Is American democracy on the line? A mid-terms preview

We often hear about mortgage rates going up, but perhaps not enough scrutiny is paid on the private renting sector... a sector that has enormous demand, and next to no supply. It's a sector that burns a mile-wide hole in the coffers of students, young professionals, families and many more. The Mini-Budget just seven weeks ago exacerbated the crisis to near breaking point.But who's to blame? And how do we fix it?We speak to an estate agents in London, a landlady with half a dozen properties, and the housing correspondent for the i paper and author Vicky Spratt and Vanessa Warwick, founder of Property Tribes, a forum for private landlords.And we cast our glance across the Atlantic to the US, where the results from the mid-term elections, and the political ramifications, continue to unfold. We speak to polling expert and data journalist for The Economist G. Elliott Morris.Socials: Georgia FoxwellVideo: Will Gibson-SmithProduction: Gabriel RadusDuty Editor: Ellie CliffordExecutive Producer: Dino SofosFor 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.

11 Nov 202232min

Major TV series The Crown is back - series five - and it deals with one of the most painful and excruciatingly public decades of recent Royal history. Diana's tell-all book with Andrew Morton, Charles's intimate phonecalls with Camilla, the Queen's popularity with her public and the early years of the young Prince William and Prince Harry. Every new season brings with it questions as to what is fact in the show, and what is fiction. So today, we look at not just the drama, but the political, social, historic context of those times. We talk to one of THE great authorities on the Royal Family - Tina Brown -author of the best selling book The Palace Papers & The Diana Chronicles - who tells us about the conversation over lunch she shared with Diana just a month before she died. And we look at the Prime Ministers portrayed in the Crown - why does historical fact need to be altered and dramatised?Planning: Melissa TutesigensiSocials: Georgia FoxwellVideo: Will Gibson-SmithProduction: Gabriel RadusDeputy Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Dino SofosFor 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.

10 Nov 202233min

We've been up all night waiting for the US midterm election results to come through so you could wake up at your leisure. TLDR: Trump-backed candidates didn't really take off, Trump's Republican rival soared to victory and the Democrats look - at the time of recording - as if they've emerged with less damage than they might have feared. What does that mean for the next presidential contest? Does it allow Biden to seek a second term? Will it put Trump off his BIG ANNOUNCEMENT next Tuesday? And what does it tell us about how America is feeling right now?Also - as predicted on Monday's The News Agents - Charmer-in-Chief Gavin Williamson...sorry SIR Gavin Williamson has resigned from cabinet. He's got a message on anti bullying for the kids.Planning: Melissa TutesigensiSocials: Georgia FoxwellVideo: Will Gibson-SmithProduction: Gabriel RadusDeputy Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Dino SofosFor 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.

9 Nov 202230min

It's hard to imagine leaving a job in disrepute but then giving 20 of your mates a top honour that allows them to create the laws of this country. Well, maybe it isn't that hard to imagine. It's what Boris Johnson appears to have done with his Resignation Honours List. Lara Spirit of the Times tells us that four sitting MPs want to accept peerages without immediately giving up their seats in the House of Commons. That's a constitutional clash for a start. And then there's the advisors who have barely reached their thirties who are being offered the mother of all accolades in the mother of all parliaments. Do we really want our laws being made by a bunch of the former PM's friends? We speak to Leader of the Opposition in the Lords, Baroness Angela Smith. And, after the latest revelations about Charmer-in-Chief Gavin Williamson - who told a senior civil servant to 'slit his throat' but denies it was bullying - we ask what it takes to NOT get an honour from this government.Socials: Georgia FoxwellVideo: Will Gibson-SmithProduction: Gabriel RadusDeputy Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Dino SofosFor 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.

8 Nov 202231min

When Liz Truss was looking to galvanise not just the Tory party but the nation in her conference speech, she turned to Just Stop Oil protesters for help. She believed their fractious, disruptive, an d potentially dangerous tactics would make her 'anti growth' point better than any positive messaging she had hitherto used. As it turned out, she's now gone and they are still here - this morning blockading several more parts of the M25 motorway in the UK as the COP27 climate conference got underway in Egypt. So on today's The News Agents we ask whether extreme protest makes you sit up...or throw up. Jon and Emily have a (mini) row about whether shock tactics can ever bring the public on side. And we have veteran protestor Peter Tatchell in the studio- recently detained in Qatar - who has a message of his own for Just Stop Oil.Planning: Melissa TutesigensiSocials: Georgia FoxwellVideo: Will Gibson-SmithProduction: Gabriel RadusDeputy Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Dino SofosFor 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.

7 Nov 202232min

Elon Musk has begun laying off staff at Twitter, a week after taking sole control of the company. He says he’s “freed the bird” but does freedom of speech on the platform come at the price of political stability and threats to democracy?Lewis speaks to a range of guests from the tech industry, including a founding member of Twitter, Jason Goldman.Planning: Melissa TutesigensiSocials: Georgia FoxwellVideo: Will Gibson-SmithProduction: Gabriel RadusDeputy Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Ellie CliffordFor 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.

4 Nov 202230min

As we record today's episode, Benjamin Netanyahu - currrently on trial for corruption charges - is about to (re)become Israel's PM. He's been in power for 17 years out of the last 25. And this time, it's all thanks to the Religious Zionism faction - a theocratic movement far far to his right that doesn't altogether believe in democracy. What does this mean for Israel, her neighbours, the Arab vote and indeed long-term peace? And fresh from PMQs we speak to Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting about deselection, immigration, and taking on powerful 'non-dom' newspaper owners.Planning: Melissa TutesigensiSocials: Georgia FoxwellProduction: Gabriel RadusDeputy Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Dino SofosFor 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.

2 Nov 202235min