The Rest Is Politics

Why is Mark Carney choosing economic pain over a deal on tariffs with Trump? As Palestinians prepare to vote for the first time in 20 years, why has Mahmoud Abbas decided that now is finally the moment to hold elections, and will Israel block them? With Andy Burnham preparing for his first Prime Minister's Questions, what advice does Alastair have on where Kemi Badenoch is most likely to strike?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Why did Andy Burnham choose Kyiv, not Washington or Brussels, for his first foreign trip as Prime Minister? Is the tide at home turning against President Zelenskyy, and do fresh corruption scandals pose an existential threat to Ukraine’s war effort? With the AfD on course to break through in state elections for the first time, is Germany's “firewall” against the far-right about to collapse?

Join Alastair and Rory as they answer all these questions and more.

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Alastair is joined by Andy Burnham’s closest confidant, friend and former colleague, Steve Rotheram – the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region to discuss… 

Who really is Andy Burnham, and how is he going to change Britain? How have events like Hillsborough, and Thatcher’s Northern neglect shaped him? And, how does he contend with his imposter syndrome, his ‘Catholic guilt complex’, and his restless desire to be liked?

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Is Burnham’s Britain’s first ‘TikTok Prime Minister’ and what does that mean for accountability, old-fashioned journalism, and the Westminster lobby? Why are violent Israeli settlers able to act with impunity against Palestinians in the West Bank, and is Israel effectively annexing the territory? Should young people spend the last two weeks of their summer holidays thinking about the challenges facing the world?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Five years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover, why has not a single Western government marked the anniversary of a war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars? Why has Russia's last liberal anti-war party been banned ahead of next month's Duma elections, and is it a sign of Putin's strength or his weakness? What does the media frenzy that engulfed Jason Arday before his death reveal about how quickly we strip vulnerable people of their humanity?

Join Rory, Alastair and Shoshana Stewart, as they answer all these questions and more.<...

Should Andy Burnham deliver a covid style national emergency briefing to inform the public about the climate emergency? How do we foster cross-party consensus on the climate emergency? And, can we balance the need to build data centres and protect the environment? 

Join Alastair Campbell, Rory Stewart and Caroline Lucas as they discuss all of these questions and more.

To watch Caroline’s four part series on climate as a national security threat, sign up at therestispolitcs.com

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With Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe trading blows, is the British right tearing itself apart, and will Kemi Badenoch destroy the Conservative Party by chasing Reform and Restore voters rather than the centre ground? With prisons at breaking point and reoffending rates soaring, why aren’t governments honest about the real causes of the crisis, or the solutions? As the Rhine falls to record lows and Germany's economy takes the hit, is this the clearest sign yet that the climate crisis is now an economic one?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all th...

As a new military alliance between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan the first sign that America's allies no longer trust its guarantees? Why are politicians refusing to admit how fast America is burning through its Patriot missiles in Iran? With suspected Russian drones probing Europe, is the Kremlin about to test NATO like never before?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with Johnny Mercer by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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To hear the whole episode and catch up on the rest of the series, which includes a deep dive into food security, water scarcity and the suppressed national security report, sign up at therestispolitics.com

Are people really migrating because of changes in the climate? Who pays when a nation is destroyed by a crisis it didn't cause? And what does it cost, financially and emotionally,  to leave home for good?

Join Caroline Lucas, Alex Randall and Aminath Shauna as they discuss all of these questions and more. 

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As Trump's Board of Peace unveils a plan to disarm Hamas, will the group now give up its weapons and what would this mean for Gaza's future? Amid an escalation of violence on the West Bank and with settlements continuing to grow, why does the US President appear not to care? In the wake of the Gianni Infantino revelations, does the head of FIFA actually hate football?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Why did 50,000 people risk their lives in an attempt to cross the Morocco-Spain border? What do the pictures emerging from the enclave of Ceuta reveal about the bigger migration story? Why did right-wing figures across the world, from Donald Trump to Elon Musk and Giorgia Meloni, all weigh in?

Alastair and Rory are joined by immigration expert Gerald Knaus as they answer all these questions and more.

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Watch Rory and Alastair’s interview with Count Binface by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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To hear the full episode, which includes an interview with global water expert, Sandra Postel, sign up at the therestispolitics.com

With the government quietly categorising data centres as ‘critical infrastructure’, could we ever be in a situation where data centre water supply is prioritised over the water that comes out of our taps? Why do we no have clear data that tells just how much water data centres use? And why are so many data centres being built in areas which are already water stressed? 

Join Caroline Lucas and O...

Is Modi's power finally cracking as the Cockroach Janta Party's mass protests force a minister to resign for the first time in over a decade? Does the new US-Saudi uranium deal risk triggering a fresh wave of nuclear proliferation across the Middle East and beyond? If AI data centres are the foundation of future defence and security, can Britain build them without wrecking its water supplies and climate targets?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Can Andy Burnham, in a single term or less, fix problems like social care that are generations in the making? Is his new push for vocational education a long-overdue fix for Britain's broken skills system, or a betrayal of the working-class kids who have the most to gain from a rigorous academic education? As wildfires tear through France and Spain, have we already passed the climate and nature tipping point?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Could the UK be facing empty supermarket shelves by 2030? Are food distribution centres sitting ducks for drone warfare? And how has Britain got to a place where is has just 3 days to 3 weeks worth of food supplies?

This week, Caroline Lucas sits down with food security expert, Professor Paul Behrens from the University of Oxford.

To hear the full episode and the whole series as it drops, sign up here or at therestispolitics.com

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Is China quietly outsmarting the US in the AI arms race, and is Trump laying the pitch to challenge the results of the US midterms with his repeated, unfounded claims of Chinese election meddling? Why has Zelenskyy sacked his popular defence minister just as Ukraine is winning on the battlefield? Does Kemi Badenoch’s purge of Rory-adjacent centrists from the Conservative Party show she is even more ruthless than Margaret Thatcher?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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What does Andy Burnham’s purge of Starmer loyalists from the top of government tell us about how the new British prime minister will govern the UK? Why did Ed Miliband drop his ten-year Energy Security and Net Zero project to become Foreign Secretary? Can Burnham end rough sleeping nationally, after struggling to do so in Manchester?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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Why did the government suppress a report written by senior intelligence officials which named climate and nature collapse as a national security threat? How could ecosystem collapse lead to empty super market shelves, water scarcity and increased risk of conflict? And, ultimately, why has this not become a bigger conversation among politicians?

Sign up here to watch the whole episode and the rest of the series as it drops.

Join Caroline Lucas, former leader of The Green Party, as she speaks with senior British army officer, Lt General Richard...

Can Andy Burnham's 'Makerfield test' survive contact with a world of Trump, China, and a raging Iran crisis? Why did every one of Netanyahu's promises to Trump about the war with Iran - from destroying the ballistic missile programme to fomenting revolution - turn out to be wrong? What advice does Alastair have for Count Binface in his fight against Nigel Farage in Clacton?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Has Nigel Farage finally hit his tipping point, and could Count Binface deliver the ultimate humiliation in Clacton? Why are police warning against speculation over the killing of Ann Widdecombe, and is Reform trying to weaponise her death? Was Rory Stewart aware of any of this during his twelve day silent retreat?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with Gabriel Zucman by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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What does Trump's shocking red card intervention reveal about how he wields power? Why doesn't his corruption seem to hurt him politically, despite adding $2.2 billion to his wealth in a single year in office, while so many Americans struggle to get by? Is Germany's firewall against the far right about to fall – and is the billionaire owner of the Telegraph pushing it over?

Join Alastair and Mehdi Hasan as they answer all these questions and more. 

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with Ben Rhodes by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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Is Farage's shock by-election gamble a Trumpian trick to bury the scandal over his finances? Why has the Murdoch press finally turned on Britain's most protected politician? Can Andy Burnham beat the media machine that swallowed Keir Starmer?

Join Alastair and Mehdi Hasan as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with Ben Rhodes by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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How has Farage become the highest earning MP, while still claiming to be “for the everyday Briton”? Has Farage become part of the establishment? And how much more is there to discover about Farage’s £5 million "gift"? 

Join Alastair and Cat Neilan, journalist at the Observer, as they answer all these questions and more.

To hear the whole of "Who Funds Reform?", sign up here at therestispolitics.com

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with Malcolm Turnbull by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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Is Zohran Mamdani becoming much more than a mayor and effectively running a shadow presidential campaign through the candidates he's backing? How significant is Australia’s new centrist party and could something similar be done in the UK? Are the anti-migrant protests and vigilantes in South Africa unique to the region, or part of a global populist pattern of scapegoating migrants for the failures of politics?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Will Andy Burnham’s plan for a ‘Number 10 North’ actually work in practice? What does Rory make of Burnham’s growth strategy? Who is Donald Trump’s next target in Latin America?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with Malcolm Turnbull by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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With the UK and Europe sweltering in yet another record-breaking heatwave, will we ever actually reach net zero? How close are we to a “lights out” scenario due to the Iran war, and how did we become so dependent on Russian oil? Is North Sea drilling for oil and gas a matter of national security, or an environmentally reckless fantasy?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time, with the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen.

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What does Keir’s Starmer’s exit as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour party mean for the UK? After his thumping victory against Reform UK last week, will Andy Burnham face a contest or a coronation on his path to becoming the country’s seventh prime minister since the Brexit referendum? What challenges will Burnham face in his attempt to turn things around for Labour and last longer than his predecessors?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Has Andy Burnham’s huge victory against Reform in Makerfield shown the Labour Party how it can beat Farage? What does this defeat mean for the right, and how tricky will the coming months be for Andy Burnham? What does the Tory victory against the SNP in Aberdeen mean for British energy policy?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with James Cleverly by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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Has Britain become a “vassal” state, dangerously dependent on the US for our most vital national security capabilities? What does Trump’s martial arts birthday event on the White House lawn tell us about the “banalisation” of his presidency in politics and the media? Will Alastair u-turn on his boycott of the World Cup and travel to the Americas if Scotland go far in the controversial competition?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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What is the true cost of Brexit? How have British and European far-right politics evolved since the historic Brexit referendum, and can liberal democracy survive it? Is it possible to see Trump’s Iran ‘deal’ as anything other than a defeat for the US?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with James Cleverly by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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What does John Healey's shock resignation mean for Keir Starmer, whose position is already on the line ahead of Andy Burnham's crunch by-election in Makerfield? Who might replace Healey in one of the most important jobs in government, at one of the most dangerous moments in the UK's history? With NATO allies demanding higher spending on defence and Trump's America growing ever more unpredictable, can Britain afford a government at war with itself over military spending?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this emergency episode.

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As the Trump administration blocks a referee from entering the US, is this the most political world cup of all time, and just how messy will it get? Can the Democrats flip the Senate, and would it actually stop Trump? Is Jared Kushner turning the Balkans into his personal property portfolio?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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As Trump’s Iran disaster continues, are we facing a full-blown energy and economic crisis in the UK and beyond? Why are politicians refusing to be honest about the real cost of the Iran crisis? What does the far-right’s response to the Henry Nowak tragedy – from JD Vance to Rupert Lowe – tell us about post-truth populism?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Enjoy Rory and Alastair’s interview with Odd Arne Westad by searching ‘Leading’ on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

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What does the SNP embezzlement case reveal about how scandal-ridden British politics is? Is the banning of prominent left-wing American commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur a sensible decision or a serious threat to free speech? After Rory and Alastair discussed their most “evil” handshakes last week, who is the most “angelic” person they have each shaken hands with?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Is Pope Leo’s encyclical the most important contribution to the AI debate so far, and is he doing more to hold Silicon Valley to account than any Western government? What did Alastair say to Tony Blair about his explosive essay attacking the direction of Starmer’s government, the Labour Party, and net zero? Why does Rory think Blair is now closer to JD Vance than to the values that defined New Labour?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

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Who is the secretive billionaire bankrolling Reform — and what does he want? How did a brand new party raise and spend £17 million with no public explanation? As Farage inches toward power, who's really pulling the strings?

This four part series, made in collaboration with The Observer’s Slow Newscast will explore the money, donors and power networks behind Reform UK. 

To hear all four episodes as they drop, sign up at therestispolitics.com

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What connects Trump’s Cuba blockade and Ben Gvir’s abuse of flotilla activists? As Richard Tice denies climate change science, will reality catch up with Reform UK – and what is Rory’s issue with Ed Miliband’s approach to net zero? Who is the most evil person Rory and Alastair have ever shaken hands with?

Join Alastair and Rory as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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Has the scale of Donald J. Trump’s corruption become too big to prosecute? Is the US Constitution now a roadmap to tyranny instead of a protection against it? Why do 72% of Gen Z think things will only get worse, and can mainstream politics win them back?

Join Alastair and Rory as they answer all these questions and more.

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What's behind the rise in young people being diagnosed with mental health problems? Are members of Gen Z less resilient than older generations? Or are they a product of a society that has failed them? Has therapy culture gone too far? Or not far enough? Why are so many young people out of work? Is it laziness? Is something deeper at play?

This week in The Gen Z Story, Vicky Spratt  is joined by three guests: psychologist and expert in adolescent mental health, Dr Lucy Foulkes, Shuab Gamote, researcher and co-author of “Inside the Min...

Are Xi and Putin playing Trump? How serious is the new Ebola outbreak, especially after Trump's and Britain's severe cuts to international aid? With Tommy Robinson explicitly telling his supporters to support Reform UK, the Conservative Party, and other right-wing parties ahead of 2029, is this a deliberate strategy to infiltrate mainstream politics and normalise far-right extremism?

Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more in this week's edition of Question Time.

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The National Survey: To have your say on the...