Quite right!

This week: Michael and Maddie discuss the escalating crisis in the Middle East and ask a bigger question about Britain’s place in the world – is the UK still a great power, or has the conflict exposed just how limited our influence has become?

They debate whether Britain has any real choice but to follow America in foreign policy, what the war reveals about the country’s diminished military capabilities, and whether Westminster is finally confronting the reality of Britain’s global position.

Also on the podcast, they examine the growing backlash against Ed Miliband’s energy agenda. With war in the Middle East sending shockwaves through global energy markets, has Labour’s push for net zero left Britain dangerously exposed – and is the UK undermining its own economy by shutting down domestic oil and gas while continuing to import it from abroad?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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In this week’s Q&A, Michael and Maddie ask whether Britain is driving its young and ambitious abroad. As more professionals head to places like Dubai in search of opportunity, they debate whether the real problem lies not with those who leave, but with the conditions pushing them out. Why do so many talented Britons feel they cannot build a future at home – and what does that say about the state of the country?

Also this week: should the Equality Act be scrapped altogether? In light of Suella Braverman’s pledge to repeal it, they consider whether the law has drifted far beyond its original purpose.

And finally, they discuss which right-wing leaders around the world they admire. From Latin America to Europe, who offers a compelling model of conservative leadership today – and what lessons, if any, might Britain draw from them?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This week: Michael and Maddie debate the escalating crisis in Iran and ask whether Donald Trump truly has a strategy – and whether Keir Starmer has one at all.

They examine what Trump’s strikes are meant to achieve, whether regime change in Tehran is the real objective and why parts of the American right are uneasy about Israel’s influence over US foreign policy.

Turning to Westminster, they assess Britain’s response. Has Starmer struck the right balance between caution and credibility – or has the crisis exposed the limits of Britain’s military strength and global influence?

Finally, they review Rachel Reeves’s Spring Statement. With growth forecasts under scrutiny and public spending pressures mounting, is the Labour party sticking to a credible economic plan – or relying on economic crystal balls?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This is the second part of Michael Gove’s conversation with Munira Mirza. After reflecting in part one on multiculturalism and the fractures in modern Britain, this second instalment turns to the question of leadership, and the lessons both Boris and Starmer should learn.

Munira reflects on Boris Johnson’s premiership, describing him as ‘a better man than many of his detractors would admit’ but acknowledging his foibles and lack of decisiveness at critical moments. Was he a good Prime Minister? 

They go on to debate whether the wiring of the British state – from the Human Rights Act to the Equality Act – has made effective government harder, and whether Reform are right to call for repeal of both of these pieces of legislation.

Finally, Munira delivers a stark assessment of Britain’s political class, questioning whether the calibre of MPs is good enough, criticising the culture of risk-aversion in Westminster, and making the case for ‘radical candour’ in politics. 

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This week, Michael is joined by Munira Mirza. Raised in Oldham and educated at Oxford, Munira worked at Policy Exchange before serving as Deputy Mayor of London under Boris Johnson and later as Director of the No.10 Policy Unit, where she helped shape the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto. She now leads Civic Future and the think tank Fix Britain.

In the first of this two-part interview, Munira reflects on Labour’s vulnerability in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election, and the ‘serious threat’ it faces if the Muslim votes flees to the Greens. She discusses the politicisation of religious identity, the influence of Islamism in Britain, and what she sees as a failure of public authorities to confront hard truths.

They also discuss the news this week that Valdo Calocane – the man who killed three people in Nottingham in 2023 – was released from hospital in 2020 because health professionals were concerned about the disproportionate number of black men who were being detained in the mental health system. Munira argues that fear of being accused of institutional racism has distorted decision-making, a scandal of potentially greater magnitude than the grooming gangs and with serious consequences for public safety.

Finally, she revisits Brexit and the 2019 realignment, defending the decision to leave the EU and arguing that levelling up was an attempt to fix a broken economic model built on high immigration and weak productivity.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This week, Michael and Maddie consider Reform UK's succession plan. With Nigel Farage unveiling his new shadow cabinet, attention shifts to the bigger question: who comes after him? Is Reform preparing for life beyond its founder – and if so, who stands ready to inherit the crown?

Also this week, they examine the fallout from the court’s decision to overturn the government’s attempt to proscribe Palestine Action – and ask what it means for free speech, public order and the limits of the state.

They explore whether Britain is drifting toward a de facto blasphemy law, and debate claims of ‘two-tier justice’ in the handling of extremist activism. Has the government lost control of the argument — or is it simply constrained by the courts?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

To submit your questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright

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In this week’s Q&A, Michael and Maddie ask whether Britain should abolish the monarchy. In the wake of fresh controversy surrounding members of the royal family, they debate whether scrapping the institution would be a long-overdue democratic correction – or a profound strategic mistake. Is the Crown an outdated relic, or one of Britain’s greatest diplomatic assets?

Also this week: with Labour MP Dan Norris facing charges, could North East Somerset be heading for a by-election – and might Jacob Rees-Mogg stage a dramatic return to parliament? Would Reform stand aside, or is the right now locked in a battle for survival?

And finally, they explore whether people really do move right as they get older. Is it psychology, property ownership, parenthood – or simply ‘grim reality’ that shifts political instincts over time?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This week: Michael and Maddie examine the crisis engulfing the Labour party and ask whether Keir Starmer is facing a Boris-style collapse of authority.

They explore what could be to come in the continued fallout from the Peter Mandelson affair, the rebellion over the release of government files, and what Starmer’s pattern of scapegoating aides reveals about his grip on power. Is this a corruption scandal – or something more damaging: a failure of judgment?

Finally, they look ahead to what comes next. If Starmer’s authority is ebbing, who could replace him? From Angela Rayner to Wes Streeting – and the outsiders hovering on the edge – will internal revolt mark the beginning of a wider realignment in British politics?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright

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To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright.

In this week’s Q&A, Michael and Maddie unpack the controversy over whether Rishi Sunak is English or British – and why a debate about national identity has become so politically charged. Is Englishness a civic identity, an ethnic one, or something more elusive? And why has the Labour party increasingly reached for accusations of racism when the question is raised at all?

Also this week: are claims that Britain is drifting towards civil unrest alarmist scaremongering – or a warning we should take seriously?

And finally, they reflect on the earliest political moments that shaped them – from Margaret Thatcher and the Falklands to Tony Blair, Princess Diana, and the politics of the countryside. 

Produced by Oscar Edmondson

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This week: Michael and Maddie examine the fallout from the Epstein files and ask how a story of questionable judgment became a far more serious test of trust at the top of British politics. As new revelations emerge about Peter Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein, has a tawdry association escalated into a question of the national interest? And what does the affair reveal about Keir Starmer’s judgment – and the risks of relying on political experience over proper scrutiny?

Then: the growing generational backlash over student loans. With graduate repayment thresholds frozen and interest rates soaring, are younger voters being systematically squeezed to prop up an unsustainable system?

Finally: the countryside culture war. From Defra’s diversity targets to mounting regulation of rural life, Michael and Maddie ask whether policymakers fundamentally misunderstand the countryside – and whether independence, not prejudice, is what really makes it a target.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.co.uk/quiteright.

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