The Briefing Room

By BBC Radio 4

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

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The podcast currently has 398 episodes available.

Best of The Briefing Room

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Number 1: How do we prepare for a future water shortage?
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 Professor Jim Hall, Professor of Climate and Environmental Risk at Oxford University Dr Heather Smith, Senior Lecturer in Water Governance at Cranfield University Production team: Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter, Bob Howard and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Penny Murphy Sound engineer: James Beard Production co-ordinator: Keshia Agyei
August 20, 202629min
Number 2: Are Gen Z movements reshaping politics?
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. Erica Frantz, associate professor in political science at Michigan State University Matthew Cebul, lead research fellow at the Nonviolent Action Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School Production team: Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter, Emma Close and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Penny Murphy Sound engineer: James Beard Production co-ordinator: Keshia Agyei
August 27, 202629min
Number 3: Part 2: How do we reform social care?
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 Simon Bottery, who leads independent charity The King's Fund's work on adult social care Sir Andrew Dilnot, the economist who was asked by the government back in 2010 to chair a commission to find a fair and sustainable way of funding adult social care in England Production team: Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Richard Vadon Sound engineer: James Beard Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Maria Ogundele
August 10, 202629min
Number 4: Part 1: How do we reform social care?
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 Simon Bottery, who leads independent charity The King's Fund's work on adult social care Sir Andrew Dilnot, the economist who was asked by the government back in 2010 to chair a commission to find a fair and sustainable way of funding adult social care in England Production team: Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Richard Vadon Sound engineer: James Beard Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Maria Ogundele
August 06, 202629min
Number 5: Part 1: How's the government doing on immigration?
New PM, old problems. When Labour took office they vowed to tackle the people smuggling gangs behind the small boats crossings, to reduce net inward migration and to act to replace cheap imported labour with better paid indigenous workers. Meanwhile Andy Burnham faces polls showing immigration still sitting near the top - if not the top - of public concerns. But what are the facts here? What does the record show after two years of this government? This issues here are so big and complicated that we’re devoting two programmes to them. In this - the first one - we’re going to focus purely on small boats, asylum seekers and illegal immigration. Guests: Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and author of What is Immigration Policy for? Dominic Casciani, BBC Home and Legal correspondent. Production team: Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Richard Vadon Sound engineers: Duncan Hannant and Andy Garratt Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed, Maria Ogundele Picture credit: Ben Stansall Via Getty
July 23, 202629min