The News Agents
Episodes
Why is Starmer purging the Labour left?
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Keir Starmer is on a warpath. But not against the Tories but his own side. At least, what is nominally his own side. Starmer has poured petrol on ...
Has Starmer lost control of the Diane Abbott story?
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's day two of the Diane Abbott fiasco and the Labour party look no closer to getting to grips with the situation.Keir Starmer insists that no decisi...
Is the Tory campaign already falling apart?
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rishi Sunak has had a gaffe-filled weekend amidst new policy announcements over the triple lock and compulsory National Service. Lib Dem leader Ed Dav...
Why does Rishi Sunak want to conscript teenagers?
26 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The News Agents has new episodes every Sunday as we run-up to July 4th's UK General Election. We react as Lewis speaks to Home Secretary James Clever...
Who broke Britain? With James O'Brien
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
James O'Brien joins us in The News Agents bunker to talk all things client journalism, talk radio, and whether he'll be as harsh on Labour as he has b...
Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on The Sports Agents,We brought you an exclusive interview between The News Agents' own Jon Sopel and the Arsenal and Ukraine defender Oleks...
Your election questions answered
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Each Thursday during the election campaign we are answering your questions.Do MPs get paid after Parliament breaks up? Why do majorities shrink so fas...
Rishi calls a July election. What now?
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
So we finally have a date for the general election, and it’s very very soon.How is it going to go down with the voters ? How are Tory MPs feeling ab...
Is Sunak calling an election today?
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We are not ones to gossip but frankly the Westminster rumour mill is in overdrive, so we thought we should talk you through how the talk of a general ...
Cameron vs. Sunak and the row over foreign students
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
David Cameron has accused Rishi Sunak of hurting Britain’s soft power and putting universities at financial risk with his threat to curb the visa ri...
Is Netanyahu heading to The Hague for war crimes?
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister and Defence minister and three Hamas leaders - accused of war ...
SPECIAL REPORT: Is Putin coming for Georgia?
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We are on the ground in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, where Europe and Asia meet. For weeks hundreds of thousands of (overwhelmingly) Gen Zs have t...
Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on The Sports Agents former England defender Rio Ferdinand joined us to discuss the stigma around mental health in football and whether team...
Keir Starmer's 6 pledges - Blair, Blair, Blair or blah, blah, blah
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer has rolled up his sleeves, taken off his tie and headed to Essex to unveil his six first steps for government. Is Starmer looking for Bla...
Do we need to crack down on 'extreme' protest groups?
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In an exclusive early interview we speak to the Government's Independent Advisor on Political Violence. John Woodcock, a cross party peer, has spent t...
The government minister who thinks the Tories are still winning
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We have a real live government Secretary of State with us in News Agents HQ today - David TC Davies insists the election still winnable for the Conser...
Can Rishi scare people into voting Tory?
13 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If it had been a speech about defence, it might have made more sense. But Rishi Sunak had no new policy offerings in todays pronouncement - he warned ...
SPECIAL REPORT: Could Net Zero destroy a whole community?
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lewis Goodall hosts a special report from Port Talbot, South Wales, where thousands of jobs are about to be lost at Tata Steel.Port Talbot is Britain'...
Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on The Sports Agents, Gabby & Mark took a closer look at a controversial new rule in cricket - the impact player in the IPL - and whethe...
Will Starmer now have to let Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn back into the Labour Party?
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Did the Labour Party screw up in welcoming Natalie Elphicke into its party? One former frontbencher tells us Keir Stamer got this wrong. They're calli...
Why has Labour welcomed a right wing Tory defector?
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Very little political news is truly jaw dropping. But this morning's was. Natalie Elphicke, on the Conservative right of the party, and MP for Dover, ...
Is the government 'gaslighting' the British public?
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The government is determined not to let a little thing like a disastrous set of local elections put it off its stride. Over the course of the bank hol...
Election special: How bad is it for Tories?
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The local election and mayoral results flood in. How bad are they for the Tories? How much of that is Reform? And how well have Labour actually done?E...
Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on The Sports Agents, Gabby & Mark explored whether a Premier League salary cap will actually help smaller clubs bridge the gap to the '...
The issue the political parties won't talk about
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After several delays, Brexit checks finally came into force this week - adding cost and delay to how small businesses can get their goods into the UK....
So, one person has gone to Rwanda...
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As of this week, Rishi Sunak can boast he has sent asylum seekers to Rwanda. Admittedly, it was just one guy. Admittedly he was paid £3k to go. Admit...
Why are so many of our MPs facing death threats?
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If the Palace of Westminster were a village - the Head of Counter Terrorism police tells us - NO one would dare to live there. Today we ask why so man...
Humza Yousaf resigns. Is Scottish independence dead?
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On the stroke of midday, Humza Yousaf, Scotland's First Minister, made the announcement that just a week ago would have been unthinkable. Acknowledgin...
INVESTIGATION: Britain’s hidden homeless children
28 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2024 Britain nearly 140,000 kids are homeless. Just because you don’t see them on the street doesn’t mean they’re not there. This is Britain’...
Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
27 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on The Sports Agents...A Premier League launched an attack on VAR via their social media account - and threatened legal action... Is there a...
Neil Kinnock: The Prime Minister Labour never had
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lord Neil Kinnock - Labour leader from 1983 to 1992, Thatcher's biggest rival in her pomp, joins Lewis in the studio for a sit down chat to talk about...
Is the SNP government hanging by a thread?
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Scotland's First Minister is facing a confidence vote after he pulled the plug this morning on his coalition government by ejecting the two Green part...
Wake up call or gimmick? The government's new defence plan
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Prime Minister is in Europe this week making the case for an increase in defence spending of £75 billion over the next six years - to deal with g...
Why is Elon Musk at war with Australia?
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s PM is at war with Elon Musk - calling him an ‘arrogant billionaire’ - and worse. He’s fighting to get violent images of a church ...
Rwanda delayed: Will Sunak ever get planes off the ground?
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rishi is making those naughty Lords stay in the chamber until they pass his Rwanda Bill without pesky amendments. That may come in the early hours of ...
Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
20 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on The Sports Agents... A Sports Agents exclusive - Mark & Gabby had a first-look at an independent report into diversity at the senior ...
Have Israel and Iran stepped back from the brink?
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Middle East, the world, not for the first time in these long six months, has been holding its breath. Ever since Iran fired 300 hundred rockets in...
Sleaze, campaign funds and a 3am phonecall: Another Westminster scandal
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
**Since publication, Savanta revised the polling data included in this episode to show the Labour candidate on a two point lead. More information here...
Does Liz Truss actually have a point?
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Yes, yes, yes. She crashed the economy, has blamed everyone else, made Britain a laughing stock, inflicted higher mortgage rates on millions of househ...
Should the police be shutting down Nigel Farage and the NatCons?
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It was a conference that few people here would have ever noticed. Suella, Nigel, Orban - speakers deemed "far right" by the Brussels authorities - fo...
What is Iran's endgame?
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On Saturday night, Israel warned its citizens to go to a safe room and prepare to spend the night there. Two hours later, Iran began sending drones in...
Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
13 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on The Sports Agents... An array of stardust as the likes of legendary jockeyAP McCoy and Team GB icon Denise Lewis joined Gabby & Mark ...
Europe's first black leader
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On today's episode, we speak to Europe's first black leader - Vaughan Gething, the new First Minister of Wales. In an extended conversation, we talk h...
Should Ofsted be scrapped?
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TW: This episode includes discussions around suicide. If you need someone to talk to, Samaritans listen. Call them on 116 123.Last week, The National ...
Westminster sexting and the honeytrap
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
William Wragg, the MP who found himself blackmailed by a person to whom he'd sent explicit photographs - last night resigned the Conservative party wh...
Will Labour just be another version of the Tories?
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is a truth near-universally acknowledged (amongst pollsters at least) that Labour will be the largest party at the next election. But how would the...
Is Angela Rayner really in trouble?
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Police are re-examining claims Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner may have broken electoral law more than a decade ago by failing to pay a capital g...
Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
06 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on The Sports Agents, your questions for Gabby & Mark on everything from Olympics predictions, to how the panel on Match of the Day is s...
Ian Hislop on Boris Johnson, Piers Morgan and political satire in the age of the absurd
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Hislop, editor of The Private Eye and team captain on Have I Got News For You sits down with Lewis for an extended conversation about political sa...
Why is David Cameron being reported to the ethics adviser?
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the early hours of Thursday morning Layla Moran - the only British MP of Palestinian heritage- received news she’d been longing to hear for month...
Why is the UK still selling arms to Israel?
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Prime Minister has called the Israeli Prime Minister's actions in Gaza 'increasingly intolerable' in a phone call with Netanyahu after the deaths ...
Why did JK Rowling want to be arrested?
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A new law has Police Scotland saying that they'd investigate every online hate crime. But what they've categorised as a hate crime has caused controve...
(Easter) Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
30 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, The Sports Agents dug into why Arsenal are still in a league of their own when it comes to the commercial success of their Women's team, ho...
Q&A Special
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Your questions answered in a special Q&A edition of the podcast with Emily, Jon and Lewis.Editor: Tom HughesSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVi...
Is the world running out of babies?
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Forget everything you know about an exploding world population. The sad truth is, our birthrate is plummeting globally to the point where there soon w...
Is Rishi Sunak prepared to pick a fight with China?
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Once you have revealed that China is hacking British citizens on a major and global scale, the next question is - well, what are you going to do about...
The Moscow terror attacks: Are ISIS back?
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The bombing of a Moscow concert hall left at least 137 dead and even more wounded. The regrouped ISIS - now ISIS K- have claimed responsibility even t...
Owen Jones on why he's left the Labour Party
24 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Influential left-wing commentator Owen Jones is in News Agents HQ a day after he quit the Labour Party - despite being a member since he was 15 - on a...
The Sports Agents: Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
23 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, The Sports Agents took a closer look at the state of Rugby Union, reflected on Nottingham Forest becoming the latest Premier League club to...
Kate Middleton reveals she has cancer
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At 6pm on Friday the Princess of Wales released a video statement. In it, she discusses her cancer diagnosis for the first time. She acknowledges the ...
Could the Reform party overtake the Tories?
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There's only one poll that counts and that's the actual election and that's not today. We know that, we get it, but the latest numbers from YouGov are...
Why is Thatcher back in fashion?
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Margaret Thatcher has been out of power for thirty years but this week it's started to feel like she's back in the room. Rachel Reeves, shadow chancel...
How should the Royals respond to TikTok conspiracies?
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Even after Kate Middleton appeared IRL at a local Windsor farm shop, the Tiktok conspiracy theories continued. Was it really Kate? Was the photo stage...
Are the Tories really ready to replace Rishi Sunak?
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The weekend has been awash with talk of yet another leadership putsch. Is Penny Mordaunt on manoeuvres? Is Kemi Badenoch scheming? The answer is proba...
The Sports Agents: Weekend Edition - The Sports Agents
16 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, The Sports Agents were invited to the head offices of 'The Enhanced Games' to interview President Aron D'Souza - who wants to put on an Oly...
Sayeeda Warsi on her "arsonist" Tory colleagues
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
British politics has been dominated by race this week. The big picture is that certain ideas which would once have been unsayable are now commonplace ...
Do the Tories have any credibility on extremism?
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Gove has announced today that the government is redefining extremism. But given they've taken up to 15 million pounds worth of donations from ...
Has Rishi lost control of his party?
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The PM has belatedly conceded that the comments in which a Tory donor expressed his urge to 'shoot all black women' WAS actually racist. He's still no...
Another day, another Tory racism row
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today's Tory 'was it racist?' row centres a donor who's given the Conservatives more than ten million pounds. The Guardian scoop revealed comments he ...
Lee Anderson wants his country back
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lee Anderson has defected to the Reform Party, saying he’d done a lot of soul-searching on his political journey, and wants his country back. He had...
The Sports Agents: Weekend Edition
09 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to The Sports Agents, a brand-new twice-weekly addition to The News Agents podcast family, hosted by Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman... This week...
EXCLUSIVE: The Telegraph and the "hypocrisy" of Andrew Neil
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There is fury surrounding a bid by the former head of CNN to buy The Telegraph and The Spectator due to the involvement of the Abu-Dhabi-backed RedBir...
Why are we paying for a cabinet minister's libel bill?
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michelle Donelan is Rishi Sunak’s Science Secretary. She has accepted that she libelled an academic. That’s unusual. It’s even more unusual that...
Marjorie Taylor Greene tells Emily Maitlis to "F*** off"
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Chancellor of the Exchequer made a fat joke about the Leader of the Opposition on the floor of the House of Commons as he delivered his Spring Bud...
The worst Tory poll of all time
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Conservative Party have just received their worst polling results of all-time, with Ipsos now showing Tory support at just 20 points. It's the wor...
What's the strategy to make Trump president? Inside the MAGA bunker
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After everything that’s happened - the million plus deaths from Covid, the January 6th insurrection, the indictments, the law suits the debts and th...
The News Agents USA Special: Live from Richmond, Virginia: Trump on the campaign trail
03 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The News Agents: USA, on Global PlayerWe're in Richmond, Virginia for Donald Trump's last rally before he is almost certainly crowned the Republican c...
Starmer’s “Worst Nightmare”- Galloway wins in Rochdale
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
George Galloway has said that Keir Starmer’s woken up to his “worst nightmare”, after the former Labour MP won the Rochdale by-election by almos...
Is the Chancellor trying to nick Labour's policies?
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Right now the Treasury are flying more kites than you would see on top of Parliament Hill on a windy day. This comes ahead of next week’s budget - t...
Is it time for Rishi to boot out Liz 'deep state' Truss?
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Liz Truss was doorstepped by the BBC in Westminster today and asked to explain why she'd been talking about the dangers of the 'deep state' at a Washi...
The Sports Agents - Coming 5th March
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman, two of the UK’s best sports broadcasters, host a brand new twice-weekly podcast exploring the stories behind the sport...
What do the Tories really think about Lee Anderson?
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Scully, former Minister for London, has given his first extended interview to The News Agents since he talked about 'no-go' areas in Tower Hamlet...
Has the Tory party been taken over by 'right-wing nationalists'?
26 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Former Deputy Tory Chair Lee Anderson was suspended from the Conservative party this weekend after accusing the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan of 'giving...
Joe Lycett on raw sewage, Liz Truss and "woke" comedy
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Lycett is one of the biggest comedians in Britain today. He has also, over time, become more and more political. He’s had a new show on Channel ...
EXCLUSIVE: Could The Telegraph be bought by a political extremist?
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Paul Marshall is a Tory donor, hedge fund millionaire, co-owner of GB News and - according to his anonymous Twitter account - amplifier of far rig...
Is Kemi Badenoch telling the truth?
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why did Kemi Badenoch accuse a whistleblower of lying - in a row over compensation payouts to Post office victims?And why isn't the Prime Minister pre...
Should Prince William be getting involved with Gaza?
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prince William has expressed his deep concern about the terrible human cost of the middle east conflict and expressed his desire to see an end to the ...
Why can't the West stop Putin's killings?
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alexei Navalny's widow Yulia has laid the blame for her husband's murder directly with Putin. Few world leaders seem to disagree. There is much grave ...
Two more Tory wipeouts
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two more Labour wins in two more by-elections. Kingswood and Wellingborough were very safe Conservative seats, but now they've turned red. The C...
Recession: are we f***ed?
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The UK is in recession - which means the economy has been shrinking for most of the last year.What does that do to our standard of living? And what ar...
Is Labour's lead slipping away?
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the past 7 days Sir Keir Starmer has had to face down a leak over his big policy U-turn, a policy U-turn and the suspension of two Labour candidate...
Could the weirdest ever by-election be won by George Galloway?
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer insists he took "decisive action" by suspending the Rochdale candidate Azhar Ali from the Labour party. Should it have come quicker? How ...
Does the Labour Party still have an anti-Semitism problem?
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer has gone out of his way to break with his party's antisemitic past and to reshape the Labour parliamentary party. But this weekend, shado...
Mick Lynch on Starmer, strikes and a united Ireland
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When will strikes end - and are Labour the party to stop the constant drumroll of them?We're joined by the most charismatic man on the left of British...
Why is Starmer running scared of his own policies?
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The worst kept secret in politics was freed from its shackles today as Sir Keir Starmer confirmed Labour would drop their 28 billion pound spending pl...
Why is our Prime Minister making jokes about trans people?
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How has Rishi Sunak shown so little emotional intelligence that he ended up making his customary 'trans joke'?In the presence of the mother of a bruta...
PopCon: Inside the Liz Truss revolution
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Liz Truss and her mates have been selling their version of popular conservatism in central London this morning. They were delighted to see Lewis at th...
How close are we really to a united Ireland?
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Northern Ireland's new first minister Michelle O'Neill has had her knuckles metaphorically rapped by the PM - who's warned politicians to "focus on th...
Why is it so dangerous to be an MP?
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Justice Minister and MP for Finchley and Golders Green, Mike Freer, announced he would be leaving politics this week, fearing for his and his family's...
Is the EU losing control of Europe?
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paris is under siege. And this time, it's the farmers. But why?After weeks of tractors on the straße in Germany, France are hit by similar trouble. I...