Rishi Sunak has pledged he'll ramp up Britain's defence budget and announced a £500 million military aid package to Ukraine, in the same week a long-awaited $61billion aid package from the US passed through Congress and the Senate.

But what is the West’s end game for Ukraine? Is there enough in these aid packages to turn the tide of the war as Russia appears to have gained the upper hand? What more can the West do? Here to discuss this on The Political Fourcast is former Armed Forces Minister James Heappey and shadow defence minister, Baroness Anderson. They talk to us about why today's young people in the UK may end up caught up in a future war, how Trump’s second Presidency could change the war and what this all means for the upcoming General Election.

Produced by Alice Wagstaffe, Silvia Maresca, Shaheen Sattar, Rob Thomson, Calum Fraser, Nick Jackson.

This week on The Political Fourcast, another scandal hits the Tories - Mark Menzies MP loses the whip as the Conservative Party investigates claims that he misused campaign funds. He allegedly made a late night call to ask for money to pay off "bad people". He disputes the allegations and senior Tory MPs are telling voters not to rush to judgement. With upcoming local elections and a looming general election, the allegations risk damaging the party in government.  

But is today’s story just another example in a long line of MPs from all parties flouting the rules?

Since 2019, there have been at least 10 cases of Conservative MPs that have either been suspended or quit over allegations of misconduct. Similarly, across the same time period, there have been at least four Labour MPs accused of misconduct, along with one from the SNP and one from Plaid Cymru.

This week, we speak to the SNP’s deputy leader in the Commons Mhairi Black, who’s announced she will stand down at the next election. And former Education Secretary Justine Greening, who had the Tory whip withdrawn after opposing Boris Johnson over Brexit in 2019. They talk to us about mistrust in politics, and why this “jaw dropping” scandal could be a “plague” on politics at large, and confirm what voters think of Westminster’s politicians.

Produced by Silvia Maresca, Shaheen Sattar, Rob Thomson, Calum Fraser, Nick Jackson.

 

This week on The Political Fourcast - as war rumbles on in Gaza, we discuss how foreign policy affects domestic politics, and how the government’s decisions during the Israel/Gaza conflict could influence the outcome of an upcoming general election. Should Lord Cameron divulge the legal advice he has received over supplying arms to Israel? Why is the Labour party ignoring pleas to call for a ceasefire? And why did the Foreign Secretary make a house call to Donald Trump on his recent trip to the US? 

Joining Krishnan Guru-Murthy and political editor Gary Gibbon this week to discuss all this and more; Lord Charlie Falconer, a politician who was at the heart of Tony Blair's government the last time the party had a major falling out with its supporters over foreign policy during the Iraq war, and the Tory peer Nicky Morgan, a long-time ally of former Prime Minister and current Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

Produced by Alice Wagstaffe, Silvia Maresca, Rob Thomson.

With Rwanda flights unlikely to take off before the summer, if ever, could Rishi Sunak find himself in the departure lounge before any asylum seeker?

Discussing planes and plots on this week's episode of The Political Fourcast, we hear from former Universities Minister and now Conservative peer Jo Johnson, and Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP for Barking, who’s standing down at the next election.

They join Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Political Editor Gary Gibbon to talk about the Rwanda ‘gimmick’, whether or not the Conservative party have ‘hit the iceberg’, and the possibility that it won’t be Rishi Sunak who leads the Tories into the next general election.

Produced by Alice Wagstaffe, Silvia Maresca, Rob Thomson and Shaheen Sattar.

Will we have a May General election? Will there be massive Conservative defeat in any Election that we do have this year? And what’s the economy got to do with it? 

Here to answer those questions are the Former Chancellor who gave us the infamous mini-budget of 2022, Kwasi Kwarteng, and the former Labour Party leader and Mother of the House, Harriet Harman. They join Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Channel 4 News’ Political Editor, Gary Gibbon to discuss Jeremy Hunt’s Budget announcement yesterday, income tax cuts, and why, in their view, the Conservatives are starting to look a lot like the Labour party.

Produced by Alice Wagstaffe, Silvia Maresca, Rob Thomson and Shaheen Sattar.

 

In the 110 days since the war started, over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive on Gaza, prompting the charity Oxfam to describe it as the ‘deadliest conflict of the 21st century’. It follows the October 7 attacks by Hamas that saw 1,200 people killed and around 240 taken hostage in Israel. There is huge pressure internationally for a new ceasefire and hostage release deal to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

In this episode of The Fourcast we speak with Jan Egeland, a former diplomat who helped draw up the 1993 peace agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Oslo Accords.

Egeland, who is now the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy that the scale of civilian carnage in Gaza makes it clear that this is not a conflict between equals. He also looks at the ‘hypocritical’ position of many Western governments who have been quick to call out Russia’s aggression on Ukraine but are not doing the same with Israel’s attacks on Palestine, and looks at how the conflict could worsen going forward if a two-state solution is not reached.

Produced by Shaheen Sattar and Alice Wagstaffe

A four day temporary cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas has been extended by two days, and brings a glimmer of relief and hope to Palestinians in Gaza. Momentum from this brings the possibility of even more Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees being released.

Over 14,000 Palestinians have been killed, one-third of them children, since the onset of Israel’s siege in Gaza on October 9th, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. It followed the October 7 attacks by Hamas that killed 1,200 people in Israel and around 240 were taken hostage.

In this episode of The Fourcast, we speak with the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot. He’s a part of the Palestinian Authority that governs areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. We look at the wider ramifications of the Israel-Hamas war, and what it does to damage a secure and prosperous future for the Palestinians.

A warning, this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and warfare.

Pressure on Israel to pause fighting and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza is growing, with leaders around the world including President Biden calling for a multiple day long ceasefire. Meanwhile, negotiations are continuing in Qatar for the release of hostages - Netanyahu says he won't allow a ceasefire unless hostages are released.

The Israel-Hamas war has already killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas appointed Gaza Health Ministry, and Israel has come under fire for what the UN calls a collective punishment of Palestinians for the atrocities of Hamas.

In this special episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Israel's Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely. She's a member of the right-wing Likud party in Israel, and was Minister for Settlements before becoming Ambassador. We look at why Israel is continuing its bombardment of Gaza, what the endgame is - can Hamas really be eradicated? And whether she has any empathy for the Palestinians during this war.

In this episode of The Fourcast, our correspondents are on the ground with the very latest on the war between Israel and Hamas, as Israelis shelter from Hamas rocket fire and Gaza is pounded by the heaviest bombardment in its history.   Secunder Kermani has been to the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which was targeted by the militants on Saturday, we hear an eyewitness report from filmmaker Yousef Hammash in Gaza, Matt Frei interviews Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan as he tries to justify the recent killings, and IDF Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner tells Matt, "the people of Gaza are not our enemy."    And a warning, this podcast contains distressing material. 

As Israel declares a ‘complete siege’ of Gaza, and the death toll in Israel continues to rise, we bring you the latest from the region, with Matt Frei reporting from Jerusalem and Krishnan Guru-Murthy live in London.    In this special episode of The Fourcast, we hear from civilians trapped in besieged Gaza, speak to a man living in a “bad dream” as six members of his family are missing following Hamas's surprise attack, hear expert analysis from our Foreign Correspondent Lindsey Hilsum, and Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, who explains why Israel feels justified in their decision to cut the power to the Gaza Strip.  

At the Nato summit this week, the star attraction was President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. But while he knew he was among friends - and allies were keen to emphasise their continuing support - he came with a clear demand: let Ukraine join the Nato alliance. 

But even before his arrival, the mood music suggested that Ukraine was not going to be offered membership to Nato, nor was it going to be given a clear timetable on how and when it could join.

With President Erodgan of Turkey also holding up Sweden’s membership, it seemed like Nato had some trouble ahead of the summit.

But then things changed. On the eve of the summit, Erdogan said he was stopping his blocking of Sweden’s application, and during the summit, President Zelenskyy appeared to accept that even if membership was not forthcoming, the head of Nato was clear that it might come one day.

But how might the war come to an end? And why can’t Ukraine join now, to deter Russia? In today’s episode, we put these questions to Emma Ashford, an expert on Russia and Europe at the foreign affairs think tank, The Stimson Centre. I spoke to her about Nato, the war, and how it might conclude.