Cindy Yu

The Taleban are continuing their advance through Afghanistan, and are on the cusp of taking control in the major cities of Herat and Kandahar. The group's fighters have predictably ignored the Doha Agreement, but has the speed of their success taken politicians by surprise, and how much of an embarrassment is the deteriorating situation for the White House and Downing Street? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch could replace Gavin Williamson as education secretary in the next reshuffle, according to reports today. Should he be moved, and how is he making his case for staying? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.

In a ConservativeHome poll on who should replace Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak came out on top. It comes as the Chancellor is reportedly pushing the PM to relax travel restrictions. Is this a problem for No. 11? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.

A row is brewing with France over the government's decision to put the country on an 'amber plus' list, where restrictions on quarantine are tighter. But the reasoning for this has been ill-communicated by the government - is the measure worth the trouble? On the podcast, Katy Balls summarises the reasons for a backlash succinctly: 'It's frustrating not just for those who've booked holidays to France... but also to the travel industry, because obviously they're trying to play by a set of rules that you think you understand, and then all of a sudden a new category exists' We also discuss Keir Starmer's call for the government to move the August 16 date - when double-jabbed people will no longer have to isolate if they are pinged - forward.

Daily cases have fallen again today, leading to cautious optimism that - perhaps - cases in this exit wave have peaked. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.

Today the CBI gave a stern warning that the test and trace app is 'closing down the economy'. Despite this, the government's key workers list - promised on Monday - has still not been released. What's the hold up, and what will this mean for Boris Johnson's summer as MPs head home for recess? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

The Prime Minister looked visibly uncomfortable at Prime Minister's Questions today, as Keir Starmer accused him of 'giving racism the green light' with the Conservative party's stance on footballers taking the knee. It comes after a week in which other Tories - notably Priti Patel - have been criticised by footballers and begs the question - did the Conservatives wade into a culture war they can't win? Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman. Isabel points out that the Tories were never going to win in a popularity contest: 'But really, it was obvious - and has long been obvious - that footballers are more popular than politicians. So to pick a fight with them...

State pensions may rise by 8pc this year due to the Conservative policy of the pensions triple lock. But can the government keep to it, given the extraordinary economic circumstances we are in? Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.

Cindy Yu talks to Fraser Nelson and Guido Fawkes blogger Paul Staines about the Matt Hancock revelations and how reporting on sex scandals has changed over the years.

Daily new cases are just under 17,000 today, and Angela Merkel has advised other EU leaders to make British tourists quarantine upon entry to the bloc. So even if the British government allows a more liberal green list, would British tourists be welcomed abroad? Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Katy points out that this bodes well for July 19: 'So I wouldn't be surprised if you get some scientists used to commenting on this sounding the alarm in the coming days if it keeps going up at this rate.

In a political upset the Liberal Democrats have won the by-election in Chesham and Amersham in a massive poll swing from the Tories.  'What they've done is overturned a majority of 16,000 and then they've had quite a few votes to boot!' - Katy Balls And in other political the new DUP leader Edwin Poots has resigned, leaving his party to figure out what to do next. To dissect what happened, Cindy Yu is joined by James Forsyth and Katy Balls.