Today we are in Manchester, in England’s North West, talking to Sir Richard Leese leader of Manchester City Council. He is also Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, a region of 2.8 million people, which recently published a report called the Greater Manchester Prosperity Review. I was keen to find out about the key issues in the region and how they can be addressed.

Around the House, the first episode of a new edition where we talk with individual Members of Parliament, about what they see are the key issues facing our country and how they propose to resolve them. First up is Johnny Mercer, the MP for Plymouth Moor since 2015. Johnny was a Captain in the British Army and wrote a 2018 book based on his experiences: We were Warriors.

Are our politicians performing, it appears not? Today we look why they are not tackling the fundamental issues that we would like them to resolve. To seek insight, I talk to Deborah Mattinson, former pollster to then British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown to find out what Britain thinks & what we the people can do about it, to make change happen.

Talking today about income inequality in the United States, why it has got so extreme, why it is bad for us all & what we can do about it. If we can reduce extreme income inequality, it goes some way to  tackling wealth inequality, which is even more extreme. I spoke to Sam Pizzigati, Associate Fellow at the DC based Institute for Policy Studies & co–editor of Inequality.org as well as author of the 2018 book: The case for a maximum wage.

Today we are talking about courage and compassion in politics. I speak with Jennifer Nadel, barrister, broadcaster author, parliamentary candidate and co-founder of Compassion in Politics. We talk about the shake up in British politics, about new alliances rather than new parties and an assessment for compassion for all new legislation, have our politicians got the courage?

Today are talking about the ongoing crisis of homelessness and how it can be fixed, because it can be fixed and we can bring change. More than 160,000 households across Britain are experiencing homelessness right now. It doesn’t have to be that way. I spoke to Matt Downie, Director of Policy and External Affairs at Crisis, the charity for homeless people, he spent a year putting together a comprehensive plan to end homelessness.

Today we are going to hear from some of those interviewed over recent months on The Real Agenda & get their views as to how we can fix toxic inequality and the unnecessary financial hardship that is suffered by millions everyday. Coming up is Prof Danny Dorling; Stephen Kinnock MP; Tom Copley, London Assembly member; Neal Lawson, chair of Compass; Claire Ainsley Exec Dir of Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the poverty campaigners as well as Rev Paul Nicolson, the inspiring founder of Taxpayers against Poverty

Can we redesign the capitalist system so that it works for all? Today we look at Social Wealth Funds, one way that would create a more compassionate and just society. I talk to Stewart Lansley, academic, author and co-author of a report called Remodelling capitalism, how social wealth funds could transform Britain.

We talk about economic justice & what can be done so that we can all share in a more prosperous economy. In September 2018 IPPR Commission on Economic Justice published a very comprehensive report entitled Prosperity and Justice, a plan for the new economy. To give you an overview of the recommendations and to find out how we can see these ideas moved forward, I met Tom Kibasi, Director of the IPPR & chair of the Commission

We are going to the heart of The Real Agenda, that’s economic inequality, why it is so extreme, why it is not inevitable and what we can do about it. I went to Oxford talk to Professor Danny Dorling, one of the leading authorities on inequality in the UK, to get some answers