Newscast

Today, intense and historic wildfires continue to burn in parts of Europe with more than 300,000 people having now been evacuated across France and Spain.

Adam is joined by Climate and Wildfire Scientist Theodore Keeping and Aitor Hernandez-Morales - Senior Reporter for Politico to discuss why these wildfires are so hard to control and what the political reaction to them has been.

Plus, in a recent interview with Laura, Andy Burnham claimed the ‘NHS will collapse’ if social care is not reformed. Henry joins Adam to unpack these comments and discuss why social care reform is so important to the new PM.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

What kind of prime minister will Andy Burnham be? Laura Kuenssberg has been behind the scenes with him during his first week in power. In his first major broadcast interview since taking office, she asks about his plans - and the challenges ahead.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, Andy Burnham says he would be prepared to call out Donald Trump to defend Britain's "national interest before anything else" if it is the right thing to do, in his first major interview as prime minister.

Speaking exclusively to the Laura for the BBC, Burnham said he had had a good first exchange with Trump, finding him to be "really warm".

Adam and Laura dissect what the Prime Minister said.

You’ll be able to hear that interview in full tomorrow in the newscast feed.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were Adam Fleming and Laura Kuenssberg. It was made by Chris Gray. The technical producer was Stephen Murphy. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Today, we start the first of six Old Newscasts looking at the story of 30 years of British Politics through six votes.

We start in 1997, when the Prime Minister John Major called an election, hoping to extend 18 years of Conservative rule, and beat Labour’s Tony Blair .

To help us, we have two BBC legends who were there at the time. Jeremy Vine was the BBC's political reporter and Kirsty Wark was presenting Newsnight.

In this, the first of two 1997 election episodes, we look at what contributed to Blair’s landslide.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, we start the first of six Old Newscasts looking at the story of 30 years of British Politics through six votes.

We start in 1997, when the Prime Minister John Major called an election, hoping to extend 18 years of Conservative rule, and beat Labour’s Tony Blair .

To help us, we have two BBC legends who were there at the time. Jeremy Vine was the BBC's political reporter and Kirsty Wark was presenting Newsnight.

In this, the first of two 1997 election episodes, we look at the lay of the land in the run up to the vote.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has officially opened up the doors to Number 10 North which he has described as the ‘best day of my life’.

Adam is joined by Lucy Fisher - Whitehall editor at the Financial Times and Patrick Maguire Chief Political Commentator at the Times, and they discuss how No 10 North is shaping up and whether it will be more than just a gimmick.

Plus, they look back at Andy Burnham’s announcements in his first week in office and whether it sets a precedent for how he will run Government.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced ‘no prisoners will be let out’ under early release scheme until he has conducted an ‘urgent review’.

The announcement comes after the widow of PC Andrew Harper described the possible early release of prisoners as ‘deplorable’, following reports that two of his killers could be freed early. Adam is joined by Dominic Casciani, home and legal correspondent, to discuss what this means for the prison system.

Plus, in his third policy announcement in as many days, Andy Burnham announced a 20% cut to business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues in England from April. Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Helen Miller and BBC Business Editor Simon Jack join Adam to discuss how the government plans to fund this cut and how ever-changing taxes affect business owners.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, Andy Burnham has announced the return of the £2 bus fare cap in most of England - taking effect from January 2027.

Bus fares had initially been capped at £2 in 2023 by the Conservatives, and was later increased to £3 by Keir Starmer. Andy Burnham has reversed the Starmer policy, but how will it be funded?

And, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, one of the first and most senior Labour politicians to pubilicly call for Keir Starmer to go, is expected to join Andy Burnham's government. He’ll be joining fellow Starmer dissenters Wes Streeting and John Healey in the cabinet.

Adam is joined by Chris Mason and Henry Zeffman to unpack it all.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Chris Gray with Rosie Merotra and Shiler Mahmoudi. The social producer was Beth Pritchard. The technical producer was Philip Bull. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Today, on the first full day of his premiership Prime Minister Andy Burnham has laid out plans for scrapping VAT on household electricity bills and has claimed he wants a ‘cost of living government’.

Burnham said he would scrap VAT on household electricity bills in October, saving a typical household about £45 a year. This will be paid for by scrapping Keir Starmer's digital ID scheme, No 10 says, but ex-minister Darren Jones argues the ID scheme was "unfunded". Adam, Alex and Faisal discuss.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Today, in this extra helping of Newscast, we look at Andy Burnham’s cabinet - who's been called up and who's been sacked - as he assembles his team on his first day as prime minister.

Amongst the announcements, Adam and Chris discuss the surprise appointment of John Healey as chancellor – as well as Shabana Mahmood keeping her role at the Home Office and Ed Miliband moving to foreign secretary.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord

Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd