The Standard

This is a cut down of the full interview with BT Business CEO Bas Burger, on our How to be a CEO podcast. To hear the full thing click here.

When BT Business was officially launched in April this year, Bas Burger was the man entrusted to take the reigns. He’s in charge of 24,000 people, and a multi-billion pound strategy to make the UK’s broadband infrastructure fit for the future.

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Sir Michael Gambon described as a ‘titan of the stage and film’. How his mischievous side came out during interviews. Dumbledore versus his earlier film and theatre roles. How London’s theatres will pay tribute. Nick Curtis, our Chief Theatre Critic, discusses Sir Michael Gambon’s career, character, and how he will be remembered.

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Double-whammy strikes warning for Wednesday 4th October. Commuters expected to write off most of next week. RMT Union’s Mick Lynch warns staff cuts will lead to more disruption. Our City Hall Editor & Transport Editor Ross Lydall explains the October tube strikes, and how intermittent action is changing work culture in London. In this episode:

• Most lines affected but good news for Elizabeth Line travellers
• Tube staffing issues explained
• Is Sadiq Khan between a rock and a hard place?
• How low staff numbers are impacting small stations
• Are strikes impacting season ticket purchases?

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A huge UK oil and gas field, Rosebank, has just been given the green light for development and production.

The controversial decision has been made despite widespread criticism. The field contains up to 350 million barrels of oil and is currently one of the largest untapped discoveries in UK waters.

We’re joined by Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit think tank. She shares her analysis on what this means for the UK.

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The outcry over armed police officers continues as Sir Mark Rowley appears at the first meeting of the new policing board.

The Scotland Yard chief admitted that there is "significantly less" armed police cover than normal in London, and the force was facing "difficult choices''. It’s after hundreds of officers stood down from firearms duties following a murder charge against one of their colleagues.

The Evening Standard’s Home Affairs Editor, Martin Bentham, explains how we got to this point, the protections currently in place for armed police, and whether this is going to be an ongoing issue moving forward.

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New data reveals that hybrid working has become a permanent way of life, and millions less rail journeys are being made in and out of the capital on weekdays. The stats come as Sadiq Khan calls on Londoners to return to the office and make the most our of our great city. 

Ross Lydall, our City Hall Editor & Transport Editor, takes us behind the data and looks at the potential repercussions of this new normal.

In part two, the Evening Standard’s Financial Editor, Simon English, discusses what this all means for the City’s economy and why there's now a change of tone from the capital's big banks.

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In this special ‘Let Girls Learn’ episode, we’re finding out about life for pregnant teenagers in Freetown, Sierra Leone. 

Being a girl here can be tough, they can often be exploited for sex by men and boys offering them ways to jump the extremely long queue for the water pump line, something known locally as ‘water for water’. 

Teenage pregnancy can be common here but the girls are often rejected by their families, making them extremely vulnerable.

The Evening Standard’s Radhika Aligh visits the 2YoungLives project in the capital Freetown to hear how a mentoring scheme is helping young mothers in the community.

In the #LetGirlsLearn series, we’re aiming to shine a light on innovations and solutions that are helping girls to fulfil their right to education and healthy, productive futures around the globe.

You can find out more online at www.standard.co.uk/optimist/let-girls-learn

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It’s the end of the line for one of London’s iconic public transport fares - the day Travelcard.

The special tickets offering unlimited journeys on Tubes and buses are being withdrawn after 40 years by Mayor Sadiq Khan from January in a bid to raise Transport for London an extra £40 million annually. 

Some 65,000 daily Travelcards are bought on most days, and these will be cut in a push for passengers to instead use contactless or Oyster.

The Leader podcast is joined by the Evening Standard’s transport editor, Ross Lydall, and Dr James Fowler, a University of Essex Business School lecturer and author of Strategy and Managed Decline: London Transport 1948-87.

We discuss the Travelcard’s history, the cut's wider financial impact on London's economy and the European cities offering best value public transport.

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It’s day two of King Charles’ French trip - and he’s made history as the first British monarch to address the Senate in Paris.

The symbolic tour is his first visit across La Manche since Brexit, and he’s set out his hopes for improving Franco-British relations.

His speech, in French, focused on combating climate change - potentially leaving him on a crash course with Rishi Sunak after the PM put the brakes on Britain’s plans to cut carbon emissions?

The historic address to the French parliament’s upper chamber came after the king and queen Camilla dined on blue lobster and lychee-flavoured cheeses at a celebrity-packed black tie banquet hosted by President Emmanuel Macron in the Palace of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors.

The Leader podcast is joined by Professor Peter Jackson from the University of Glasgow, an expert on Franco-British relations, along with historian and royal commentator Dr Ed Owens, who’s author of After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?

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Rishi Sunak is to weaken some of the government’s key green commitments in a major policy shift.

The Prime Minister reckons it’s possible to meet 2050 net zero carbon emissions goals but in a “more proportionate way”.

With an eye on a general election expected next year, Sunak risks triggering a feud with Conservative party members who are progressive on green issues.

His speech on Tuesday was pushed forward after a leak to the BBC suggested major u-turn include delaying a ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars by five years, and the phasing out of gas boilers.

While the government’s 2030 target for banning new internal combustion engine cars could also reportedly be pushed back by half a decade.

The Leader podcast’s joined by Luke Murphy, associate director for energy and climate at the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank.

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