The Why? Curve

Flags are everywhere - Union Jacks and the Cross of St George going up on lamp posts, walls, street-corners and even roundabouts. Is it an attempt an intimidation by the far-right, or just a sign of patriotic spirit? Is a society that doesn’t usually wear its national identity on its sleeve, beginning to want to run it up the flagpole? And which flag? Does it depend if you feel English or British? And is all this a form of exclusion for those who don’t see themselves as either? Phil and Roger ask Michael Kenny, Professor of Public Policy at Cambridge University, and author of The Politics of English Nationhood

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The anger around asylum seekers and small boat crossings is rising - and providing fuel for Reform’s surge in the polls. Governments of any colour seem unable to get control. Reform and the Tories say it’s time to withdraw from the human rights conventions that stop deportations. But, short of that, is there a way to update the rules, while still safeguarding those fleeing war and persecution? Phil and Roger ask Bernard Ryan, Professor of Migration Law at Leicester University.

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Lots of high-level diplomacy - handshakes for European leaders in the White House, the red-carpet for Putin in Alaska - but does any of this bring the end of fighting closer? Will a Russia/Ukraine summit ever take place? Can Zelenskyy get real guarantees of future security for his country? Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security at Birmingham University, tells Phil and Roger he doesn’t have confidence Donald Trump can bring about peace in Ukraine.

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Scenes few had expected in the UK - retired vicars carried away by the police for holding up a poster saying “I support Palestine Action”. The banning of the group by the Home Secretary has led to mass protest and mass arrests, the police and courts overwhelmed by dealing with those who do not accept that direct action and criminal damage constitute terrorism. Yvette Cooper says she has evidence it is NOT a non-violent group and it is right to bracket it with Al Qaeda and ISIS, but many, even in her own party, aren’t convinced. So where does the law stand on this? Is the terrorist label a way of suppressing legitimate protest? Or a reasonable and just way to deal with those committed to unlawful actions in support of a cause? Phil and Roger ask David Mead, Professor of UK Human Rights Law at the University of East Anglia

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Rage is on the rise. On social media, on our roads, outside migrant hotels - things are getting under our skin that once would have caused mild irritation, and now lead to blind fury. Are we a more aggressive society? Or do we just feel more able to express it? Or are there more things to be angry about? Dr Nadja Heym is associate professor in Personality Psychology and Psychopathology at Nottingham Trent University, and she tells Phil and Roger the boundaries of acceptable anger seem to be changing.

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Donald Trump can’t escape the shadow of Jeffrey Epstein, and he seems to have fallen out with many of his closest supporters over the failure to disclose the Epstein files. So, after 6 months of whirlwind policy making and broad success, are cracks beginning to appear in MAGA? Is he rather too involved in the foreign wars his base wanted to get shot of? Are the tariff policies going to mean fewer and more expensive items on supermarket shelves? Dr James D Boys is a senior research fellow at University College London Centre on US Politics and he tells Phil and Roger why he thinks MAGA will still stick with Trump.

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Are committees of randomly-selected amateurs the best way to decide someone’s guilt or innocence? As the government studies a report that recommends the right to jury trial be restricted further, to ease the court backlog, is there a case for changing the justice system further? There have been many severe and tragic cases of people being wrongfully convicted by juries over recent years, and claims jurors have not understood the evidence. Or are juries a tried and tested part of our democracy, a bulwark against judges and laws that are out-of-touch? Phil and Roger examine the evidence from Dr Lee John Curley, lecturer in applied psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University and a specialist in juror decision-making

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Far away from the headlines, a war is raging in Africa that has taken at least 150,000 lives, has displaced 12 million people from their homes, and created what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Sudan is being fought over by two armies, with rape, bombardment of civilian areas and massacres a normal part of the conflict. There are no major peace initiatives and there is little aid getting in. The world has largely shrugged and turned its back. Justin Willis, Professor of Modern African History at Durham University tells Phil and Roger about the human cost and the prospects for an end to the Sudan civil war.

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How did it all go so wrong for the Labour government? A massive majority of MPs, and a country yearning for change, but now, a year on: rock-bottom poll numbers and a seeming inability to get bills through parliament. Can Labour learn and improve? Can they roll back the growing disenchantment with both the main parties? Can they get some wins? Robert Ford, Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester, tells Phil and Roger they need to improve their messaging and make some courageous decisions

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Has the rise of new weight-loss drugs become a game-changer for the obesity crisis?Can we all now inject ourselves thin? Will restaurants and gyms go out of business as we don’t want to eat, and don’t need to exercise? The drugs are becoming available on the NHS and will soon be in pill form - and they seem to be safe. But does the medical treatment ignore the complex social and economic background to obesity? Phil and Roger ask Dr Martin Whyte, associate professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Surrey.

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