The News Agents

This Friday, Jon and Lewis answer your questions about the Afghan data leak - what were the legal loopholes? Why hasn’t the Speaker resigned? And is there a situation where you'd ever disobey a super injunction?

Later, why is the Labour party at war with Diane Abbott? And is the story of the couple caught having an affair at a Coldplay concert really a public interest story worth our attention?

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As almost 100,000 fans head to Wembley Stadium to watch Oleksandr Usyk fight Daniel Dubois to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion, Gabby and Mark are joined by boxing reporter, Steve Bunce, who never fails to make us laugh! (09:00)

Plus, Gabby and Mark look back at the best bit from this week's shows!

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Last night the Prime Minister chucked four of his more rebellious MPs out of the parliamentary Labour Party. Technically, he 'removed the whip' which means that for now they cannot call themselves Labour MPs. Was he right to move against them? Does it make him stronger or weaker in his job? And what message does it send out about how Starmer wants to govern?

Later, why were key intelligence figures not informed of the Afghan data b...

Questions are still mounting after the super-injunction imposed on The News Agents - to stop us reporting the story of a catastrophic data breach that put up to 100,000 Afghan allies at risk - was lifted.

Who bears the heaviest burden of responsibility for creating this mess?

Emily, Jon and Lewis discuss the questions that the Tories, who imposed the super injunction in 2023, need to face up to - and why Labour, who upheld the super-...

The government admitted today that the superinjunction which for two years prevented us from reporting on a “catastrophic” data breach which put the lives of 100,000 Afghans at potentially lethal risk by the Taliban was “constitutionally unprecedented”.

The Defence secretary stood up in the Commons to issue an apology to those Afghans whose data had been leaked, and said that it had been “deeply uncomfortable” to have kept parliamen...

For nearly two years the government has taken The News Agents and other journalists to a secret court to prevent us from reporting a story of huge public interest.

In August 2023 Lewis was told of a massive data breach at the Ministry of Defence - a dataset including the names and contact details of 18000 applicants to the ARAP programme, the scheme for Afghans who had helped the British armed forces in the 20 year war in the count...

More in Common's latest research of 20 thousand people suggests nearly 90 percent of us have little or no trust in politicians. 70 percent of voters think this country is on the wrong track, and the prevailing word used to describe Britain is 'broken'. What does that mean for main stream political parties? How do they convince people politics can improve their lives? And will the next electoral race be between populists on the left...

It would be an exaggeration to say the vultures are already circling the wagon - but there are already conversations taking place about Keir Starmer's future. Bloomberg and Sky have both reported that sources in Labour are already contemplating the prospect of a move against the PM next May after the local elections.

Absolutely crucial to those results will be Wales. Labour has never been out of power since devolution in Wales - mor...

More bonus content from our new-look weekend edition!

The British & Irish Lions are soon to face Australia in the big three Tests, after wrapping up their warm-up games. So Gabby caught up with former Lions & England flanker, James Haskell to talk about Henry Pollock, where the team need to improve, what it's like to get a late call up like Owen Farrell and almost killing Rory Best on Tour.

If you or someone you know has be...

Gregg Wallace’s friends have been telling newspapers that his "autistic hypersensitivity" meant that he had an “oddity of filters and boundaries", including an inability to wear underwear or any tight clothing. Gregg himself has complained that the BBC neglected its duty of care to him and his recently diagnosed autism. Fifty more people have come forward this week to complain to the BBC about his alleged over-sexualised behaviour ...

Last night on X, Elon Musk's AI chatbot - Grok - started imitating Hitler in its responses to user questions. Was this intentional? Did Musk really command his AI tool to spew out anti-semitic takes? And will this lead to any sort of regulation over AI?

Later, we discuss the upcoming doctors strike. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned resident doctors the public "won't forgive" them, and despite a pay rise of 29% over the last...

The government has studiously avoided ruling out a wealth tax this week. Minister after minister has refused to knock down the suggestion, despite the Chancellor having dismissed the idea as recently as April. So what's changed? Could a levy on wealthy individuals be on the cards for October's budget? Would it even raise any money - or is Rachel Reeves in danger of scaring wealth creators out of Britain? We speak to the incoming di...

Labour used to be the party that leapt to the defence of the BBC. So why was the Culture Secretary this weekend calling for heads to roll, saying she was "exasperated" at the broadcaster, and refusing to express confidence its director general Tim Davie?

The BBC has admitted to failings in its Glastonbury coverage, which saw it stream one act chanting "death to the IDF" - despite the corporation later admitting it had deemed them "...

Twelve months ago, the Conservatives suffered the worst general election result in their near 200 year history and Keir Starmer took up the mantle at Downing Street. It's been turbulent - from riots sweeping the UK, to party divisions and economic uncertainty.

This Friday, Jon and Lewis answer your questions about the Prime Minister's first year in office and look back on how his government is doing.

The News Agents is brought to y...

Welcome to the new-look weekend edition with fresh interviews and content!

With the Tour de France starting this weekend Gabby and Mark try to get their heads around the immense physical and mental challenge of winning one of the world's toughest races. They speak to the winner of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, Kasia Niewiadoma (06:15), ex-pro cyclist, Adam Blythe, and former Team Sky nutritionist, Nigel Mitchell (21:30).

You can ...

Keir Starmer did a round of interviews this morning in a show of support for his Chancellor. And the reason was clear. After she cried in the Commons chamber yesterday the bond markets started to panic.

If Rachel Reeves leaves the government, so the theory goes, her fiscal rules, her commitment to economic discipline, could be revisited. So after a bumpy week - for both Reeves and the government - has she proved to be unsackable?

An...

There is much we still don’t know or understand about today. Was Rachel Reeves upset by an altercation with the Speaker? Was the issue something more personal? Was she exhausted after the fruitless and demoralising failure of her welfare reform bill? But the sight of the Chancellor at lunch time today fighting back tears at the PM's side was pretty surreal. She looked wounded, fragile and hurt - and inevitably, it’s started specula...

After a lull in the Bro Wars - the sequel. This time Trump is threatening not only to remove Musk's government subsidies but even have him deported. Why? It all goes back to Musk's criticism of Trump's massive spending bill - which gives the wealthy tax cuts and removes Medicaid for 17 million Americans - and would add 3 trillion dollars to America's ballooning deficit. Could Musk start his own party? Will he really prove a politic...

Tomorrow, Labour MPs will be asked to vote on the rejigged welfare reform bill. Senior Labour politicians Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham still don’t think it’s worth the paper it’s written on. But the whole debacle has thrown up a bigger question about Starmer's leadership and authority. Does anyone really understand what’s in the PM's mind or what he is trying to achieve? We speak to the Starmer whisperer, Tom Baldwin.

Later, Glaston...