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PODCAST

Coffee House Shots

Daily political analysis from The Spectator"s top team of writers, including Michael Gove, Tim Shipman, Isabel Hardman, James Heale, Lucy Dunn and many others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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All Episodes

13:11

Corbyn is back! ... or is he?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/07/04

Some sore heads on Coffee House Shots this morning, after last night’s Spectator summer party. But while we were having fun, a drama was brewing in the Labour party after it was finally confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn is starting a new left-wing party... or is he?The news was broken last night by another MP: Zarah Sultana, a long-time admirer of Corbyn. Elected as a Labour MP in 2019, she lost the whip last July for voting to lift the two-child-benefit cap. However, after discussions with figures

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14:08

NHS reforms: Labour puts on a brave face

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/07/03

Today Wes Streeting – with the help of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves – announced his 10 year plan for curing the NHS. It’s all about creating a ‘Neighbourhood Health Service’, but what does actually mean in practice?Much of the plan was leaked in advance: first, focusing on preventing disease before it becomes too late; second, improving community healthcare services to help reduce pressure on hospitals; and third, embracing the tech revolution to bring the NHS into the ‘digital age’. One of the

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11:37

Chancellor in tears during PMQs

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/07/02

There were extraordinary scenes in PMQs today. Rachel Reeves appeared distraught as the Prime Minister failed to guarantee her security when asked by leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch. It was brutal to watch, as the iron chancellor’s lip quivered and a tear rolled down her cheek. In many ways, you can’t blame her – with her headroom narrowing, she will be forced to find a further £5 billion worth of savings to allow for the government’s botched welfare bill.No. 10 has since clarified that

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13:54

Welfare vote: how many will rebel?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/07/01

It’s D-Day for Labour’s welfare reforms. MPs will vote tonight on the party’s watered-down benefits cuts. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall formally announced Labour’s climbdown yesterday, telling MPs that the government had ‘listened carefully’ and was bringing in ‘positive changes’. Well, that’s one way of putting it.Even so, Labour is braced for a rebellion from dozens of MPs. We’ll know the full number at around 7pm, but it is not expected that there will be the 83 required to overturn the

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12:41

Does Starmer still want to be PM?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/30

There have been a number of navel-gazing interviews with the Prime Minister over the weekend. Across thousands and thousands of words, he seems to be saying – if you read between the lines – that he doesn't particularly enjoy being PM.In better news, Labour seems to have quelled the welfare rebellion. Liz Kendall is making a statement in the Commons this afternoon, in which she will outline the concessions that Labour has made on its controversial welfare bill. All in, the cost has spiralled by £3

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24:28

Steve Baker on how to organise a successful rebellion

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/28

As Labour rebels appear to have forced concessions from Keir Starmer over welfare this week, former Conservative MP Steve Baker joins James Heale to reflect on his own time as a rebel, and to provide some advice to Labour MPs. Steve, an MP for 14 years and a minister under Theresa May, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, tells James about the different rebellions he was a part of (from Brexit to Covid), explains how to organise a successful one and reveals how he has lost close friends when he has made the

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16:08

Welfare U-turn: is Keir in control?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/27

Keir Starmer has performed a screeching about-turn on his flagship welfare reforms, all in the hope of quelling the rebellion from more than 120 MPs who have been promised ‘massive concessions’ over concerns about disability benefits.These include moderating the bill to make it easier for people with multiple impairments to claim disability benefits, and offering to protect Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for all existing claimants for ever – to ensure there would be no detriment from the

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19:25

Who’s having a worse week: Keir or Kemi?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/26

It’s bad news all round for Labour and the Tories. An MRP poll out today forecasts that if an election were held tomorrow, Labour would not only lose its majority, but fall behind Reform to become the second-largest party. The Conservatives would be reduced to a mere 46 seats, placing them fourth behind the Lib Dems.But that’s just the beginning of their collective woes. On the Labour side – despite Keir Starmer’s charm offensive and ongoing talks with Labour MPs about potential changes to welfare

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17:14

Welfare rebellion: why Starmer – and Reeves – should...

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/25

Keir Starmer is facing war on both fronts. He is in the Netherlands to talk about defence and announce a major change in the UK's nuclear posture in response to rising challenges in the Middle East. But everyone in Westminster wants to talk about a different kind of warfare: the warfare over welfare. MPs will vote on the government’s controversial welfare bill, after more than 120 MPs signed a reasoned amendment that would effectively stop the bill in its tracks. What has been most concerning for

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13:26

Iran: 'what the f***' is going on?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/24

It is rare to see the President so visibly frustrated (see The Apprentice, circa 2004), but after Iran and Israel seemingly ignored his ceasefire announcement – and his plea on Truth Social, ‘PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!’ – Donald Trump has come down hard on both sides. In a clip taken this afternoon he exclaimed: ‘These are countries who have been fighting so long and so hard, that they don't know what the f*** they're doing.’ Succinctly put by the President.The exchange of fire could be the expected

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12:43

Does the government support Trump’s Iran strikes?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/23

The weekend saw the US launch airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, with Tehran warning of ‘everlasting consequences’. Despite an emergency Cobra meeting and Luke Pollard’s morning media round, we are still waiting for an answer on whether the government supports Trump’s action. Keir Starmer’s assured and confident position on the world stage now looks to be in peril, as he is pulled between Trump, his attorney general and the court of public opinion. Can he de-escalate?Also on the podcast,

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17:24

Jeremy Hunt on Trump, Budgets and Welsh whisky

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/21

On this week’s special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, James Heale sits down with Jeremy Hunt to discuss his new book, Can We Be Great Again?. The former chancellor and foreign secretary argues that Britain remains one of the world’s most influential nations – but is in danger of losing its nerve. He reflects on working in the Foreign Office during Donald Trump’s first term, makes the case for the BBC as a tool of soft power, and admits he wanted to be the first chancellor since 1997 to

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13:44

MPs back assisted dying: what next?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/20

MPs have voted – by a narrow 23-vote margin – in favour of legalising assisted dying. Bizarrely, the 51.9 to 48.1 per cent breakdown is the exact same as the 2016 referendum result, although hopefully this issue doesn't divide the Labour party in the same way that Brexit did for the Tories.The whole process is far from ‘Parliament at its best’, as it has often been claimed. Despite hours of passionate and emotional debate, key concerns about the drafting of the bill forced some who would naturally

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13:21

What you need to know ahead of the assisted dying vote

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/20

It’s a historic day in Westminster, where MPs will vote on the assisted dying bill – the outcome of which could have huge repercussions for healthcare, politics and the courts. It’s such a significant day, in fact, that we’ll be recording another podcast just after the result is announced at around 2.30 p.m.Kim Leadbeater’s camp remains confident that the bill will pass, although many anticipate a much closer vote than at the second reading. This is in no small part due to high-profile members of

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16:09

The inside story of how Labour is dealing with Iran

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/19

This week, our new political editor Tim Shipman takes the helm and, in his cover piece, gives us the inside track on how Labour is dealing with Iran, Donald Trump and the prospect of escalating war in the Middle East.He writes that this could be the moment when all of Keir Starmer’s chickens come home to roost: his well-curated international image is at risk of crumbling as global crises present greater challenges; his hands are tied by legal advice from the controversial Lord Hermer; the Chagos

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13:40

Westminster waits for Donald’s decision

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/18

Westminster waits with bated breath to discover whether Donald Trump will ally with Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites. The President called for ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’ from Tehran overnight. The day to day of domestic politics appears diminished by comparison with the ever-looming threat of an escalated conflict…But the show must go on: today’s PMQs saw Chris Philp (why not Robert Jenrick?) and Angela Rayner deputising for their absent leaders; Liz Kendall introduced legislation to enact

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49:01

William Dalrymple: The Golden Road

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/18

My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is the historian William Dalrymple, whose bestselling account of ancient India’s cultural and economic influence, The Golden Road, is newly out in paperback. He tells me why the ‘Silk Road’ is a myth, how Arabic numerals are really Indian – and how he responds to being Narendra Modi’s new favourite author.

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12:50

Can you 'take the politics out' of the grooming gangs...

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/17

Yesterday Yvette Cooper announced a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal after the Casey Review found that a disproportionate number of Asian men were responsible and that governments and authorities had failed to step in over fears of racism. Anxious to press Labour on their U-turn – memorably, Starmer accused the Tories of ‘jumping on the far-right bandwagon’ – Kemi Badenoch held a press conference, joined by victims of the gangs. ‘I’m not doing politics now, when I’m in the Houses of

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11:05

Grooming gangs: will this inquiry be different?

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/16

Following Keir Starmer's decision to call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper spoke in the Commons today about the 'collective failure' to address questions about groomings gangs' ethnicity in the Casey report. Elsewhere this week, Welfare reform legislation is being tabled, with a vote expected before the end of the month. Sir Keir Starmer has signalled his willingness to confront dissent within his own ranks. Meanwhile, the assisted dying debate is once

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12:18

Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 15/06/2025

Coffee House Shots ·

2025/06/15

Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's politics shows.The conflict in the Middle-East has entered a dangerous new phase, with Israel and Iran engaging in open warfare. We hear from Chancellor Reeves about potential UK military involvement, as the Israeli ambassador to the UK says the nuclear threat from Iran was 'imminent'. Starmer has also announced a statutory national inquiry into grooming gangs, but the Conservatives say the government is simply caving in to public

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3,109 results

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