The News Agents

Angela Rayner broke cover today - just before PMQs - to give an interview to Sky News in which she admitted she may have made a mistake on the tax she paid for her seaside property. The details are complicated - and involved both her special needs son and her divorce - but was it tax evasion (illegal) or tax avoidance (not illegal)?

And will her political future rest on the answer?

Later, we’re discussing Graham Linehan , Lucy Connolly, JD Vance and freedom of speech in the UK.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Nick Clegg worked intimately alongside Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook/Meta for seven years. He departed Silicon Valley in January and has written a new book - How to Save the Internet - and given his first broadcast interview to The News Agents.

Is the world wide web as we know it being dismantled? Does he still see social media as a force for good? Could it impact an election? And how much did Zuckerberg care about the impact the product has on children’s health? We chat AI, British politics, and why he suspended Trump from the platform...

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Keir Starmer has shaken up his core team in Downing Street today. It's an attempt to grip the agenda, improve the government's messaging and take on Nigel Farage after a difficult first year in office.

"Delivery, delivery, delivery" was what the Prime Minister said was the government's priority for the year ahead - but deliver what? There is a debate taking place in the Labour party between those who believe a more progressive case is needed, that you don't beat Farage by apeing his talking points.

Others are convinced that it is only by addressing these concerns that you can stop them from splintering off to Reform. Will today's reset get us any closer to revealing which side of that divide the PM is on?

Later, what the fevered online speculation about Donald Trump's health this weekend tells us about the White House - has there been a cover up or was it just a campaign by an army of trolls?

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

This is the first part of two special Friday episodes on the way AI promises to transform our politics, economies and societies. Lewis has been in San Francisco, where trillions of dollars of investment in AI is fuelling the 21st century equivalent of the space race. Around half a dozen firms are powering this revolution, largely out of sight or scrutiny. While the political and economic implications are profound, politicians seem unwilling or unable to even conceptualise what might be about to happen to their own voters.

In the first of these special episodes, Lewis has been speaking to Jack Clark, one of the founders of Anthropic - one of the big AI firms. These companies don’t speak out that often, but Clark has a sober message for politicians. If politics doesn’t wake up- there could be an economic bloodbath within the next 18 months.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Our guest today, Alice Cooper, fought to set up the first ever Women's Rugby World Cup in 1991, along with three other trailblazing women. It took players selling Russian dolls and vodka to pay their way, organising everything over fax, and Alice losing her job - but they did it. Alice tells Gabby and Mark the story of how they paved the way for this year's World Cup.

Plus, we look back at the best bits from this week's shows: former Nottingham Forest player David Prutton asked, could Mourinho replace Nuno at Forest?! After dream debuts for 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha and 15-year-old Max Dowman, Max's former coach at Arsenal, Temisan Williams, and The Telegraph's Sam Wallace joined us. And comedian and Grimsby fan, Lloyd Griffith, took the mickey out of Mark after their shock Carabao Cup win over Man United.

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📥 Email: [email protected]

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill

Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland

Guest Booker: Kirsty Giddings

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".

👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

There's news today of a Downing Street shakeup and speculation too about a ministerial reshuffle next week. Parliament returns on Monday, with Labour MPs hoping that the new term will bring with it a chance to rejuvenate a government that has plummeted in the polls and a party that seems almost mutinous.

This summer, Nigel Farage has planted himself at the centre of the news agenda - with regular press conference, media stunts and interventions. Labour ministers have been doing the round too - but they seem to have less to say in recent weeks than the Reform leader,

Amidst all the talk of a reset, Jon and Lewis break down where Labour's media strategy is going wrong - and what Keir Starmer needs to do to win the messaging war.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

It's a story that reads like it's jumped out of a thriller novel. Denmark has today summoned America's top diplomat in the country, after reports emerged that figures connected to the Trump administration had infiltrated Greenland to conduct “covert influence operations”.

Denmark's national broadcaster has today come out with a jaw-dropping story alleging that three US citizens are suspected of recruiting Greenlanders for a US-sponsored “separatist” movement. Are they rogue operatives - or are they working on behalf of the US State? Jon and Lewis speak to the journalist who broke the story,

Later, Labour are on the attack over Nigel Farage's mass deportation plan. The minister in charge of UK-EU relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, has today been slamming Reform and the Tories for their aversion to closer ties with Europe - as well as branding Farage's migration proposals unrealistic and unworkable. He came in to the News Agents studio.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

In an airport hangar in Oxfordshire, Nigel Farage unveiled Reform UK's mass deportation plan. Farage pledged to tear up international treaties, build new removal centres, and strike deals with foreign countries in an effort to drive up returns at pace should he become PM. There was a dark message in his speech - that without his radical programme, Britain faces rising anger, even civil disorder.

Speaking at length about a political class and a legal class pitted against this action, Farage asked: "Whose side are you on?".

It follows a weekend in which Tory politicians have been condemning the British judicial system for convicting Lucy Connolly, who was jailed after calling on people to "set fire" to asylum hotels in the wake of the Southport attack.

When did the British Right turn on the British State? How did the conservative movement become so set on tearing down institutions rather than preserving them? Jon and Lewis discuss.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Does Putin have something on Trump? Is Trump deliberately deflecting attention from the Epstein saga? Is Starmer's advisor, Morgan McSweeney, overestimated by the media? And what response has Lewis had to his 100% inheritance tax theory...?

This Friday, Lewis and Jon answer your questions.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

As part of a special weekend edition of The Sports Agents - Gabby's been at Twickenham - the home of England rugby - to speak to key members of England's Red Roses squad ahead of the start of the Women's Rugby World Cup!

Over 375,000 tickets have already sold for a 32-match home tournament which kicks off on Friday as England bid to avenge their narrow World Cup final defeat to New Zealand back in 2021.  

Gabby sits down with Mo Hunt and Emily Scarratt, two of England's most decorated players, as well as, former captain-turned-coach Sarah Hunter, for an insight into the mood in the camp, the pressures of hosting the tournament as favourites and the chance to inspire a whole new generation of rugby fans.

📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7

💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod

📱Follow us on socials:

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/

X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod

📥 Email: [email protected]

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill

Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland

Guest Booker: Kirsty Giddings

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".

👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents