Boris Johnson became the new Prime Minister this week, but what will his first 100 days in office be like? In this week’s magazine, James Forsyth examines why the unconventional Team Boris have to hit the ground running – he argues that if they can get public opinion on side, then it’s possible to tackle any hurdles parliament might throw up. On the podcast, Isabel Hardman talks to James and Conservative MP Simon Hart to get their thoughts on a possible early election. Isabel also asks Simon why he backed Boris in the leadership campaign, considering only a year ago, Simon wrote that Boris and David Davis’s resignations showed up his Tory colleagues as being ‘devious, self-indulgent, and incompetent’…
We also take a look at Britain’s next step in the standoff with Iran, as Tehran continues to detain the Stena Impero oil tanker. While Washington wants us to take a tougher stance on Iran, the EU urges caution and a return to the nuclear deal – so are we stuck between a rock and a hard place? Boston university professor Andrew Bacevich looks at the possible approaches of Washington towards Iran in this week’s issue. On the podcast, we are joined by Defence Editor of the Telegraph, Con Coughlin, and Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, Lina Khatib, to discuss what the next steps might be for Britain and the U.S. Perhaps rather surprisingly, Con and Lina both agreed that the UK should follow Washington’s lead on this.
Lastly, with warm weather pushing many Brits to the seaside, we speak to Dr David Gange, a historian at the University of Birmingham. He spent a year kayaking down the western shores of the British and Irish Isles for a new book examining the history of our coastlines. The Frayed Atlantic Edge is reviewed by Caspar Henderson in this week’s magazine. On the podcast, David tells us about a close encounter with a minke whale, the celebrated poets that come from the coasts, and bonds with Isabel over their shared love of cold-water swimming.
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