The Briefing Room

Nearly one million young people between the ages of 16 and 24 in the UK are known as NEETS. That means one in eight young people are not currently in education, employment or training. This month the former Labour Minister, Alan Milburn will publish a long awaited review into how to get young people off benefits and into work. While the Government may be hoping this will cut the enormous benefits bill, it’s likely to come with a multi-billion pound price tag in terms of offering support programmes to young people and employers. David Aaronovitch asks how we've ended up with so many young people on benefits and what can be done to get them off them again?

Guests:

Eduin Latimer, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Production team:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

They say it’s the biggest crypto currency hack on record. More than 6 billion dollars of digital assets were targetted when hackers attacked Binance - the world’s largest crypto exchange, estimated to have more than 300 million users worldwide. About $3 billion of the 6.3 billion dollars was frozen before the attackers could make off with it but the rest has gone. The FBI has blamed a group of hackers linked to North Korea for the theft. The North Koreans say it wasn’t them… But it’s not the first time North Korean hackers have targetted the crypto currency industry. And then just a few days ago supermarket fridges and freezers came under cyber attack across Europe when hackers managed to heat them up. So what’s happening? How worried should we be and what could be next?

Guests:

Joe Tidy, BBC Cyber Correspondent

Production team:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

The foreign policy of the second Trump administration has caused consternation to allies from Denmark to Korea. What had seemed solid and settled in the post-war world has been thrown into turmoil.

Until now the President has enjoyed support from Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress, but next month's midterm elections seem likely to change all that. The Democrats look to be headed for victory. But the question for the rest of the world is what will it mean for us? A tamed president? An enraged president? And how will America’s enemies and allies react?

Guests:

Anthony Zurcher, BBC’s North America correspondent

Production team:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

Will the French accept that changes need to be made to fix their ailing economy? Political paralysis and a debt crisis has led to 5 prime ministers in the last two years. Every attempt at fixing the economic problems is met with outrage and protest. Saturday 17th October 2026 saw some of the worst protests in years, with peaceful demonstrations over the cost of living and school funding descending into an 'apocalyptic hell'. 500 police officers were injured in the violence, 1,500 shops were damaged and an historic 19th century city hall was burnt to the ground in the mass disorder that ensued. But there are some serious economic issues that must be faced head on. France's borrowing costs have just hit a 26 year high, signalling they are not trusted to manage their growing debt. Public spending in France is higher than in many other European countries and a big part of that bill is pensions. Raising the pension age would save the state much needed money but proposals to do so were met with outrage and put on hold. So, has France become ungovernable?

Guests:

Producers: Ben Carter, Phoebe Keane, Kirsteen Knight

Will we still be able to grow enough food as temperatures rise and rainfall becomes more erratic? What changes will farmers need to make to keep feeding the nation? As Radio 4 marks 75 years of the farming drama The Archers, David Aaronovitch examines the future of British farming. Models suggest large parts of the South East of England will no longer be favourable for growing cereals like wheat and even barley, important for things like beer and whiskey. Strawberries may be far too difficult to grow at all. Some areas of the UK may become better for farmers and new crops may grow that we've never been able to grow before, but it presents a huge challenge for farmers who will have to change their entire way of working. What must farmers do to adapt and what do we need to do to ensure we keep the food on our plates?

GUESTS:

Charlie Ireland, a farming consultant at Ceres consultancy, who advises Jeremy Clarkson on Clarkson’s Farm

The ceasefire between the Saudi-backed Yemen government and the Houthi rebels is over. As the fighting for control of land and sea intensifies, what are the knock on effects for the rest of the world?

Guests:

Nawal Al-Maghafi, BBC senior international investigations correspondent

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

In May, the Chief Justice of India unwittingly gave a name to a generational protest. He called unemployed young people “cockroaches” and the mass youth movement that had begun in the wake of the sudden cancellation of a national exam took on the title - the Cockroach Janta party.

But India hasn’t been the only country that has seen Gen Z - people aged between 14 and 29 - engaging in mass protests this year. It’s been happening all over the place, from Serbia to Kenya. Different grievances, different circumstances, but the same generation.

So what are the youth revolting about, and are they winning?

Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.

Guests:

Dr Nayana Prakash, research affiliate at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge.

Production team:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

Did you step outside this morning and feel something odd on your face or neck? Its called rain. We’ve hardly had any this summer and the result was the declaration this month of drought status across two thirds of England and almost all of Wales. The reservoirs are low. And the future looks parched: the government estimates that by 2055, England will face a water shortfall of 5 billion litres a day. To put that in context we currently use 14 billion litres.

Why has this happened and how can we fix it? Other than everyone moving to Scotland.

Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.

Guests:

Sir John Armitt, chair of The Public Private Partnership Commission

Production team:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

Until recently Baroness Louise Casey was going to deliver her huge review of English social care by 2028. Then the PM changed and so did the date. Now the whole shebang is timed for next summer. Last week we looked at what we mean by social care, who gets it, who provides it and who pays for it. And why our current system is deficient.

This week we find out what the alternatives are, how much they’d cost and who’d pay.

Guests:

Thea Stein, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust

Production team:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

It’s social care time again. That moment every five years when politicians and civil servants are on the cusp of coming up with a new system to replace the perceived arbitrary and unfair way in which we in the UK pay for the care that many adults need to be able to live a decent life.

Right now Baroness Casey, appointed by Keir Starmer to conduct a urgent review into social care in England with the objective of recommending a new plan, has been asked by Andy Burnham to make it even more urgent and recommend it more quickly.

In this first of two episodes looking at what the review is likely to find and its impact on all of us, we’ll look at what we mean by social care, its history and who gets it.

Guests:

Thea Stein, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust

Production team:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch