Westminster Insider

U.S. President Donald Trump is in town next week for an unprecedented second state visit to the U.K.  The sacking of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s Ambassador to Washington, following the revelations about the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, could not have provided a more awkward backdrop for the visit.  Shorn of his “Trump whisperer,” and badly bruised by recent events, the prime minister needs to make the most of the opportunity after deploying the ultimate diplomatic move.  The U.K. is looking to make progress on a whole host of thorny issues, including trade and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. This week on Westminster Insider, host Patrick Baker explores what the British state has up its sleeve when it comes to charming foreign dignitaries into giving the U.K. what it wants. Theresa May’s former Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell explains the jeopardy attached to Trump’s dealings with the press when he’s abroad, and the stress involved in trying to minimize the U.S. president’s exposure to any protests. Esther Webber, POLITICO’s senior foreign and defense correspondent, takes us through what’s at stake with this Trump visit, and reveals how the royal family are set to be deployed to woo a U.S. president known for his love of pomp and pageantry. Robert Hardman, the royal historian and author of “King Charles III: The inside story,” reveals the U.K.’s long and storied history of inviting controversial world leaders on state visits, leveraging the mesmerizing power of the monarchy as the ultimate diplomatic weapon. Grant Harrold, a former royal butler to King Charles, explains the importance of etiquette to the royals, and takes us through what Trump can expect at the glittering state banquet. Former Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell lifts the lid on what it’s like to be entrusted as guardian of the Government’s vast wine cellar, and how the finest claret is served up to heads of state to lubricate potentially difficult political discussions. And Kate Fall, former deputy chief of staff to David Cameron, recounts her former boss taking China’s President Xi for pints at the pub on a 2015 state visit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zack Polanski, the self-confessed eco-populist, won the leadership of the Green Party in a landslide this week. So Westminster Insider Host Sascha O'Sullivan finds out why the Green Party have often struggled to be taken seriously in SW1. Sascha speaks to the man himself – Polanski – who tells her he is a vegan, who doesn't drive and wants to tell "similar stories as Nigel Farage" but his will be "the truth". She speaks to Jonathon Porritt, a Green Party veteran and former chair, who says he isn't "completely comfortable with eco-populism". And Natalie Bennett, Green Party peer and former leader, tells Sascha the party will have to "stir the hornet's nest" to start to get their message across. Jürgen Klockner, senior policy reporter for POLITICO Europe, based in Berlin, takes Sascha inside the troubles of the Green Party in Germany and issues a warning to their compatriots back in the UK. "They would promise a Mercedes but turn up with an empty wallet", he says. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a very busy autumn of politics just around the corner, many in the government are looking at the polls and wondering how they turn their fortunes around. This week, host Patrick Baker explores how Labour might use the coming months to try and reset the narrative. Speaking for the first time since he left Number 10, Ravinder Atwhal, Labour’s former head of policy and author of its election-winning manifesto, takes us inside the government’s difficult first year of power and explains what he thinks Keir Starmer needs to do to get back on track. With the autumn bringing plenty of reset opportunities, Scotland Office minister and Gordon Brown’s former speechwriter Kirsty McNeill reveals the secret to a barnstorming conference speech and offers her advice to the PM about how to make a success of his own Labour conference address in Liverpool. Poppy Trowbridge, former Treasury comms director under Theresa May and someone with no shortage of experience working on tricky budgets, offers her advice to Chancellor Rachel Reeves on how to turn this autumn’s big fiscal event into a political success (spoiler: it might not be possible). And former government chief whip under Rishi Sunak, Simon Hart, lifts the lid on the art of the government reshuffle and sets out why, in his view, they rarely provide the reset moment governments hope they might. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Glastonbury performers to classical music buffs, Westminster has always been packed full of music obsessives. But the music industry has not always been so obsessed with politicians. Who could forget Stormzy calling out Theresa May over Grenfell or Elton John calling Keir Starmer's government "absolute losers"? So this week on Westminster Insider, host Sascha O'Sullivan finds out what how important the cultural capital of the music industry is to SW1. She talks to boss of music lobby PRS organisation and former Longpigs frontman Crispin Hunt about Tony Blair being buoyed to success during the Britpop era. Corbyn advisor James Schneider reflects on Grime4Corbyn in 2017 and explains how important Stormzy leading the "Oh Jeremy Corbyn" chant was as a cultural moment. James Frith, Labour MP and former frontman of Finka, who once performed Glastonbury, takes Sascha inside the political scene at the music festival. Caroline Dinenage, chair of the culture select committee and former Tory culture minister, told Sascha the music industry was often ungrateful to Conservative politicians, saying they probably said "f*** the Tories" under their breath even after billions of pounds in pandemic-era support. And she takes Sascha inside the current row over artificial intelligence and the music industry. She said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle was initially "arrogant" and "swallowed the A.I. kool-aid". Lord Brennan, Labour peer who was part of the Lord's recent rebellion over AI and is currently leading a fan-led review into music, says the intervention of top musicians can help move the dial and he tells a story of teaming up with Billy Bragg to exact policy change over guitars in jails. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reform UK has claimed its biggest scalp so far with Sir Jake Berry, close friend and ally of Boris Johnson and former Conservative Cabinet minister, joining its ranks. Can Reform break the mould of British politics and vie for power at the next election? In this week's episode of Westminster Insider: Summer Interviews, Anne McElvoy talks to MP Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform. He led the party before Nigel Farage decided to return to frontline politics at last year's general election. Despite rising in the polls, gaining Tory defectors and emerging victorious in the local elections, Reform has had to contend with several high-profile resignations and personnel disputes. Now in power in 10 councils across England, can it prove that it can be a party of power as well as disrupting the status quo?  They discuss French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the U.K., the small boats crisis and Reform's policies on the economy, education and social issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Keir Starmer's authority is under question following a humiliating series of U-turns and a restless parliamentary Labour Party. In this Westminster Insider interview, host Anne McElvoy talks to Maurice Glasman, the Labour peer, who’s seen as the godfather of "Blue Labour" and an influential voice within the Labour movement — with connections to the Trump administration in the U.S. Glasman argues that Starmer has six months to make "significant changes" to his government following the debacle over the government's welfare bill. They discuss the broader challenges confronting Labour after one year in office, the position of Chancellor Rachel Reeves and whether the prime minister can regain the confidence of his rebellious parliamentary party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even as Keir Starmer faces the threat of all-out rebellion over his welfare bill, Westminster can feel the summer recess approaching. So six months into the year and with the anniversary of Labour's electoral victory approaching, host Sascha O'Sullivan enrols a host of experts to give their view on the government's progress on the 'milestones' set out by the Prime Minister last year. Harry Quilter-Pinner, director of the IPPR and Charlotte Pickles, director of Re:State think tank (formerly called Reform) talk Sascha through each of the milestones – from the economy to energy security – and gives Keir Starmer and his cabinet a grade for each. The pollster Scarlett Maguire, founder of Merlin strategies, provides key insights into how voters view the government's record to date. Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor at the New Statesman, and James Heale, deputy political editor of The Spectator, gives Sascha an assessment of the trials and tribulations on the opposition benches – from the Conservatives battles with Reform to the Greens' leadership election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Westminster Insider, host Patrick Baker takes a pint-fueled tour through some of Westminster's best-known watering holes in his bid to find out what makes the best political boozer. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage explains why the Westminster Arms is his favorite pub and why his longtime friend, Gerry Dolan, its former landlord, is behind the pub's popularity. Dolan himself recounts how lager-loving politicians would race over the road to vote at the sound of the division bell, before haring back to finish their drinks, and remembers how each of the different parties under his roof would occupy various corners of his pub like tribes.  Celia McSwaine, a former special adviser to ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, illuminates the role of the Two Chairmen as the Treasury's designated post-Budget pub and recounts how the drinks were flowing in the immediate hours after the fateful mini-budget, before any economic meltdown had struck. Pub enthusiast James Potts, a Labour councillor in Islington and author of "What's in a London pub name?" regales Patrick with the exotic history of the Two Chairmen from the secrecy of its top room, the site of much political plotting over the years.  Andy McSmith, former Chief Political Correspondent at The Observer, joins Patrick at the Red Lion in the heart of Westminster, recounting his pivotal role in breaking the infamous story that Gordon Brown's former spin doctor Charlie Whelan had told Tony Blair that the U.K. would not be joining the Euro, from just outside the pub. Former Education and Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan returns to The Blue Boar, a discreet pub she says she hasn't been back inside since she found out there that the UK was to leave the European Union. Labour insider Sienna Rodgers, Deputy Editor of parliamentary magazine The House, meets Patrick in The Clarence, and offers her top tips on where to find Labour MPs and special advisers nowadays.  And finally Patrick visits the famous Marquis of Granby pub, where journalist and Reform supporter Tim Montgomerie and Nigel Farage's former press secretary Gawain Towler describe how the 'MOG', as it's known, is Westminster's consummate rebel pub, ideal for plotting a political insurgency during the long days of opposition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the midst of spending reviews, rows of migration and fights about water bosses' bonuses, everyone could do with a laugh. So this week on Westminster Insider, host Sascha O'Sullivan speaks to a coterie of comedians and satirists in SW1 to find out: what's the point of political satire? Legendary co-creator of Yes, Minister Jonathan Lynn explains how a show designed to make people have a laugh at the expense of some pompous civil servants defined how we now see "the blob". Sketch-writers Madeline Grant and John Crace give us a peek into their lives of following every twist and turn of parliament. And former Tory MP Michael Fabricant explains what it's like to be the subject of these sharp penned journalists. Sascha also speaks to Rosie Holt, who shot to comedic fame for mimicking cabinet ministers on the broadcast round in the pandemic. And Andrew Hunter Murray, author, BBC podcaster and Private Eye writer, explains when satire is it's most dangerous for politicians – and powerful for comedians. And Lib Dem leader Ed Davey explains why he tried to use humour and comedy to make people pay attention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Reform UK sends its Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team into its new councils to assess "wasteful spending", host Patrick Baker takes a trip to Durham to speak to the county council’s new deputy leader, the former Brexit activist and GB News broadcaster, Darren Grimes, about what Reform's DOGE plans might mean for the local area. And in Westminster a whole host of copycat DOGEs have started popping up too.  Max Young, news editor of the right-wing political website Guido Fawkes, runs the project 'UK DOGE', highlighting perceived government waste including Foreign Office cooking courses and research into how to feel like a bee. Matthew Simmonds, economics editor of the Spectator Magazine, explains his own project SPAFF (the Spectator Campaign Against Frivolous Funding), and says tax-payer money is being wasted on items such as expensive e-bikes for welfare claimants and research projects with titles like "The Europe that Gay Porn Built". With claims on the right of so-called "woke waste" in universities and research institutes, Clare McNeil, chief executive of Timewise, a non-profit research organisation, argues the independence of the UK's research sector is vital for our economy and democracy. In Durham, Darren Grimes sets out where he believes Reform will find savings and says the budget for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is in the crosshairs of the party's incoming DOGE unit. Mel Metcalf, chair of Durham Pride, explains his concerns over what any cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion would mean for his festival.  Amanda Hopgood, the former Lib Dem leader of Durham council, defends her record in local government and argues Reform have wildly overstated any savings the incoming DOGE unit will be able to make. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices