Planet Normal

Planet Normal

The podcast that speaks your language. News and views from beyond the bubble with Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, every Thursday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

June 5, 2024 60 mins

Whilst co-pilot Pearson takes a well earned break from the rocket Liam is joined by a temporary co-pilot and fellow right thinker, Baroness Claire Fox.


Political fur is flying in wake of the first election television debate,  but who do Claire and Liam think came out on top?


Claire thinks that the competing parties are underestimating the needs of the electorate in their mandate material. Whilst Liam thinks the...

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This special anniversary episode was recorded live in front of an audience of Planet Normal citizens, from Cadogan Hall in London.


The beloved rocket gains a few extra passengers this week as our third Planet Normal live event takes off!


Your co-pilots give their thoughts on the upcoming election alongside some very special guests.


The first revered stowaway on the rocket this week is Lord David Frost, who reveals how he t...

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May 22, 2024 59 mins

**Today's episode was recorded before the General Election announcement**


There’s not one but two scandals to comment on this week as both the infected blood and Post office inquiries are front and centre. And both co-pilots share impassioned views about the latest ‘cacophony of woe’ coming from both.


Allison thinks that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s response was unacceptable in the face of a ‘state sponsored massacre’.

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In an exclusive interview with co-pilot Pearson, Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey straps into the rocket to give his response to the recent Channel 4 documentary with allegations about inappropriate sexual conduct.


Elsewhere Rishi Sunak’s political plight is as unpredictable as the British weather. But what do your co-pilots make of his latest stream of policies?


Allison ponders whether the country has ever gone into ...

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May 8, 2024 55 mins

With the local elections across England and Wales all over, who were the real winners and losers? And did the Tories really get hammered? Only your co-pilots have the answers.

Liam ponders whether the Tory Party can hold it together long enough to get some sort of bounce back from potential impending economic uplifts.

Whilst Allison thinks Tory mutiny is no longer a threat and that the plotters have given up all chance of a potential...

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May 1, 2024 53 mins
Election fever has reached the rocket this week as the co-pilots await the results from local polling stations up and down the country.

 

And there’s nothing short of a tsunami of politics in Scotland. 

Allison thinks the progressive Left are finally being confronted by the consequences of their policies in light of First Min...

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April 24, 2024 58 mins

Strapping into the rocket this week and calling for the resignation of Met Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is former Home Secretary and Conservative MP Suella Braverman. She also explains why she thinks it’s time we left the European Convention of Human Rights and her exasperation at her party's 'scramble for the centre-ground'.


Elsewhere on the podcast, Allison is convinced the passing of the Rwanda Bill is Rishi Sunak’s ...

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April 17, 2024 54 mins

The Battle of Brussels


With co-pilot Pearson making a triumphant return to the rocket this week there’s much madness to discuss including the Cass report, what the Office of Budget Responsibility is really about and some drama from Brussels…


Joining your co-pilots to share what really happened at the explosive National Conservative Conference in Brussels is MP Miriam Cates, who explains why the events that unfolded were so ch...

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April 10, 2024 59 mins
Baroness Claire Fox straps into the cockpit this week to take the helm and tackle the madness alongside co-pilot Halligan. And there's no shortage of febrile pre-election news on the horizon.

In light of the publication of the highly anticipated Cass Report, Baroness Fox celebrates the media’s balanced reaction.

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April 3, 2024 58 mins

There’s a lot of madness orbiting the rocket this week as your co-pilots tackle the latest ghastly news from the NHS and author JK Rowling's reaction to the latest SNP legislation, not to mention the redesign of our Union Jack for the Olympics.


Allison thinks we could be on the way to a ‘backdoor blasphemy’ law in light of Scotland's hate crime bill.


Whilst Liam agrees and is disappointed with the Scottish media’s coverage of...

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March 27, 2024 60 mins

New immigration figures will be causing another headache for Rishi Sunak and strapping into the cockpit this week is Former Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick, who reveals the events in the lead up to his resignation and how the PM refused to acknowledge the issue of immigration.

 

As the Tory meltdown continues with more MP’s putting themselves up for hire, could it all be over for the Country’s leading Party before the lo...

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March 20, 2024 56 mins

With potential Conservative Party mutiny still bubbling away, there’s a rare moment of disagreement in the Planet Normal cockpit this week over a potential Tory leadership change


Liam is convinced that a leadership will make an inevitable  election loss much worse, whilst Allison is adamant that with a new ‘proper’ Tory party leader would persuade Conservative voters not to stay home.


And co-pilot Pearson shares her...

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March 13, 2024 54 mins

There is no rest in the political news cycle this week, but are recent events enough to trigger a political earthquake or just another tremor?


In light of Lee Anderson jumping ship from the Tory Party to Reform UK, Allison thinks the Conservatives won't hold onto a single Red Wall seat won in the 2019 election, and worries that everything in our country has a 'social justice agenda’.


There’s also...

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March 6, 2024 53 mins

The Chancellor has revealed his Budget but the rocket of right-thinking has spotted a shadowy figure on the horizon heading towards Mr Hunt - the Office for Budget Responsibility.


Strapping into the rocket to help navigate the nuances is Helen Thomas from Blonde Money, a former advisor to then-Chancellor George Osborne. Helen thinks that the ghost of ignoring the OBR in the now infamous Autumn Budget of 2021 is haunting the curr...

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February 28, 2024 38 mins

As co-pilot Pearson is away this week Liam is joined by special guest Telegraph Defence Editor Danielle Sheridan, to discuss the issue of the military housing plan that has barracks up and down the country up in arms, and how Allison and Danielle's reporting sparked a huge response from the Ministry of Defence. 


Danielle explains to Liam why military personnel are so fed up with their standard of accommodation and...

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February 21, 2024 58 mins

This episode was recorded before the evening's events in the House of Commons.

You can read more here on the Telegraph's live blog: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/02/21/rishi-sunak-latest-news-atkins-labour-snp-gaza/#comment


It was a double by-election blow for the Conservative Party as Labour claimed victory in Wellingborough and Kingswood. In what is now a common occurence the third by election next week in Roc...

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February 14, 2024 62 mins

Give children brick phones, not smartphones, says this week's guest on the rocket of right thinking, Sophie Winkleman. The Peep Show star gives an insight into her plea to promote screen free learning for children and finds time to share a sprinkling of showbiz gossip on the rocket…


Plus your co-pilots experience some déja-vu, as the Tories demonstrate another set of 'barely managed meltdowns.'


But is the Prime Minister...

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February 7, 2024 63 mins

As inflation drops, anger on the rocket rises, at the issue of illegal immigration and asylum seekers in light of the shocking chemical attack in London.


Plus, where do your co-pilots stand on Liz Truss' ‘Pop Con’? Liam thinks that immigration could well overtake the economy as the number one issue for voters in the upcoming election and closely impending by-elections. Allison feels the rise in smaller groups such as Refor...

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February 1, 2024 55 mins

This week your co-pilots are busy celebrating the anniversary of Brexit and the subsequent birth of Planet Normal. But aside from a hit podcast, what does the country really have to show from the referendum?

Liam thinks that the people talking down the economy since the referendum often underestimate UK, and that our GDP growth is actually on par with other countries in the EU.

Allison meanwhile is seething at another scandal afoot ...

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January 24, 2024 61 mins

Just when the UK has finished surviving a battering from storm Isha Talk of Tory regicide is blowing its way in with storm Jocelyn. It’s safe to say your co-pilots are in for a turbulent week on the rocket.


Allison is still in favour of Conservatism which she thinks a leadership change could help encourage, whilst Liam thinks that talk of a possible revolt be put to bed until after the general election, to ‘save t...

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