Episodes
In 2024 Britain nearly 140,000 kids are homeless. Just because you don’t see them on the street doesn’t mean they’re not there. This is Britain’s temporary accommodation crisis, one which is worsening. Temporary accommodation was once a safe harbour for a few days, a week, a month or so at most. Now, thanks to rocketing rents and inadequate housing supply, more and more families find a single room in a hotel or accommodation block their permanent home. In this latest News Agents...
Published 04/28/24
Published 04/28/24
This week on The Sports Agents... A Premier League launched an attack on VAR via their social media account - and threatened legal action... Is there actually any legal recourse for victims of a dodgy offside decision? The Athletic's David Ornstein joined us on the pod to discuss the chaos at Nottingham Forest. Ultra-marathon runner Jasmine Parris then spoke to Gabby & Mark about becoming the first women to ever complete the Barkley Marathons and just what it takes to conquer the...
Published 04/27/24
Lord Neil Kinnock - Labour leader from 1983 to 1992, Thatcher's biggest rival in her pomp, joins Lewis in the studio for a sit down chat to talk about his political life, from the 1950s to Harold Wilson, his interactions with Jeremy Corbyn and his hopes, (or whether he has any doubts), about Sir Keir Starmer. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Interview Producer: Alex Barnett Social Media Editor: Rory Symon Video Production: Shane Fennelly &...
Published 04/26/24
Scotland's First Minister is facing a confidence vote after he pulled the plug this morning on his coalition government by ejecting the two Green party members of his cabinet. Humza Yousaf is making the case for a fresh start - unburdened by culture wars issues and climate change issues pulling the SNP in a direction it's no longer prepared to go in. But the Conservatives in Scotland smell blood. Can they bring the whole government crashing down with their vote? Later, Mick Lynch on the...
Published 04/25/24
The Prime Minister is in Europe this week making the case for an increase in defence spending of £75 billion over the next six years - to deal with growing global threats in a turbulent world. That's the headline at least. But Labour is asking pesky questions. Where is the new money actually coming from? And is the lift as great as it actually seems? We break down the numbers a little to see if the sums work. Later, Angela Rayner put her own housing issues centre stage at PMQs today against...
Published 04/24/24
Australia’s PM is at war with Elon Musk - calling him an ‘arrogant billionaire’ - and worse. He’s fighting to get violent images of a church stabbing in Sydney banned from Twitter/X. Elon Musk says it's censorship and an infringement on free speech. So who is going to win out here - regulation or tech money? Later, as more immigrants die in the Channel, we ask if Rwanda can act as a deterrent. And - on St. George’s day - what does patriotism mean to you - red and white cuff links? Cups of...
Published 04/23/24
Rishi is making those naughty Lords stay in the chamber until they pass his Rwanda Bill without pesky amendments. That may come in the early hours of tomorrow morning. But even once the legal hurdles are passed, the practicalities will still be fiendish. Why has the first plane date been delayed again? Which airline is willing to take on the legal risk? How do immigrants' 'inadmissability appeals' work? And why did the government slip out the 24% INCREASE on small boat arrivals during this...
Published 04/22/24
This week on The Sports Agents... A Sports Agents exclusive - Mark & Gabby had a first-look at an independent report into diversity at the senior levels of sport across every major National Governing Body in UK - Sporting Equals Chief executive Arun Kang joined them in the studio to unpack the findings... Former Lioness Eni Aluko then reflected on her own experiences - after becoming the first black woman in Italy to own a football club. Plus, how damaging were Manchester City &...
Published 04/20/24
The Middle East, the world, not for the first time in these long six months, has been holding its breath. Ever since Iran fired 300 hundred rockets into Israel, itself a response to the Israel’s killing of several senior Iranian military figures in Damascus, that dreaded word “escalation” has haunted the conversation, the grim realisation that the region, maybe more than the region, is just one mistake, one miscalculation away from all out war in every direction. Overnight, the promised...
Published 04/19/24
**Since publication, Savanta revised the polling data included in this episode to show the Labour candidate on a two point lead. More information here** A 3am call, and a Tory MP talking about a life or death situation in which he was being held captive in a flat. Amazingly, that wasn't even the weirdest bit. As the day, and the story, unfolded, there were allegations of campaign money donated by Conservative supporters being used to pay for the MP's medical bills and more. Mark Menzies ,...
Published 04/18/24
Yes, yes, yes. She crashed the economy, has blamed everyone else, made Britain a laughing stock, inflicted higher mortgage rates on millions of households, and was the shortest serving prime minister in our history. But her 49 days has spawned a 100,000 word book (be thankful she didn’t last ten years - can you imagine how long that book would be?). And it does have a central argument - that Britain has become an administrative state, with civil servants ruling the roost. Does she have a...
Published 04/17/24
It was a conference that few people here would have ever noticed. Suella, Nigel, Orban - speakers deemed "far right" by the Brussels authorities - found their conference filled with Belgian police as they took to the stage for their NatCon gathering. The Federal Deputy served a court order on the grounds the conference "endangered public safety" and asked for its immediate closure. Cue great excitement amongst the Nat Conners. They could not be more delighted with this intervention which...
Published 04/16/24
On Saturday night, Israel warned its citizens to go to a safe room and prepare to spend the night there. Two hours later, Iran began sending drones into Israeli territory - revenge for the killings of 7 men in the Iranian consulate two weeks ago in Damascus, Syria. Of the 350 drones, 99 percent were intercepted. Tragically -and miraculously - there was only one reported injury - a 7 year old Israeli bedouin child. So what happens next? Does Israel retaliate? Or heed it's allies and 'walk...
Published 04/15/24
This week on The Sports Agents... An array of stardust as the likes of legendary jockeyAP McCoy and Team GB icon Denise Lewis joined Gabby & Mark on the podcast. Is your Premier League club trying to kill off season tickets and is Everton's latest points deduction fair? Does Seb Coe deserve credit for announcing prize money will be paid to Athletes who win gold at the Olympics - and after terror threats at Champions League games - how will Paris ensure fan safety at the Games this...
Published 04/13/24
On today's episode, we speak to Europe's first black leader - Vaughan Gething, the new First Minister of Wales. In an extended conversation, we talk his rise to the top of Welsh politics amidst experiences of racism, his political motivations and what is next for Wales if Labour return to power. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producers: Laura FitzPatrick Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Shane Fennelly and Arvind Badewal You can listen to this episode...
Published 04/12/24
TW: This episode includes discussions around suicide. If you need someone to talk to, Samaritans listen. Call them on 116 123. Last week, The National Union of Education voted overwhelmingly at their conference to 'abolish Ofsted' - saying it causes more harm than good and needed urgent and fundamental reform. They can't, of course, but today we - with your help - are asking if Ofsted is fit for purpose. We hear from teachers and heads - our listeners - who tell us what needs to change....
Published 04/11/24
William Wragg, the MP who found himself blackmailed by a person to whom he'd sent explicit photographs - last night resigned the Conservative party whip. It means Sunak has lost another MP - Wragg will quit parliament anyway after the next election. He was the victim of a honeytrap which lured him into believing the messages he was receiving from a stranger. But he was also unwise enough to share colleagues contact details when pressured by his blackmailer. Today we go back to the origins...
Published 04/10/24
It is a truth near-universally acknowledged (amongst pollsters at least) that Labour will be the largest party at the next election. But how would they actually differ from the Tories in terms of what they do once in power? They've pledged not to raise taxes and not to remove the recent cuts. They're determined to be fiscally responsible - which means little room for spending plans. So what will actually change - at a moment when the country is crying out for repair? We talk to Shadow...
Published 04/09/24
Police are re-examining claims Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner may have broken electoral law more than a decade ago by failing to pay a capital gains tax worth around £2000. Is there a real story here? Is it about impropriety? Class? Big money vs. small money? And who’s behind it? Later author of Autocracy Inc. Anne Applebaum on Donald Trump's plan to “end the Ukraine war“ and why it makes no sense. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Social...
Published 04/08/24
This week on The Sports Agents, your questions for Gabby & Mark on everything from Olympics predictions, to how the panel on Match of the Day is selected! Plus, Sky Sports NFL analyst Phoebe Schecter on Louis Rees-Zammit's chances of becoming a regular starter for the reigning Super Bowl champs, after he made the switch from Rugby to NFL. And a closer look at the 'fractured' state of Golf - a week away from The Masters - with English pros Richard Bland and Laurie Canter on the reality of...
Published 04/06/24
Ian Hislop, editor of The Private Eye and team captain on Have I Got News For You sits down with Lewis for an extended conversation about political satire in the modern era of the Westminster psychodrama, and what it was like to have contestants like Piers Morgan and Boris Johnson on his show. Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producer: Laura FitzPatrick Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Shane Fennelly and Arvind Badewal You can listen to this episode on...
Published 04/05/24
In the early hours of Thursday morning Layla Moran - the only British MP of Palestinian heritage- received news she’d been longing to hear for months. Her family had finally escape from Gaza. Through perilous crossings and treacherous check points a family of five - including a seventy year old grandmother and two young children- had walked to safety. As Layla herself recognises their relief is starkly contrasted with the two million others who can’t escape. Today we hear that story. And...
Published 04/04/24
The Prime Minister has called the Israeli Prime Minister's actions in Gaza 'increasingly intolerable' in a phone call with Netanyahu after the deaths of three British aid workers in an Israeli airstrike. The words are tougher than we've seen before. But the PM is now coming under pressure to end arms sales to Israel. Will he wait for America to move first? Is he watching to see where public opinion goes? Should Keir Starmer be more forthright - as the Lib Dem leader has been - in taking...
Published 04/03/24
A new law has Police Scotland saying that they'd investigate every online hate crime. But what they've categorised as a hate crime has caused controversy. Why? And should the state decide what is and isn't a protected characteristic? And - Israel accept responsibility and apologise for a rocket strike that's killed foreign aid workers in Gaza. It comes after a precision stirke on the Iranian consulate in Syria. What is the IDF doing - and is it ostracising their greatest allies the US even...
Published 04/02/24