Daily Politics from the New Statesman

Jeremy Hunt tells Anoosh Chakelian how he regrets the "silent killer" of social-care cuts made when he was in the cabinet, calls for the "penny to drop" for the current health secretary Sajid Javid on properly funding social care, and warns of electoral woes for the Tories in their southern English "heartlands". He also admits he wouldn't rule out serving as a minister under Boris Johnson. Hunt's book, Zero: Eliminating Unnecessary Deaths in a Post-Pandemic NHS, is available in bookstores nowPodcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UK inflation has reached its highest rate in 40 years, jumping from 7 per cent in March to 9 per cent in the year to April. With inflation hitting the poorest hardest, pressure is growing on the government to reverse its opposition to a windfall tax on energy profits. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman's associate business editor Emma Haslett and senior associate editor Rachel Cunliffe to discuss the government’s lack of a plan to address the crisis, including the array of unhelpful “top tips”from ministers on how households can cope with spiralling costs, and to consider what else can be done. Then in You Ask Us, a listener wonders if the Bank of England is being blamed for the government’s mistakes. If you have a question for You Ask Us, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.ukPodcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While polling revealed exclusively by the New Statesman suggests that voters aren’t divided on so-called culture war issues, the Johnson administration is putting them at the centre of its political project. To understand why the Prime Minister seems intent on winning a war that doesn’t exist, Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Kim Leadbeater, Labour MP for Batley and Spen, who received an MBE last year for services to social cohesion, and Rory Stewart, senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former Conservative MP and leadership rival to Johnson. They discuss why everything is being cast as a culture war and the strategy’s limited success, the real-life consequences of this way of doing politics, and ultimately how we can learn to disagree better.Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having cast himself as “Mr Rules” in opposition to Boris Johnson, Keir Starmer's reputation hangs in the balance amid allegations of breaking Covid restrictions. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the NS's political editor, Andrew Marr, to discuss Starmer’s future, the mutinous atmosphere in the Labour machine and rumours of runners and riders who could replace him. Then they answer a listener’s question on what Boris Johnson and Liz Truss hope to gain from ripping up the Northern Ireland protocol.If you have a question for You Ask Us, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.ukPodcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The renowned satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host five more special episodes. In these shows Iannucci, explores the parts of British public life that he believes are broken, and he will be joined by guests from both inside and outside Westminster to discuss how politics could be better.In this episode, Iannucci and Anoosh Chakelian examine whether Westminster politics has just become a game to most politicians.  They are joined by special guests James Graham, writer of the political plays This House, Brexit: The Uncivil War and Labour of Love, and Chris Hanretty, a professor at Royal Holloway University who studies pork barrel politics.They discuss whether how the whipping operation in parliament reduces politics to point scoring, how the government is getting more blatant about only distributing money to its own MPs’ seats, and whether blowing the lid on whipping tactics will actually change anything.Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Voters in many areas deserted the Conservatives in last week's local elections, yet this was not a comprehensive victory for Labour. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman’s polling expert Ben Walker and political reporter Freddie Hayward to discuss the headline results and whether Labour has achieved the sea change it needs ahead of the next general election. Next, they turn to Northern Ireland and Sinn Féin's historic victory, gaining the most seats (27) in the assembly of any party and the right to appoint the first minister. They discuss the result and what it will mean for the country’s future. Then in You Ask Us, a listener asks: is there any upside to Beergate for Keir Starmer?SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As voting in the local elections begins, Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman’s polling expert Ben Walker to discuss key councils to watch and predict the outcome. They talk about the driving forces behind people’s votes, from partygate and rising living costs to potholes, and what the political consequences of the results could be. Then they answer listeners’ questions on the impact the use of the single transferable vote (STV) system will have on the result in Scotland, and Ben’s overnight election liveblogging tips. If you have a question for You Ask Us, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.ukPodcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The renowned satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host five more special episodes. In these shows Iannucci, explores the parts of British public life that he believes are broken, and he will be joined by guests from inside and outside Westminster to discuss how politics could be better.In this episode, Iannucci and Ailbhe Rea examine voter loyalty and whether tribalism has died in favour of a kind of playlist politics. They are joined by special guests John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow at the National Centre for Social Research, and Shaun Woodward, a former Labour cabinet minister who defected to the party from the Conservatives in 1999 and is now the chair of the Human Dignity Trust, an international LGBT charity.They discuss whether voters now want a more pick-and-mix politics, how important demographics are to how people will vote and what kind of identity politics really does sway voters.Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anoosh Chakelian chairs a special episode of the New Statesman Podcast, recorded live at the Cambridge Literary Festival. In recent years, Britain has witnessed the unlawful prorogation of parliament; debacles in the management of public health, education and immigration; and scandals of cronyism, incompetence and sleaze. How has the cultural and political debate become so degraded? Can such failures of leadership be traced back to an unwritten constitution and a political system that rewards ambition over integrity, or should voters, the media and others take the blame for not holding the powerful to account? Is the British electorate the helpless victim of a new breed of brazen post-truth politics? Or do we simply get the leaders we deserve?  Speaking for the motion:David Runciman – a professor of politics at Cambridge University and the author of several books, including How Democracy Ends. Stephen Bush – a political columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times, and the former political editor at the New Statesman.Hannah White – deputy director of the Institute for Government, and author of the recent book Held in Contempt: What’s Wrong with the House of Commons?Speaking against the motion: Billy Bragg – singer-songwriter and activist whose most recent book is The Three Dimensions of Freedom. Dr Rachel Clarke – a NHS palliative care doctor and best-selling author whose books include Dear Life and Breathtaking. Lucy Nethsingha – a British Liberal Democrat politician, member of Cambridgeshire County Council since 2009. She was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the east of England from 2019 until the UK’s withdrawal from the EU in 2020. She was chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs. Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The misogyny that many women working in parliament experience has reared its ugly head once more. Anoosh Chakelian, Ailbhe Rea and Harry Lambert discuss the latest revelations of sexual misconduct at Westminster and the personal cost for the women who speak out.The team then discuss Labour’s prospects for the local elections and whether the cost of living, not partygate, could be the key to victory.Then a special You Ask Us to say goodbye to Ailbhe Rea.If you have a question for You Ask Us, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.uk SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.