Politics Weekly UK
The Guardian
289 episodes
Guardian columnist John Harris, political editor Pippa Crerar, and policy editor Kiran Stacey analyse the week's politics news
Episodes page 3 of 6
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Starmer: ‘We don’t want a trade war’
Keir Starmer has held an emergency press conference in response to Donald Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland. Pippa and Kiran discuss what the UK prime minister said and how it may be received. Help support our…
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Badenoch sacks Jenrick: who will win the fight for the right?
Sacked, suspended and the whip removed – Kemi Badenoch announced in spectacular fashion that Robert Jenrick was booted out of the Tory party for plotting to defect. John Harris and Kiran talk about how this will play…
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X rated: Ofcom investigates Grok
Ofcom has launched an investigation into X over its AI tool Grok – but what does it mean when the platform is widely used by the government? Plus, Pippa and Kiran discuss Nadhim Zahawi’s defection to Reform UK, and why…
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Kidnapping and chaos: welcome to Trump’s world
In just one week Venezuela’s president was kidnapped by the US, Donald Trump talked of needing Greenland, the UK and France agreed to deploy troops in Ukraine if a peace deal was reached, and two oil tankers were…
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Is Starmer’s silence on Venezuela worth it?
Pippa and Kiran discuss the mounting pressure on Keir Starmer to condemn the US capture of Nicolás Maduro. The prime minister is keen to walk the diplomatic tightrope but at what cost to his reputation globally and…
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Revisited: How the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice
In this podcast from 4 April, John Harris speaks to Today in Focus about how music helped him connect with his son, James. Harris tells Helen Pidd what he has learned about the way some autistic people experience…
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Starmer v Starmer: why is the former human rights lawyer so cautious about defending human rights? – from The Audio Long Read
Many of his supporters hoped the prime minister would restore the UK’s commitment to international law. Yet Labour’s record over the past year has been curiously mixed By Daniel Trilling. Read by Simon Darwen. Help…
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Best of: Angela Rayner, Nicola Sturgeon, Catherine Ashton and Andy Burnham – podcast
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look back at some of their best interviews of 2025. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspod
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Review of 2025: another fine mess?
John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look back at the biggest political moments of 2025, and discuss what 2026 might bring. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspod
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John Crace on his book, The Bonfire of the Insanities
Pippa and Kiran speak to the Guardian’s sketch writer, John Crace, about his latest book, The Bonfire of the Insanities: How Does This Government Thing Work Again?, which is a compilation of his daily work starting…
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The Birth Keepers: I choose this – episode one
The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power. By free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life.…
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Farage under attack: will it damage Reform UK?
John Harris speaks to Yinka Bankole about his treatment as a nine-year-old at Dulwich college when Nigel Farage was a prefect. Plus, Kiran Stacey and John discuss whether Reform UK supporters will start to feel uneasy…
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Starmer meets Zelenskyy: is a new peace plan possible?
As Keir Starmer hosts Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss what the ‘coalition of the willing’ can achieve. Also in the spotlight is Labour’s shifting position on the EU. Plus, with…
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Could Reform UK and the Tories merge?
Nigel Farage was handed a £9m donation this week, amid reports he said elsewhere that a deal with the Conservatives before the general election was ‘inevitable’. John Harris speaks to Kiran Stacey about what this means…
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Can Keir Starmer save Rachel Reeves?
Pippa and Kiran discuss the prime minister’s speech on Monday and ask whether it will take attention away from allegations that the chancellor misled the public with her budget statements. Plus: chaos at Your Party’s…
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The budget: Labour’s big tax and spend gamble
John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey give their reactions to the chancellor’s autumn budget. Has Rachel Reeves done enough to silence her critics?. Help support our independent journalism at…
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A make-or-break week for the UK government
It is finally budget week, so Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the context of Rachel Reeves’s big moment and how high the stakes are. Plus, Kiran talks about what happened behind the scenes of his trip to…
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How dangerous are Labour’s asylum plans?
There was outrage from Labour MPs on Monday evening as Shabana Mahmood outlined her plans to shake up the asylum system. Will these policies be watered down? John Harris finds out what is happening behind the scenes…
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Labour’s risky asylum pitch – podcast
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look at radical plans from the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to tackle the ‘out of control’ asylum system. Plus, has the briefing row only made Keir Starmer’s rivals more coordinated?.…
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Why is the Labour party in such a mess?
John Harris is joined by Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey as an attempt to halt leadership manoeuvres against Keir Starmer has spectacularly backfired and put Starmer’s potential rival Wes Streeting on the front foot.…
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Can the BBC survive this crisis?
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the resignations of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its head of news, Deborah Turness. Plus, the growing unease within Labour about Keir Starmer’s leadership and what…
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Nicola Sturgeon on leadership, scandal and trolling the trolls
In a special, bonus episode of Politics Weekly, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey sit down with Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon for a frank conversation about her time in office and the future of…
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The chancellor’s impossible choice: economic necessity or political disaster?
John Harris speaks to the Guardian’s economics editor, Heather Stewart, about the unenviable choice facing Rachel Reeves. What price will she pay if she raises the basic rate of income tax for the first time in half a…
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What does Faragenomics look like?
Nigel Farage promised to set out his fiscal stall in a major speech in the City of London, but what did he actually say? Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss Farage’s retreat from its election promise to cut £90bn of…
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‘The centre cannot hold’: John Curtice on the collapse of two-party politics
No one likes being unpopular, so you could forgive both of the UK’s main political parties for wanting to look away when another damning poll dropped this week. Support for both parties has never been so low at the…
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Immigration system in crisis: sky-high hotel bills and a convict on the loose
Another week, another immigration crisis. A powerful parliamentary committee has accused the Home Office – for this government and the last – of squandering billions of pounds on asylum accommodation and overseeing a…
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Labour collapse in Caerphilly: the byelection that points to the future of UK politics
Labour’s electoral dominance in Caerphilly, deep in the party’s Welsh heartlands, has collapsed while Reform UK and Plaid Cymru have hoovered up votes. On a visit to the south Rhymney Valley ahead of a historic…
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The budget, the black hole and the Brexit blame game
Rachel Reeves is facing difficult choices before her second budget next month and has been busy preparing the ground. In a significant shift in the government’s narrative, Reeves has – at last – stressed the long-term…
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Trump’s fragile ceasefire plan: what next for Gaza?
As the Gaza ceasefire continues to hold, what road lies ahead in the peace process? John Harris speaks to the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour. Plus, what is at the heart of the Chinese spying case row?…
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Gaza ceasefire: what is the UK’s role?
All eyes are on the Middle East where there have been emotional scenes in Israel as hostages were released, while tens of thousands of Palestinians are able to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. As global…
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Labour’s Bridget Phillipson on Gaza, child poverty and the deputy leadership race
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey speak to the education secretary and Labour deputy leadership candidate Bridget Phillipson about the plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as why she is pushing the prime minister and…
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Tax cuts, jokes and pig-wrestling: Badenoch’s attempt to save her job
The Conservative leader used her conference speech to announce plans to scrap stamp duty and launch an attack on Labour, but why was there so little mention of the biggest threat facing her party? And will her…
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Make-or-break week for Badenoch
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey are at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, where Kemi Badenoch is trying to convince disgruntled Tory MPs to hold their nerve. But how much longer will the party give her to…
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Starmer takes the gloves off in fight with Farage
The UK prime minister has used his conference speech to take aim at Nigel Farage, warning that Reform UK offers only ‘division and decline’ while promising ‘renewal’ and ‘decency’ under Labour. John Harris, Pippa…
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Andy Burnham live in conversation
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey sit down with the mayor of Greater Manchester live at the Labour party conference in Liverpool. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspod
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Kent, where the politics of small boats and asylum has exploded
The conversation about asylum and immigration is at the centre of British politics, and nowhere more so than in Kent. This week, John Harris is on the road in a special episode looking at both sides of the immigration…
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‘We’ve taken our progressive voters for granted’: Labour ex-minister
John Harris is joined by the Labour MP Lucy Powell, a former cabinet minister who is a running for deputy leadership of the party, to discuss why the government is failing to stem the surge in support for Reform and…
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What does the UK recognising Palestinian statehood really mean?
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the UK’s recognition of Palestine as a state. With the US and Israel criticising the move, what will it mean for the war in Gaza, and for diplomacy? Plus, what do we know about the…
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Trump on tour: pomp, pageantry and politics
Donald Trump is back on UK soil for his ‘unprecedented’ second state visit. Will the US president’s trip help to distract from Keir Starmer’s challenges at home? Or could it leave the prime minister even more exposed?…
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Could Trump’s visit be a useful distraction for Starmer?
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the fallout from Keir Starmer’s handling of the sacking of the US ambassador, Peter Mandelson. And with growing questions about whether the prime minister can survive, they ask…
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Will the UK ever rejoin the EU?
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey speak to the minister for EU relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, about the fallout from Brexit and our relationship with the European Union. Plus, we hear his thoughts on Keir Starmer’s…
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Starmer’s Mandelson mess and deputy leadership damage
As the race to replace Angela Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader exposes tensions within the party, John Harris speaks to the former transport secretary Louise Haigh about what she thinks Keir Starmer should do to get…
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Reshuffle, Rayner resignation and rift with the unions
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the fallout from Angela Rayner’s resignation and Keir Starmer’s subsequent cabinet reshuffle. Why has Rayner’s departure raised concerns among union leaders? Who could become the…
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What’s feeding the rise of Reform? On the road in Birmingham
John Harris is at the Reform UK conference, asking how this once insurgent party came to dominate the political mainstream. And he speaks to people in Birmingham to find out what the rise of Nigel Farage’s party tells…
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Flags, flats and Labour in trouble (again)
It’s the first week back after summer recess and Labour is already in trouble, with the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, referring herself to the standards watchdog over underpaying tax on her flat. Meanwhile,…
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Starmer’s back-to-school headaches
Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey are back, talking through all of the challenges the government faces as MPs return to Westminster. Plus, they discuss the prime minister’s shake-up of his Downing Street team. Help support…
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No going back: Nigel Farage’s immigration plan
In a major speech this week, Reform UK set out how it would lower immigration. With controversial plans to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants and scrap key human rights protections, Nigel Farage described…
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A year of hate: what I learned when I went undercover with the far right – from The Audio Long Read
Working for Hope Not Hate, I infiltrated an extremist organisation, befriended its members and got to work investigating their political connections Written and read by Harry Shukman Find more from The Audio Long Read…
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Revisited: A day on the frontline of England’s social care crisis
An ageing population, a funding squeeze and a recruitment crisis have taken England’s adult social care system to breaking point. In this episode, recorded and first published in March, John Harris visited Greater…
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How does woke start winning again? – from The Audio Long Read
British progressives have suffered major setbacks in recent years, in both public opinion and court rulings. Was a backlash inevitable, and are new tactics needed? By Gaby Hinsliff. Read by Carlyss Peer Find more from…
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