The News Agents

Wes Streeting is hoping to become the first Labour Health Secretary in 14 years. How honest is he prepared to be about what the health service needs and what Labour is prepared to spend?

On today's episode, he tells us that frankly the system we have is "not the envy of the world".

Can they really fix it by closing a non-dom tax loophole and praying for growth? We also hear what he really thinks of Israel's actions in Gaza and of the death threats he's received in his own constituency.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly

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

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

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com

What did Michelle Mone mean when she said all she’d done was “lie to the press“ after she threatened journalists with lawsuits if they dared to investigate her story?

Today we follow all the unanswered questions - is our defamation law serving the public?

What did the government know about the missing Mone millions?

And should she still sit in the House of Lords?

Tax Lawyer Dan Neidle and Labour shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds join us.

After that, we speak to former UK Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher on the horror and pain that the war between Israel and Hamas continues to inflict on all those affected; and is Jon Sopel running a covert cannabis farm in his basement?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly

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

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

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com

The Far Right are growing in strength, power and number across Europe and beyond. In election after election extremist forces are becoming bigger and bigger players, destroying old more traditional conservative parties.

In this episode of The News Agents Investigates, Lewis heads to the Netherlands, where an old political face, Geert Wilders, could now be king of all he surveys. But Holland is just one story, a microcosm of one of the biggest political tales of our time- the slow collapse of the centre and the forces of moderation on the right of politics.

Online conspiracy, misinformation and the polarisation arising from the Gaza War is fuelling the fire. Liberal democracy could be burnt along with it.

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Video Producer: Rory Symon

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

Prince Harry won, the press lost.

In a landmark court verdict, a high court judge on Friday ruled that phone hacking and other unlawful practices to obtain stories were "habitual" at the Mirror Group's newspapers.

The judge also said that senior executives at the company knew about these methods, as did Piers Morgan, who once edited the Daily Mirror.

Morgan has taken to the airwaves to once again deny.

Lewis asks what this ruling means for Harry, the royal family, the press and Piers Morgan himself. He talks to a lawyer representing the victims of phone hacking, a former Daily Mirror editor and a former phone hacker.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly

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

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

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com

Vladimir Putin’s “Results of the Year “ was a marathon televised chat show where for 4+ hours he answered none of the questions the Russian public desperately wished they could ask.

“When will the war end? When are our soldiers coming home? Are you as ill as the rumours suggest? Why is the Russia on TV not the real Russia?"

Today we ask if Putin’s buoyant mood suggests he thinks he’s about to win the Ukraine war.

We talk to those from the Bush and Obama administration who know all about Putin's methods well and ask if América is going to give up on Ukraine.

Later we discuss disgraced Scott Benton - the Blackpool South MP who could be out of a job … cue *another* by-election..

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly

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

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

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com

The incoming chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, has suggested that Gary Lineker may have breached BBC guidelines with his 'ad hominem attacks' on two Conservative MPs.

It was only two months ago that the BBC drew up its new social media guidelines - Do they make sense? Does Lineker care? And how much is the corporation responding to pressure from the right wing papers? Later - Mark Drakeford is stepping down as Wales First Minister - and is Rishi out of trouble now after winning last night's Rwanda vote?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly

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

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

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com

Emily and Jon host a weekly US politics podcast; giving you everything you need to know about the world of US politics and how it affects you.

Episodes are available every Tuesday, on Global Player.

Find the latest episode of News Agents USA here on Global Player.

Rishi Sunak faces a crucial vote tonight in the Commons over his new Rwanda bill. It's not proving to be an easy week with his party split over whether the bill goes too far or indeed that it does not go far enough.

So just how did the Prime Minister get himself into a position where his whips are scrambling at the last minute to get this vote passed?

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

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly

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

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com

Rishi Sunak is in a dark room in Paddington talking about the decisions he made as Chancellor to the covid inquiry.

Meanwhile, various huddles of Tory MPs are meeting to decide whether or not to vote through the key Rwanda bill tomorrow, one backbencher, the ERG leader Mark Francois, has told the government to rip it up and start again. We ask former deputy chair of the party Paul Scully if Rishi could lose the vote.

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

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly

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

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com

In an extended interview, Lewis Goodall speaks with the former speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow.

They discuss his difficult relationships with various Tory PMs (Cameron, May and Johnson), his switch from the far-right to the centre left, the bullying allegations that ended his political career. Plus, the TV show Traitors. He's in the next series.

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

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Planning Producer: Alex Barnett

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon

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

And, The News Agents now have merch! To get yours, head to: 

https://www.TheNewsAgentsStore.com