The News Agents

Today's bombshell rabbit (to mix a metaphor) was the Chancellor's promise to abolish the lifetime allowance on pensions.If you're super-rich it's time to crack open the champagne. If you're working age and well-paid, it might keep you in your job longer - at least that's the aim- but this is against a backdrop where household disposable income is falling at its fastest rate since the 1950s. We talk childcare, taxation, potholes, and Brexit beer. Later, we revisit the question of BBC impartiality after leaked emails show an editor succumbing to pressure from Boris Johnson's Number 10 during the pandemic.You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/VideosThe News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Last night more than forty Conservative MPs refused to back Suella's new plan for immigration. One- the former Lord Chancellor - called it 'ineffective authoritarianism'. Another - the former Immigration Minister - called it 'an absolute horror'. So today we tackle the policy head on. Is it legal? Is it humane? And will it lead fewer people taking small boats? We also look at police violence against women. The numbers are unbelievable - how, out of 1500 officers facing accusations of violence, have only 13 been dismissed. Is the force 'institutionally sexist'? 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.

Gary Lineker will be back on air this weekend. And BBC Director General Tim Davie has apologised to viewers for the weekend's schedule disruptions. They'd like this row to go away now. Except it won't. Where does it leave the BBC Chair and his Tory donations and friendships? Where does it leave the social media activities of other high profile talent? And what does impartiality mean - if it's being dictated by the government? We speak to Armando Iannucci - who coined the phrase omnishambles a decade ago...And we look at the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and ask if over the weekend we got close to another financial crash.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.

The BBC have told Gary Lineker he won't be presenting Match of the Day on Saturday night. Emily, Jon and Lewis bring you their immediate reaction.Protests against drag queen story readings for kids have been gaining momentum in the US and increasingly the UK. This week in London there was a clash between protestors, arguing about whether these kinds of activities - where drag queens read stories to children - should be allowed to take place. Lewis asks what happens at these readings, why people are concerned, and looks at why this might develop into the latest frontier in a culture war. And is Georgia running back to sugar daddy Russia?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.

The coveted Crimes against the English Language award goes to Penny Mordaunt today for mangling almost a dozen football analogies into one short Commons speech. We are still trying to work out what a left wing striker is but for now what you need to know is that the Conservative frontbench is nervously awaiting a response to their small boats policy from President Macron tomorrow when Rishi Sunak goes to Paris. The News Agents hear their might be a firm Gallic 'non' coming. So what happens to the returns policy then? And is that why Conservatives want to carry on talking about Gary Lineker for as long as they feasibly can...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.

Gary Lineker has responded to the furore surrounding his tweet on the government's asylum policy with the promise to 'keep speaking for those with no voice'. It's being reported on the BBC News website - whist - we understand - the BBC is currently trying to give Lineker 'a frank talking to' for breaking impartiality rules. How do the BBC rules on impartiality work? We speak here from a little experience... And can Suella Braverman defend her language - and her policy more generally - to the country?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.

The Tories have produced - at last count - over forty different failed policies to stop channel crossings. Today, Suella Braverman came up with the latest.It will prevent anyone arriving here by small boat from claiming asylum or doing so in the future. And it promises to detain them for 28 days after which they will be returned. Without quite explaining where... or how. We ask if this desperate measure will break the Geneva Convention - the UN Convention of Human Rights - and talk to former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw.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.

Rachel Johnson discusses family ties to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the potential knighthood for their father. They explore controversies around resignation honours lists and political dynamics within the family. The podcast also delves into the opposition to lockdown measures, pandemic responses, and the controversy surrounding Sue Gray's appointment as Keir Starmer's Chief of Staff.

We talk to the woman who has started a war with Matt Hancock- journalist Isabel Oakeshott. He was her source and she turned on him by taking 100,000 of her Whatsapp messages to The Telegraph. The revelations have gripped Westminster- she tells us there’s more to come. We talk to her about her motivations. And we talk all things Sue Gray, that once famous woman of Westminster who investigated Boris Johnson and Partygate, off to become…Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff.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.

Boris Johnson is back. But then again, he never really went away. In a speech today at a soft power forum, he takes a swing at Rishi Sunak and his Windsor Framework after two days of lying low. We discuss the continual Johnson-shaped fly in the Sunak ointment.And Jon and Lewis go through the latest Hancock WhatsApp developments in the Lockdown Files story, and talk to Mehdi Hasan, MSNBC anchor and author of Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading and Public Speaking to talk about misinformation in the US media.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.