Coffee House Shots
Episodes
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 07/09/2025
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Reform are having fun at their conference, while Labour struggle with crises ...
Reform's Zia Yusuf in conversation with Michael Gove
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At the Reform conference in Birmingham, the Spectator's editor Michael Gove sat down with Reform UK's head of their department of government efficienc...
The red reshuffle overshadows Reform
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lucy Dunn catches up with Tim Shipman at Reform's party conference, taking place in Birmingham, to get his reaction to Labour's reshuffle. The reshuff...
Reaction from Reform as Rayner resigns
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Angela Rayner has resigned following the ethics probe into her tax affairs. What impact will this have on Starmer's government? And does this hinder h...
Can Rayner survive tax row?
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
24 hours after Angela Rayner admitted underpaying tax, the pressure remains on the deputy prime minister as Westminster now waits the outcome of the p...
PMQs: Rayner defended as Badenoch flops
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch faced off in the first Prime Minister’s Questions following summer recess. With the date of the Budget announced that...
Introducing… Quite right!
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Gove and Madeline Grant launch ‘Quite right!’, the new podcast from The Spectator that promises sanity and common sense in a world that to...
Asylum reform: is Labour bold enough?
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Danny Shaw and Tim Shipman join Lucy Dunn for today's Coffee House Shots to talk about the government's reforms to the asylum system. Having worked wi...
Labour's transfer deadline day
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The summer transfer window comes to a close today but, as Parliament also returns from summer recess today, the only team Keir Starmer is focused on i...
How have the 2024 intake found frontline politics?
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Parliament returns from summer recess tomorrow, three rising stars of the 2024 intake join Coffee House Shots to provide their reflections on front...
Why Angela Rayner is so iconic
30 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Daily Telegraph have run a story this week that Angela Rayner may have dodged stamp duty on her second home. But beyond the story, its the photos ...
Bell Hotel latest: 'two tier justice'?
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Human rights barrister Dr Anna Loutfi and deputy political editor James Heale join Michael Simmons to unpack the latest court ruling over the migrants...
Revenge of the left
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Heale writes in The Spectator this week that Keir Starmer is facing a three-pronged attack from the left: the Greens, the Gaza independents and ...
Labour goes on the Farage offensive
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As James Heale writes online for the Spectator today, 'two issues continue to plague the government': how best to attack Nigel Farage. and how to fram...
Farage finally unveils his deportation plan
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today James Heale has been on quite the magical mystery tour. Bundled into a bus at 7.45 a.m. along with a group of other hacks, he was sent off to an...
Can the Lib Dems emulate Reform's Scottish surge?
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jamie Greene, an MSP for the West of Scotland region, defected earlier this year from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats. Most defections in S...
Is Britain becoming more sectarian?
23 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Immigration returned to the headlines this week after the High Court granted an injunction forcing the removal of migrants from a hotel in Essex – a...
Starmer’s authoritarian turn – with Ash Sarkar
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since the government’s decision to proscribe the group Palestine Action, arrests have mounted across the country, raising questions not only about t...
Is the Blair-Cameron consensus on education over?
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
GCSE results day has brought a mixed picture; the pass rate has fallen, yet the regional gap has reduced and the gender gap is the narrowest it has ev...
Why haven't the Greens cut through more?
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Green Party leadership election is underway, pitting new MPs Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns against London Assembly Member Zack Polanski. The Gree...
Zelensky's diplomatic masterclass
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What a difference six months makes. The last time Zelensky and Trump met in Washington we were mourning the end of America’s commitment to security ...
How do we get more working class people into politics?
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, joins James Heale to discuss his campaign to improve working class representation in ...
Is the world safer than in 1945?
16 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
80 years ago this week Japan surrendered to the allies, ushering in the end of the Second World War. To mark the anniversary of VJ day, historians Sir...
Farage goes for the Lords
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The big news today is of course the bilateral between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska. We should know by around 8 p.m. whether they have suc...
Does European solidarity over Ukraine matter?
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ukraine's President Zelensky has spent today with Keir Starmer at Number 10. This is in anticipation of tomorrow's Alaska summit between Presidents Tr...
Does MAGA prefer Jenrick?
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
JD Vance has been in the Cotswolds this week on his Britain fantasy tour. This has been billed as a ‘holiday’ but he did take the time out of his ...
Who is the real Nicola Sturgeon?
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There has been a drip feed of stories over the past few days from Nicola Sturgeon's memoir Frankly which hits the shelves this week. In her book, the ...
Introducing 'Farage's fillies'
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Another day, another Reform party press conference. Following political editor Tim Shipman’s cover piece on how Reform hopes to win over women, this...
Motherland: how Reform is winning over women
09 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Does – or did – Nigel Farage have a woman problem? ‘Around me there’s always been a perception of a laddish culture,’ he tells political edi...
Kemi Badenoch's God Delusion
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has given a wide-ranging interview to the BBC’s Amol Rajan in which she touched upon her Nigerian upbringing, her ...
Has the Bank of England forgotten what its job is?
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some excitement on Threadneedle Street today after the Bank of England cut interest rates to 4 per cent. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) ...
What Douglas Murray’s court win means for press freedom
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Spectator and Douglas Murray have comprehensively won a defamation case brought by Mohammed Hegab.Hegab, a YouTuber who posts under the name ...
Britain can learn from France on migration
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the big day for Starmer’s one-in, one-out migrant deal with France. The scheme, which was agreed during the state visit last month, comes int...
Vance & Farage's budding bromance
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nigel Farage hosted a press conference today as part of Reform's summer crime campaign 'Britain is lawless'. He unveiled the latest Tory defector: Lei...
Online Safety Act: are Labour or the Tories worse on free speech?
02 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is the Online Safety Act protecting children – or threatening free speech? Michael Simmons hosts John Power, who writes the Spectator's cover piece ...
Why can't we agree on data?
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
John O’Neill and Sam McPhail, the Spectator’s research and data team, join economics editor Michael Simmons to re-introduce listeners to the Spect...
Will the junior doctors regret picking a fight with Wes?
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The dispute between the British Medical Association (BMA) – a trade union for doctors – and the government continues, following the five-day strik...
Could Reform's Scottish surge provoke indyref2?
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scotland's First Minister John Swinney unveiled his strategy for pursuing a second independence referendum this week, arguing that an SNP majority at ...
How much pressure is Starmer facing over Gaza?
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer says the UK will recognise a Palestinian state at a UN meeting in September unless Israel meets certain conditions. As the UN warns of fa...
What should we make of the Starmer-Trump relationship?
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s often the rotator blades of Marine One that blare over Donald Trump’s voice as he stands near the helipad on the south lawn of the White Hous...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 27/07/2025
27 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Kemi Badenoch does the rounds, giving her view on the war in Gaza, immigratio...
Katie Lam on immigration, benefits and the border: ‘generosity has become naivety’
26 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Katie Lam became an MP in 2024 after a career in finance. She's also an accomplished scriptwriter, having co-written five musicals. She's one of the m...
Can the left get its act together?
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana have finally launched their new party, but it's off to a bumpy start. They unveiled 'Your Party', but had to quickly c...
Keir’s Indian Summer
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The UK has finally signed a free-trade deal with India after three-and-a-half years of negotiation. The agreement will open up trade for cars, whisky,...
How to write a political sketch – with Madeline Grant
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As MPs depart Westminster for parliamentary recess, The Spectator's political sketch writer Madeline Grant joins Natasha Feroze and economics editor M...
What's left of the Tories?
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Commons is closing down for the summer, but Kemi Badenoch has treated us to a shadow cabinet reshuffle. At the beginning of the year, Badenoch’s...
Reform turns tough on crime
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nigel Farage has unveiled the party's policy proposals for tackling crime should they get into government. The Reform leader said that his entire poli...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 20/07/2025
20 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning’s political shows.Today, it’s all eyes on the water sector, as Labour announce plans to hal...
Are the Tories toast? with Michael Gove, Tim Shipman and Isabel Hardman
19 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The strange death of Tory England has been predicted before. But never has the ‘natural party of government’ faced a greater challenge to survive....
Will 16 year olds vote Labour?
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lots to discuss today, between Diane Abbott being suspended (again) and Labour handing the vote to 16-year-olds just before we head into recess.Abbott...
Confessions of a new intake Labour MP: 'We're not here to make friends'
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer has struck again. Compounding his reputation as a ruthless operator – like Michael Corleone – he is settling all family business by r...
Mel Stride: 'what I would do differently'
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last night, Rachel Reeves was the headline act at the Mansion House dinner. In her speech, she made the case that ‘Britain is open for business’ a...
Why does Trump like Starmer so much?
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It can now be revealed that a Ministry of Defence data leak has cost the UK some £7 billion and put thousands of Afghans at risk of death. A dataset ...
Are you a 'working person'?
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tomorrow Rachel Reeves will deliver her big speech in the City. The annual Mansion House address is a chance for the Chancellor to set out her vision ...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 13/07/2025
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning’s political shows.Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander faces questions over the shrinking econ...
Amanda Spielman on the SEND row and Labour’s Ofsted blind spot
12 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Labour looks to get a grip on public spending, one rebellion gives way to another with the changes to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilitie...
Sacré bleu! We have a migration deal with France
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s podcast: sacré bleu – we have a one-in, one-out migration deal with France. In a press conference yesterday, Keir Starmer and Presiden...
The unstoppable Angela Rayner
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There is the small matter of the Macron–Starmer press conference today, at which the Prime Minister will hope to announce a new migration deal with ...
Wes Streeting takes on the doctors
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The public won’t forgive and nor will I, said Health Secretary Wes Streeting of plans by junior doctors to strike over his refusal to cave to demand...
Can Keir defrost the 'entente glaciale'?
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zut alors! The French are in town. Emmanuel Macron is on his state visit this week, spending time today with the King and tomorrow with the Prime Mini...
Keir can't catch a break
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer will have been hoping for a more relaxed week – but he certainly won’t be getting one. He is facing a fresh rebellion over support fo...
Labour’s first year (in review) with Tim Shipman & Quentin Letts
05 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cast your mind back a year. Labour had just won a storming majority, promising ‘change’ to a stale Tory party that was struggling to govern. But h...
Corbyn is back! ... or is he?
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some sore heads on Coffee House Shots this morning, after last night’s Spectator summer party. But while we were having fun, a drama was brewing in ...
NHS reforms: Labour puts on a brave face
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today Wes Streeting – with the help of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves – announced his 10 year plan for curing the NHS. It’s all about creating a...
Chancellor in tears during PMQs
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There were extraordinary scenes in PMQs today. Rachel Reeves appeared distraught as the Prime Minister failed to guarantee her security when asked by ...
Welfare vote: how many will rebel?
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s D-Day for Labour’s welfare reforms. MPs will vote tonight on the party’s watered-down benefits cuts. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendal...
Does Starmer still want to be PM?
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There have been a number of navel-gazing interviews with the Prime Minister over the weekend. Across thousands and thousands of words, he seems to be ...
Steve Baker on how to organise a successful rebellion
28 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Labour rebels appear to have forced concessions from Keir Starmer over welfare this week, former Conservative MP Steve Baker joins James Heale to r...
Welfare U-turn: is Keir in control?
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer has performed a screeching about-turn on his flagship welfare reforms, all in the hope of quelling the rebellion from more than 120 MPs w...
Who’s having a worse week: Keir or Kemi?
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s bad news all round for Labour and the Tories. An MRP poll out today forecasts that if an election were held tomorrow, Labour would not only los...
Welfare rebellion: why Starmer – and Reeves – should be worried
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer is facing war on both fronts. He is in the Netherlands to talk about defence and announce a major change in the UK's nuclear posture in r...
Iran: 'what the f***' is going on?
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is rare to see the President so visibly frustrated (see The Apprentice, circa 2004), but after Iran and Israel seemingly ignored his ceasefire anno...
Does the government support Trump’s Iran strikes?
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The weekend saw the US launch airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, with Tehran warning of ‘everlasting consequences’. Despite an emergency C...
Jeremy Hunt on Trump, Budgets and Welsh whisky
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, James Heale sits down with Jeremy Hunt to discuss his new book, Can We Be Great Again...
MPs back assisted dying: what next?
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
MPs have voted – by a narrow 23-vote margin – in favour of legalising assisted dying. Bizarrely, the 51.9 to 48.1 per cent breakdown is the exact ...
What you need to know ahead of the assisted dying vote
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a historic day in Westminster, where MPs will vote on the assisted dying bill – the outcome of which could have huge repercussions for health...
The inside story of how Labour is dealing with Iran
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, our new political editor Tim Shipman takes the helm and, in his cover piece, gives us the inside track on how Labour is dealing with Iran, ...
Westminster waits for Donald’s decision
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Westminster waits with bated breath to discover whether Donald Trump will ally with Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites. The President called for...
Can you 'take the politics out' of the grooming gangs scandal?
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday Yvette Cooper announced a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal after the Casey Review found that a disproportionate number of As...
Grooming gangs: will this inquiry be different?
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Following Keir Starmer's decision to call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper spoke in the Commons today abou...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 15/06/2025
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's politics shows.The conflict in the Middle-East has entered a dangerous new phase, with Israel...
Why is Britain's economy so unhealthy?
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons is joined by the outgoing boss of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson and the CEO of the ...
Israel strikes Iran – how will Iran retaliate?
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Israel struck military and nuclear targets in Iran overnight in a major escalation of hostilities in the Middle East has begun further strikes on Frid...
Is Rachel Reeves’s headroom shrinking?
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There were clear winners and losers in Rachel Reeves’s spending review yesterday but some of her announcements around capital spending and investmen...
Spending review: smoke, mirrors and no strategy
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There were few surprises in Rachel Reeves’s spending review today. Health was the big winner, with a £29bn increase in day-to-day spending and £39...
Labour goes nuclear while Reform turns to coal
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Reeves has pledged a ‘new era of nuclear power’ as the government confirms a £14.2 billion investment in the Sizewell C nuclear plant in S...
Labour try to silence ‘austerity-lite’ accusations
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Nation, formerly a special adviser to Rishi Sunak and now an MD at Forefront Advisers, joins the Spectator’s deputy political editor James Hea...
Rupert Lowe on Reform turmoil, Chagos 'treason' and taking the Tory whip
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Spectator’s editor Michael Gove and assistant editor Madeline Grant interview Rupert Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth and notorious Westminster provo...
Surprise Labour victory as Reform’s fallout continues
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scottish Labour have a new MSP today as Davy Russell won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, taking the seat from the SNP. Labour won w...
Zia Yusuf resigns from Reform
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zia Yusuf resigned this evening from his position as chairman of Reform UK, saying: ‘I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected ...
From Thatcher to Truss, who's haunting Mel Stride?
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride delivered a speech today where he attempted to banish the ghost of Liz Truss and improve the Conservatives' reputation ov...
To spend or not to spend
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Reeves unveiled billions of pounds of investment today for transport and infrastructure projects, as Labour attempts to demonstrate that next w...
Is the public ready for difficult decisions on defence?
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former Commander of Joint Forces Command – and one of the authors of the Strategic Defence Review – General Sir Richard Barrons joins Lucy Dunn an...
Is Britain 'battle-ready'?
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today the government has published the long-awaited strategic defence review. The brief was to take a new look at some of the challenges to the UK in ...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 01/06/2025
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning’s political shows.Defence Secretary John Healey says the nature of war is changing, and admit...
Should cannabis be decriminalised?
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has called for possession of small amounts of cannabis to be decriminalised following a report by the London Drugs Commiss...
What will save the Tories? The economy, or Robert Jenrick?
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lots to discuss today: Robert Jenrick takes on TfL, a Nazi jibe from the attorney general and allegations of shoplifting made against our own Michael ...
Can Reform conquer Scotland?
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dissatisfaction with the established political parties is driving a ‘tartan bounce’ in Scotland for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Far from being an ...
How to do a spending review
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Labour’s spending review is expected on the 11th of June, when we will find out which government departments face cuts and which costs have bee...
Is the welfare state about to expand?
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Heale and Michael Simmons join Patrick Gibbons to discuss the speculation that Labour could scrap the two-child benefit cap. Is this just red me...