Alex Ritson
đ€ SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Our political correspondent Rob Watson talked me through the day at Westminster. Well, it's been a quite extraordinary 24 hours in British politics, Alex, even by the standards, the dramatic standards of the last 10, 15, 20 years. And the 24 hours, the day started with it being really difficult to find a senior government minister to come out and defend Sakhir Starmer after he'd lost his chief of staff at the weekend. And so
political correspondents were thinking at Westminster, oh my goodness, is this it, is this the end? And then there was the blow of the most senior Labour politician so far to call for him to go, that was Anna Sarwar, who's leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, and at that point there was a genuine sense at Westminster that it might really be all up for Sakhir Starmer, these could be the last minutes of his premiership, and then about an hour and a half or so after Anna Sarwar had made that statement, suddenly you had
senior members of the government running to secure Starmer's support. And then, of course, there was the extraordinary meeting that he had with the parliamentary Labour Party, the party's MPs. I was outside the meeting where there was sort of banging of desks, cheering and applause, so a quite extraordinary turnaround. I mean, how did it happen? I think because the Labour Party looked into the abyss, the idea of an incredibly messy leadership struggle
right now and decided, hmm, I don't think we quite fancy that, don't think it would be good for the party. And those contenders who could have wielded the knife against him decided to keep their weapons sheathed. Yeah, sheathed for now, but so many people seem to be saying it is a case of when, not if for Keir Starmer. Yes, it does still feel like he is a prime minister living on borrowed time, and that is because
Despite the banging of the desks that I heard and the cheering and the applause, and it was pretty extraordinary that it would permeate through a committee room, and we have heard MPs who were in the room saying, you know, Sir Keir Starmer was on fantastic form. If only he was a bit more like that with the public, you know, he'd be a much better prime minister and maybe he could stick around. But I think despite the euphoria of that meeting, I mean, there is a widespread feeling within the governing Labour Party that,
Sekir Starmer is not up to what it takes to be a good leader and a prime minister. Whether that's fair or not is a different matter, Alex. And that's why people think that it's only a matter of time. And there is this theory that maybe what's going to happen is that he stays in place for the next few months, but that when there are elections in May, big, big elections for the Scottish Parliament, for the Welsh Assembly and English local government elections, if as expected they go badly, that's the point at which the Labour Party
ja kertoo hÀnelle ja sanoo, ettÀ on aika muuttaa. Onko he todella uskoneet, ettÀ uusi johtaja kÀsittelee kaikki? Se on erittÀin hyvÀ kysymys, ja puolue on osallistunut siitÀ. Esimerkiksi puolueen puolueen puolueen puolueen puolueen puolueen puolueen puolueen puolueen
But maybe someone who was just a better communicator, a more likable politician, someone with a bit more charm and charisma, maybe that would make a difference. But I think beyond the Labour Party there is a recognition that whoever was leader, they have an extraordinary job given Britain's many underlying problems, which have, let's face it, removed five prime ministers from office before Sir Keir Starmer in the last ten years in an extraordinary period of instability.
Rob Watson. Australian Prime Minister has called for protests to remain peaceful after clashes in Sydney between police and demonstrators opposing Israeli President Isaac Herzog's controversial visit there.
New South Wales police said that 27 people were arrested, including 10 for allegedly assaulting officers, after violence broke out when people failed to leave a planned protest site in central Sydney and police moved to clear access for pedestrians. President Herzog's trip is to honour the victims of a deadly gun attack in December that targeted a Jewish celebration on Bondi Beach. Our Australia correspondent Katie Watson gave us the background to Monday's violence.
This was a protest that was organized by the Palestine Action Group for 5.30 on Monday evening, and it was to coincide with the visit of President Herzog. Now, there are tight restrictions over political protests, public protests at the moment, after the Bondi shootings in December.
The New South Wales government brought in some restrictions on protesting. So those restrictions are in place, but there were some extra restrictions brought in because of the visit of the Israeli president. There were major event powers, so it gave the police more control over closing down areas of the city in terms of
Tarkastelua ihmisiÀ ja myös lakia, jos ihmiset eivÀt olleet kÀsittelemÀssÀ. Nyt tÀmÀ osa keskustelua, Sydney, oli yhdessÀ nÀistÀ kÀsitteleistÀ, mutta he vielÀ halusivat mennÀ edelleen demonstraatioon. Joten se aloitti iltapÀivÀnÀ, jossa oli puheluja, oli vahva poliisipÀÀllikkö, poliisipÀÀllikkö, myös jotkut helikopterit kÀsittelevÀt, hyvin vÀhÀisiÀ.
As the speeches started. But that all went peacefully. What happened at the end was that there were some protesters who started trying to move, saying, let us march. But of course, marching and moving forward, this is something that was not allowed because of these restrictions. So the police formed lines of police officers on the ground. Behind them, mounted police officers.
There was a lot of tension, a lot of shouting, trying to ask to move forward, but it got very heated. There were some protesters who tried to break the police lines, and the police pushed back. There was pepper spray that was used to disperse the crowds, and they also brought in reinforcements. A demonstration that was meant to take about an hour ended up lasting about three hours, with a lot of chaos on the streets of central Sydney. Casey Watson in Sydney.
Kiitos kun katsoit videon!
No niin, tiimi linjoilee palaverosta pukkaan. Hetkinen, Sanna, ootko sÀ mutella? Olenpa hyvinkin. Aasen huomaa, toi on niin rauhoittava toi sun seinÀn syvÀmattapinta. Todellakin. Tikkurilan uusi syvÀmattamutesisustusmaali maalaa rauhallisuuskotiisi. Amerikka on muuttunut. Ja niin on maailma. Mutta mitÀ Amerikassa tapahtuu, ei ole vain globaalinen upheilun systeemi. Se on myös disruptiivinen systeemi, joka tapahtuu kaikkialla. Olen Sma Khalid Washingtonissa.
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A court case underway in Los Angeles on Monday could have serious implications for America's big tech companies. Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta and YouTube are accused of harming children by knowingly creating addictive platforms. The case involves a 20-year-old woman identified as KGM, who says that she became depressed after 10 years of social media use and is claiming damages. TikTok and Snapchat are
were also originally sued, but have already settled. Our North America technology correspondent Lily Jamali is in LA.