The News Agents

Latest Episodes:

2022 in review, Part I: Boris, Ukraine, and new beginnings Dec 21, 2022

Show notes

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-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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.

Will Trump face criminal charges over the Capitol riots? Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

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?

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-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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.

Does Suella's Rwanda dream live on? Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

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 Qatargate - the cash for access scandal rocking Brussels.

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-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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.

Inside the final days of Liz Truss Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

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: Gabriel Radus

Deputy Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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.

Striking nurses. Squabbling royals. Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

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, online harm and press management as we're taken behind the scenes of the row that spilt the two princes. What has this episode, in breaking the code of silence, done to the Monarchy, and Meghan.

Social Media: 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-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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 truth about Channel deaths Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

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, could try and push that agenda. But neither do. Why? Well, because it's deemed politically unpalatable. Lewis explains why.

Social Media: 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-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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.

Why is the Government making it harder for you to vote? Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

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 solution to a problem that doesnt exist. And worse, that the people they will disenfranchise will be the poorer, more marginalised voters who are dont have the paperwork ready (and dont naturally vote conservative). So what is behind the reform? And what effect will it have?

Also - Sam Bankman-Fried - one of the few men in the world who knows what it's like to lose 40 billion dollars - has just been arrested in the Bahamas and charged over money laundering and fraud. We revisit the Cryptocurrency con.

Social Media: 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-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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.

Is the NHS beyond saving? Dec 12, 2022

Show notes

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 anyone brave enough to start talking about alternatives? And does private investment in the NHS - as demonstrated by New Labour under Tony Blair - actually work or just make things worse?

Also on the News Agents - England lost a major football tournament this weekend, but no one's blaming the players or the manager. What on earth is happening?

Social Media: 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-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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.

How much worse will strikes get? Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

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 discuss the complex relationship between England and France; culturally, historically and in the present day, post-Brexit. Philippe Auclair, singer-songwriter and football journalist, and star of TV show First Dates, Fred Sirieix.

Social Media: 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-agents/

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

Joe Lycett on Beckham, Bake Off and 'being right-wing' Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

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 Producer: Dino Sofos

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews 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.