After a rollercoaster week of news - the threat of World War 3 suddenly felt a little overstated. But a few short hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Iran - both countries returned to a war of words and missiles - leading to President Trump delivering an outburst for the ages: “They don’t know what the F*** they’re doing”. 

But does Trump? Nish and Coco don’t think so. The UK has been swept up in the maelstrom - with the pomp and circumstance of diplomatic theatrics making little impact in a world where the US president acts unilaterally. 

Then, the gang speak to urban sociologist Dr Abi O’Connor about a potential way out of the affordability crisis in housing - rent controls. Abi breaks down the concept for us all to digest, with some listener questions along the way. 

Then, finally - the home secretary Yvette Cooper is seeking to proscribe Palestine Action as a terror group… WTF.

SEE US LIVE! 

https://crossedwires.os.fan/pod-save-the-uk 

CHECK OUT THIS DEAL FROM OUR SPONSOR 

https://www.auraframes.com CODE: AURA20

Useful Links 

Write to your MP

https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/

Homes for Us Alliance 

https://homesforus.org.uk/

Guest: 

Dr Abi O’Connor, Urban Sociologist & Researcher for Homes for Us Alliance 

Audio Credits:

The Guardian

BBC

Pod Save the World

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Keir Starmer is not afraid of a U-turn. From abandoned policy pledges to reinstating the winter-fuel allowance, the list is growing. To add to this - this week, the PM has expressed his support for Israel’s military action against Iran, despite criticising Israel’s actions in Gaza. Then he caved in to calls for a full national inquiry into grooming gangs, despite earlier dismissing them as amplifying far-right demands.

Whether you think these are sensible or sly, these political backflips have certainly led to a lot of headscratching when it comes to one question: what does our Prime Minister actually stand for? Nish and Coco sit down with New Statesman Editor in Chief, Tom McTague, who has spent months with Starmer trying to find out what lies beneath the title.

The Government’s new Welfare Reform Bill is introduced in Parliament this week, which experts say will lead to nearly a quarter of a million more families being pushed into poverty. Nish heads down to Westminster to meet with hundreds of people who have gathered to call for an end to the rising tide of hunger and hardship in the UK. Nish speaks to Labour MP Brian Leishman, Liberal Democrat Wendy Chamberlain and Green Siân Berry about the calls for an essentials guarantee - while hearing from the lived experience of people working at food banks around the UK. 

And as the Government's new data bill finally passes in the House of Lords, Nish and Coco voice their concerns about what it means for the creative industries.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this podcast included an incorrect statistic about the rate of foodbank usage within the UK - which is estimated by the DWP to be at around 3% of households. We regret the error.

CHECK OUT THIS DEAL FROM OUR SPONSOR 

https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

Guests:

Tom McTague

Siân Berry

Brian Leishman 

Wendy Chamberlain

Helen Barnard

Emma Revie

Useful links:

Tom McTague’s profile of Keir Starmer

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2025/06/what-keir-starmer-cant-say

Support the Trussell Trust’s call for an Essential Guarantee!

https://www.trussell.org.uk/support-us/guarantee-our-essentials

Write to your MP

https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/

Audio Credits:

BBC

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Reeves has delivered her very first spending review, promising to ‘renew Britain’ with big cash boosts for the NHS, housing and defence. It’s a marked change of tone but the Tories are calling her approach “spend now, tax later”. 

Nish and Coco dig into the details and are left with some questions. Are tax rises in the Autumn inevitable? Are high-stakes promises, like vowing to end spending on controversial asylum hotels, ill-thought-out? Will all this be enough to change the public mood? 

And as we’ve seen across the pond in LA this week, face masks have been critical to protect the identity of protestors demonstrating against immigration raids and deportations. But the UK government plans to ban them. Nish and Coco speak to Akiko Hart, director of human rights organisation, Liberty, about how we can uphold the right to protest and the latest on challenging the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.

And finally - it gives us great joy to announce - Reform UK is in meltdown with (now former) party chairman Zia Yusuf performing the political equivalent of the hokey-cokey… is he in or out?

CHECK OUT THIS DEAL FROM OUR SPONSOR

SHOPIFY: https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

Useful Links:

See us live! 

https://crossedwires.live/podcast/pod-save-the-uk

Liberty Human Rights

https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/

Guests:

Akiko Hart

Audio Credits

BBC

Parliament TV

Instagram / Richard Tice

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

England and Wales is still - unbelievably - operating under an 1861 law that criminalises abortion access. An unprecedented rise in prosecutions and the rise of an aggressive US-style anti-abortion movement in the UK have triggered calls for change.

Labour MP Stella Creasy joins Nish and Coco to break down her bill to decriminalise abortion and make it a protected human right. 

Over in Scotland - Reform and Labour are battling against the SNP in a crucial by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse on the outskirts of Glasgow. Former First Minister Humza Yousaf MSP shares his thoughts on this two-horse race, the Government’s complicity in genocide in Gaza, and what his next career moves might be.

And finally - is Dominic Cummings, former special advisor to Boris Johnson - yes, the one who broke lockdown rules driving to Barnard Castle to “test his eyesight” - worth paying attention to…

Stay tuned after the credits for a trailer for a special crossover with The News Meeting from the Observer, featuring our very own Coco Khan.

CHECK OUT THIS DEAL FROM OUR SPONSOR

SHOPIFY: https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

Useful Links:

See us live!

https://crossedwires.live/podcast/pod-save-the-uk

Sign Stella Creasy's petition!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/decriminalise-abortion-and-make-it-a-protected-human-right

Write to your MP

https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/

Guests:

 Stella Creasy MP

Humza Yousaf MSP

Audio Credits

STV

Piers Morgan Uncensored

Sky

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stay out of wombs Nigel! Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wants us to have more babies - which for new mum Coco feels like being bamboozled into being rightwing. Not only this, Farage is even coming for abortion - saying it’s “utterly ludicrous” to allow abortion up to 24-weeks. Keep your wits about you!

From leaked memos and inner-circle beef to U-turns and rumoured U-turns - Keir Starmer is feeling the pressure. Nish and Coco dive into the Westminster bubble to find out why the Government has become a leaky ship with Politico reporter Bethany Dawson.

Half a decade on from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests that shook the world, only one third of the recommendations of major reports to tackle endemic racism in the UK has actually been implemented and equality initiatives are facing a rightwing backlash on both sides of the Atlantic. So, is the UK backsliding on racial justice? 

Guardian community affairs correspondent and author Aamna Mohdin reflects on the personal and political legacy of the largest anti-racism rallies in the UK since the abolition of slavery.

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

SHOPIFY: https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

Guests:

Bethany Dawson

Aamna Mohdin

Useful Links:

Scattered: The making and unmaking of a refugee by Aamna Mohdin

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/scattered-9781526652591/

Politico’s London Playbook 

https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/page/109/

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reunited, Coco and Nish are finally back together in the studio to talk U turns, disability benefits, Brexit and… gimp masks? There’s a lot of politics to catch up on including some big shifts from the Labour government. 

First on Gaza - Keir Starmer and David Lammy changed tack with fierce criticism of the Israeli government. But critics argue that without an actual arms embargo talking tough with Israel is inadequate. So is it all too little, too late? 

And in another change of direction, the Prime Minister has been listening to voters and his own disgruntled MPs on benefits. He signalled a rethink on one of Labour's most unpopular moves - cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners. But reforms of disability benefits are still on the cards so Nish heads to Westminster where disability activists gathered to lobby their MPs. With a major rebellion on the cards from Labour MPs, can Starmer be steered into a U-turn on this too?

Employment minister Alison McGovern explains how she’s going to get more young people into work and she has a message for Pod Save the UK’s disillusioned Labour voters. 

And did you think Brexit bollocks was in the rearview mirror? Well sorry - this week the Brexit undead returned with nonsense we thought was safely consigned to the dustbin of history. 

Guests:

Alison McGovern MP

Ellie Chowns MP

Nadia Whittome MP

Meg Thomas, Disability Rights Campaigner 

Audio Credits:

Parliament TV

BBC

GB News

Useful Links: 

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/mass-lobby-against-benefit-cuts-21st-may-be-there

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coco’s back! She’s both sleep and politics deprived, but Nish is ready to fill her in.

The government's shake-up of legal migration laws landed this week - but the news has been dominated by one question. Is Keir Starmer Enoch Powell incarnate? His speech warned that we ‘risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks together’ - a careless comment or a reaction to Reform gains? Nish and Coco dissect and take a deep dive into the government’s plans with Minnie Rahman, CEO of migrants' rights charity Praxis. 

Next up, the Government are jumping for joy about the US-UK trade deal, but Nish struggles to find anything to say… is this just a downgrade portrayed as an upgrade? 

The race for the next leader of the Greens is on, and will Youngblud make a foray into politics? Nish and Coco discuss how to capture the youth vote. And grassroots football teams are fighting back against the FA’s ban on trans women playing football. 

CHECK OUT THIS DEAL FROM OUR SPONSOR 

Shopify: https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

Useful Links: 

To find out more about how people will be impacted check out Praxis' socials and ⁠sign up to their emails⁠ for campaign actions.’

https://everpress.com/gdfc-let-the-dolls-play

https://www.hackneyempire.co.uk/events/nish-kumar-nish-dont-kill-my-vibe

Guest: 

Minnie Rahman, CEO of Praxis 

Audio Credits: 

BBC

Parliament TV

Kemi badenoch / X

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s no ifs or buts - Reform had a won big in last week’s local elections - but it’s not all bad news. Near-total Tory wipeout, positive signs for the Liberal Democrats and Greens and a lesson for Labour: acquiescing to Nigel Farage will only empower him. 

A slightly jetlagged Nish and a fresh as a daisy Zoë digest the results before diving into demands to end Israel’s occupation of Gaza… Led by, of all people, rebel tories? In the wake of the Netanyahu’s latest actions, why isn't the British Government speaking up more? 

Later, the pair are joined by climate activist Patience Nabukalu, for an injection of hope following her direct action calling for an end to fossil fuel investment from one of the UK’s biggest banks. 

**Comment was sought from HSBC regarding claims of dismissing voices at their AGM but was not received in time for publication. We will update this podcast if we receive a reply**

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

SHOPIFY https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

SKY SPORTS F1 https://www.sky.com/tv/sports 

Useful Links 

https://www.instagram.com/patiencenabukalu

Guests

Patience Nabukalu

Audio Credits

Number 10 Downing Street

Zack Polanski

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of the UK Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of woman should be based on biological sex, Nish and Zoë speak to LGBTQ+ activist Ellen Jones, author of "Outrage: Why the fight for LGBTQ+ equality is not yet won and what we can do about it" about the implications for trans people . 

They discuss how the campaigning of reactionaries like billionaire author JK Rowling led to the decision that has seen Prime Minister Keir Starmer backflipping on his support for the trans community. Ellen speaks on the dangers of the recent ruling and practical ways to resist and support the trans community.

Then, as the Tories flounder ahead of the local elections, Zoë hedges her bets. And we take a look at two shocking attempts to seize the limelight by Liz Truss and Tony Blair.

Plus, ahead of the Australian election this weekend, Nish speaks to former Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan about how, in the wake of Trump's tariffs and attacks on allies, the commonwealth might be more important than ever and what the US and UK could learn from Australia's compulsory preferential voting system.

CORRECTION: In this episode we at one point refer to the EHCR incorrectly, for clarity, it is the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

AURA FRAMES

https://www.auraframes.com CODE: PSUK

SHOPIFY

https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

Guests:

Ellen Jones

Wayne Swan

Useful links:

Outrage: Why the fight for LGBTQ+ equality is not yet won and what we can do about it by Ellen Jones

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/ellen-jones/outrage/9781035030606

The Good Law Project Crowdfunder to legally challenge the Supreme Court Decision

https://goodlawproject.org/crowdfunder/supreme-court-human-rights-for-trans-people/

Compilation of protests against the Supreme Court Decision

https://whatthetrans.com/compilation-of-protests-against-the-supreme-court/ 

Volunteer at your local trans pride - London Trans Pride call for stewards

https://www.instagram.com/londontranspride

Write to your MP

https://transactual.org.uk/change-actions/write-to-your-mp/

Reclaim the framing of UK trans rights

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTWR6sdj_xWKoOGLmwp0JotSL3NBrYSd1Dy3VZOIIKJKy0Ej6cFPt32IIKan3qCq6fG4lpgrw46ewO0/pub?urp=gmail_link

Protect the Dolls T-shirt in support of Trans Lifeline, a US-based charity

https://connerives.com/products/pre-order-protect-the-dolls-t-shirt

Info on voting in the Australian Election abroad:

ALPABROAD.ORG 

Audio Credits

Sky News

ITV News

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

BlueSky: @podsavetheuk.crooked.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Parliament sits for Easter Recess, Nish and Coco dive into the PSUK mailbag to answer your burning questions. 

There’s the serious political questions - who are the real progressive party? How can we fight Reform? Should we all just leave the UK??

But there’s some curveballs, too - like what’s up with Bob Dylan’s instagram posting? Boxers or briefs? And most importantly… Has Nish Kumar ever eaten a pot noodle in the bath? 

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS 

SHOPIFY: https://www.shopify.co.uk/podsavetheuk 

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.

Contact us via email: [email protected]

Insta: https://instagram.com/podsavetheuk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsavetheuk

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@podsavetheuk

Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsavetheuk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PodSavetheUK

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices