The News Agents

Keir Starmer says Peter Mandelson "lied repeatedly" about the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and said that he regrets appointing the Labour Peer as US ambassador in 2024. But with the relationship between the men well known, questions about the Prime Minister's political judgement are looming. Could this be the moment that brings down the Prime Minister?The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Things are moving at quite a pace these days, but at the time of writing Peter Mandelson has relinquished his peerage and the Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Office to hand over Mandelson's emails to the police. The Republican campaign group has also called on the police to investigate Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Will any of this lead anywhere? Or is it all just noise? And why have the Clinton’s now decided to testify before Congress on what they knew about Jefrey Epstein?The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hs...

Peter Mandelson has resigned from the Labour party and insists he "doesn’t recall" receiving tens of thousands of pounds from Jeffrey Epstein but has now called for "an investigation...by me“ to check.What was he doing lobbying for the paedophile billionaire from the heart of government? And what retribution if any should he now face? Keir Starmer has called for his peerage to be removed. But is Keir the only person who can actually make it happen?Later we hear from tax expert Dan Neidle on whether criminal charges could be brought. And what...

Keir Starmer is historically unpopular. When he entered Downing Street, his approval rating stood around +10%. Now? The Prime Minister languishes around -50%. It's the steepest drop in support for any governing party still in its infancy. 8 out of 10 people say that Britain is getting worse as a place to live under Labour's watch. One poll conducted towards the end of last year suggested that even Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had more public confidence than Keir Starmer's government. What on earth is going on? What explains such an instant - and decisive - turn in public mood away from a...

You’ve likely seen the viral video of Coco Gauff smashing her racket in a corridor at the Australian Open. She tried to go somewhere without cameras and failed. Now she's complaining the only private place is the locker room, Novak Djokovic says it's like "big brother", Iga Swiatek thinks they're "animals in a zoo". Content is king but at what cost to player privacy? Isn’t this the kind of access we all wanted to drive sports broadcasting forward and grow the sport? The bigger the sport - the more financial reward for players, so why comp...

The election offices of Fulton County were raided by FBI agents yesterday morning. Fulton, in the state of Georgia, was at the heart of Donald Trump's claims six years ago that he’d won the 2020 election (he didn’t). Why are ballot boxes of archived votes now being removed from the premises? Is this still about a six years ago old grudge? Or does it presage Trump's plan for the November midterm elections? We speak to the Commissioner on the premises who watched the action unfold before her eyes.Later - offensive language warning - the Reform coun...

Kemi Badenoch has told her party not to get in her way as she steers it further to the Right. Is this the correct assessment of what the Conservatives needs to attract voters back? Or is she way off?Later, Trump has threatened Iran with his big beautiful armada. Does he have any concern for the protestors getting killed in their tens of thousands thousands? Or is this all about US interests?The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Donald Trump's tone on Minneapolis has changed in the last 24 hours. He’s now having conciliatory meetings and phone calls with State Governor Tim Walz and the city's Mayor Jacob Frey.And it looks like he’s removed his Border Commander Gregory Bovino and put him out to pasture in California. What's behind the change of heart? Was it the polls? The murder of American citizens? Or the fact that his administration’s account of the killings has been flatly caught out by camera evidence. Is his ICE policy in meltdown? Or just on hold?Later...

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has renounced the party that gave her power, and defected to Reform. She's telling us today that Britain is broken and “she” (Britain, not Suella) was “suffering”.Are Reform better off with her? Are the Tories better off without her? And has it been enough of a distraction from the Andy Burnham saga to give Keir Starmer a lucky break?Later, is Trump panicking about his ICE strategy after the latest murder of a US citizen on the streets of Minneapolis?The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC...

In Minneapolis right now, there are more ICE and border patrol agents than there are police officers. The national guard - the army - is on standby to deploy to the city.Everybody in the city has a story about being targeted by ICE. Many now carry passports on them when they leave the house. If they are fortunate enough not to have been stopped themselves, they will know a neighbour, a friend, a colleague or a relative. Some Minnesotans literally do not know where their family have been taken.State senators have told The...

Everyone’s been talking about the Beckhams and Naomi Osaka this week. Hard to believe a family feud and a jellyfish outfit at the Australian Open have anything in common - but where Sir Alex Ferguson used to fight to keep David Beckham's focus on the pitch, sport is now embracing fashion like never before...Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams pictured at the Met Gala, Stella McCartney designing Arsenal kits, and the famous NBA Tunnel Walks.Have we all grown up enough to appreciate that athletes having other interests doesn’t mean they aren’t distra...

Originally intended to be a small group overseeing a ceasefire in Gaza, Trump's Board of Peace has evolved into something much bigger. Apparently "a lot of great people" want to join, but who’s going to pay the billion dollars to sit on it? And what are Trump's real aspirations for the Board of Peace? On today’s show we try and break down what he’s hoping to achieve, whether the UN should feel threatened and why there’s no mention of Gaza in the draft text. Later, we are joined by Peter Frankopan - did Trump “g...

Donald Trump took to the stage at Davos to take the military invasion of Greenland off the table, cue sighs of relief from European leaders and NATO.But his ambitions for the US to own the territory have gone nowhere. He still wants to acquire it, and demanded immediate negotiations to begin that process. Increasingly. it seems that America's one-time allies have grown impatient with Trump's belligerent approach. What happens if he doesn’t get what wants? And is Europe actually growing a bit of a spine?It was a rambling speech from Donald Trump, in...

We bring you a special report today of the 'dark flights' that are deporting hundreds of people - the vast majority of them here legally - in shackles from Minnesota to Texas detention centres.There is no official record these flights exists, so one man - an aviation specialist - has made it his life’s work to document each flight that leaves and count the number of people who are being "disappeared" without trace.But - on this inauguration anniversary - we start with the latest conundrum for the world’s leaders: who is Trum...

Emily and Lewis report from Minneapolis which has become the dark heart of President Trump's ICE agent immigration crackdown. We patrol the streets with ICE watchers - witnessing a raid alongside the patrollers literally sounding the alarm. We are at a far right rally - watching a January 6th insurrectionist get chased out of town. And we are with people from Somali and Latino communities who describe to us how their lives have been turned upside down by Trump's random and often lawless deportation plans.Why Minneapolis? Why now? And could Trump really send the army to...

Here's a new podcast you might like - this is episode 1 of Explosive Lies. All episodes are available now on Global Player, or search for 'Explosive Lies' wherever you get your podcasts.Jim McCormick was a cocky English salesman with an outrageous claim: a black plastic gadget that could sniff out bombs using “electromagnetic energy.” The science was pure fiction. But in the panic after 9/11, governments bought the lie - paying up to $60,000 for a device that started life as a $20 novelty golf-ball finder.McCormick sold hope to armies and security forces across the globe. But...

Just a few months ago, historian and author Rutger Bregman found himself at the centre of a very British controversy. He had been asked to deliver a BBC Reith lecture. His theme was the decadence of the political elite and in his lecture, he made a throw away line about President Trump. But when the lecture was broadcast, that critical line had been taken out. What followed was a row about censorship, media power and truth.This Friday, Rutger Bregman joins Lewis in the studio to talk about that controversy, why broadcasters must stand up to Trump...

Hosts Morocco face Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final on Sunday. At this AFCON almost 40% of players were born outside Africa, like the face of the tournament Ashraf Hakimi.So where should teams be putting their money - improving recruitment from the diaspora or investing more at home? What needs to change to attract these players? And can Sadio Mane and Senegal stop the powerhouse of Morocco from winning their first AFCON in 50 years?Gabby and Mark are joined by former Premier League defender and Sierra Leone captain, Steven Caulker, and The...

The politician who once complained of not seeing enough "white faces" in Birmingham probably had a very white one himself this morning.Robert Jenrick's apparent imminent plot to defect to Reform was left in tatters when his party leader Kemi Badenoch uncovered the plan, sacked him and booted him out of the party, and announced it to the world on a polished video clip.What happens now to the shadow justice secretary - as was - and to both the Tory party and Reform?Emily and Lewis speak to theTory party anthropologist Paul...

The images coming out of Minneapolis since the killing of Renee Good are nothing short of dystopian. Day after day, Minnesotans dragged from their vehicles, off the streets, and out of their houses. Often, seemingly, for the crime of nothing other than their ethnicity.Donald Trump took to Truth Social yesterday to tell Minnesota: "THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!". ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are flooding the streets with personnel. Joe Rogan has compared their tactics to the Gestapo - questioning whether this is the country America wants to become. Where does this...