The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

Britain’s woeful electoral system wastes millions of votes and consistently enables minority rule. KLINA JORDAN, joint CEO of the ‘Make Votes Matter’ campaign, tells Naomi Smith why Labour should make implementing proportional representation their first priority in Government, and offers some key rebuttals to common PR myths.

“People have been campaigning on this issue for 130 years”

“Labour have only gotten into power when there was electoral coordination going on”

“There’s no reason why coalition deals should be done in smoked-filled rooms”

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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Coronavirus has changed life as we know it, especially for those who work in our health service. Dr Dominic Pimenta resigned from the NHS over Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip to Durham, and his new book ‘Duty of Care’, describes the brutal experience of working on the COVID-19 frontline. Dominic tells Alex Andreou about his work in the NHS during the pandemic, from the initial murmurings coming out of China to full-throated lockdown here in Britain. His story, along with many others in the NHS, is one of heroism and sacrifice. 

“Everyone was doing double time and taking on duty after duty.”

“When needs must, the NHS was there.”

“How do we get people to believe in the same facts?”

“As a doctor, you’re not taught particularly well how to deal with your patient’s grief, or your own.”

Presented by Alex Andreou. 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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Last week the Government introduced legislation aiming to curb the ruinous practice of deforestation, but how will this fit in with Brexit trade policy? What more should the Government be doing on environmental matters? And how damaging have populists Trump and Bolsonaro been in the battle against climate change? UCL professor of global change science SIMON LEWIS talks to Justin Quirk about the future of our planet.

• “It’s good that the Government is talking about this, but the devil is in the detail”
• “We need much bigger action to get to net zero”
• “Trump has been incredibly damaging to evidence-based policy over the last four years”
• “The Conservatives would not be so fast and loose with the facts if it weren’t for Trump”
• “The impact of Bolsonaro will be felt for a long time”

Presented by Justin Quirk. 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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With the polls seemingly stacked against him, what dirty tactics will Donald Trump need to deploy if he’s to triumph in November’s election? And what will his victory, or demise, mean for the Western world? UCL Politics Professor Dr Julie Norman joins us to discuss the upcoming campaign. Plus - what the does the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny mean for Russia’s fight for democracy? And following anti-lockdown protests in London at the weekend, we take a look at how the far right is using COVID to bolster its ranks.

• “Trump is trying to frame himself as the law and order President” - Dr Julie Norman
• “2016 was an existential level trauma for the Democratic Party” - Justin Quirk
• “In Russia, an opponent of Vladimir Putin is a dangerous thing to be.” - Arthur Snell

Presented by Nina Schick with Arthur Snell and Justin Quirk. 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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What is an obsession with politics doing to our psychology – and vice versa? Which weird psychology drives the Johnson Government’s mix of belligerence and incompetence? The Guardian’s Rafael Behr talks to Ian Dunt about the deep, unconscious roots of solidarity, polarisation, anger and ideological commitment, and the contents of the government’s subconscious engine room. If Dominic Cummings wants to burn everything down, what exactly does he want to replace it with? 

• “If you can make people afraid, you can activate a fight or flight response that makes it harder to form dispassionate intellectual judgments.”
• “There’s a lot more bad news on the horizon so Johnson might as well use Gavin Williamson as his trouble-sponge for a bit longer.” 
• “This cabinet has ended up like the USSR, when your elite is selected for two qualities: stupidity and thuggery.”
• “Some time soon Cummings is going to find that the flames are too hot – and there is no phoenix.”

Rafael's new podcast, Politics on the Couch, is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Ian Dunt. 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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On top of COVID, a No Deal Brexit could push Britain’s already dire food poverty situation into crisis. And if we fall onto a Global Tariff for foodstuffs it will mean drastically limited kitchen staples and increased prices all round. The Shadow Food, Farming and Rural Affairs Minister, Labour MP Daniel Zeichner, joins Naomi Smith to explain the danger of a twin crisis in food supply and food poverty. How did Britain get it so wrong on food security? 

• “We all salute the work of food banks but we shouldn’t need them in this country.”
• “It’s not about a lack of food in this country, it’s lack of income.”
• “It would be very foolish to assume that because we got through COVID, we could get through a No Deal scenario.”
• “The number of adults who are food insecure has quadrupled in lockdown”
• “Our food system is essentially broken”
• “Is there a risk that food just won’t get into the country? Absolutely.” 

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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We were living in a golden age of craft beer… and then COVID hit. Will the pandemic tally wound Britain’s independent beer makers? Or are government ignorance and Big Brewing more of a threat to this life-enhancing industry? Britain’s leading beer writer PETE BROWN – author of Craft: An Argument: Why The Term 'Craft Beer' Is Completely Undefinable, Hopelessly Misunderstood And Absolutely Essential – tells Andrew Harrison how we got here, and how to Make Craft Beer Great Again.  

Presented and 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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As Republicans gather (virtually) to anoint the Great Helmsman, how will Trump’s warnings of an American apocalypse play outside his radicalised base? UCL Global Politics professor Brian Klaas and The Atlantic’s Yasmeen Serhan join us to decide who’s the weirdest and most worrying at the Trump Family Telethon. Plus, your package was left in a safe place! Has the pandemic ended consumerism as we know it? 

“The Democrats’ tactic seems to be, let Trump incinerate himself.”

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Yasmeen Serhan and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Script and assistant production by Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickenson. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production

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The COVID pandemic has given unscrupulous data traffickers the opportunity they needed to hoover up vast quantities of private patient data, with Government connivance – and often with Government funding. Investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed tells Alex Andreou what is happening to our private information, and what we need to do to stop an information grab that the Government is concealing from us. 

• “We’re faced with a monolith of huge transnational power with access for the first time to private health data.”
• “You’re seeing tiny front companies with no track record getting contracts with responsibility for life and death.” 
• “This is a danger to our democracy and a danger to the NHS.”
• “At this point, being paranoid about what Dominic Cummings is doing with data is absolutely important.”
• “When the Government says data will remain private, how much confidence can we realistically have that it will be?”

Presented by Alex Andreou. 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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Bullying and sexual harassment are a blight on Parliament – and Westminster has been slow to deal with it. Cofounder of Women in Westminster and campaigner on the winning Starmer and Sadiq Khan campaigns Tara Jane O’Reilly talks to Ian Dunt about the measures women have to take to stay safe in Westminster; and whether the new independent complaints procedure will make a positive difference.

• “When you call out sexual harassment in Westminster, you’re not just complaining about your boss. You’re complaining about the people who run the country.”
• “You’re expected to be grateful and feel lucky to be in Westminster at all. And that’s used to silence people.”
• “There are whisper networks where women talk to one another – but seldom does anything get done.”
• “Every party, including Labour, has been dismal about supporting women in politics.”
• “Do I think I’m burning down my future career by speaking out? Every single time.”

Presented by Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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