Oscar Edmondson

The Prime Minister has clashed with billionaire owner of ‘X’ Elon Musk over comments that Musk made claiming that – in light of the violent disorder across the country – the UK is heading for civil war. How long will this spat go on? And is this the start of Starmer being tough on the

Keir Starmer will be chairing his first Cobra meeting, as the government continues to grapple with the rioting that has broken out across the country. The weekend saw numerous examples of violence, including at hotels thought to be hosting asylum seekers. We had a statement from the prime minister condemning the ‘right wing thuggery’, but

Police are bracing themselves for more violent disorder this weekend. This is in the aftermath of the tragic stabbings in Southport and unrest in London, Hartlepool and Southport. Keir Starmer made a statement yesterday condemning the protests and the involvement of far right actors for stoking up the violence and spreading disinformation online. Is there

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has today been providing covering fire for a raft of unpopular policies, including changes to the winter fuel allowance and cancellations to various building projects. She gave a damning statement in the Commons earlier this afternoon about the economic situation that Labour have inherited from the Tories. We now know that

Three weeks in for the new government and we have had our first Labour rebellion. In a vote last night on an SNP amendments to axe the two child benefit cap, seven Labour MPs revolted and have subsequently lost the Labour whip. Parliament’s new awkward squad includes some familiar faces of the Labour left, such

Keir Starmer is at Blenheim Palace today for the gathering of the European Political Community, the forum created by Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While the new Prime Minister met with many world leaders last week in Washington for the Nato summit, this is his first time he has

It’s two days after the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump and we thought we would use this podcast to discuss some of the reaction from Westminster and look at how this latest example of political violence will impact our own politics here in the UK. Oscar Edmondson speaks to Kate Andrews and James Heale,

Keir Starmer is on his first big diplomatic trip to Washington, attending the Nato summit. He has called on member countries to increase defence spending, had a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, and enjoyed a dinner with Joe Biden – all in his first week of the job. How is the trip going, are there any

Last nights election Question Time programme was probably the best of the campaign in that it gave space for proper discussion while making all the leaders uncomfortable.  None of the four men questioned over the two hour programme – Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, Ed Davey and John Swinney – did badly. There were some good

It’s yet another gaffe for Rishi Sunak. At yesterday’s D Day anniversary celebrations when it came time for official photographs with Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron, it was Lord Cameron, not Rishi Sunak, who did the honours for Britain. With the prime minister reportedly leaving early to do a pre-recorded political interview with

Keir Starmer is now putting the final touches to this with a last minute purge of pre-existing candidates and MPs who risk frustrating their election campaign. There is an ongoing row about whether Diane Abbott, the former shadow home secretary, will be barred from standing, but who else might join her?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to

The first big new policy announcement of the election campaign is in from the Tories, and it’s likely to be a talker. Where Keir Starmer appears to be opting for a ‘ming vase’ strategy – trying not to rock the boat ahead of polling day – the Tories are leaning towards the opposite. At 20

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed this morning that the UK confined its technical recession to 2023. The economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the first three months of the year, thanks in large part to stronger-than-expected growth in March, which reached 0.4 per cent. But is the plan really working?  Also on

It’s looking like the worst night for the Conservatives in 40 years. The prediction – that the Tories will lose about half of the council seats they are defending – looks on track so far. Labour comfortably won the Blackpool South by-election with a 26 per cent swing and it has also taken several key

Sunak’s top team is considering another ban: smartphones for teens. A consultation is due to begin this month that will question whether children need a smartphone, and if social media should require age verification. Could the debate bring the party together?  Also, there’s another suspension in Westminster. Mark Menzies has been suspended after claims he

Today we have had the Cass Review, a landmark report into gender services for children in England, authored by paediatrician Hilary Cass. She concludes that medical interventions were being made on the basis of ‘remarkably weak’ evidence and that there is a lack of a holistic approach to those questioning their gender. How big of

There is anxiety in parts of Starmer’s circle about Sue Gray appointing jobs in a Starmer-led Downing Street. When she’s in No.10 she’ll ‘be in her natural territory and running rings around everyone’, a former colleague told Katy Balls in her profile of ‘the Gray lady’ for The Spectator this week. How is Sue Gray shaking things

Labour kicked off their local elections campaign today with a joint op-ed from Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner in the Times promising to empower localities and put an end to the regional divide. This is all encompassed in their Take Back Control Act … where have we heard that before? Rather than a seamless launch, the Labour

Former Conservative MP Scott Benton has resigned, triggering a by-election in Blackpool South. The outgoing MP had the Tory whip removed after suggesting to undercover reporters that he would be willing to break lobbying rules for money. Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Katy Balls about the likelihood of another Tory election defeat in

George Galloway has won a resounding victory in Rochdale, after a chaotic and messy by-election in which Labour was forced to disown its own candidate after he claimed Israel had allowed Hamas to attack on October 7th. Former Labour MP Galloway – standing for the Workers Party of Britain – won on a single issue