The News Agents

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Where are asylum seekers supposed to live now? Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

Anti-migrant protesters are celebrating today, with The Bell Hotel in Epping set to close its doors to asylum seekers after becoming a battleground over the summer on the issue.

A High Court ruling ordered The Bell to stop housing migrants on a planning technicality. It did not receive the proper permission to switch its use from short-term stays to people living there for more than 30-day stretches, despite having run as such without incident for more than five years.

A failed last-minute attempt by the Home Office to get the case dismissed laid out the department's concerns. The government barrister warned that any injunction could lead to other councils following suit, a development "that would aggravate the pressures on the asylum estate."

He also warned that granting the injunction would “"run the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests".

Those appeals were unsuccessful. And now the government is having to work out where those asylum seekers will now live. If other councils follow suit - and succeed - it could become a major political crisis. Despite all the noise around this issue, are politicians giving any serious thought to alternatives?

Later, more gloomy news on the economy for Labour - is there any way for Rachel Reeves to wriggle out of the fiscal straightjacket she now finds herself in?

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Is Palestine Action really a terrorist group? Aug 19, 2025

Show notes

There is a growing chorus of opinion - both inside the Labour party and out - which is increasingly uneasy about the recent mass arrests of demonstrators who have been showing their support for the now proscribed group Palestine Action.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, banned the direct action group under terrorism legislation in July - but since then hundreds of people have been detained for expressing solidarity with the body and its aims. But that decision has been questioned, with Labour members opposed to the move, Labour MPs critical, and even the author Sally Rooney pledging to fund the organisation. Could the government rethink its strategy? Or does it need to do more to explain why it took the action it did?

We speak to Lib Dem leader, Sir Ed Davey, about why he is now calling for a review of the terrorism legislation following the Palestine Action arrests.

Later, as Donald Trump floats security guarantees "by air" for Ukraine on Fox News (where else?), Jon and Lewis take stock on where we are now the morning after the night before that dramatic evening in the White House.

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BONUS EPISODE: Zelenskyy survives the Oval Office... but has anything really changed? Aug 19, 2025

Show notes

In a tone entirely different from Zelenksyy’s last visit to Washington in February, this evening saw Trump praising the Ukrainian president. Zelenksyy was on the charm offensive. And it seemed to work. Trump bestowed his other European guests with compliments and promised that America would play a key part in the security guarantees if there is a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

It was in some ways a remarkable event, with European leaders sat around the roundtable kissing the ring of President Trump. But will it amount to anything? Can the US really guarantee the security of Ukraine? Will it? And where does this leave peace talks now?

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Trump-Zelenskyy: another showdown? Aug 18, 2025

Show notes

There's plenty about the build up to this Trump-Zelenskyy summit which tells you that it is no normal meeting. The questions over whether President Zelenskyy will wear a suit and tie. The video from the plane where Keir Starmer pleads with Trump to secure a "just peace". And the Truth Social posts from President Trump, just hours ahead of their talks, where he pre-emptively told the world that NATO membership was off the cards for Ukraine, as was the prospect of Crimea being returned.

Why is Trump seemingly setting pre-conditions for Ukraine which look very much like Kremlin objectives? Can European leaders convince Trump to stand by Ukraine if the conflict continues? Or could we be set for a repeat of the ugly scenes we saw in the White House in February - where Trump and JD Vance openly berated their guest, accused him of disrespect, and told him he held none of the cards?

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BONUS EPISODE: The panic driving Europe’s leaders to Washington with Zelenskyy Aug 17, 2025

Show notes

President Zelenksyy is on his way to Washington to meet with President Trump. He's followed by several European leaders, including Keir Starmer. Rarely is international diplomacy carried out under these circumstances. So, what would a deal look like? Why are those European leaders choosing to go to with Zelenkyy? And is this Europe's final stand against Putin?

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SPECIAL REPORT: Has America’s fentanyl crisis landed in the UK? Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

From coast to coast, America’s towns and cities have been besieged by an opioid epidemic, a crisis which has wrought misery and wielded political consequence.

Deep in the Nevada desert, Las Vegas - a city renowned for its seedy underbelly, has some 1,500 people living in its 600 miles of flash flood tunnels - many addicted to fentanyl. Lewis meets some of the tunnels’ residents to find out how this years-long epidemic is still wreaking havoc and claiming lives.

Despite being insulated from the crisis for so long, British treatment services are sounding the alarm bell. Nitazenes, a family of extremely powerful synthetic opioids, are spiking the drug market with dealers carrying out dangerous experiments on their clients causing overdose after overdose on the streets of Britain.

Has the opioid epidemic, once thought of as a uniquely American problem, now landed in the UK?

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Weekend Edition: Premier League Q&A - MOTD, Battle of the Bridge & time for hooters? - The Sports Agents Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

Gabby and Mark answer your Premier League questions ahead of the new season!

Which Match of the Day pundit is most fun to watch a match with? Best Premier League game we've ever watched live? And what's our wildest hot take for the season? (09:15)

Plus we look back at a big week on the podcast featuring Alan Shearer's Premier League predictions, Chris Wilder's survival guide for promoted sides, and David Ornstein's updates on the biggest transfers. (03:00)

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Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

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Guest Booker: Kirsty Giddings

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

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Why the hard right hate London Aug 14, 2025

Show notes

Barely a day goes by without a right-wing influencer proclaiming that London has fallen. Crime in the capital, it is said, is rampant, police nowhere to be seen - it's a grim picture painted by those who decry 'Sadiq Khan's London'.

But is any of this actually borne out in reality? Do the facts back up this portrait of the city? And if not, why are there so many on the hard right so determined to trash London's image?

Later, a report from Vegas about a jaw-dropping new AI product, which raises questions about life, death, and the commercialisation of grief.

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The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Why is the US lecturing Britain on free speech? Aug 13, 2025

Show notes

While the Vice President holidays in the Cotswolds, Donald Trump's administration has accused the British government of “repeatedly” imposing “serious restrictions” on free speech - and accuses the UK of backsliding on human rights.

The US State Department cites the Online Safety Act and abortion buffer zones, in its rationale for sounding the alarm about Britain's recent record - does it have a leg to stand on? LBC's political editor Natasha Clark joins Jon to explore that report.

Later, with European leaders meeting with President Zelenskyy today, capitals across the continent are bracing for impact ahead of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska on Friday. Jon and Mark Galeotti, the historian and Russia-watcher, look ahead to that meeting and where it might leave Ukraine.

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The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Why has Trump ordered the army onto the streets of DC? Aug 12, 2025

Show notes

“Violent gangs", "bloodthirsty criminals", "roving gangs of wild youths", "drugged out maniacs". These may sounds like scenes from a Charles Dickens novel, but they are the words used by Donald Trump to describe Washington DC, as he announced he was sending the National Guard in to the capital.

As recently as May, President Trump was proclaiming a sharp drop in crime in the city. Indeed, the official statistics suggest DC has made significant improvements in safety in the past couple of years. So why is he declaring a war on crime, and taking such drastic action, when the evidence doesn't back him up?

Later, a dispatch from Lewis in Las Vegas - already hit by a drop in tourism, and now seeing the effects of AI, which has already started to transform the town. Is it a sign of things to come for us all? And, if so, should we be scared?

You can visit our website here https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

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