Byline Podcast

Introducing Vote Watch, a new Byline Times campaign to ensure that the upcoming UK general election is both free and fair. We want to hold political parties of all stripes to account by making sure that rules around voting and donations are observed; and to identify those trying to unduly influence the outcome of the ballot, whether through bots on social media, artificial intelligence or supposed grass roots campaigns that are in fact a front for one undeclared interest or another.It's an issue which has been brought into sharp focus recently by changes to rules around voting eligibility and election finance, which led the Labour MP Dawn Butler to say she fears the Conservatives are trying to steal the next election.A new strategy document set out for the The Electoral Commission has also roused fears that ministers might be leaning on this supposedly independent voting watchdog.We want you to act as our eyes and ears in the months ahead, and there’s a crowdfunder too, so that you can help support our work. You can also email votewatch24@bylinetimes.comAdrian Goldberg hears from Byline Times chief reporter Josiah Mortimer and Byline Times editor Hardeep Matharu.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The two likeliest contenders to be the next UK Prime Minister have both come under pressure in recent days...PM Rishi Sunak mocked Kier Starmer's stance on trans women, even though the mother of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey was in the Visitors Gallery of the House of Commons; meanwhile Starmer himself, the Leader of the Opposition, has been criticised for u-turning on Labour's Green Prosperity Plan.Byline Times Political Editor Adam Bienkov assesses the performance of two leaders under pressure with Adrian Goldberg.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Foreign secretary Lord Cameron has said rather than waiting for a successful outcome of peace talks in the Middle East the UK would consider the idea of Palestinian state during negotiations. It’s a subtle but important shift in emphasis in the government's position – the idea, said Cameron, is to give the Palestinian people “a political horizon”. In other words, a route to statehood a without having to resort to violence.The initiative been welcomed by the Palestinian mission in London, but rejected by the Israeli government.Adrian Goldberg hears from Hannah Weisfeld, Executive Director of Yachad, an organisation whose primary mission is to empower British Jews to support a political resolution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty five years after an amazing demonstration of people power in Birmingham which led to the cancellation of billions of dollars worth of debt in the developing world, Adrian Goldberg asks - is it time for a repeat performance?Adrian hears from Ruth Stephens who devised a Human Chain which attracted 70,000 participants at a G8 summit in 1998, attended by Tony Blair and President Clinton. Plus Heidi Chow from Debt Justice and Precious Kalombwana in Zambia.  Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Byline Times political editor Adam Bienkov assesses how the two likeliest rivals to become PM are measuring up in the polls. Produced and presented in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Britain sliding to war in the Middle East? The RAF has once again taken part in US led attacks on military sites in Yemen from where Houthi fighters have been targeting cargo vessels in the Red Sea - one of the world’s most important commercial shipping routes. This followed similar action on the 11 January.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insists the UK’s military action amounts to nothing more than self defence; and that its unconnected to the conflict between Israel and Gaza. But is that how it will be seen in Yemen itself and more widely in the Middle East? If the Houthi’s step up their attacks is there a risk of further escalation, perhaps involving the Houthi’s backers Iran, and their rivals Saudi Arabia.Adrian Goldberg hears from David Wearing, an expert on UK foreign relations in the Middle East and Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Sussex. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the NHS putting patients at risk by expanding the role of medical professionals who aren’t qualified as doctors? Physician Associates have been around in the Health Service for a couple of decades now and there are plans to more than double their numbers in an attempt to plug gaps in the workforce. They don’t have a medical degrees and while they must complete a two year training course, there are concerns that physician associates don’t meet the ‘gold standard’ of a qualified medic.In one tragic case, Emily Chesterton died in 2022 when a physician associate at her GP surgery in London misdiagnosed a fatal blood clot as first a sprain, then anxiety. This week, MP’s have been discussing whether to bring Physician Associates and Anaesthetist Associates under the regulation of the General Medical Council.Adrian Goldberg hears from Dr Matt Kneale, co chair of the Doctors Association, a lobbying group which describes itself as 'the voice of frontline doctors'.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adrian Goldberg interviews best selling author and LBC radio host James O'Brien about his latest book, 'How They Broke Britain'.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adrian Goldberg gets a view from inside Gaza’s Al Aqsa Hospital which is caught in the crossfire of war.British surgeon Dr Nick Maynard has just returned to the UK after spending two weeks as clinical lead at the hospital for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. MAP is helping victims of Israel's bombardment of Gaza, which followed the massacre and hostage taking of Israelis by Hamas on October 7.The death toll on both sides is grim. 1,200 Israelis died on October 7; 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in the counter offensive, which Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau said was aimed at destroying “Hamas’s governing and military capabilities and to bring the hostages home”. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This time – shocking new evidence that austerity kills, featuring Professor Sir Michael Marmot, who leads the Institute for Health Equity at University College, London. Tough constraints on public spending were imposed by the coalition government in 2010 in the wake of the banking crisis, and continued for the rest of the decade.The IHE found that between 2011 and 2019 more than a million people in England had shorter lives than those who lived in the most affluent areas; and fewer years of healthy living.Around 148,000 of the excess fatalities appear to have been 'additional' deaths linked to austerity.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices