Let Them Eat Turnips
The environment and food secretary has suggested that - faced with a tomato shortage - people should just eat turnips instead. It’s all a bit Marie Antoinette but just a bit more depressing. Today we look at the long-term problem behind our current empty shelves with Observer food critic Jay Rayner. And on the eve of the anniversary of Russia's second invasion of Ukraine, London's streets are blue and yellow - but is Putin successfully negotiating the West's economic sanctions? We ask corruption hunter-in-chief Bill Browder.You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
23 Feb 202331min
Shamima Begum: should we forgive the IS bride?
Most fifteen year olds do stupid things. Rarely do they join a terrorist organisation in Syria. But today. Shamima Begum - the ISIS bride - lost her appeal - and with it her chance to regain UK citizenship. Do we feel safer as a country? Or soulless? And as Kate Forbes - committed Christian and SNP Finance Minister makes her case to lead Scotland, we ask another committed Christian, MP Tim Farron - once Lib Dem leader, now podcast host - if politics and religion can ever mix in Britain.You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
22 Feb 202339min
Putin, the Protocol and the Press
There is too much news today. Frankly. Putin tried to convince a domestic audience that NATO started the war in Ukraine, Rishi Sunak tried to face down Tory doubters telling him to drop his Northern Ireland deal, and the press and media are mulling over how to respond to accusations of intrusion by Nicola Bulley's grieving family. We hear from Northern Ireland Shadow Secretary Peter Kyle, Putin's former speechwriter Abbas Gallyanov, and former Head of News at ITN and formerly of broadcasting regulator Ofcom's Stewart Purvis.You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
21 Feb 202338min
What is Boris Johnson up to?
Boris Johnson has been slapped down by a senior Conservative for his interventions on Rishi Sunak's latest Brexit deal over Northern Ireland. Is the former PM stirring up trouble to pave the way for a comeback? In the first interview since he left office, Johnson's former Director of Comms Guto Harri speaks exclusively to The News Agents and has a message for his old boss. And Lewis comes back from Rotherham, where he was over the weekend reporting on a far-right protest gathered outside a hotel housing asylum seekers. He tells us what he heard and saw.You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
20 Feb 202333min
Is the Union bouncing back?
Rishi Sunak has been in Belfast, hoping he can be the Prime Minister to finally answer the question on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Can he break Brexit gridlock? And elsewhere in the United Kingdom questions over the strength of the Union have been raised by Nicola Sturgeon's decision to quit as leader of the Scottish National Party. Does her resignation signal the the start of the decline of the independence movement?You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
17 Feb 202342min
Nicola Bulley: Have the police said too much?
Lancashire Police have come under-fire for the revelations they made overnight about the missing mother Nicola Bulley who's not been seen for nearly three weeks. Why did they say so much - after weeks of near silence? And how damaging has that been to trust in the police? And we look at another communications disaster in the making - a train derailment in Ohio is threatening environmental catastrophe. Yet the authorities are accused of a cover up - and conspiracy theories are starting to flourish.....You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
16 Feb 202340min
Sturgeon resigns
Sturgeon is stepping down as Scotland's First Minister. Jeremy Corbyn is banned from standing as a Labour MP. If there’s a broad News Agents take away it’s this: be careful about sitting down with Lewis Goodall. Today we look at what may lie behind Sturgeon's decision and what it could mean for Scottish independence. And we ask Diane Abbott - old friend of Jeremy Corbyn - is she backs the current or former Labour leader now.You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
15 Feb 202338min
Gender Identity, Children and the NHS
The only NHS service in England to offer gender identity services to children announced it would be closing down last year - after years of whistleblowers who worked there trying to raise the alarm about a scandal in their midst: a failure to safeguard some of the country's most vulnerable young adults. What went wrong? And how much did the toxic political climate at the time over trans issues contribute to a work practice that was not fit for purpose. We talk to the investigative reporter Hannah Barnes who's new book Time to Think reflects her years spent talking to those involved - the staff, the families and most importantly, the children themselves.You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.
14 Feb 202330min
