Local Elections 24 Pt with Adam Bienkov and Shaista Aziz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We mark Press Freedom Day by celebrating the Anti-Slapp campaign, which is aimed at protecting journalists who want to expose wrongdoing. A SLAPP is a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation – a legal case brought, usually by the rich and powerful to intimidate those who want to question their behaviour into silence.   Famous examples include the fomerChelsea owner and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich who took action against Catherine Belton and her publisher Harper Collins over...

Andrew Kersley and Hardeep Matharu explore how ow the far right exploits victims of child sexual exploitation as featured in the latest print edition of Byline Times. Hosted by Adrian Goldberg. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg.   Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.   Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After five more people died in the Channel attempting to cross to the UK – one of them a seven year old girl – Adrian Goldberg asks if the government’s Rwanda scheme is a humane response, and whether it will be effective.   Rishi Sunak made it an article of faith to push the Rwanda Bill through parliament despite previous objections by the European Court of Human Rights .   Migrants who arrive in the UK by boat will henceforth risk being sent to the East African state to have their asylum...

Two MP's, Angela Rayner and Mark Menzies are embroiled in what the tabloids like to call a 'scandal'. Both deny any wrong doing. But what unites these stories - and what divides them? Adrian Goldberg talks to Byline Times political editor Adam Bienkov and John McTernan, Tony Blair’s director of political operations at Downing Street between 2005 and 2007. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.   Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.   Made by We Bring Audio for...

Adrian Goldberg investigates Imprisonment for Public Protection jail sentences and the licensing conditions that are attached to them. He's join by Ishuba Salmon, who was spent 17 years in jail on IPP sentences; Emma McClure from SL5 legal who represented Matthew Price; and Donna Mooney from campaign group UngrIPP. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"How Brexit Wrecked The Stock Market" is the startling title of new blog by Simon Nixon, one time chief leader writer for the Times and former chief European commentator on the Wall Street journal. His Substack "The Wealth of Nations" is a must read for anyone interested in the workings of the UK economy.   Simon is not kneejerk 'Remoaner'. He has recently been critical of the workings of the EU single market, for example, and his analysis of the impact of Brexit on the City of London is...

Amalfi Midco - parent company of the UK’s largest children's care Home provider Care Tech – has published annual accounts showing that it charged local authorities £575 million but spent £136 million of that on what it describes as ‘financial expenses’.   This means at more than £1 in every £5 provided by Councils for looked after youngsters goes to servicing debts, and other finance charges.   Adrian Goldberh talks to Martin Barrow, a journalist specialising in the care system, and Carolyne...

Former "Observer" Editor in Chief Will Hutton talks to Adrian Goldberg about his new book "This Time No Mistakes - How To Remake Britain" (Bloomsbury) which calls for an alliance on the progressive left. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.   Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.   Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adrian Goldberg hears from UK-based Jews saying “not in my name” in reaction to Israel’s attack on Gaza. This time – the Jews saying “not in my name” in reaction to Israel’s attack on Gaza. Emily Hilton is the UK Director of Diapora Alliance and co founder of Na'aamod: British Jews Against Occupation. Uri Agnon is an Israeli theatre maker and activist, originally from Jerusalem, now living in London.  Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.   Funded by subscriptions to...

New official figures have revealed record sewage spills in in England’s rivers and seas…3.6 million hours of waste dumped in 2023 compared to 1.75 million hours the year before.   Sewage works are sometimes overloaded during heavy downpours meaning waste sometimes legally flows out untreated but these occasions should be kept to a minimum.   This all begs questions about the regulation our privatised water companies who paid out £1.4 billion to shareholders last year, but are now seeking an...

New UK government figures have revealed the sharpest increase in absolute poverty in the UK for more than 30 years.   According to official statistics, 600,000 extra people came into this category last year. Rising energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are partly to blame, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.   According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation the trend has been getting worse for decades. Their most recent report published in January outlined how current levels of...

Adrian Goldberg explores the wider meaning of 'tragedy chanting' aimed at supporters of Liverpool FC. He's joined by writer Tony Evans, who survived the the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.   Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.   Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The apartment where Byline Times correspondent Zarina Zabrisky and war photographer Paul Conroy are living in Kherson has come under attack from Russian rockets. Adrian Goldberg gets their responses to a lucky miss. There's also an update on Odessa from Zarina while Paul assesses the state of international backing for Ukraine.  Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.   Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.   Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on...

Adrian Goldberg interviews Grace Blakeley about her new book 'Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom". (Bloomsbury)  Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.   Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.   Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Bannon – former Chief strategist to Donald Trump - recently shared a platform with Liz Truss in which he called Tommy Robinson a 'hero'. Truss appeared to agree.   This was at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland and in an article you can read now at Byline Times.com Byline Times executive editor Peter Jukes has sounded a warning about the emergence of a darker, dangerous form of right wing conservatism. He shares his thoughts with Adrian Goldberg. Produced in...

New findings from a team at Oxford University suggest that privatisation bad for your health.     Researchers looked at 13 long-term studies from well-off countries including the UK to examine what happened ‘before’ and ‘after’ public health provision was outsourced.    Their conclusion: Increases in privatisation generally corresponded with worse quality of care.   Adrian Goldberg talks to one of the researchers Ben Goodair, and Cat Hobbs, Director of the campaign group We Own It. Produced...

George Galloway has won victory in the traditionally safe Labour seat of Rochdale by election, after standing on a platform opposing Keir Starmer's stance on Gaza.  Does Gallwoway’s victory - as he suggests - reflect a shift in the tectonic plates of British politics? Or is it just a one off caused in part at least by Labour decision to disown its own candidate Azhar Ali after made anti semitic remarks. Adrian Goldberg talks to Jon Tonge is a professor of politics at Liverpool...

Has Islamophobia been mainstreamed? It certainly looks like it. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman recently wrote in the Telegraph that Islamists are “bullying Britain into submission", while ex Tory party Chairman Lee Anderson told GB News that Islamists had "got control" of London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Tory MP Paul Scully has also weighed in claimed that Tower Hamlets in London and Sparkhill in Birmingham which both have large Muslim populations are no go areas. Adrian Goldberg hears from...

This is special episode to mark the second anniversary of invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia had already annexed Crimea in 2014, and separatists backed by Moscow also sparked fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region in the same year. The world mostly looked the other way, until Russia launched a full scale invasion of its neighbour two years ago on the false pretext that it was seeking to deNazify Ukraine. Since then more than 42,000 Ukrainian troops are thought to have been killed and 11,000...

Tens of thousands of Palestinians – many of them non combatants - have been killed since October 7th when Hamas launched a series of co-ordinated incursions into Israel. 1200 Israelis – most of them civilians - were slaughtered - and more than 100 hostages taken at the time are still in captivity. Israel’s response – designed it says to free the hostages and destroy Hamas – has led to the deaths of more than 29,000 people. 85% of the population of Gaza has been displaced. Critics like South...

Are Citizens Assemblies the way to make up the so-called "democratic deficit" which leaves many people estranged from parliament? Sue Gray the former senior civil servant who reported on Partygate during Boris Johnson’s time as Prime Minister seems to think so. In her first interview as chief of staff to Keir Starmer, she revealed that plans are being drawn up to bypass Whitehall and involve the public directly in decision making. Citizens assembles are credited with building consensus in...

As the Tories are trounced in two by elections is there any way back for Rishi Sunak? Labour overturned Peter Bone’s 18,000 majority in the Northamptonshire seat of Wellingborough – a “catastrophically bad” defeat according to Gavin Barwell, an ex Conservative MP and Theresa May’s former chief of staff. Labour also overcame an 11,000 majority in Kingswood in South Gloucesteshire.This is obviously great news for Keir Starmer; but Reform UK, the party that grew from the ashes of UKIP came third...

Introducing Vote Watch, a new Byline Times campaign to ensure that the upcoming UK general election is both free and fair. We want to hold political parties of all stripes to account by making sure that rules around voting and donations are observed; and to identify those trying to unduly influence the outcome of the ballot, whether through bots on social media, artificial intelligence or supposed grass roots campaigns that are in fact a front for one undeclared interest or another. It's an...