In this episode, Marina and Jemma meet the person who can, in large part be thanked (blamed?!) for turning their mild interest in politics into a passion - Mr Brexit himself: James O'Brien.The LBC star, journalist and best-selling author of books including his latest, How They Broke Britain, for once finds himself on the opposite side of the interrogating questions. They hear about his leap to fame courtesy of Brexit and take a trip down memory lane with some caller clips that never get old. There's some quizzing on James' position on Labour and the looming election, and his surprising thoughts on Proportional Representation, which Marina and James agree to disagree on. Jacob Rees-Mogg gets a due hammering with some fascinating insight on the effect of public school on public servants, and James reluctantly names who, of those responsible for Britain's demise, he'd choose to go for dinner with - and the ladies coax out of him a hilarious, not-so-polite, run-in with Reform Party's Richard Tice.Order James O'Brien's book here:https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/457804/how-they-broke-britain-by-obrien-james/9780753560341Follow him here:https://twitter.com/mrjamesobAnd catch him on LBC every weekday from 10am-1pm.Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast**EXCLUSIVE EPISODE OF THE TRAWL - ONLY ON GLOBAL PLAYER**To hear Marina and Jemma answer your questions in a very special Q&A episode, download the Global Player App or head to globalplayer.com and search 'The Trawl'.

Broadcaster, Jemma Forte, and political commentator, Marina Purkiss, scroll through Twitter so you don’t have to. Now on Global Player. If you're already enjoying The Trawl, please do leave a rating and a review. And don't forget, you can listen to every episode for free on Global Player. Download it from the App Store, or head to globalplayer.comAnd it's only Global Player where you'll be able to find an EXCLUSIVE bonus episode, with Jemma and Marina answering your questions. Just head to Global Player and search for 'The Trawl'.

Election is GO! Marina and Jemma happened to be together when the news broke and enjoy sharing what happened next. Then, it's a look back at the most undignified election announcement of all time and what's happened since. The parties have hit the campaign trail running. Although the Tories are looking pretty desolate and have many seats to fill. Still, perhaps in a passive aggressive act of revenge, they've sent Sunak to a brewery in Wales so people can think 'piss up in' and left him talking to Welsh people about The Euros they didn't qualify for.Richard Tice is out of the starting blocks too. Just a shame one of the Reform accounts has got the wrong date...only two days out. Vote Reform on July 6th.An hilarious lookback at the best tweets and clips with one of the best Under Rated Clips of all time courtesy of Steve Baker - Aha!EnjoyThank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

This Ep was recorded the morning of the election announcement so the Trawl ladies are busy collating all the best reactions for the next episode. This one unpacks a strange week for Suella but before they get into that, they begin their trawl with a wonderful moment from Carol Vorderman who had the Joe Lycett audience whooping with delight. The students at Cambridge were much quieter when GB News and Braverman turned up to ask them why they were protesting about Palestine. Words have power but sometimes, so does silence. Although the guest she confronted in the GB News about the same topic, was gloriously outspoken and for once, it seems Suella didn’t have much to answer back with. Then it’s onto some of the reaction from the same news outlet regarding Ofcom’s finding that their ‘Ask Rishi’ forum was impartial. Lastly, Jemma and Marina discuss the fact that Jeremy Clarkson has been voted sexiest man by the female users of a certain dating site. The mind boggles. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

We love it when politics goes mainstream... And it did this week when Sunak and Starmer decided to appear on Loose Women and Sunday Brunch, respectively. Jemma and Marina discuss how they both fared, and why one of them went viral - probably because he tried to suggest he was fixing child poverty with an Online Safety Bill.Next up are more culture wars as a result of the 72-gender myth which is resulting in new legislation, despite the only evidence of this being a thing coming from someone's next door neighbour's friend's sister's cat. And you'll be glad to know that it's not just poverty that is spiraling in this country, but Sunak's and his wife's wealth too. Jemma and Marina discuss the growing inequality in the UK and elsewhere, and why soulless Sunak is the last person we need at the helm.Finally, get your patio tables and parasols ready, because Al Fresco dining is about to hit the UK by storm thanks to a new Brexit benefit - apparently. Someone might need to tell Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch where the term Al Fresco originates from...Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Up is down, black is white and now... Blue is red! Because this week, the Labour Party welcomed Tory MP, Natalie Elphicke with open arms, which raised more than just a few eyebrows. Jemma and Marina discuss the mafioso-style tactics from the party of Government to keep defection to a minimum and revisit moments of joy where Tories tie themselves in knots by slating someone - who was one of theirs - until about 5 minutes ago. Count Binface continues to prove he's the hero we never knew we needed, before the episode turns to the series that is sweeping the nation: Baby Reindeer. Then, has everyone got their rainbow lanyards at the ready? Be careful the Minister for Common Sense doesn't whip it off you given her latest culture war hobbyhorse. Pudding served up by comedian, Matt Green. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Marina and Jemma start with a lookback at this year's Eurovision Song Contest and discuss why it was such a political hot potato this year. The UK entrant received a lot of criticism for not boycotting the event and the Israeli singer had unprecedented levels of security. All this makes the notion that it's 'just' a song contest and 'apolitical' for the birds. There's plenty of reaction and clips. Due to the subject matter, it's a more serious Trawl than usual but as Israel carry out airstrikes in Eastern Rafah, after issuing orders for the evacuation of 100,000 Palestinians from part of the city, triggering an exodus of thousands of people, The Trawl ladies felt it was the right time to talk about it. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Having raked over the council elections in the last episode, Jemma and Marina spend this one dissecting the Mayoral results. It's a win for Andy Burnham, a loss for Andy Street, a win for Ben Houchen and, most thrillingly of all, a loss for Susan Hall. Susan, who spent her time campaigning telling Londoners that where they live is a hellscape of unparalleled proportions. Funnily enough, that strategy didn't work. In this Trawl, enjoy her entirely graceless speech and Khan's humorous one which references the biggest winner of all, Count Binface. The man who wanted to reduce the price of croissants and bring back Ceefax did very well and completely trounced the Britain First candidate who also suffered a huge bout of sour grapes. Fortunately, there was someone in the crowd to put him right. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Jemma and Marina discuss what were a pleasingly catastrophic set of results for the Tories in the local elections and wonder why everyone knows that, apart from The Mail on Sunday. Oh, and Sunak......yes, the Prime Minister is still convinced his plan is working, despite the country trying desperately to tell him that it isn't. Meanwhile, Suella thinks she has the answer which is her answer for everything. Be More. Right. Wing. No thanks, Suella. Meanwhile, on the Laura Kuenssberg show there are no Greens or Lib Dems in sight, despite their incredible gains, and despite the fact the Lib Dems gained more council seats than the Tories. The delusion is strong and yet of course, leader of Reform, Richard Tice, has had plenty to say even though they won a grand total of two seats. Yes, two. Not two hundred. Two. And which idiot, who should know better, forgot their ID and couldn't vote? Marina and Jemma have trawled some of the juiciest reactions, there are plenty of clips and they haven't even started on the mayors yet, that's in the next episode. Pudding is served by The Marsh Family, Enjoy! Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Poor poor Lawrence Fox - literally.The episode opens with the unfortunate news of Laurence Fox having to pay large sums in libel damages. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. Then all aboard the private jet - that's right, Lord David Cameron's £42m private jet, which he hired for his latest jaunt as Foreign Secretary, with the bill being footed by us taxpayers. Just as well he can be questioned about this in the House of Commons...Oh. Next stop is Question Time, and this week was Tory MP, Chris Philp's turn to make an utter tit of himself with geography skills as impressive as Dominic Raab's.Jemma and Marina move on to talk about the latest round of performative cruelty with the Govt's announcement around disability and sickness reforms, and seek to reassure anyone listening with some words of advice from Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis. To finish on a lighter note, Jemma and Marina serve up a Victoria Sponge of an underrated tweet of the week with pudding from Larry & Paul. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

It's squeaky-bum time for our Prime Miniature Rishi Sunak this week... Jemma and Marina open with a discussion around the many elections taking place this week that could see things go from bad to worse for Rishi Sunak. And please God, deliver us from Susan Hall becoming the new London Mayor. Then, what's better: Twitter or X? The ladies discuss the worst rebrand of all time before moving on to an MP who this week rebranded himself from Tory blue, to Labour red. We're talking of course, about Dr Dan Poulter who has managed to find his principles so close to a general election - incredible coincidence. 30p Lee has been whinging again... this time about the banning of an old sitcom named Terry & June. Except it hasn't been banned at all. Not content with spouting nonsense about sitcoms, Lee moved on to spouting nonsense about Blackpool, resulting in Jemma and Marina having a good giggle about Lee's prehistoric vision of what he wants Britain to be. Spoiler: Get your headscarves and buckets out, ladies!Then it's onto the resignation of Scotland's First Minister, Humza Yousaf, before a trigger warning discussion about Reform's Ben Habib and the shock remarks made about migrants drowning in the channel.To end, Jemma and Marina serve up some epic underrated tweets and finish with another musical masterpiece from The Marsh Family. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

The episode opens with a visit to the US courtroom where strange noises and smells have reportedly been emitted from a somewhat sleepy Donald Trump...Then it's onto the latest performative cruelty policy from the party of Government as they announce punitive reforms to sickness and disability benefits, because why would they sort out the collapse of our National Health Service, when they can simply scapegoat the people who need it?Included is some context that shows we might not be quite the 'sick note culture' we're being made out to be, plus a throwback clip to when people complained that their GP appointments were given too soon!Next, Jemma and Marina discuss a laughable headline from The Telegraph's Camilla Tominey. And from laughable news titles, to laughable Royal titles - because it appears King Charles has been busy dishing out a load more honours to his wife, bro and kids. If you thought The Order of the Thistle was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet...Patreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, has said that the Tory's have overshot all their targets.... without laughing....on National TV. This is such an outlandish claim, she almost deserves a medal but not as much as Chris Packham does for his outstanding performance on the Laura K show. And certainly not as much as everyone who ran the London Marathon does. Jemma and Marina enjoy some highlights and chat about what impressed and inspired them most about the annual, 26 mile, test of endurance. It won't surprise regular listeners to discover that Marina's favourite moment involved wine. Then, the Trawl ladies rake over what happened at 3am one night when Tory MP, Mark Menzies, put in a phone call because he needed to pay off some 'bad people.' Talking of bad people, Jemma and Marina are gutted that after many rounds of political ping pong, the Rwanda bill has finally been passed. A moment of national shame that ironically comes on the same week as St George's Day. But when does national pride become pure nationalism? Pudding is served by comedian Matilda Thorpe. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Marina and Jemma are thrilled to chat to activist and author of the No 1 Sunday Times Bestseller, The Trading Game, Gary Stevenson. They hear about his humble beginnings, his route to university and what it felt like to be Citibank's most successful trader. They're particularly fascinated by the reasons that at age 27, Gary eschewed his life in the city to start explaining why the system is rigged and profoundly unfair. The Trawl ladies talk to him about wealth tax, being a 'patriotic millionaire' and who he thinks does speak sense. Gary's Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@garyseconomicsThank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Jemma and Marina open with an emotional appeal...For a group of people who feel petrified, forced to flee their homes against their will. They're talking of course, about... non-doms. Then it's straight into the latest from Liz Truss' deluded book tour in which Jemma and Marina try to outdo each other with the worst clips of our former PM that they can find. They discuss Truss' latest bid to ditch the Supreme Court, leave the ECHR and her attempt to ditch The Equality Act - when she was equalities minister no less.After a few more excerpts from her book, the ladies move onto satirical takes, which are harder to distinguish from reality than you'd first think. The final segment has a good laugh at those on the right who are dabbling with Artificial Intelligence to show us what the world should look like according to them, and it isn't pretty - nor even vaguely plausible.Then it's a pic n mix of delicious underrated tweets and clips, with a pudding from Larry and Paul about Prince Andrew. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Reform have had a fair few struggles with their vetting process but this week have surpassed even themselves by cancelling an inactive candidate who turned out to be.....dead. A pulse is probably necessary, even at Reform. Then, it's time to look at the papers and, despite the prospect of WW3, The Mail are focusing on Angela Rayner and what she 'might' or might not owe in capital gains tax.Jemma and Marina discuss how Laura Kuenssberg can't get enough of the story and pay tribute to writer, John O'Farrell's, glorious contribution to the show. They go on to discuss a topic the BBC won't be covering any time soon - it's BBC bias and what's happened to the News department since Tory donor, Robbie Gibb, was put in charge.There follow masses of Under Rated Tweets and the Trawl ladies are definitely bias because they think they're very funny. Pudding is interactive. Enjoy!Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Just when you thought the Glaswegian Wonka was the worst ever entertainment experience, along comes Nigel Farage with his 60th birthday party celebration... Jemma and Marina discuss the bizarre goings-on from the bash and what one is supposed to do with a Farage-shaped ice luge. Then it's onto the latest social calamity X post from the Govt of the second most powerful country in the world - or at least it was the most powerful country according to the Conservative's X account earlier in the week, but seemingly not by the end of the week, by which point they had deleted said post.The Rwanda plan takes a hilarious new turn... turns out £500m doesn't just buy you no asylum seekers in Rwanda, but also no planes and no homes too. Terrific. Need some career advice? Well, you're in luck. Telegraph columnist and granddaughter of Telegraph grandee, Sophia Money-Coutts (yes, that is her real name) has some advice for our lazy Gen Zs on how to hustle - just like she did. After more hammering of our young, Jemma and Marina finish on some epic underrated tweets and an ECHR-flavoured pudding that reminds us how utterly insane it is that our unelected hedge fund manager PM is trying to drag us out of it.Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Financial advice from Sunak, anyone? Because that's what was offered by our PM in his latest comms disaster video put out by No.10. The ladies discuss the desperate attempts by the PM to shift public perception, as well as the very obvious flaw.Then it's onto "courageous and fulsome" William Wragg - whose latest accolade includes being praised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer for sending photos of his meat and two veg to a perfect stranger on the internet before compromising his colleagues, some of which, went on to do the same. What a time to be alive!But who cares about Wragg, or indeed the billions of pounds squandered, evaded or funnelled by Conservatives, because EVERYONE LOOK AT ANGELA RAYNER! Jemma and Marina discuss the crazed efforts of the right to try and make us angry about a potential £1.5k tax issue from a lady who sold her council house 9 years ago and wasn't even an MP at the time, with desperate Dan at The Mail on Sunday leading the charge. Then it's onto some mispronunciations that may offend your ears, before a delightful pudding finisher from The Marsh Family. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Tory MP for Uxbridge is campaigning hard for a fish and chip shop in the centre of Uxbridge, and that's despite refusing planning permission for one in 2019. Marina and Jemma rarely start an episode with their head in their hands but this time they do. And their despair isn't going away because this ep has sewage at it's heart and some dismal facts about how badly privatisation has failed us all. Jemma tries to change the subject / lighten the mood with a series of tweets Marina is only half sure about. Enjoy! Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast

Jemma and Marina kick off with a quick look at the latest MRP poll as reported in The Times, which doesn't read well for Sunak and Co. For some unknown reason, Rishi is still laughing however, as are the Question Time audience when Esther McVey is asked about her role as 'Minister of Common Sense.' Though arguably X (formerly known as Twitter) could do with some sort of Common Sense Tsar because over Easter there was a lot of performative Christianity happening which was more sickening than overdoing the chocolate, frankly. Everywhere you looked Tories were outdoing themselves with their devout displays of worship - to the point where Liz Truss saw fit to stand outside a boarded up church clutching a live lamb that looked like it really wanted to escape. The Trawl ladies discuss the juxtaposition between supporting the Rwanda policy, wanting to criminalise the homeless and painting over murals to make refugee centres less welcoming, and being Christian. Interesting. Meanwhile, just before the Easter break, Sunak sneaked out his latest list of people he wants to stuff into the Lords. Marina and Jemma inspect a few of them. Easter themed Under rated Tweets and clips finish of the episode along with an Easter themed pudding. Thank you for sharing and do tweet us @MarinaPurkiss @jemmaforte @TheTrawlPodcastPatreonhttps://patreon.com/TheTrawlPodcastYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@TheTrawlTwitterhttps://twitter.com/TheTrawlPodcast