In this special episode of The News Agents, Lewis travels to Paris to find out why the City of Lights is on fire. Amidst the tear gas, the riot police, the stun grenades and the flames, The News Agents ask- what's happened? why is it this bad? And why could this riot be the start of a new, far-right, European order? It all comes as huge protests have erupted across France after President Emmanuel Macron forced through a rise in the country’s pension age. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Keir Starmer spent the morning in Stoke-on-Trent. Not WOKE-on-Trent, as one hilarious Tory Red-wall-er reminded him. But attempts to fire up the culture war are something Rishi Sunak wants no part in. And recent polling suggests it's the right call. Today we look at the state of play of the two main political parties and what the numbers are currently telling us -with James Kanagasoorium of Focaldata. And we ask whether we mind have a billionaire prime minister who pays a million pound tax bill. Lewis is on the streets of Paris where they are rioting. And not just because of something he said. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Boris Johnson told the parliamentary inquiry that he HAD misled parliament, but he hadn't meant to. His repeated defence was that he hadn't been advised what he was saying might be wrong (he had). And that other people hadn't told him that rules might have been broken (they had). He insisted that the leaving parties he'd attended had been essential work and berated Downing Street itself for having too many corridors to make parties safer. Sir Bernard Jenkin led the charge asking what he would have told a press conference if the rest of the country had wanted to hold leaving parties too. Now the committee goes away to consider its findings and its verdict. We dissect the afternoon and that Stormont Brake vote that briefly interrupted proceedings. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The Met Police - so says the explosive Casey Review released today - is a bullying boys club in which predators flourish. Rape evidence is thrown out - because of broken fridges. Eye-watering force is used against Black people. Gay officers are scared of their colleagues. So what happens now? And will this diminish public trust in the force even further? The author of the review Baroness Louise Casey joins us. Plus we get hold of Boris Johnson's defence dossier. He argues he didn't mean to mislead Parliament, only called it a party because the media did and doesn't understand why he's accused of breaking rules when everyone else did too. So yes. that one. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Boris Johnson has submitted evidence to the Privileges Committee which will be judging whether he set out to mislead the House of Commons over Partygate. He argues that 'he was advised he wasn't breaking any rules' - which might seem odd coming from the person who in fact made up those rules. We now await publication of his defence. Also today - why the DUP won't vote for Sunak's latest Brexit deal: The Windsor Framework. And - on Iranian New Year we speak to Anoosheh Ashoori and his daughter Elika. Anoosheh emerged from Evin prison a year ago after being falsely arrested. He tells us of his hunger strike, his suicide attempts and his torture - and why he's now feeling optimistic for Iran. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

After nearly a decade of stability spearheaded by Nicola Sturgeon, why do the SNP look like they're imploding? The three candidates after her job are spending day after day taking lumps out of each other. Polling suggests that the only thing that they're hurting though is their common goal: Scottish independence. We speak to one of the candidates who's attack on the independence of the leadership process has been called 'Trumpian'. And we speak to a senior SNP MP about what this is doing to the political party that, just seven weeks ago, resembled an immovable object in the way of both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. And for some weekend listening. We ask a Labour grandee and parliamentary history-maker what it was like to be the first female Black MP in the House of Commons. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt finished his early morning media round and then came for a coffee with the News Agents. We asked how many doctors would re-enter the workforce with his pension changes. How Brexit will effect our growth longer term. And where his childcare ideas came from.... You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Today's bombshell rabbit (to mix a metaphor) was the Chancellor's promise to abolish the lifetime allowance on pensions. If you're super-rich it's time to crack open the champagne. If you're working age and well-paid, it might keep you in your job longer - at least that's the aim- but this is against a backdrop where household disposable income is falling at its fastest rate since the 1950s. We talk childcare, taxation, potholes, and Brexit beer. Later, we revisit the question of BBC impartiality after leaked emails show an editor succumbing to pressure from Boris Johnson's Number 10 during the pandemic. You can watch our episodes in full at https://global-player.onelink.me/Br0x/Videos The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Last night more than forty Conservative MPs refused to back Suella's new plan for immigration. One- the former Lord Chancellor - called it 'ineffective authoritarianism'. Another - the former Immigration Minister - called it 'an absolute horror'. So today we tackle the policy head on. Is it legal? Is it humane? And will it lead fewer people taking small boats? We also look at police violence against women. The numbers are unbelievable - how, out of 1500 officers facing accusations of violence, have only 13 been dismissed. Is the force 'institutionally sexist'? You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Gary Lineker will be back on air this weekend. And BBC Director General Tim Davie has apologised to viewers for the weekend's schedule disruptions. They'd like this row to go away now. Except it won't. Where does it leave the BBC Chair and his Tory donations and friendships? Where does it leave the social media activities of other high profile talent? And what does impartiality mean - if it's being dictated by the government? We speak to Armando Iannucci - who coined the phrase omnishambles a decade ago... And we look at the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and ask if over the weekend we got close to another financial crash. You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The BBC have told Gary Lineker he won't be presenting Match of the Day on Saturday night. Emily, Jon and Lewis bring you their immediate reaction. Protests against drag queen story readings for kids have been gaining momentum in the US and increasingly the UK. This week in London there was a clash between protestors, arguing about whether these kinds of activities - where drag queens read stories to children - should be allowed to take place. Lewis asks what happens at these readings, why people are concerned, and looks at why this might develop into the latest frontier in a culture war. And is Georgia running back to sugar daddy Russia? You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The coveted Crimes against the English Language award goes to Penny Mordaunt today for mangling almost a dozen football analogies into one short Commons speech. We are still trying to work out what a left wing striker is but for now what you need to know is that the Conservative frontbench is nervously awaiting a response to their small boats policy from President Macron tomorrow when Rishi Sunak goes to Paris. The News Agents hear their might be a firm Gallic 'non' coming. So what happens to the returns policy then? And is that why Conservatives want to carry on talking about Gary Lineker for as long as they feasibly can... You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Gary Lineker has responded to the furore surrounding his tweet on the government's asylum policy with the promise to 'keep speaking for those with no voice'. It's being reported on the BBC News website - whist - we understand - the BBC is currently trying to give Lineker 'a frank talking to' for breaking impartiality rules. How do the BBC rules on impartiality work? We speak here from a little experience... And can Suella Braverman defend her language - and her policy more generally - to the country? You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The Tories have produced - at last count - over forty different failed policies to stop channel crossings. Today, Suella Braverman came up with the latest. It will prevent anyone arriving here by small boat from claiming asylum or doing so in the future. And it promises to detain them for 28 days after which they will be returned. Without quite explaining where... or how. We ask if this desperate measure will break the Geneva Convention - the UN Convention of Human Rights - and talk to former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw. You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Is Boris Johnson’s dad going to receive a knighthood? Is anyone else in the Johnson family? We speak to Rachel Johnson who opens up about family relationships and how it works if your brother is Prime Minister. We also ask why Keir Starmer seems to be unwilling or unable to answer a simple question: when did he first appoint Sue Gray? Does this all go back to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case? You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

We talk to the woman who has started a war with Matt Hancock- journalist Isabel Oakeshott. He was her source and she turned on him by taking 100,000 of her Whatsapp messages to The Telegraph. The revelations have gripped Westminster- she tells us there’s more to come. We talk to her about her motivations. And we talk all things Sue Gray, that once famous woman of Westminster who investigated Boris Johnson and Partygate, off to become…Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff.You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Boris Johnson is back. But then again, he never really went away. In a speech today at a soft power forum, he takes a swing at Rishi Sunak and his Windsor Framework after two days of lying low. We discuss the continual Johnson-shaped fly in the Sunak ointment. And Jon and Lewis go through the latest Hancock WhatsApp developments in the Lockdown Files story, and talk to Mehdi Hasan, MSNBC anchor and author of Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading and Public Speaking to talk about misinformation in the US media. You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The Telegraph have released a slew of Matt Hancock's Whatsapp messages from when he was Health Secretary, at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic. Lewis and Jon discuss the politics of the investigation, and the ethics, or lack thereof, of the journalist behind the release of the messages. And is Matt Hancock, quite simply, a plonker? You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

We said yesterday that Rishi Sunak had taken a massive gamble announcing a new deal for Northern Ireland without having necessarily laid the political groundwork beforehand. Well, 24 hours later, and it feels like he might have pulled off a blinder. The far-right of his Tory party are...quiet, and the DUP seem cautiously optimistic. Perhaps most importantly, Boris Johnson, a key potential spanner in Sunak's works, hasn't poked his head above the parapet. Could this be the start of a Conservative government rising from the ashes of internecine warfare? And could that well prove problematic for one Keir Starmer? And in the podcast, we talk to someone who knows a thing or two about significant Irish agreements: former Taoiseach from 1997-2008, Bertie Ahern, who orchestrated the Good Friday Agreement with Tony Blair's Labour government back in 1998, some 25 years ago. You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

For Northern Ireland Protocol, now read Windsor Framework. A beaming Rishi Sunak and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, have signed what MIGHT come to be seen as an historic agreement to solve the conundrum of the status of Northern Ireland post-Brexit. Might, because we don't know how the loyalist, unionist DUP will react, nor the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party, the ERG, potentially led by mischief-maker-in-chief, Boris Johnson. What Sunak has negotiated is a victory for pragmatic policy-making. But the raw politics still looks precarious. You can watch our episodes in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/ The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.