The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

Lockdown II: If the Government can’t come up with a COVID exit strategy, could a coalition of MPs, experts and campaigners provide one? And can Britain cope even if we never get a vaccine? March for Change director Tom Brufatto tells Naomi Smith about the the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus’s plan for an independent COVID plan, and why we can’t squander the next full lockdown… which is coming whether we like it or not.  

This podcast recorded before Saturday’s announcement of the November Lockdown. 

• “We are trapped in a cycle of locking down and opening up. It’s means we can’t function as an economy.” 
• “Either you see it as leaving lives versus the economy – or you accept that you can’t save the economy without saving lives first.” 
• “We may not have a vaccine next year, or ever. This is about setting Britain up to cope with it.” 

Presented by Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production

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When you go online the mildest disagreements can spin out of control into real anger, but why is our internet behaviour so bad? And how is this affecting democracy and public discourse? David Babbs, project lead at the campaign group ‘Clean Up The Internet’ and formerly of 38 Degrees, talks to Arthur Snell about why the online environment has become so hostile, the issues posed by anonymity, and how we can clean up our internet behaviour.

• “Anonymity is subject to a lot of misuse”
• “Abuse from anonymous accounts has the potential to be even more frightening, you don’t know where that person is lurking”
• “MPs are victims in this, they’re on the receiving end of a lot of online abuse”

Presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofrenijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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With a decades-long failed War on Drugs behind us, is it finally time to accept the inevitable – and let the state regulate illegal substances? Steve Rolles, author and policy analyst at Transform Drug Policy Foundation, tells Ian Dunt how we can break a destructive deadlock. What would public health-oriented drugs policies look like? And what can we learn about what not to do from the commercialisation of alcohol and tobacco?

• “There is a growing consensus that the War on Drugs has failed…but no one agrees on what’s next.”
• “Prohibition encourages risky drug use. Regulation reverses that.”
• “We’re not talking about Ecstasy World Snooker. We’re talking about a strictly regulated market.”
• “A state monopoly model, with pharma-style vending. It’s not that difficult.”

Presented by Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic  and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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The free school meals fiasco sends the Conservative Party right back to its happy place: being mean to poor kids. Special guest JESS PHILLIPS, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, joins us to discuss Labour’s future, Starmer’s report card so far, how Birmingham is leading the country, and Aston Villa beating Liverpool 7-2. And our panel reveal the political music that changed them.

• “When I first stood for election I didn’t expect hunger to be one of the most important parts of my job” – Jess Phillips
• “Behind the scenes, Tories are saying this is an absolute fiasco. ‘We’ve managed to turn the whole country against us.’” – Ayesha Hazarika
• “Because of COVID, I feel like I’m going cold turkey from the parts of being an MP that I love.” – Jess Phillips
• “I know Johnson wants us to lose weight, but targeting nine-year-olds is a bit harsh.” – Ayesha Hazarika
• “I cannot believe how little rebellion has gone on within the Conservatives” – Jess Phillips
• “People need to be reminded that Rishi Sunak isn’t spending his own money, he’s spending our money” – Jess Phillips

Presented by Alex Andreou with Yasmeen Serhan and Ayesha Hazarika. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production

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Nearly four years after the Referendum, are Leave vs Remain attitudes still driving our politics? Are we stuck with them forever? And how do they map onto other issues like masks, authoritarianism or social liberalism? Paula Surridge, a political sociologist at the University of Bristol, talks to Naomi Smith about what the tumult of the past half-decade has done to British politics, and whether we’re still vulnerable to a hellish US-style polarisation.

“Around half of people say they have a ‘very strong’ Brexit identity… but that means that half don’t.”

“The idea of ‘Culture War’ misrepresents people in the Red Wall. They don’t actually want all these cultural arguments.”

Presented by Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Will the Special Boat Service raid on a hijacked tanker take the country’s minds off the Government’s continued mishandling of COVID? Why are we shortening quarantine periods when people aren’t even observing the existing rules? Has No.10 successfully stonewalled the free school meals fiasco? And will Dido Harding make it to Friday? Ros Taylor sets up the week ahead. 

Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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The last confrontation between Donald Trump and Joe Biden avoided the shame of the first debate, but did it change the dynamic of the race? And how come we didn’t discover a mute button back in 2016? Thomas Gift, Associate Professor of Political Science at UCL, gives Dorian Lynskey the verdict on the election’s final stand-off.

• “This was Trump’s last chance to speak to America… and he needed to flip the script.”
• “For Trump, some days Biden is a secret agent of the Far Left and on others, he’s Washington Establishment.”
• “Campaigns are poetry, but politics is prose.”
• “In the first debate, Donald Trump set a bar so low it’s not surprising Joe Biden cleared it.”

Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Is Wales really setting the COVID agenda for the rest of the UK? As the “firebreak” comes down, former special advisor to First Minister Mark Drakeford turned political consultant Cathy Owens talks to Jude Rogers. Is Wales responding better to lockdowns than England? What is the pandemic doing to support for Welsh nationalism? And why it’s not all about trying to keep English tourists out.

Audio note: Includes sound effects live from Cardiff!

• “This is a time for boring competent leadership, not Churchillian speeches and promising the moon.”
• “We don’t want Boris and his chums to be in charge of Wales.”
• “Wales leading Westminster? That’s the opposite of what we see happening here.”
• “People in Wales voted for Ukip just like the English. We do get the Daily Mail here…”

Presented by Jude Rogers. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Recorded before No.10 imposed a solution on Manchester. With Manchester refusing to accept Government terms to enter Tier 3, and Wales heading for a ‘circuit-breaker’, what does rebellion in the regions mean for the Government’s lockdown strategy? Have Senate Republicans left it too late to stop themselves going down with the Donald? And our panelists travel back in time to discuss their formative political experiences.

• “The Government doesn’t understand the needs of these communities and the people there” - Minnie Rahman
• “Westminster is an old boys club, and even a pandemic doesn’t seem to have changed that” - Minnie Rahman
• “People don’t trust Westminster to get COVID right” - Arthur Snell
• “Ever since Brexit, London has been out-of-kilter with the people in power” - Arthur Snell
• “Trump has destroyed the traditional Republican Party” - Arthur Snell

Produced and presented by Andrew Harrison with Nina Schick, Arthur Snell and Minnie Rahman. Assistant producers are Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Theme tune by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Are progressives right to get so excited about Jacinda Ardern? She’s won admiration for her handling of the COVID crisis and the massacre in a Christchurch mosque – and for crushing New Zealand’s equivalent of Ukip. Toby Manhire, editor of The Spin-Off in NZ and former Guardian comment editor, joins us from Auckland to explain what New Zealand has got right and wrong – and what Britain can learn from Ardern’s “relentlessly positive” Kiwi revolution. 

Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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