Why does Keir Starmer keep agreeing with Nigel Farage?

MPs are allowed to donate however much they wish of their private money to whomever they chose. In 2018, as per The Mirror, when Rishi Sunak was just an MP - the family donated more than 3 million dollars to a private tech college in California - previously attended by his wife.Fast forward to 2023 where a primary school in his constituency has spent nearly a year fundraising to find 10k to buy school kids computers. We talk to a mum who's been at the coalface of the bake sales and is wondering why she had to work so hard to drum up a fraction of Sunak's donation. We also look at the narratives -loud and soft - coming out of Ukraine and ask if the military counter-offensive is finally underway.

5 Jun 202340min

The government has taken the Covid inquiry, that it set up and poured so much public and private faith in, to court. What the f•••?!We try to make sense of this with Lara Spirit of The TimesAnd.. is the mortgage market fast becoming a serious economic crisis in the UK?

2 Jun 202333min

Boris Johnson has, finally, and perhaps reluctantly, handed over a ton of WhatsApp messages between him and others while he was PM at the height of the Covid pandemic. But what will the Cabinet Office do with him, and what does this mean for Johnson, Sunak and the Conservative Party?And, we talk to a spokesperson and member of Just Stop Oil. When do the ends justify the means when it comes to civil disobedience? Are they now crossing a line?

1 Jun 202337min

Keir Starmer's column on Wednesday morning in right-wing tabloid newspaper The Express is another step in the Labour leader's transformation from all guns blazing Remainer to born again Brexiteer. But he's not the first Labour leader to turn to the right-leaning press to prove his prime ministerial credentials as the next general election draws ever closer.What does this mean for Labour and where does this leave Britain's place in the world, and its relationship with Europe if Labour are the next government in power? And what on earth is 'Securonomics' - the new economic model Starmer's potential Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched in Washington DC last week that will seek to boost post-Brexit Britain.Plus - the curious case of Joe Biden's former advisor fleeing to Moscow to seek 'safety' and citizenship. Hmm.

31 Mai 202331min

It started with a tabloid story that a male and female presenter on daytime TV were no longer getting on. Big deal. It was accompanied by darker rumours about Philip Schofield, a fixture on television for decades. And then the wisps of smoke on a hillside became a full scale wildfire, tearing through ITV. His relationship with a much younger man have now turned this into a daytime chat show into peak time drama, and questions are now growing for ITV senior management.An ITV statement on Saturday responded to allegations that ITV ignored any potential relationship Schofield had at ITV.“ITV can confirm that when rumours of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and an employee of ITV first began to circulate in early 2020 ITV investigated. "Both parties were questioned and both categorically and repeatedly denied the rumours as did Phillip's then agency YMU."Phillip’s statement [a few days ago] reveals that he lied to people at ITV… over this relationship."

30 Mai 202335min

London Mayor Sadiq Khan joins Lewis Goodall on The News Agents in a wide-ranging interview shedding light on working with Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Rishi Sunak. He also talks about his PTSD after getting death threats and his new book, Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency.

26 Mai 202331min

We'll be looking at sex, lies and Downing Street later in this episode with a writer who worked in Number10 - and we'll be asking if politicians REALLY want an honest conversation about Immigration - but we begin with the newest launch failure by Elon Musk. This one involved not a rocket but a presidential candidate - who thinks he can beat Donald Trump. If that was ever true, it feels much more unlikely today after the campaign launch went up in flames.

25 Mai 202331min

Does it matter if Boris Johnson broke more Covid rules by inviting guests to his country home, Chequers, when the rest of the country was in lockdown? His former advisor Guto Harri says it's time to get over it. There are more important things to discuss. But we're not so sure the country is quite so ready to forgive and move on. What does it say about the country in which we live, if rules no longer count and if the civil servants who report wrongdoing are threatened with legal action? Later we look at the latest Presidential hopeful to take on Donald Trump - Ron DeSantis, Florida Governor, who is launching his campaign on Twitter.

24 Mai 202339min