Lucy Fisher

Deputy political editor at the Telegraph

Are the Treasury & the MOD at war?

11 min listen

George Robertson (pictured), a former defence secretary and former NATO secretary-general, has accused the government of 'corrosive complacency' towards defence, which puts the UK 'in peril'. This is all the more stinging because the Labour peer was one of the authors of the government's Strategic Defence Review – and that makes two of the three who have since criticised it. How much trouble does this spell for Starmer? And is this just the latest battle in the ongoing war between His Majesty's Treasury and the Ministry of Defence? Megan McElroy speaks to James Heale and Lucy Fisher, Whitehall editor of the financial times and who broke the story. Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

Are the Treasury & the MOD at war?

Britain is not ready for war – and Labour isn’t doing enough

38 min listen

Britain is defenceless, declares the Spectator's cover piece this week. From the size of the armed forces to protection against cyber warfare, the government is not spending fast enough to meet the UK's security challenges. But is the public ready to choose warfare over welfare? And can we blame the young people who don't want to fight for their country? For this week's Edition, host William Moore is joined by opinion editor Rupert Hawksley, columnist Matthew Parris, and Whitehall editor of the Financial Times Lucy Fisher. As well as meeting Britain's defence challenge, they discuss: whether the Mandelson scandal is bigger than the Profumo affair; the organised gangs terrorising rural farmers in the UK; and, why some people just can't get enough of conspiracy theories.

Britain is not ready for war – and Labour isn’t doing enough

Will David Cameron win over Republicans?

12 min listen

David Cameron is stateside meeting Republicans and Democrats as the Foreign Secretary tries to muster up support for the US to send aid to Ukraine. Before that he stopped by Mar-a-Lago to meet Donald Trump – the two haven't seen eye-to-eye in the past. Will the Republicans warm to Cameron? Katy Balls speaks to Freddy Gray and Lucy Fisher, Whitehall correspondent at the Financial Times.

Have the Tories given up on Wellingborough & Kingswood?

10 min listen

Inflation figures released this morning have remained at 4 per cent – a worry for Rishi Sunak's five pledges. There are several hurdles are still to come for the Prime Minister this week, including growth figures tomorrow and two by-elections on Friday. Why are the Tories keeping things low-key on the campaign trail? James Heale is joined by Kate Andrews and Lucy Fisher Whitehall editor of the Financial Times.

What can we learn from Nigel Lawson?

16 min listen

Nigel Lawson, former chancellor and Spectator editor, passed away yesterday aged 91. How did he affect conservative economic thinking? And have the lessons from his time in the Treasury been properly learnt? James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Lucy Fisher. Produced by Max Jeffery.

Are Tories faced with another sleaze scandal?

11 min listen

Crispin Blunt, a Conservative MP, was forced to apologise today after he tweeted support last night for Imran Ahmad Khan, another Tory MP who was found guilty of sexual assault. His statement called the verdict 'a dreadful miscarriage of justice' that relied on ‘lazy tropes of LGBT+ people'. ‘The condemnation has been pretty universal. I haven’t spoken to anyone that has who has stuck up for him [Crispin Blunt].’ - Lucy FisherIn the wake of the David Warburton scandal last week, does the Conservative party have a more widespread culture problem?Also on the podcast, 50 more fines have been made for partying in Westminster during the lockdown. How serious is this?Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and Lucy Fisher, the chief political commentator at Times Radio.

The last days of the Kabul airlift

13 min listen

Chaos surrounds the Hamid Karzai airport today as two explosions and a potential knife attack has left at least 13 dead. The attacks are suspected to be suicide bombers from ISIS-K, as the American and British military had feared. What does this mean for the evacuation in its last days? Cindy Yu talks to Isabel Hardman and Lucy Fisher, deputy political editor of the Telegraph.