HOW DID WE GET HERE? Explaining The News

You’ve probably heard of bitcoin - but do you know what that is, and how it works? Cryptocurrencies have emerged as one of the most captivating, yet head-scratching forms of investment in the word. They skyrocket in value. They crash. And, their fans claim, they’ll change the world. As El Salvador becomes the first government to demand everyone accept them as payment, it’s perhaps time we start paying attention. Should we start worrying about them, or should we be buying them? Andy Bell speaks to economist and author, Linda Yueh, to help make sense of it all. How Did We Get Here? Explaining the News is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts. Produced by Silvia Maresca.

No one could have foreseen the journey ahead of us. The effects of Covid-19 have touched every aspect of our way of life. But are we capable of living with the consequences and can government adapt? In February 2020, Andy Bell spoke with NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Paediatrics (Infectious Diseases) at King's College London, Dr Nathalie MacDermott about the 'strange' coronavirus which was just beginning to cause harm around the world. 16 months later, Andy Bell has gone back to Dr MacDermott to talk about what has happened since then and what we can expect next. In this episode, Dr MacDermott tells us her own story: she caught Covid at the beginning of last year and she has not fully recovered. "Somehow there has been some kind of damage to my spinal cord [...] And over the last year there seems to have been a progression of gradual loss of different neurological functions, so I now walk with crutches." She also worries that the current government strategy is risky and does not take into account the fact that even if people are not hospitalised, they can still suffer real ill health as a result. "Long Covid has a potential to cause a significant damage not just to people's lives and livelihood, but to our economy by people being sick of work for a year or more."

Vladimir Putin has accused the UK and US of “provocation” following the incident involving HMS Defender. Last week, The Royal Navy warship was shadowed by Russian vessels and buzzed by jets as it sailed through the disputed waters around Crimea near the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol. The Russian president claimed there was US involvement in the operation, with an American plane sent to monitor Moscow’s response. Moscow claimed that warning shots were fired by Russian vessels at the destroyer as it passed through the contested part of the Black Sea on June 23 – an assertion dismissed by the UK Government, which said only that a routine “gunnery exercise” took place. During a marathon live call-in show on Russian television, Mr Putin said “I don’t think we were on the brink of World War Three” but the incident “was a provocation”. Will this mean that we are already in a conflict with Russia - one that's even more intense than the Cold War and could this one get hotter? Andy Bell speaks with former Europe minister in the Labour Government and now Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia, Chris Bryant. Mr Bryant talks us through the relationship between Russia and Britain since Vladimir Putin took power. "Cordial but robust" is how Chris would describe the relationship Britain should have with Russia. "We are already in conflict," he points out and there is a "semi warfare going on already" but he doesn't think Britain and Russia will end up shooting artillery at one another.

The G7, also known as the Group of Seven, is an international organisation made up of the world's seven largest advanced economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The member country holding the G7 presidency, currently the UK, is responsible for organising and hosting the year's annual summit. This year the event will take place in the Cornish seaside resort of Carbis Bay between the 11th and 13th of June for what will be the 47th summit. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hosting the event but, how does the host government make one a success? And, do we even need these international jamborees? Andy Bell speaks with former veteran and senior adviser to Gordon Brown, now Lord Stewart Wood. Lord Wood talks us through what actually happens on these big occasions behind closed doors. He says that politicians get really excited and people actually have to do the hard work for the summit to be successful. But "on the whole, it's an amazingly positive moment unless something goes wrong." He also adds that in hosting the summit you need to have what it's called a 'deliverable' - an output which is and will be remembered. How did we get here? Explaining the news is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts.

Jon Cruddas has thought and worried about Labour losing touch with its traditional voters probably more than any other MP. He first had to confront the threat of the BNP taking those voters more than a decade ago in Dagenham and he's been worrying about it ever since. His commitment and integrity to Labour was reflected in the fact he won the most first preference votes in the contest to be Deputy Leader in 2007, and he's preferred to influence policy rather than take roles in the Shadow Cabinet. He was asked by Ed Miliband to set out how Labour could maintain its appeal to its traditional voters, and has just written a book called "The Dignity of Labour". In this frank interview he says there is no future in Labour abandoning those traditional voters and pursuing voters in cities and university towns - and anyway it would betray Labour's fundamental purpose, which is to represent working-class voters. But he does share his concern that the party could die if it does not reconnect with those voters, he tells Andy Bell the way to do it is to look across the Atlantic at what President Joe Biden is doing. How did we get here? Explaining the news is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing mounting pressure over the funding of the refurbishment to his Downing Street flat, just weeks after former Prime Minister David Cameron was questioned over a lobbying row to do with his work with Greensill Capital. There is an avalanche of headlines and questions surrounding politician's honesty in public life - is this just an inevitable messiness of money colliding with power? Or is it corruption in the UK's highest office? Dr Hannah White OBE is currently the Deputy Director at the Institute for Government with extensive knowledge of Westminster and Whitehall based on over a decade of experience in parliament and the civil service. Previously she ran the Committee on Standards in Public Life in the Cabinet Office - the Committee responsible for overseeing these matters. Hannah's OBE was awarded to her for 'Services to the Constitution' in 2020. How did we get here? Explaining the news is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts.

As Scotland gears up to vote for a new parliament, is it also heading for another independence referendum? Just seven years after the "once in a generation" event, will the existence of the UK be soon on the line if Scots are asked again to say Yes or No to Scottish independence? Andy Bell speaks with Mandy Rhodes, Managing-Editor of Holyrood Magazine and a long-term observer of Scotland's political scene. How did we get here? Explaining the news is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts.

A landmark race report has said it “rejects the common view” that ethnic minorities in the UK have worse health outcomes than the white population. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities review claims that for some key health metrics, including life expectancy and overall mortality, ethnic minority groups had better outcomes than the white majority population. The report, commissioned in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, says this evidence “clearly suggests” ethnicity is not the “major driver” of health inequalities in the UK. Instead, it suggests that deprivation, geography and differential exposure to key risk factors, including obesity, smoking and alcohol use, were indicators for worse health outcomes. Dr Adwoa Danso is a GP who runs The Clinic Diaries – a social media platform that discusses health and clinical issues, and where she has recently been vocal on the Black Lives Matter movement and the uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations. How did we get here? Explaining the news is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a series of Government proposals for major changes to crime and justice legislation that will effect the way police can act in England and Wales. One part of the legislation covers the measures police can put in place for protests. It comes at a time when questions have been raised about police tactics during the Covid pandemic, resulting in multiple nights of 'Kill the Bill' protests, with some turning violent in Bristol. Distressing scenes on Clapham Common surrounding a vigil for Sarah Everard made many question the way police handled the event - the vigil had been deemed illegal under Coronavirus restrictions, yet a large gathering took place anyway. Andy Bell speaks with John Apter, Chairman of the Police Federation for England and Wales. In his role, John represents over 100,000 officers and he himself has been a serving Police Officer for 28 years. John says that while the Police Bill may contain contentious proposals, the vast majority of the legislation has been back and campaigned for by the Police Federation in an attempt to protect their officers and make legislation fit for purpose. John Apter is keen to stress that the police are not the law-makers, but are here to serve the public and will do so as they've been told. He says that the pandemic has put many officers in an impossible situation at times, feeling that they are "damned if they do, and damned if they don't" while trying to navigate the various Covid restrictions that are "alien" to everyday policing. He notes that during the pandemic the crime that has risen most has been crimes of abuse against police officers, and tells Andy why he hopes all frontline services will receive their Covid vaccines sooner rather than later. How did we get here? Explaining the news is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts.

Two years ago the Government commissioned an independent review by Professor Dame Carol Black looking into Britain's drug epidemic. They wanted to know how big the issue was, why it was happening and how to break the drug cycle. Dame Carol Black will be handing her recommendations to the Government in April, including proposals for prevention, treatment and recovery. She spoke with Andy Bell ahead of the release date for her independent review, in tandem Channel 5 News' #BreakingBritainsDrugCycle investigation. Her overlook is that the drug epidemic is "pretty bad" in the UK, due to a perfect storm of high-quality drugs (heroin and cocaine) and years of austerity for those in the most vulnerable groups. How did we get here? Explaining the news is a podcast from 5 News. Join Andy Bell as he explains the world's biggest news stories through interviews with politicians, experts, and analysts.