The Daily T

Starmer’s decision to U-turn on a national inquiry into the historic sexual abuse of thousands of young girls hasn't been met with the praise he might have hoped.Earlier today, during a press conference in London by opposition leader Kemi Badenoch, victims and campaigners of the grooming gang scandal criticised Starmer’s inquiry for not going far enough.Camilla spoke to Badenoch about why the issue is so personal to her and what the Tories will demand from the inquiry. And Tim met Marlon West, whose daughter Scarlett was groomed. He says he isn’t “reassured one little bit” that the authorities will face accountability.We want to hear from you! Email us at TheDailyT@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTok.Producer: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Ji-Min LeeVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Operator: Meghan SearleProduction assistance from Alfred JohnsonOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After months of prevaricating, the Government has announced a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal. The reversal comes off the back of a review by Dame Louisa Casey.They have claimed it isn’t a U-turn, but until now Labour figures – including Keir Starmer – had repeatedly dismissed calls for an inquiry, suggesting they were driven by the far-Right.Maggie Oliver, the detective-turned-whistleblower who raised the alarm about child rape gangs in Rochdale, joins Camilla to react to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s announcement.Listen back to our interview with grooming gang survivor Gaia Cooper.If you or someone you know are affected by any of the issues raised in today's Daily T, please see below a number of organisations that can help:Victim SupportTelephone: 0808 16 89 111Live chat: victimsupport.org.uk/live-chatMy Support Space: mysupportspace.org.uk/MoJMore information can be found at www.victimsupport.org.ukRape Crisis helpline and live chatThe Rape Crisis National Helpline offers confidential emotional support, information and referral details.Telephone: 0808 802 9999 / www.rapecrisis.org.uk.The Survivors TrustTelephone: 08088 010818Email: info@thesurvivorstrust.orgProducer: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Ji-Min LeeVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Operator: Meghan SearleOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She is simultaneously one of the most loved and hated figures in British history. But Margaret Thatcher certainly made in indelible mark on our politics.Broadcaster Iain Dale is the author of a new book on the Iron Lady which seeks to bust some of the myths around our first female PM and introduce her to a younger audience.Camilla and Gordon speak to Iain about his personal interactions with Thatcher – including coming dangerously close to vomiting on her shoes – and what she would have made of Brexit and Nigel Farage.We want to hear from you! Email us at TheDailyT@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTok.Producer: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Ji-Min LeeVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Operator: Meghan SearleWith assistance from Andy MackenzieOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An Air India flight bound for Gatwick Airport crashed not long after takeoff on Thursday, with more than 50 British nationals on board.Local officials are scrambling to find survivors after shocking footage emerged of the plane hitting the ground and bursting into flames in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state.Camilla and Tim speak with aviation safety expert Professor Graham Braithwaite about what could have gone wrong; why the minutes after takeoff are so critical; and the safety record of the Boeing aircraft involved.We want to hear from you! Email us at TheDailyT@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTok.Producer: Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Robbie NicholsVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Operator: Meghan SearleOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled her first major spending review, pledging tens of billions in additional funding for public services, including £29 billion a year for the NHS, a £4.5 billion boost to the schools budget, and a rise in defence spending to 2.6% of GDP by 2027. But Reeves stopped short of explaining how the government will actually fund these ambitious commitments, fuelling Tory warnings of looming tax hikes. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride accused her of having “completely lost control”, calling it a “spend now, tax later” plan that kicks tough choices down the road for Labour. So how will the Government balance the books? And what will the spending review mean for you? Camilla is outside Parliament with Reform’s Richard Tice who says Reeves is ‘cratering the economy’ and is obsessed with his party. Plus Tory Andrew Griffith on why his party are disowning Liz Truss’s mini budget and Labour’s Chris Curtis on productivity in the NHS. We want to hear from you! Email us at TheDailyT@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTok.Producer: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Robbie NicholsVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Operator: Meghan SearleAdditional support from Andy Mackenzie and Ryan GudgeOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Chancellor’s much-anticipated spending review is a day away, with extra cash expected for defence, health and education.Are tax rises on the horizon to pay for all this? Camilla is joined by guest presenter Jacob Rees-Mogg, who says Labour doesn’t understand business and explains how Keir Starmer could survive sacking Rachel Reeves…Plus, how two very different rows about immigration triggered riots in Ballymena, North Ireland and in LA. We want to hear from you! Email us at TheDailyT@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTok.Producer: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Robbie NicholsVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Operator: Meghan SearleOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel Reeves finally confirmed Labour’s rumoured U-turn on the winter fuel cut for pensioners this lunchtime, completing a humiliating climb down for the Government. Nigel Farage was quick to take credit for the reversal in a speech in Wales.Camilla and Gordon ask whether Reform’s continual outflanking of the Tories like this is only cementing their place in the public’s minds as the unofficial opposition.Later, they speak to the MP tabling a new free speech bill after a man was prosecuted for burning a Koran. Nick Timothy says that blasphemy are being brought in through the back door to quash criticism of Islam.We want to hear from you! Email us at TheDailyT@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTok.Producer: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Robbie NicholsVideo Editor: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: Meghan SearleOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s been a tumultuous twenty four hours on the Right, both in the UK and in the US.Firstly, Reform chairman Zia Yusuf resigned from the party yesterday evening, claiming that “working to get a Reform government elected” was not “a good use of my time”.Then, Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s row deepened further, with the Musk calling for the president to be impeached and claiming that Trump was was “named in the Epstein files”. Trump for his part said Musk was “wearing thin” and had “lost his mind”.Former Conservative blogger turned Reform activist Tim Montgomerie joins Camilla and Gordon to reflect on Zia Yusuf’s departure, and speak to one of Reform’s most recent defectors from Labour, Scottish councillor Jamie McGuire, about the party’s results in the Hamilton by-election where it came third behind Labour and the SNP.They also speak to Daily Telegraph Senior US Correspondent Rob Crilly about the escalating war of words between two of the world’s most powerful men.We want to hear from you! Email us at TheDailyT@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTok.Producer: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: James SimmonsVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Operator: Meghan SearleWith assistance from Andy MackenzieOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just ten minutes after we'd published today's podcast on whether Reform and Nigel Farage could achieve a stunning victory in Scotland in a by-election in Hamilton - a bombshell.The party chairman Zia Yusuf, the businessman who Nigel Farage long-maintained had professionalised the party since his arrival last year, and attributed many of their recent successes to, had resigned.The news came after a row during Prime Minister's Questions yesterday when Reform's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, asked Keir Starmer whether it was time to ban the burqa. Yusuf publicly criticised the intervention as "dumb" and "nothing to do with me", and announced his shock departure just over twenty four hours later with the polls still open in Hamilton.Gordon Rayner and Tony Diver react to the news in a bonus extra Daily T, with Tony having just spoken to a Conservative MP delighted that Reform had "imploded, at last".Producer: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Jessica Phillips Video Editor: Andy Mackenzie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Farage’s big test in Scotland. For years it was a political dead-end for Reform party leader - heckled in Edinburgh, chased from restaurants in Aberdeen, and repeatedly rejected at the ballot box.But in today’s Holyrood by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse, Reform UK is mounting a serious challenge. With Farage back in charge and his candidate Ross Lambie gaining ground in an SNP stronghold, could this be the moment his party makes a breakthrough north of the border?And while the Tories remain locked in internal warfare, we speak to Reform’s most senior council leader, Linden Kemkaran, on how the party plans to cut spending with their own version of Elon Musk’s DOGE and why she wants to end taxpayer-funded English lessons for migrants.Producer: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: James SimmonsVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Operator: Meghan SearleWith assistance from Andy Mackenzie and Ryan Gudge Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.