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The Standard episodes

October 20, 2021 Do we need a Plan B to beat a Covid Christmas?
Winter is coming...and as the nights draw in there’s a warning from our recent past - could we see Covid cases overwhelm hospital beds, and should we ride it out or batten down the hatches once more?

As Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng rules out another lockdown, we talk data and risk for the months ahead with Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Government’s vaccination advisory body the JCVI.

His warnings come as the UK registered 43,738 confirmed Covid cases, with the Government still hoping to avoid implementing its Plan B, which includes Covid-status certification in certain settings, legally mandating face coverings and asking more people to work from home if they can.

The Government has so far dismissed appeals to introduce its Plan B Covid restrictions with ministers saying the vaccine booster programme and plan to immunise children aged between 12 and 15 will avoid the need for tighter restrictions even as the NHS battles winter flu and a backlog of non-Covid treatment.
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10 min
October 19, 2021 Gas boiler ban: are you tempted by a £5,000 heat pump grant?
Heat pumps and electric cars...it’s all part of a £1 billion vision meant to help us reach carbon “net zero”. With all eyes on Britain ahead of Cop26 kicking off in a few weeks, the Government’s been laying out its eco hopes for the future.
So is today’s announcement just window dressing ahead of Cop26, and more fantasy maths à la Boris Johnson’s infamous NHS Brexit ‘promise’? Alice Bell, co-director of London climate change campaign charity Possible, helps us cut through the jargon and bluster.
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6 min
October 18, 2021 Should every politician have a bodyguard?
As anti-terror police question the suspect in the killing of Sir David Amess, MPs hold a minute’s silence in the Commons for their fallen colleague. So just how safe are Parliamentarians to go about their constituency business, and when does online hate become real-world risk? We speak to former Met Detective Inspector Philip Grindell, who advised Parliament following the murder of Jo Cox and is now CEO of Defuse Global.
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6 min
October 15, 2021 Hello... It's Adele
After six long years Adele is back with new music Easy On Me. We speak to the Evening Standard’s Celebrity Correspondent Lizzie Edmonds about the megastar’s return to the spotlight. Adele’s hotly anticipated album 30 is out next month, we discuss everything we know so far about the project and whether or not a 2022 tour is on the cards.
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8 min
October 14, 2021 Is Prince William right about billionaire space race waste?
The Duke of Cambridge wants the likes of Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Elon Musk to focus on saving this planet rather than trying to reach the next. Is he right? We talk it over with physical geographer Dr Eloise Marais from University College London. She tells us about the impact all these rocket launches are having on the planet right now as well as potential problems in the future. We also ask if there are better ways to send spaceships out of the atmosphere than those currently being used by rival billionaires?
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6 min
October 13, 2021 Brexit: What’s being renegotiated and can the UK be trusted?
The Evening Standard’s Jack Kessler joins us to explain what’s been renegotiated between the UK and the EU over Brexit. The European Union’s relaxing rules on checks for goods like chilled meats going into Northern Ireland, which the UK says are causing disruption for supplies. But with Brexit minister Lord Frost warning Britain could invoke Article 16 and unilaterally revoke the whole thing, will the compromises being unveiled be enough to calm concerns on both sides?
Meanwhile, Dominic Cummings has claimed it was the UK’s plan all along to throw out bits of the Brexit deal it didn’t like, prompting some leading politicians to say Downing Street can’t be trusted.
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7 min
October 12, 2021 Jesy Nelson and the ‘blackfishing’ row: Does the showbiz industry have a problem?
Evening Standard columnist Emma Loffhagen joins the podcast as former Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson’s forced to deny claims she’s appropriating black culture. The ‘Boyz’ singer’s not the first person in the entertainment industry to be accused of “blackfishing”, with stars such as the Kardashians also having similar claims made against them. Emma tells us how the problem appears to be getting worse, and questions how the video for Nelson’s debut solo single was ever approved for release.
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8 min
October 11, 2021 Salt Bae: The man, the myth and is his London restaurant worth it?
The Evening Standard’s Reveller editor, David Ellis, joins us to discuss Salt Bae’s new restaurant in Knightsbridge, which serves a steak for £840 and a cappuccino for a bargain £50. Nusr-Et’s been slammed by critics, including our own Jimi Famurewa, but remains packed with punters and celebrities keen to have the internet-famous chef slice up their meat at their table. But can a restaurant survive on hype alone? We also talk about how Salt Bae rose from being a butcher in Turkey to an international culinary superstar, with a little help from Bruno Mars.
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8 min
October 08, 2021 Foreign holidays are back: new rules explained and advice on booking
Thousands of people have been flocking to travel agents and airlines after the UK government lifted red list restrictions on all but seven countries. We speak to our political editor Nicholas Cecil who tells us that one travel agent says enquiries are up 400% as the country leaps on the opportunity to take a foreign break. He also tells us about the new testing rules that are being brought in, which should make it far cheaper to take a holiday.
We’re also joined by travel expert Paul Charles, of the PC Agency, who tells us the industry is hoping that testing and the red list itself could soon be on the way out. He also gives his advice on how to book a holiday in a post-Covid world.
For more tips and destination guides, head to the Evening Standard’s travel pages.
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9 min
October 07, 2021 The cost of living's about to rocket and this is why
The Evening Standard's associate editor Jonathan Prynn joins the show to explain why the cost of living in the UK's apparently about to rise by a huge amount. Energy companies are warning of big price increases next year as the wholesale cost of gas goes up along with demand for supplies with the world waking up from the Covid pandemic. Tax increases are also expected, and the Bank of England's warning the "magnitude and duration" of the UK's inflation spike is proving "greater than expected".
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6 min