The Two Matts

Should Liz Truss have had an honours list? Are 'Thinktanks' fit for purpose? And is Dave Chappelle still funny? All of these and more are answered by The Two Matt's in this Sunday Q&A episode.

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How bad can it be? Well… pretty bad is the answer. 2024 is shaping up to be a seismic year in so many ways - but the Two Matts aren’t all doom and gloom (just mostly). Will the 14th Amendment change the course of US history? Will Keir Starmer find the recipe to restore trust in politics? Will the West sell Ukraine down the river? And how can we start to step forward to a solution in the Middle East? It’s a big show this week with lots to think about - tune in and let us know what you think at [email protected]

Subscribe to The New European: https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/2matts/

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Why is the New European suing Michelle Mone? The full story unfolds here .. together with what we think it might mean for future writ-happy individuals trying to silence honest reporting. Plus - we are joined by the brilliant Zoe Gardner who looks back at an appalling year for the demonisation of migrants and looks forward to 2024 for what we all hope will be a year of better discourse and solutions to the defining issue of our age.

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Is a thirty-five day suspension for one MP really enough? Are ID cards a good idea or an invasion of privacy? And 'Slow Horses' or 'The Crown'. All these questions and more are answered in this edition of The Two Matts, with Matt Kelly and Matt d'Ancona.

Thanks to these wonderful people for their questions

• Highland Girl (via Spotify)
• Anthony Laukaitis
• Trevor Dobson
• Michael Rosenthal
• Jane in Primrose Hill

You can submit you questions to [email protected]

Alternatively, if you're listening on Spotify, you can use the "ask a question" box under this episode.

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Farage is back from the jungle and picking fights with anyone who thinks he’s a wanker! Count us in, Nige! Meanwhile Rishi Sunak presses his Rwanda bill through the commons at a running cost of close to £400m just as Channel 4 reveals the crisis in the NHS under the Tories is worse than we even thought - begging the question has the PM really thought this through? And in a special episode of Keeping Up With The Jones’s, the Two Matts wonder who is the champ of social media purity culture - Owen or Alex? All this plus the inside track on how Michelle Mone threatened to sue The New European (and our concise response) on Britain’s liveliest political podcast.

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Is he actually having a breakdown? Certainly the country he leads is… as Rishi Sunak comes to terms with another 24 hours of pure parliamentary chaos, the Two Matts ask: How much more of this can anyone take?!

Also - in part two - Matt and Matt are joined by Middle East expert and host of the Disorder podcast, Jason Pack. Jason unpacks the complexities in how a long term solution involving Qatar could bring at least a semblance of stability to Gaza - but warns we are a long way off and things will get a lot worse before they get better. Lastly, a tribute to the late great Benjamin Zephaniah, whose poem “The British” is more relevant than ever.

Listen to Jason's podcast, Disorder: https://podfollow.com/disorder

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The Two Matts discuss the legacy of the former Secretary of State, who died this week. How will he be remembered? As one of the most effective diplomats of our times … or a mass murdering war criminal who should have died in The Hague? Or is the answer, just possibly, a bit more nuanced than that?

After the break, Matt and Matt consider how that other giant of international politics (and that’s a joke, for the hard of understanding) handled Britain’s relationship with Greece this week. Is Rishi Sunak really quite as pathetic as he seems? (spoiler alert: YES!) and what was the thinking (spoiler alert: THERE WASN’T ANY!) behind him deciding to insult his fellow NATO leader so gravely. You’d need a heart of marble not to laugh. All this plus Shane McGowan and why you should read this year’s Booker winner.

Further Reading:

Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power by Robert Dallek 

The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

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