queens read stories to children - should be allowed to take place. Lewis asks what happens at these readings, why people are concerned, and looks at why this might develop into the latest frontier in a culture war.

And is Georgia running back to sugar daddy Russia?

You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

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