Keir Starmer dubbed Rishi Sunak the “blancmange prime minister” – comparing him to a particularly weak and wobbly dessert – after he U-turned on new onshore wind farms and mandatory housing targets this week under pressure from Tory MPs.   Rachel Wearmouth and Freddie Hayward are joined by Andrew Marr, the New Statesman’s political editor, to discuss Sunak’s struggle to control a divided Tory party as the prospect of electoral defeat looms. They also cover Rachel’s exclusive interview with Keir Starmer as he plots Labour’s route back to power and the launch of a major report authored by Gordon Brown that recommends a radical overhaul of the constitution.   Then in You Ask Us, a listener wonders: should we abolish the House of Lords?
If you have a question for You Ask Us, go to newstatesman.com/youaskus
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Is Rishi Sunak’s authority starting to crumble? With Andrew Marr

Politics and ideas from Britain's leading progressive political magazine.
Mondays: leading thinkers illuminate the ideas shaping the world, from politics to culture.
Thursdays: host Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman politics team to help you understand the week in politics, in Westminster and beyond. Featuring Andrew Marr, Rachel Cunliffe, Freddie Hayward and more.
Saturdays: the New Statesman team answer your questions in "You Ask Us".
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MPs have voted to back Rishi Sunak's progressive smoking ban. Can it work?
The Tobacco & Vapes Bill includes new legislation to increase the smoking age by one year, every year, banning the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 1st January 2009. MPs have voted the bill through its second reading and it is now in the committee stage.
The tobacco firm Philip Morris International have pledged to move away from selling cigarettes, and instead focus on heated tobacco products. In this episode, Becky Slack is joined by Dr. Moira Gilchrist of Philip Morris International, to discuss the company's plans for a "smoke-free future" and whether Britain - and tobacco firms - really can kick cigarettes for good.
This episode was paid for by Philip Morris International. The New Statesman retains full editorial control. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can Britain quit smoking for good? | Sponsored

In March, Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, published his memoir - A Very Private School. This recounted, in devastating detail, the abuse, both mental and physical, that he had been subjected to at his elite prep boarding school. The brutality is laid bare. 
For centuries in the UK, a private education has been the pathway to opportunity. Today those who attended private schools are five times more likely to hold top jobs in politics, the judiciary, media, and business. 
Boarding school boys in particular, who represent less than 1% of the population, have been in charge of the country for most of the past 14 years. But at what cost? For both the survivors of these institutions and for the whole country.
Read: A boyhood built on fear, The price of private education Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boarding school boys rule Britain, at what cost?

This episode was recorded on the 18th of April, prior to Israel's missile strikes on Iran.
Tensions in the Middle East have heightened further after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel last week. This was in response to Israel’s strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria - which killed 16 people. Western leaders came to Israel’s defence and condemned Iran’s attack, but prior to this David Cameron - the UK foreign secretary - had warned that the UK’s support for Israel was ‘not unconditional’. 
So how have these latest developments divided the government’s stance on Israel’s conflict? And how are Labour planning to act should they come into government amid this war?
Anoosh Chakelian, Britian editor at the New Statesman, is joined by Freddie Hayward, political correspondent, and George Eaton, senior editor.
Read: The new Tory divide on Israel
Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics email Morning Call 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Iran and Israel are dividing British politics

This week Liz Truss has embarked on the press tour of a lifetime with her new book, Ten Years to Save the West: Lessons from the only conservative in the room. She's been casting blame from the UN to the Bank of England for the failure of her time in office, but does she really believe what she's saying? And how might this affect her standing in the next general election?
Anoosh and Rachel also ask Freddie about his recent trip to the National Conservatism conference in Brussels with the likes of Nigel Farage, Suella Braverman, Éric Zemmour, Viktor Orbán, and the Belgian police. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does Liz Truss believe what she's saying?

People up and down the country have been struggling to get NHS dental appointments for the past few years, forcing some to pay inflated prices for private treatment, or ignore their oral health until it’s reached an unbearable point. This crisis is also greatly impacting children across the nation, and today the number one reason children are admitted to hospital is due to severe dental issues.
So how did we get here? Why is the UK faced with Dickensian rot in 2024?
Anoosh Chakelian, Britain editor, is joined by policy correspondent Harry Clarke-Ezzidio, and senior associate editor, Sarah Dawood. 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Rishi Sunak’s authority starting to crumble? With Andrew Marr

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