Oscar Edmondson

Starmer and Sunak debated Labour's position on China at today's PMQs, with Starmer denying going soft on the Asian superpower. Did Sunak draw inspiration from Katy Balls's cover article in last week's Spectator? Katy and Isabel Hardman speak to Oscar Edmondson about the party dynamics behind the debate; how much pressure is each party under from their own China hawks?  Isabel also gives an overview of the debate around the Assisted Dying Bill, which was introduced to Parliament today. Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

The Budget is not due for a fortnight, yet with every day that passes its contents seem to become clearer. This morning Keir Starmer gave an interview to the BBC where he twice refused to rule out a rise in employer’s national insurance contributions in the Budget. Instead, he repeatedly stressed that Labour’s manifesto promise was specifically that it would 'not raise taxes on working people'. Can Rachel Reeves afford a national insurance hike?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Michael Gove.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

What Keir Starmer wants to be talking about today is his landmark £22 billion investment into carbon capture. Flanked by Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves, his speech was an unusually personal one where he spoke about the impacts of deindustrialisation. But how new is this policy? And what does this huge investment mean for the £20 billion black hole?  What Westminster seems more interested in talking about is the news that assisted dying is back on the agenda and the fallout of the deal to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Is there a degree of inevitability about these two stories resurfacing?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

The political equivalent of the Rumble in the Jungle happened last night when Starmer sat down for a two-hour dinner with Donald Trump, following the Prime Minister’s speech at the UN General Assembly. Details of what Trump and Starmer talked about are scant: the official read-out merely says they discussed the ‘longstanding friendship’ between Britain and America. Is this good politics from the prime minsiter?  Elsewhere, the Tory party conference kicks off in Birmingham this weekend and with it the beauty contest for the next Conservative leader. What should listeners expect?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Kate Andrews.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Events have moved on fast since Labour conference with the mounting prospect of ‘all out war’ in the Middle East. This comes after reports that Israel are preparing a ground invasion of Lebanon to push back Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. What levers are at the disposal of the international community to de-escalate this very volatile situation?  Also today, Keir Starmer’s impressive performance on the international stage risks being undermined by the freebies story which continues to rumble on. What’s the latest?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Michael Stephens, senior fellow at RUSI.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

We have some new inflation figures today. Inflation rose 2.2 per cent in the 12 months to August. This is pretty much in line with the Bank of England's target and should be good news for Labour, so why do they persist with this doom and gloom narrative?  Elsewhere, Labour's awkward week has got more awkward with the news that Sue Gray, Keir Starmer's chief of staff, is paid more than him. Surely they could have seen this news story coming?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Kate Andrews and James Heale. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

This weekend we had another twist in the story involving Labour donor Lord Alli, who was caught up in a 'cash for access' scandal a couple of weeks back. It now seems he has forked out the thick end of 20k on clothes and glasses for Keir Starmer and his wife. Foreign sec David Lammy was on the Sunday media round and gave a less than convincing defence of the prime minister and Lady Victoria. Has the PM broken the rules already?  Also today, Keir Starmer is in Rome meeting Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni today where they will be discussing boat crossings and Italy's deal with Albania. It’s a timely first engagement for Starmer’s new border security commander Martin Hewitt. Will he succeed in 'smashing the gangs'?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.

It's been a busy day in Westminster today. Labour avoided a large scale rebellion on the winter fuel allowance and Mel Stride was eliminated from the Tory leadership race – not to mention the sale of a certain weekly politics magazine. Oscar Edmondson discusses with Katy Balls and James Heale.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

It’s back to school day for kids up and down the country, and also back to school for our politicians who have returned from summer recess. To celebrate, Keir Starmer has announced that one-word Ofsted classifications will be scrapped with immediate effect. Is this the right move?  Also on the podcast, we have had the official launches of several Tory leadership campaigns in the last few days. What's the latest?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

We've got some news today on the inflation rate, which rose to 2.2 per cent in July, slightly up from the Bank of England’s target of 2 per cent, where the rate sat in May and June. It’s the first rate uptick this year – and though widely expected, it will be used to explain why the Bank’s continued hawkish stance, despite starting its rate-cutting process earlier this month. Is this a sign of economic conditions improving? Could it lead the way to interest rate cuts later this year?  Also today, the Treasury its under scrutiny after a Labour donor received a top civil service job. Do we need more transparency when it comes to political appointments?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Kate Andrews and James Heale.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

After successful showings at NATO and Blenheim Palace Keir Starmer is facing his first foreign policy tests, with big developments in Ukraine and in the Middle East. On the one hand, Ukrainian troops are continuing push into the Kursk region of Russia and on the other it looked last night that Iran had ramped up preparations for a possible invasion of Israel. Keir Starmer made a phone call last night to Tehran urging them to 'refrain from attacking Israel', warning against a 'serious miscalculation'.  Also today, Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat gave a press conference and took the opportunity to criticise the government response to the riots. Is he the law and order leadership candidate?

Should Keir Starmer go on holiday whilst the country is still grappling with violent disorder? In a YouGov poll on Thursday 71% of those surveyed said he shouldn’t. The PM is meant to be heading off on a summer break on Monday but that is looking increasingly unlikely. We still haven’t got the final word from No.10 but we we thought it was a good opportunity to take a look at the politics of prime ministerial holidays. Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Jon Rentoul, chief political commentator at the Independent.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

The Prime Minister has clashed with billionaire owner of ‘X’ Elon Musk over comments that Musk made claiming that – in light of the violent disorder across the country – the UK is heading for civil war. How long will this spat go on? And is this the start of Starmer being tough on the tech giants? Elsewhere, Rachel Reeves has been in North America this week attempting to bang the drum for Britain as 'a stable place to do business' … stable all expect for some significant market turmoil. What's the update?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Keir Starmer will be chairing his first Cobra meeting, as the government continues to grapple with the rioting that has broken out across the country. The weekend saw numerous examples of violence, including at hotels thought to be hosting asylum seekers. We had a statement from the prime minister condemning the ‘right wing thuggery’, but do we need a more complete approach to extremism? And will our prisons and our courts be able to accommodate the huge influx of offenders?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Ian Acheson, senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Police are bracing themselves for more violent disorder this weekend. This is in the aftermath of the tragic stabbings in Southport and unrest in London, Hartlepool and Southport. Keir Starmer made a statement yesterday condemning the protests and the involvement of far right actors for stoking up the violence and spreading disinformation online. Is there a double standard in government’s response to these latest protests? Oscar Edmondson speaks to Brendan O’Neill and John Woodcock, who advised government on political violence & disruption.  Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has today been providing covering fire for a raft of unpopular policies, including changes to the winter fuel allowance and cancellations to various building projects. She gave a damning statement in the Commons earlier this afternoon about the economic situation that Labour have inherited from the Tories. We now know that the first budget will come at the end of October. Is she laying the foundations for more unpopular decisions? Is the Starmer honeymoon over?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Three weeks in for the new government and we have had our first Labour rebellion. In a vote last night on an SNP amendments to axe the two child benefit cap, seven Labour MPs revolted and have subsequently lost the Labour whip. Parliament’s new awkward squad includes some familiar faces of the Labour left, such as John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana. The cast list is such that it’s unlikely Keir Starmer’s inner circle will lose much sleep about these MPs being without the whip for six months. The bigger question is, will they actually get it back?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Keir Starmer is at Blenheim Palace today for the gathering of the European Political Community, the forum created by Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While the new Prime Minister met with many world leaders last week in Washington for the Nato summit, this is his first time he has played host since entering 10 Downing Street. And he used his opening address to call for a 'reset' of relations with the EU, but what will that look like?  Oscar Edmondson speaks with Katy Balls and Charles Grant, director at the Centre for European Reform.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

It’s two days after the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump and we thought we would use this podcast to discuss some of the reaction from Westminster and look at how this latest example of political violence will impact our own politics here in the UK. Oscar Edmondson speaks to Kate Andrews and James Heale, who joins us from Milwaukee where he is reporting on the Republican National Convention.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.