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PODCAST

The Briefing Room

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

news news commentary

All Episodes

29:13

The Windsor Framework

The Briefing Room ·

2023/03/02

David Aaronovitch and guests take a deep dive into the Windsor Framework. The original protocol was deemed unworkable but does this new deal solve Northern Ireland's trading arrangements?Guests: Peter Foster, FT’s public policy editor & editor of the newsletter “Britain After Brexit” Anand Menon, director at UK in a Changing Europe Sam McBride, Northern Ireland Editor of the Belfast Telegraph & Sunday Independent Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute For Government Produced by:

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29:18

Who's Afraid of The Wagner Group?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/02/23

The Briefing Room's David Aaronovitch is joined by a team of experts to find out more about the Wagner group, the mysterious private organisation, that's acknowledged by the Russian government to have been supplying soldiers to fight its war in Ukraine. Wagner's leader, Yevgheny Prigozhin, was once known as Vladimir Putin's 'chef'. Soldiers fighting for him won the battle for Soledar - one of few military successes for Russia in Ukraine in recent months. Has his prowess on the battlefield

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29:09

Why was the Turkey-Syria earthquake so bad?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/02/16

The WHO have described last week's Turkey-Syria earthquake as one of Europe's worst natural disasters in the last 100 years. David Aaronovitch finds out why it was so deadly.Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:Stephen Hicks, Seismologist at University College London Professor Dina D’Ayala, Co-Director of the Earthquake and People Interaction Centre at UCL, and UNESCO Chair on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Engineering. Firdevs Robinson, London-based journalist, broadcaster and

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29:37

How worried should we be about avian flu?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/02/09

Avian flu has devastated poultry farms and wild bird populations around the world and now it's spread to mammals such as mink and seals. Cases in humans have been rare but worryingly fatal in more than half of the recorded incidences. How worried should we be about the risk of a new global pandemic?Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are: Wendy Barclay, Head of the Department of Infectious Disease and Chair in Influenza Virology at Imperial College London Dr Wendy Puryear, Molecular

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29:23

How do we get over-50s back into work?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/02/02

The government wants hundreds of thousands of over 50s to return the workforce as Britain mounts an economic recovery. More than half million people in that age bracket have left work since 2019. Will the promise of a 'midlife MOT' encourage people to come back to work? And do employers want them?Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation Mike Crowhurst, Director at Public First Tony Wilson, Director Institute for Employment

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28:45

How to Fix Britain's Railways

The Briefing Room ·

2023/01/26

The next round of rail strikes look set to compound long-running problems with Britain's railways. But the problems on the network go far beyond this spate of industrial action. David Aaronvitch asks the experts in The Briefing Room this week the reasons why our rail network has acquired such a reputation for unreliability, and what can be done to put it right. Contributors: Christian Wolmar Mark Smith Jennifer Williams Gareth DennisProducers: Kirsteen Knight Ben Carter Daniel GordonProduction

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29:32

Britain's Energy Crisis: An Update

The Briefing Room ·

2023/01/19

At the end of 2022, with winter approaching, there were warnings right across Europe of an impending energy crisis. There was talk of potential electricity blackouts. But today, in the depths of that same winter, why are energy storage facilities well topped up and prices of oil and gas falling instead? David Aaronovitch finds out from the experts with him in The Briefing Room this week.Contributors: Nathalie Thomas Javier Blas Kate Mulvany Sir Dieter HelmProducers: Kirsteen Knight Ben

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29:53

NHS: Are there any quick fixes?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/01/12

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised 'urgent action' to tackle the NHS crisis. The experts in The Briefing Room with David Aaronovitch this week consider what can be done to tackle problems such as: chronic staff shortages; the thousands of 'bed blockers' and the backlog of people waiting for surgical procedures. Contributors: Annabelle Collins, Senior Correspondent, Health Service Journal Nigel Edwards, Chief Executive, Nuffield Trust Jill Manthorpe, Professor of Social Work at King's College

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29:49

Ukraine: How will the war evolve in 2023?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/01/05

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts evaluate the current situation in Ukraine and explore how the war might evolve in the remaining winter months and into the Spring. Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence studies and Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London Samantha de Bendern, Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of

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29:38

Our Ageing World

The Briefing Room ·

2022/12/29

For years, the major problem of world demography was thought to be the risk of over-population. Now, it's the fact that the global population is ageing fast.According to the United Nations, the number of people over 65 is set to double between now and 2050, to 1.6 billion people. And, at the same time, the birth rate in most of the world is falling, often sharply. This demographic shift comes with huge social and economic implications. What are they, and what can we do to cope with them? Joining

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29:15

Can we colonise the Moon?

The Briefing Room ·

2022/12/22

The first mission in NASA’s Artemis space programme returned to Earth earlier this month, after a journey of over 1.3 million miles around the Moon and back. Over next few years NASA will launch Artemis missions two and three, with the help of the European and Japanese space agencies, as well as Elon Musk's Space X. The aim is eventually to build a permanent base for scientific - and possibly economic development - on the Moon. Meanwhile, China is pursuing a lunar exploration programme of its

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30:00

Strikes: How can we avoid a return to the 1970s?

The Briefing Room ·

2022/12/15

In the 1970s the UK was gripped by double-digit inflation driven by energy price shocks. Inflation was controlled by raising interest rates as a recession raged. And that prompted workers to demand higher wages. Sound familiar? This week and next will see rail workers, ambulance staff, nurses, bus drivers, baggage handlers, highway workers, Border Force, driving examiners and the Royal Mail all striking on various days. As things stand, the prospects of a resolution don’t look promising. So are we

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29:23

House of Lords reform

The Briefing Room ·

2022/12/08

Earlier this week Sir Keir Starmer announced that Labour would abolish the House of Lords in its first term if he is elected prime minister. He’d replace it with a new, elected second chamber. Some Tories were quick to ridicule the idea and even some Labour peers have urged Starmer to focus on more urgent domestic reforms rather than get caught up in a ‘constitutional quagmire’. But how would Starmer's plan work in reality and is it a good idea?Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room

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29:23

China's winter of discontent

The Briefing Room ·

2022/12/01

Chants of ‘Xi Jinping step down’ were heard on the lips of some demonstrators in China last weekend. A rare example of dissent against the Chinese leader. The cause of the protestors fury is pretty clear – nearly three years of the government’s zero-Covid policy has proved too much to bear for many Chinese.The Chinese Communist Party acted quickly by sending police to protest sites and increasing online censorship. But on Tuesday some local health officials began suggesting that they needed to lift

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29:29

UK Trade Deals

The Briefing Room ·

2022/11/24

‘We will now open a new chapter in our national story, striking free trade deals around the world’ said Boris Johnson in December 2020 after the UK struck a deal with the European Union for relations after Brexit. The government say these new deals will help level up the UK, cut red tape, provide better investment opportunities and open new digital markets. But, nearly three years after leaving the EU, what deals have we negotiated, are they providing the benefits we were promised and what

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29:37

Could Vladimir Putin use nuclear weapons?

The Briefing Room ·

2022/10/20

The Russians are on the back foot in the war in Ukraine and have just evacuated the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson. The setbacks for Moscow have led to increasing concern in western capitals about the prospect of President Vladimir Putin using a nuclear weapon. But what are the real chances of Russia moving from nuclear threats to nuclear action. And how might the NATO powers respond?Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are: Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies,

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29:33

Public Spending

The Briefing Room ·

2022/10/13

The volatility on the financial markets is continuing in the wake of the chancellor's announcement of massive tax cuts last month. The government's current plan is to announce full details of how it will fund those cuts and balance the books on October 31st. One of its options is to rein in public spending - the expenditure that goes on healthcare, schools, welfare, infrastructure and much more,So what is the level of public spending right now, how does it compare historically and what would be the

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28:29

Protests in Iran

The Briefing Room ·

2022/10/06

Since mid-September, women and girls in Iran have been staging demonstrations against the regime. Social media has been full of images of female protestors cutting off their hair and removing their Islamic head-covering in open defiance of the security forces.These protests have their roots in the arrest of a young woman called Mahsa Amini for minor infractions of the Islamic Republic’s dress code and her subsequent death in custody. But there have been several waves of protest since the Iranian

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29:40

Turmoil on the markets

The Briefing Room ·

2022/09/29

The financial markets have been in turmoil since the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, unveiled a big package of economic measures last Friday. Traders responded to the prospect of major tax cuts by selling the pound. The Bank of England then had to intervene to protect the UK's pension system.What exactly is causing the financial instability and what might that mean for the British economy over the next few years?Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are: Dharshini David, BBC Economics

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29:18

Britain's productivity puzzle

The Briefing Room ·

2022/09/22

This week the new UK government is unveiling its first major package of economic measures. They're aimed at achieving what Prime Minister Liz Truss says is her number one priority: promoting economic growth. Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he shares the same aspiration for Britain.But low growth is an entrenched problem, dating back decades. So why has the UK been performing so badly and what needs to be done to turn us into a high-growth country? Joining David Aaronovitch in The

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