Episodes
It’s been a horrendous campaign for the Conservatives so far, careening from disaster to catastrophe, but the Tories don't have the exclusive on political drama. This week Nish and Coco focus on the action in the devolved nations, with a particular focus on Wales and Northern Ireland.
Published 06/20/24
Published 06/20/24
Following a week of political manifestoes dropping from UK parties - Nish & Coco take a deep-dive investigation to see how they hold up against one another. With a focus on manifestoes that have left-wing approaches - the panel discuss what policies are the most realistic and which hold up the best under scrutiny.
Published 06/16/24
The polls are indicating a landslide victory for Labour come the election on July 4th. But that hasn’t stopped the calls - from both the left and the right - for citizens to vote tactically. But what does that really mean in Britain’s broken electoral system?
Published 06/13/24
The UK’s sorry state of affairs when it comes to water and railways is both a massive problem and an opportunity for the incoming government. Water companies are teetering on the brink of collapse and it feels inevitable that they will soon fall back in to public ownership. But how can we pay for renationalised services?
Published 06/09/24
In week two of the campaigns for the upcoming General Election - the fight for the centre vote has become a focal point. But the crucial question - what will this do for the future of politics in the UK?
Published 06/06/24
It’s week one of the campaign and after a comical series of false starts, Rishi Sunak and the Tories have fired the first shots in a campaign of generational warfare.
Published 05/30/24
Nish and Coco are joined by Abigail Thorn (actress, writer and host of PhilosophyTube) and Freddy McConnell (writer and journalist) to examine the issues facing the trans and non-binary community in the UK today.
Published 05/26/24
Nish and Coco bring you a hot off-the-press special look at the announcement of a UK general election. On Wednesday 22nd May - Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the next general election will be on Thursday 4th July 2024. It appeared to be a sudden decision that surprised even his own Conservative MPs. But this announcement brings a whole host of questions with it. What key issues will this election be fought on? Is the timing helpful to any party in particular? How will Sunak fare under...
Published 05/23/24
The UK is officially out of recession - Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have been banging the drum of the 0.6% GDP growth in the Jan-March quarter, but are things actually getting better? George Monbiot drops into the studio to demystify Neoliberalism - the invisible economic doctrine that has influenced UK politics and policy since the Thatcher years. George also brings some fresh ideas for how citizens can move away from being consumers and recapture our democracy.
Published 05/16/24
“A hung Parliament” - it’s not quite admitting defeat, but the new media lines from Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party suggest that even the Government knows its days are numbered. Nish and Coco unpack Sunak’s shock admission and some of the highlights from the local elections. Comedian, actor and activist (and old colleague of Nish) Aisling Bea drops in to talk about campaigning against food insecurity. The “Essentials Guarantee” campaign championed by the Trussell Trust asks that...
Published 05/09/24
While the results from elections across England & Wales are still rolling in - the signs so far are pointing to a disastrous outcome for the Conservative party. So Nish & Coco have jumped on for this special bonus episode to pop the champagne - asking exactly what it means ahead of the General Election - whenever that will eventually be called!
Published 05/03/24
The Westminster rumour mill went into overdrive last weekend peddling an ultimately incorrect rumour that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was due to call a summer election. With suggestions that this rumour was started by the Labour Party, Nish and Coco ask whether progressives might be starting to control the narrative. And might that change in power balance towards the Left also be coming to the fore in Scotland? Following the shock resignation of First Minister and SNP Leader Humza Yousaf,...
Published 05/02/24
Rishi Sunak finally ‘got Rwanda done’ after a long and dramatic night as his Safety of Rwanda Bill ping-ponged between the Common and the Lords. Our guest, the Green MP Caroline Lucas, tells Coco what it was like to be in Westminster that night and criticises Rishi Sunak for holding a drinks party while the Bill - which she describes as “a piece of performative cruelty” - was still being debated in the Lords. She also discusses her new book about why the left needs to speak up for...
Published 04/25/24
On a busy week of news as MPs return to Parliament, Nish and Coco are joined by the Labour MP Jess Phillips. She gives her take on the investigation into Angela Rayner’s tax affairs, and reveals the toll it’s taking on her party’s deputy leader. A discussion on Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel leads Jess to reveal her family links to Iran, and there’s some rare praise for Rishi Sunak for his anti-smoking legislation. Jess also says Diane Abbott should get the whip back, despite the two...
Published 04/18/24
Coco is back from holiday and the first order of business is for Nish to explain the Westminster “honeypot” scandal, which has seen the vice-chairman of the 1922 committee resign. But beyond a salacious story about MPs texting, what are the broader security issues this raises? Nish and Coco also take issue with Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting attacking “middle-class lefties” in a tabloid newspaper. Special guest Shami Chakrabarti joins Nish and Coco to discuss human rights - what they...
Published 04/11/24
With the Government’s controversial Rwanda Bill currently stuck between the Commons and the Lords, this timely special episode focuses on the UK’s asylum policy. Nish takes up an invitation to speak about the issue at the House of Lords. The event has been organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, in conjunction with the makers of a new film called Io Capitano - which follows the perilous migration journey of two young boys travelling from Senegal to Europe in search of a...
Published 04/04/24
As Westminster goes on its Easter holidays, Nish and Coco reflect on a busy end of term that saw a couple of ministerial resignations and a diplomatic row with China. Nish asks if Lord Cameron’s post No.10 activities leave him compromised in dealing with China as Foreign Minister. Coco also raises the plight of the WASPI women, who lost out due to the change in pension age - will they ever see any compensation? Special guest George the Poet joins Nish and Coco for a fascinating conversation...
Published 03/28/24
This week Nish and Coco ask if our politics is on sale to those with the deepest pockets? The Conservative Party would love us all to move on from the row around the £15 million donation from Frank Hester, but it’s a story that highlights the often murky world of political funding. Nish and Coco talk to investigative journalist Peter Geoghagen about what the rules are, what donors get for their money, and whether there’s a better way to do it. Dodgy donations have also cast a bit of a cloud...
Published 03/21/24
Another shocker of a week for the Conservatives which saw their biggest donor caught up in a race row, and their former Deputy Chairman defect to Reform UK. Beth Rigby, Political Editor at Sky News, tells Nish and Coco that the Tories don’t want to give back the £10 million they received from Frank Hester last year, despite the racist language he’s alleged to have used about the MP Diane Abbott. Beth also reveals what happened at the surprisingly tetchy press conference held by Reform to...
Published 03/14/24
Did the Chancellor’s much anticipated pre-election budget fall flat? Nish and Coco pick over the details and wonder why our public services are being sacrificed for the sake of tax cuts. There’s reaction from Westminster from political journalist Kiran Stacey, who says that there are signs of the budget unravelling already. Rachelle Earwaker from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says it does nothing for the poorest in society, calling it a budget for “big earners and big owners”. Find out how...
Published 03/07/24
With a huge lead in the polls, all the signs point to Keir Starmer moving into Downing Street by the end of the year, so how well do we know the man who would be PM? Guest co-presenter Liz Bates attempts to get behind the rather dull public image, by interrogating Tom Baldwin, who spent hours talking to Starmer for his new authoritative biography of the Labour leader. The conversation takes an emotional turn when Liz and Tom discuss Starmer’s difficult relationship with his dad; how he...
Published 02/29/24
Nish and guest co-presenter Liz Bates set the scene on what went on to become a chaotic night in the Commons, that put speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s job at risk. They call out the “pathetic and petty” political game playing that sought to use the suffering of people in Gaza to embarrass the Labour Party. There are also harsh words for Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch for using the Commons to settle scores in her row with the former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton. Former Pop Idol winner Will...
Published 02/22/24
A week that was supposed to bring more woe for Rishi Sunak has turned into arguably the biggest test of Keir Starmer’s leadership. Labour has had to suspend two of its parliamentary candidates for making comments about Israel. For Starmer, who’s staked his reputation on ridding Labour of anti-semitism, it’s been hugely embarrassing. Nish and Coco reflect on the farcical situation in Rochdale, where Azhar Ali will appear as a Labour candidate on the by-election ballot in a couple of weeks,...
Published 02/15/24
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf joins Nish and Coco to reflect on the highs and lows of his first year as leader. He takes us back to the fateful Valentine’s night phone call with Nicola Sturgeon that changed his life, and tells us how he felt watching his former mentor shed a tear at the Covid Inquiry last week. The First Minister talks about the helplessness he felt when his family members were trapped in Gaza, and reveals his fears for his brother-in-law, a surgeon who remains in...
Published 02/08/24