Today, Esther McVey speaks to parents about the impact the schools shutdown is having on their children.  The parents are all part of the group UsforThem - a campaign to reopen schools that's taken the country by storm this week.

They ask how can it be right that school children - those least affected by COVID-19 itself - are the ones who are being most impacted by the Government's measures to tackle it?

A year on from our last discussion on education, schools are still shut.  What have we done to a generation of children in that intervening year?

Speaker list:

- Liz Cole, Co-Founder of UsforThem (01:40)

- Victoria Slatter, mother of two (06:17)

- Christine Brett, Co-Founder of UsforThem (08:27)

- Adrian Kneeshaw, CEO fo Carlton Bolling Academy Trust (16:14)

- Rachel Maile, parent (20:24)

- Emma Reece, parent (23:55)

Happy New Year!  Esther's back with a special episode of Blue Collar Conversations that looks back on 2020 and forward to 2021.

Our podcast series began last year as the country went into lockdown.

We were first to break the news about the situation in care homes - the appalling circumstances these homes found themselves in as elderly patients moved out of hospital back to the home without Covid checks, the lack of PPE and the lack of care visits. 

We spoke to the military to find out why they weren't being used more, why the NHS & Government weren't using their skills and talents to the full extent not just to set up the Nightingale hospitals but to run them.

We raised issues of the media coverage, asked considered whether COVID put an end to the Age of the Entrepreneur, spoke to those businesses who were falling through the cracks, caught up with University students about how they were being let down and being ripped off and spoke to teachers & Unions about the general state of education during a pandemic. 

Week by week, in real time, we chronicled what Covid & lockdown did to us last year. 

New Year (hooray!)... and we are back in lockdown (oh...).

To help us navigate the pessimism that 2021 is trying so hard to make us all feel about the year ahead, we're joined by former Shadow Chancellor Lord Michael Howard (01:37), the Diocese of Canterbury The Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin (12:26) and celebrity psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos (23:54).  

How have they coped?  What is next in store, politically, spiritually, behaviourally?  And where do we as a society go from here? 

"Staycation" is the word on everyone's lips this summer after the Prime Minister urged the nation to holiday at home in an effort to boost the UK tourism industry during lockdown.  

And those who had been determined to get away are now staying at home having had their flights cancelled - so UK here we come!  So let's discover our hidden treasures, our coastlines and our countrysides and let loose the Great British adventurer in us all!

But where are people staying? And how are they getting around?  What will the impact on the "staycation" boom be on British businesses?  Will it be enough for them to survive?  

To tackle these questions and more, we're joined by three industry experts to learn more:

(01:13) Ben Holland, owner of Spinney Motor Homes

(11:45) Alicia Cox, director of Talhenbont Hall

(20:29) William Robinson, MD of Robinson's Brewery

Does the Government actually understand our high streets and their needs?  Will state hand-outs be enough for businesses to survive?  

They are just some of the many concerns business owners have raised following the Government's recent announcement that beauty salons, casinos and theatres - among many other types of services - must stay shut whilst pubs, restaurants, swimming pools and bingo halls open.  

Are these decisions informed by science?  Or is there something altogether more discriminatory driving the decision-making in Government? 

Joining Esther McVey to discuss these issues and more are four business owners who are still unable to work because of lockdown regulations:

(00:57) Roberta Dyer, owner of Roberta Beauty Redefined

(08:15) Cathryn Lyon, Head of Hair & Beauty at Manchester College

(12:07) Simon Thomas, Chief Executive of The Hippodrome in London

(20:39) Paul Roseby, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre 

Boris Johnson channelled his inner Franklin Roosevelt this week to deliver his "New Deal" speech.  Aimed at moving the national debate away from lockdown and onto the future, the Prime Minster promised to "build, build, build".

With the Chancellor set to map out the Government's plan to nurse the economy back to health on Wednesday, Esther McVey is joined by three guests to discuss the detail in the Prime Minister's speech, the significance of having delivered it in Dudley and what the Chancellor needs to include in his plan to rebuild the economy after COVID:

(01:58) Matthew Goodwin, Professor of politics at the University of Kent

(09:38) John Redwood MP, former Secretary of State and policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher

(23:29) Lord Norman Lamont, former Chancellor of the Exchequer

As the debate rumbles on about how and when to get children back into school, we've reached out to two blue collar champions to explain what needs to be done:

(2:11) Stuart Herdson is the former President of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (at home and abroad), which is one of the country's top teaching unions.

(12:26) Adrian Kneeshaw is the CEO of Carlton Bolling College and has a history of turning round failing schools into outstanding centres of education.

How can it be right that school children - who are the least affected by COVID-19 - end up the most impacted by it in the long term?

How did we go from lockdown to breakdown?

The appalling death of George Floyd in police custody triggered outrage in America; outrage that travelled over 4,000 miles from Minnesota to the streets of London.

At first, there was confusion about how to address the situation here in the UK.  The suddenness with which anger had travelled across the pond, combined with the sensitivities around issues dealing with racism, meant things got quickly out of control.

When the peaceful protests turned to rioting, police seemed to be caught off-guard.  And this happened during the COVID-19 lockdown - a lockdown, up until that moment, the public had largely abided by.

So what happened? Were the police unprepared for riots on the back of lockdown? Should permission for the protests been refused from the outset?  Were the protests distorted by media coverage?  How should the police have handled things?

To help us tackle these questions and more, we speak to:

1) Graham Wettone, retired police officer and author of 'How to be a Police Officer' (01:47 - 14:52)

2) Maurisa Coleman, Ambassador for Notting Hill Carnival and political assistant (15:08 - 24:30)

3) Kash Singh, former Police Inspector and now CEO of One Britain One Nation (24:45 - 29:52)

4) John Apter, National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales (30:24 - 37:20)

After another weekend of protests & demonstrations, the only form of mass gathering that has happened in over two months, Blue Collar Conversations asks...

What does the Summer of 2020 have in store for us and will mass gatherings this summer only be ones of protest? 

COVID-19 has certainly changed how we come together, with concerts, music festivals, pride events, theatre shows all disappearing for the foreseeable future - and if these live events go - then so do the livelihood of millions of our country’s musicians. 

How can we reverse that? And bring people back together to celebrate? 

To help us answer how Covid has changed the music industry we speak to 5 industry experts:

1) Chris Wright, founder of Chrysalis Records (01:30)

2) Ed Barker, former saxophone soloist for George Michael (09:04)

3) Natalia Bonner, violinist, providing the music for film soundtracks & tours performing Chamber music (13:35)

4) Mark Radcliffe, Broadcaster, writer & producer (19:33)

5) Peter Nicholson, founder of Sound Level Events in Southampton (24:30)

During Coronavirus we have consumed more news than ever before as we try to get to grips with Covid-19; how it is affecting us, our community and the world over. So who is in charge of our news and where facts are gathered and how accurate and impartial it is, is vital. 

During Covid-19, newspapers , TV, radio and news websites are having to undergoing significant changes, facing threats from many angles, from a more discerning public questioning news content to revenue reducing as fewer people buy papers during lockdown to advertising drying up as businesses cut costs. Taken together these are are radically altering the media industry as we know it. 

So who will survive and how will the media be changed in a post Covid world ? 

We speak to :

(0220 - 0814) Gary Jones, Editor in Chief of Express Newspapers, part of the Reach Group the biggest publishers of local and national newspapers.

(0842 - 1611) Steve Anderson, an independent producer/director of television programmes, who’s been Executive producer of BBC Question Time, head of news and current affairs at ITV, editor of the 6 o’clock news, Watchdog and Panorama, and Editor of Newsnight. 

(1639 - 2409) Tom Harwood, Senior Reporter at the Guido Fawkes website

(2451 - 3103) Christian May: Editor in Chief of City A.M.

When the doors to the hairdressers eventually open, will you be first in the queue - wearing a mask and getting your hair done - or will you continue doing your hair colour at home, saving pennies, still cautious of contact ? 

Will the beauty industry often seen as recession proof be one of the sectors helping Britain bounce back after lockdown? Will it be the sector that raises the nation’s spirit and spending?

Worth £500billion globally and employing millions of people, how will the beauty industry fair in the age of online and social distancing? 

We speak to Ann-Marie Baker, leading hairdresser at TONI&GUY, economist and author Dr. Lind Yueh, Dominic McGregor, co-founder of Social Chain, and fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogger Susie Cormack Bruce.