Politics At Sam and Anne's

Politics At Sam and Anne's

Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy with what you need to know about the day ahead in British politics. All in under 20 minutes and in your feed around 7.30am. They're across the key interviews, the main stories and what the parties are saying.

Episodes

July 7, 2025 19 mins
Could Westminster be on for a quieter week?

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy ponder that as the Prime Minister takes stock after the welfare rebellion - with some in the party telling Sam they're just focussing on getting to recess before a September reset.

But the issue they can't shake off - will there be tax rises? With the Chancellor's black hole adding up to far more than £5.5bn - is there any other choice, In fa...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.  
 
After Chancellor Rachel Reeves was seen visibly sobbing in PMQs, the Prime Minister last night confirmed she would be Chancellor for a long time to come – but will that be enough to calm fears in the markets? And what do we think is really going on with the Chancellor? Sam and Anne discuss.  
 
And what about Keir Starmer...
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The Prime Minister fended off losing a Commons vote on welfare changes but wakes up with a massive repair job to do within his party – and economically. 
 
Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy wonder what the consequences will be after those last-minute concessions to keep Labour MPs on side. 
  
There’ll be new ways of balancing the finances (could they be filling a black hole by sending more?) but ALSO a post-mortem of ho...
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July 1, 2025 22 mins
Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 

Its judgement day for the government's welfare bill and it’s unclear from all sides whether the legislation will pass, despite billions of pounds worth of concessions from the Prime Minister to win over his backbench MPs. 

The bill could lead to Sir Keir Starmer’s largest rebellion so far, exactly one year on from the day ...
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June 30, 2025 21 mins
Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 

The Prime Minister has made significant concessions on the welfare bill after the threat of a mass rebellion from his own MPs. 

The changes have left Chancellor Rachel Reeves with another black hole in the public finances and some MPs are still planning on voting against the bill when it comes in front of the House of Comm...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.
 
In a statement sent to Sam overnight, the government admits that concessions are on their way after an internal struggle over welfare reforms inside the Labour Party.
 
It seems like meaningful talks are under way. Next Tuesday - the day of a supposed crunch vote on disability cuts that could have seen the government lose a...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 
 
Today, Labour is still reeling by a rebellion by 1 in 4 of its MPs over welfare cuts, how can Chancellor Rachel Reeves and PM Keir Starmer recover the numbers and avoid a political humiliation? 
 
The government’s working majority is 165, so it only takes 83 Labour MPs to vote with a united opposition and this bill is dead...
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A NATO summit will be held in The Hague today, hours after Donald Trump announced Israel and Iran had agreed to a "complete and total" ceasefire. 

Meanwhile, on the domestic front, more than 100 Labour MPs have shown their hand and vowed to defeat Sir Keir Starmer's disability cuts.

On this episode, Sam and Anne discuss what to expect from the NATO summit where defence spending will be top of the agenda - and while the prime minister...
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Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to Donald Trump about the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table after Tehran's warning of "everlasting consequences" for the US bombing raid on their nuclear sites.

On this episode, Sam and Anne discuss the key questions facing the UK government after the military action, including what escalation could look like and whether Britain is ready for the economic blowback.

Plus, they also discuss the...
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On this episode – what advice is Keir Starmer getting over Britain’s potential involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict? 
 
There are reports that the Attorney General’s legal advice to the PM is to limit what it does to protect its allies from attack - Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy discuss the implications of that. 
 
Plus, we hear David Lammy will get a meeting with his Iranian counterpart as part of a diplomatic pu...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 
 
They start by picking over what Keir Starmer had to say about the potential for an American attack on Iran – which sounded rather different from the line his German counterpart was taking. So what was going on there then? 
 
Back in Westminster, the details of benefit cuts which will impact millions get published – the gov...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.  

President Donald Trump's made a hasty exit from the G7 conference in Canada leaving questions about collective diplomacy and his promise to bring peace to an increasingly violent Middle East.  

The White House insists his return is to deal with "important matters", while Mr Trump himself has hinted his swift exit is for s...
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June 16, 2025 20 mins
Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 

The prime minister is in Canada at the G7 as conflict escalates in the Middle East. Can Sir Keir Starmer contain any further flare-ups between Donald Trump and other allies and attempt to bring some calm to the region?

The prime minister is also set to authorise a national inquiry into grooming gangs, six months after he s...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 


Rachel Reeves has said this morning that the latest GDP figures showing the UK economy has shrunk by more than expected are "disappointing".

How much will this overshadow yesterday's major spending announcement?

Reeves has now planted Labour's fiscal flag in the sand - and spending mistakes from here on in certainly cannot ...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.

After weeks of haggling between government ministers, Labour announce today how they plan to apportion cash around departments for the foreseeable future.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Labour say this comes as the government has "fixed the foundations" and introduced stability to the economy. They say the economy is "turning...
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June 10, 2025 21 mins
Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 

Negotiations for the spending review are complete - with reports Chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused to meet Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's demand for extra police funding.

We won't have heard the end of this. Reform UK hold (another!) news conference, and the government announces its intentions to go nuclear - "ushering ...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.

The Home Office is the last department to finalise their budget with Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of Wednesday's spending review. All eyes are on Yvette Cooper and the noise that comes out of Westminster today and tomorrow that will indicate how much cash the home secretary has secured for things like policing.

And, with ...
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June 6, 2025 2 mins
A bunker. A scenario. A group of former senior ministers, military chiefs and other experts. Russia knows our weaknesses – but do you?   
Sky News' security and defence editor Deborah Haynes presents The Wargame – a major new five-part series from Sky News and Tortoise, set in the near future. 

Launching 10th June.
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 

More details of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spending squeeze next week are trickling out - including a U-turn on the winter fuel allowance which we now know is happening in the spending review.

The political implications of the U-turn, rather than the broader spending review itself, threatens to dominate the political narrat...
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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. 

The UK steel industry – which was on the verge of collapse just weeks ago – will no longer face the heaviest of Donald Trump's tariffs, the US announced overnight. 

We're the only country spared the doubling of tariffs on steel imports to the US to 50% – ours instead capped at 25%.

This sounds great – until you remember las...
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