In this week’s News Roundtable episode, Chris Wright is joined  in the debate by the wonderful professor of European Politics, and Jean Monnet Chair of European Integration at the National University of Ireland Maynooth, John O’Brennan, Conservative political commentator, Lee Harris and Labour NEC member, Jess Barnard.

The conversation kicks off with the latest Conservative Party scandals of Peter Bone and Crispin Blunt. Is this the final nail in the coffin for the government? The conversation opens up a broader discussion on those who are accused and tried and found guilty on social media and on the front page of the papers before they are tried by the court of law. However, there is clearly a deep sickness in Westminster involving the abuse of power. While country-wide, just 5% of rapes that were given an outcome by the police in the year ending December 2021 resulted in a charge.

Then they move on to the upcoming Financial Statement, and whether Sunak should sack Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor, or even Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. Is the economy or immigration the most important issue for voters? Who could be the next Chancellor? Well, it’s likely Rachael Reeves will be there in the not-too-distant future. The panel analysed her standing from giving a great speech at the Labour Party Conference a few weeks ago to recently being accused of serious plagiarism in her new book.

The second half of the conversation focuses on the elephant in the room. Israel-Gaza. Keir Starmer has come into some very hot water over his comments that endorsed Israel’s “right to defend itself” and Israel’s war crimes on Palestinians. The panellists analyse the conflict, significantly, the domestic and international response to it. Jess Barnard speaks of her visit to Palestine last year giving a firsthand account of the treatment of Palestinians by Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This is a very emotive topic to debate and that was certainly the case here… We hope you enjoy this longer episode which we believe the length is backed up by the depth of discussion.

We’d love to hear what you think of the episode at email@wrightonthenail.fm, or get in touch if you just want to say hi!

Yours faithfully,

WOTN Team

'I Hit The Nail Right On The Head' by Billy Bremner.

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This episode was produced by Tom Platts

This podcast is published by New Thinking: www.newthinking.com