Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith welcome two very special guests - their best friends Nigel Smith and Nigella Lawson - to look back at a momentous year, the moments that have depressed, delighted, and surprised them, the people they have admired and the telly they have binged. As well as an incredible six months of Quiet Riot. Recorded with a special live audience of many of our previous guests!

Plus the 'Wokiest Dokiest' of 2024.

PART II is out on Christmas Eve and is all about FOOD!!!

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“If you're in the outrage business, you've got to take the opportunities where they arise.”

“European countries seem to be moving in the direction of having three power blocks of roughly equal share basically that can't agree on anything, a kind of universal gridlock.”

“What happened to Giséle Pelicot does explain why women are quite justifiably anxious about moving around in the world. Yes, you could argue: it's an aberration, this isn't happening in every house. But nevertheless, it is clearly eminently doable for a great number of men.”

“Only 10% of people under 27 put English mustard in a ham sandwich. And that does make me worry.”

“I love cheese, but I really draw the line at Tiramisu Wensleydale or an Espresso Martini Wensleydale, can I say? Science has gone too far.”

CALL TO ACTION:

You can donate to Duchenne UK here.

You can register for the cycle run here, to raise money for Duchenne UK.

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Naomi is joined by a Quiet Riot regular, More in Common's Luke Tryl, to discuss polling trends of 2024, what pollsters got right, what they got wrong, the horseshoe theory, the differences between online and telephone polls, why blending focus groups with polling helps improve predictions and what are the indications for next year. Fill yer boots, as they say.

PLUS the insight you have all been waiting for: what is the most popular Xmas movie respectively for Tory, Labour and Reform voters? Spoiler – The Muppet Christmas Carol is notable by its absence.

"Polling should always be an art-informed science."

"The volatility of voters is unprecedented."

"No one is immune from radicalisation."

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Naomi and Alex look at yet another two horrible consequences of Brexit - the grift that keeps on taking - in the rather esoteric GPSR that seems to have caught both government and business unaware, as well as the labour shortages that may scupper gov't plans to build 1.5m homes.

Plus, Laura Kuenssberg gets an award and Steven Bartlett explains his views on medicine. Have we sacrificed accuracy in the service of balance?

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Alex Andreou talks to former diplomat and host of the Behind The Lines podcast, Arthur Snell, to try and construct some order out of the recent chaos in Syria. Who are the good guys? What does this mean for Israel? How exposed is Iran? Is it an opportunity for the Kurds to carve out a state? What is Türkiye's agenda? How does this impact Russia and Putin in both practical and reputational terms? What is next for Assad?

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“Who can rebuild a country, after a devastating civil war, while also rebuilding its society? That expertise might not exist. But it seems that, if people feel that they have ownership and that they’re not being manipulated by outside forces, there’s a higher chance of this thing going better.”

“If you look at how HTS ruled in Idlib - which became a considerable mini-state, because a lot of Syrians were displaced there, so it ended up with 4.5m people living there - it was a dictatorship, but not in the business of chemical weapons or cleansing, and more recently they have allowed other minorities to practice their faith and have a measure of rights.”

“I think we have to accept that the different bits of Syria that are under different groups’ control, are very unlikely to want now suddenly to be under the control of Damascus again - particularly the Kurds who have a pretty organised setup in the Northeast. So, one would hope that the pragmatism we’ve seen so far from HTS and Julani, that has seen him go on this journey from full-blooded islamist to something a bit more open-minded, might extend to saying: Syria doesn’t work very well as a centralised state and actually you need a measure of federalism and particularism.”

“What happens when people go back home and someone else is living in their house? What happens to teenagers of fourteen and fifteen years of age who have never been to Syria? They were born in refugee camps and that is all they know. How do all those returning integrate back ‘home’?”

"It is a reminder that Russia doesn't always win. It's an important psychological point for all those who, rightly, fear Russian encroachment, that Russia doesn't always get its way and can be overextended, like everyone else."

BEHIND THE LINES PODCAST

The latest episode of Arthur's podcast is here.

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and special guest investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan discuss the huge amounts of money that is currently flowing into our politics, the ways in which it is corrupting our democracy, and what we can do about it. And in Part II, the very narrow path left to the Labour government, because of a lack of money. Plus 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin and Share It'.

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"In 2023 two-thirds of all the money raised in British politics came from 19 people, who all gave over a million… Reform are continuing this trend and going even further. Candy is talking about raising £40m in total. These are huge sums in the context of British politics.”

“They get incredible bang for their buck these [Tufton Street] think tanks. According to the IEA’s accounts last year, they got over 4,500 media hits the previous year. Which is unbelievable - they’re on radio, TV, or print something like twelve times a day.”

“People don’t like the influence money has on our politics. And this is, I think, something that Labour haven’t fully grasped. People don’t think of ‘Tory Sleaze’. They just think of sleaze.”

GRIN AND SHARE IT

Piece on teaching a very old dog new tricks, is here.

CALLS TO ACTION LINKS:

Peter's substack Democracy for Sale.

Answer the short survey on donations here.

Best for Britain's donation tree drive.

Government consultation on Right to Buy.

This is the cynical BBC article about folders. You can complain about the BBC's coverage here.

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Naomi and Alex disseminate Starmer's big "this is not a reset" speech. Naomi talks about the importance of a better EU deal and a new initiative for getting there, with Labour MP Andrew Lewin. Finally, Melania is flogging $90 ornaments and Donald has a new fragrance out for Christmas - which really gives new meaning to eau de toilet.

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“I wonder whether the civil service got into the habit of resisting ideas from gov’t, because of the extraordinary churn. If you’re in the housing bit, and you’ve had 18 ministers, you learn to play for time, because you think ‘meh, they’ll be a different guy with a different plan in six weeks’. Maybe what we’re seeing is that muscle memory of those last 14 years.”

“I desperately want Labour to turn things around. They have to. The stakes are too high. I want to see the xenophobic, toxic, English nationalism of Farage and his cabal defeated and roundly. I don’t want Trumpism in Britain.”

Lewin: “This parliament will be defined by our success, or not, in growing the economy and raising living standards. It is very clear to me that we, as a Labour gov’t, have to look at every lever we can pull, to deliver on that mission of growing the economy, including significantly improving our relationship with the EU.”

Lewin: “I don’t think many people consider themselves ‘leavers’ or ‘remainers’ any more. They look at an economy that’s been flatlining for a decade and want to look at every practical step to get things growing and moving again.”

CALL TO ACTION

Write to your MP, to ask them to prioritise a closer relationship to the EU, using this tool.

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Alex talks to our resident France expert, Olivier Morel, about the political deadlock in France, how and why we got here and whether Macron can survive it. An informative and completely accessible conversation.

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“Macron has become a lighting rod. He seems to trigger extreme reactions and opprobrium from all sorts of quarters. The loathing he attracts is quite extraordinary.”

“With both Berlin and Paris being so self-involved and consumed with domestic politics, and lacking the authority to make their voices heard, the European Commission may be sensing an opportunity to take over the governing of Europe.”

“Marine Le Pen is facing a court case which could result in her being barred from running… There is also speculation that she is concerned about her young protégé, Bardella, being rather too popular for her liking, plus her Dad is reportedly not well. All this creates an environment where she is trying to force the tempo.”

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Naomi and Alex welcome comedian and author Henry Morris, to discuss the common threads behind the chaos that seems to be bursting through, pretty much everywhere in the world right now. And we also get a view from rural Wales of the resignation of the Welsh Tory leader and how Labour's farming tax reforms have gone down. Plus Wokey Dokey and Grin and Share It.

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Alex: "Is there a case FOR a Trump White House? Might having a mercurial psychotic in charge of the world’s largest military make some lower-rank psychotics with regional ambitions wind their neck in?"

Henry: “Labour have been in charge for a very long time in Wales. It is a ripe environment to throw your vote at a party who promises to change everything. Someone I was talking to the other day said: ‘Farage will f**k things up Henry. As in, that’s what we need.”  

Naomi: "With just 18 months to go until the next Senedd elections, Reform UK are sniffing around for gains, and latest polling by YouGov predicts an unprecedented and genuine three-way tie in current vote intention between Plaid Cymru, Labour and Reform UK."

Henry: “As someone who went to Wales not knowing any farmers, but knowing a lot about biodiversity collapse and climate change, I was less sympathetic to them than I am now, when I’m surrounded by them and they’r my friends and they’re all really nice. In the inheritance debate, I saw lots of people in London suddenly become experts on farming and not really getting what the protests were about, which was not just the tax but all these other things putting pressure on farmers.”

GRIN AND SHARE IT

Piece on bumble bee conservation success in the Scotsman here.

CALLS TO ACTION LINKS:

For Henry's immense Tories; A Tragedy click here.

For International Rescue's Gaza appeal click here.

To download Mal Pope and Carolyn Harris's single click here; to vote for it click here.

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Alex talks to TIME Magazine's correspondent and QR regular Yasmeen Serhan, about Biden pardoning his son, Trump's latest picks, their impact on geopolitics - especially Gaza, and what went wrong with the election. A gorgeous free-roaming chat.

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“It’s our election, but it’s everyone’s spectacle. I get the privilege of voting in it, but we are all affected - just in different ways.”

“Democrats would do well to have a bit of introspection, and say: ‘we clearly didn’t reach these swathes of people that, a couple of elections ago, we thought were our demographic destiny to carry.’ They didn’t. Maybe they should start figuring out why.”

“Fundamentally, you have to earn people’s votes. You can’t just explain to them how they don’t really have a choice. That’s just going to turn people away. The more likely outcome isn’t that they concede the point. It’s that they stay at home.” 

Yasmeen Serhan's substack newsletter (mainly for her mum): Foreign Correspondence.

FT round-up of Trump's pick for FBI boss: Kash Patel faces rocky path to US Senate approval

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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Naomi and Alex talk through a very busy week (as much of it as they can). They reflect on the assisted dying debate and vote, discuss Louise Haigh's resignation and Heidi Alexander's promotion, Zelensky's offer (and challenge) to NATO, and the likely outcome of the general election in the Republic of Ireland. With a special and very familiar guest.

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Naomi: “Attendance was stellar - unheard of, for a Friday. And the vast majority of arguments in both directions were made in an incredibly respectful way. And it’s just made me feel that I want more of this. Why aren't more issues decided on a free vote?”

Alex: “A lot of the anxiety [around assisted dying] has to do with cultural, rather than legislative failings: how we treat older people, how we treat illness, how we treat incapacity, how we treat disability, how we value or devalue life. Those things require a cultural shift.”

Naomi: “Going for politicians over very minor indiscretions, is going to put people off wanting to become parliamentarians. There is a case to be made for high standards. But if you are a left-leaning, progressive person, thinking of going into politics, the standard expected of you is so much higher.” 

Hugo Rifkind: My mother’s MS has shaped my view on assisted dying

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With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.

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