The News Agents

Parliament is not usually the place where you hear racist language. But yesterday, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood repeated a racist slur that she has often been subjected to. Was she right to use this language to illustrate her point? And was she using it to justify her latest asylum policies?

Later, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi joins us to talk about the Epstein files and the mounting pressure on President Trump.

The News Agents is ...

The Home Secretary is putting her new hardline immigration plans before parliament - saying if Labour doesn’t do something drastic then worse will come. The new policy includes returning asylum seekers to their home country once it’s deemed safe. And quadrupling the amount of time they will have to spend in the UK before earning indefinite leave to remain.

Some Labour MPs are already queuing up to call it "performative cruelty" and...

It’s been a chaotic week for Labour, with rumours of internal plots and Downing Street briefing wars.

As questions swirl around Keir Starmer’s leadership, and with Rachel Reeves facing mounting pressure to steady the party’s economic footing, Labour’s internal tensions are threatening to boil over.

Lord Blunkett joins Jon in the studio to dissect what is going on inside Labour, how Starmer might get a handle on the situation, and ult...

Never write off a born racer: Sir Mark Cavendish had won 30 stages of the world's biggest cycling race, The Tour de France (even winning one makes a riders career) but he'd been out of the game for 5 years - so no one would give him a job. What happened next was one of the biggest comebacks of all time to put him among the sporting greats.

Sir Mark Cavendish joins us on today's show - how did it feel to be written off? Was it fair ...

23,000 pages of documents from the “Epstein files” have been released by Congress. They reveal damning details, and suggest that Epstein and Trump were in contact long after the President has previously said.

In the emails Epstein said of Trump: "I am the one able to take him down".

So are Trump's connections to Epstein finally catching up to him? And do these emails really have the power to take down the President of the United Sta...

Late last night came a crisis response from Downing Street responding to a story no one had even heard. The suggestion was a plot - to unseat the prime minister - supposedly by the Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

Streeting vehemently denied the plot. But a briefing went out from Downing Street suggesting Starmer was ready for the fight. What on earth is going on?

Later, Jon speaks to Christine Flack - Caroline Flack's mother - about...

The BBC has been set a deadline of Friday by Donald Trump's lawyer to apologise and "appropriately compensate" the US President for a Panorama edit of his January 6th speech.

If the broadcaster doesn't respond, the threat of a $1bn lawsuit looms. The outgoing head of the BBC Tim Davie today told staff to "fight for our journalism" - but it's not yet clear how it will respond to the unprecedented threat from Trump.

Should it have th...

Over the last 48 hours, The News Agents have spoken to more than 30 people - insiders at the BBC - to try and work out the facts of what actually happened inside the corporation, and when. Both the Director General and the CEO of News resigned over the weekend, so why are some talking about a “right wing coup“? Why did the apology take so long to arrive? And why is Trump now threatening the state broadcaster with legal action?

The N...

This is the final episode of Coining It. If you'd like to catch up from the beginning, head to Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts and search for 'Coining It'. Or, if you've enjoyed the series, head to the Coining It feed where you can leave a rating and a review.

In this episode... Who was the real James Parker? Lewis pieces together the truth behind the would-be Robin Hood, as his friends face jail for their actions. ...

Is it time to rethink the British monarchy? Why has “Your Party” been such a spectacular flop? Is Starmer the biggest obstacle to a Labour second term? And what IS the Overton window?

This Friday, Jon, Lewis and Emily answer your questions.

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We've been Traitors mad so Clare Balding joined Gabby and Mark for a slightly different episode of The Sports Agents. Don't worry there's no spoilers from the final!

Is she bitter no one listened to her about Alan? Why did everyone underestimate Joe Marler? What did Claire tell the producers they should change about the game? And how did Claire know Celia was going to fart?

Plus we look back at two huge interviews on the podcast th...

13 years ago, a teenage education activist in Pakistan was attacked by the Taliban — catapulting her onto the global stage. Malala Yousafzai went on to become a global icon and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.

This week, she joined Jon and Emily to discuss her powerful new book, reflecting on the journey from her early activism in Pakistan to becoming one of the world’s most influential advocates for girls’ education. She...

Overnight, progressives in New York witnessed a political earthquake. A resounding win on a high turnout for the city’s first Muslim mayor - a democratic socialist with robust ideas about capitalism. Was it his youth? His clear cut policies? Or was it his authenticity that energised the city’s voters? And are there lessons to be learned for how politics should be done here in 2025?

Health Minister, Wes Streeting, joins us to talk a...

At 8:10 this morning the Chancellor made a speech in Westminster. 45 minutes later no one was any the wiser. She promised to be honest with the public but refused to confirm tax rises or a commitment to her manifesto pledge and rule them out. So what was it all for?

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The appalling train stabbing on Saturday night has sent politicians scurrying to find the right policy response. The shadow Home Secretary is calling for a dramatic increase in stop and search. Would this yield more arrests? Create a deterrent? Or just create tension and division amongst communities? We talk to Neil Basu, former head of counter terrorism and frequent target of Stop and Search himself.

Later, why is Elon Musk confla...

We're back with the penultimate episode of Coining It. Thank you for the brilliant response to the series so far. If you don't want to wait for the last episode on this feed, the entire series is available now on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode... The party’s over. When one of James’ friends goes to the police, detectives finally connect the dots. James is hauled in for questioning - but doesn't give...

It's a 2025 royal knockout. After sustained and mounting pressure, the King took drastic action last night, stripping his brother of his prince title and turfing him out of Royal Lodge.

Prince Andrew becomes Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Why has King Charles moved so decisively against his brother now? And will this draw a line under the Epstein scandal that has dogged the Palace - or are there still questions that remain unresolved?

...

Did you know the government doesn't fund deaf athletes, because they aren’t allowed to compete at the Paralympics? 

For 100 years now they’ve been holding their own competition - the Deaflympics - where referee whistles are replaced by flag signals, and starting guns by flashing lights. But no Paralympics means no funding. All because they were born with the so-called “wrong” disability. Great Britain medal hopefuls C...

Why are British-made military items being found on the killing fields of Sudan? It's a question that the government has been asked in parliament today, amid escalating reports of the most brutal mass killings of civilians.

The Guardian revealed this week that UK-manufactured military equipment is being used by the RSF militia in Sudan - who are accused of committing genocide in the country by the USA. So what's going on? And could ...