Why can't politicians just say sorry?
When Matt Hancock visited News Agents HQ yesterday, he repeatedly refused to answer questions about decisions he made in government during the pandemic. And it got us thinking about why so many politicians struggle to admit when they’ve got things wrong. Today Lewis asks why is it - in politics - that sorry always seems to be the hardest word?
19 Mai 202329min
Exclusive: Matt Hancock on NatCon, Covid, WhatsApps and “being human”
Matt Hancock, this afternoon, walked into The News Agents bunker for the first time. In this full, unedited interview, he tells us what he makes of the right of the Conservative Party, why he gave Isabel Oakeshott 100,000 of his WhatsApp messages, and he tells us who he thinks leaked the video revealing his affair with his aide at the height of Covid restrictions.
18 Mai 202343min
Why is Liz Truss provoking China?
The MP for South West Norfolk has made a speech in Taiwan urging the UK Government to treat China as a security threat. She's the first former PM to visit Taiwan since Margaret Thatcher. China - which is seeking 'reunification' with Taiwain - has called it a 'dangerous stunt'. Many in Truss's own party feel the same way. But is there sense in her message even if she's the wrong one to deliver it? And what is she hoping to achieve - for the world, her party and herself? And, later, we speak to Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz about playing twins in her drama 'Dead Ringers', moves to curtail women's rights in the US, her husband James Bond, and Lewis' acorn.
17 Mai 202338min
NatCon: fruitcakes, fringe, or future of the Tory Party?
Today we take you behind the scenes at Nat Con: the Conservative-ish conference taking place in London this week. It's a meeting of hard Brexiteers, nationalists, libertarians, and the 'anti woke'. With a smattering of Holocaust minimisers, homophobes and climate-deniers thrown in for good measure. It's an exciting place - attended by senior cabinet ministers too - and today we ask if they are the fringe or the future of the Conservative Party.
16 Mai 202337min
Alastair Campbell on war, w**kers and winning elections
A warning: explicit language from the very start of the episode. Alastair Campbell meets the The News Agents in the ultimate podcast mash up. We ask him about his "wanker switch" and what happens when things go wrong live on air. And about the Starmer strategy for quiet winning.We also talk war, Murdoch and tactical voting. Later we hear from Jacob Rees Mogg who admits the Voter ID legislation was gerrymandering.
15 Mai 202338min
Ukraine: a war without end?
It's Eurovision weekend. But the biggest party in Europe will not take place in Ukraine -last year’s victor - but in Liverpool. This episode is not about Eurovision, but instead asking where we are with the Ukraine war, over 400 days since its start. With more than 9000 Ukrainian civilians dead, are we any closer to the conflict’s end? We take you in depth and discover how everything hinges on the Ukrainian counter offensive, now finally coming.And in our latest My Political Make Up interview we talk to Labour MP and Shadow Minister for Women, Jess Phillips.
12 Mai 202341min
Met corruption and Britain’s biggest unsolved crime
Daniel Morgan, a young private investigator, was murdered in a carpark in 1987. His killer has never been brought to justice. Three and a half decades on the Met Police have discovered a "locked file of documents" that were never handed over to the inquiry looking into police failures. Today on The News Agents we ask London Mayor his response to what just happened, whether the police should be trusted with new powers and whether corruption lies at the heart of what went wrong. We also take you to the car crash debate of the last 24 hours. For the first time since 2016, CNN decided to give Donald Trump a live town hall forum with a studio audience... the day after a jury found him liable for sex abuse.
11 Mai 202339min
President Trump: Sexual abuser
Is America prepared to elect a president found to have sexually abused a woman in a department store? A New York civil court took just three hours to find Trump liable for abuse and defamation although it cleared him of rape. The response to the verdict has been achingly familiar. Senior Republicans calling the case a witch hunt and the jury "a joke". Trump probably isn’t the first sex abuser to have held high office. But he’s the first to have been found to have done so by a US jury. He's going to appeal the decision but if his own party are willing to tolerate it and denigrate the rule of law anyway - what does that tell us about America?You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/VideosThe News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
10 Mai 202339min
