First the good news: we might just manage to build a lot of new houses. And the bad news? Millions of people will be worse off and about fifty thousand children will be pushed into poverty by welfare reform.

Nish and Coco unpack Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement with the help of economist James Meadway, former advisor to John McDonnell. It was pretty bleak stuff from Reeves: the world is scary, growth is low, and cuts are coming. All with a strong whiff of austerity 2.0.

The Chancellor says her fiscal rules are “non-negotiable”. But James has an alternative Spring Statement to banish the gloom and challenge the way we think about growth.

Plus, as the great Signal security cock up rumbles on in the US, Nish and Coco wonder why they've never been included in a top-secret military chat. It’s just not fair.

And it’s got the UK talking, but will the Netflix drama ‘Adolescence’ make a difference in the real world?

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Guests:

James Meadway

Audio Credits

Parliament TV

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After weeks of speculation, Liz Kendall has confirmed what benefits are to be axed in order to save £5 billion from the welfare bill - but at what cost for sick and disabled people?

Keir Starmer says the rising benefit bill is “devastating for public finances” and has “wreaked a terrible human cost”. But many of his own Labour MPs have accused him of selling cuts as compassion and in the words of Clive Lewis “causing pain for millions”. Zoë Grünewald steps in for Nish to survey the fallout with Coco. 

And the cuts don’t stop there - NHS England’s abolition and unprecedented cost-cutting could see up to 30,000 jobs lost. Zoë and Coco discuss the “high-stakes” move, which the Institute of Fiscal Studies has said is “not fully thought through”.

Next up, the Tories and Reform are trying to seize the news-agenda with a pair of not-so special special announcements. And Coco has one of her own…

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Guests

Mikey Erhardt

Zoë Grünewald

Audio Credits

Sky News

BBC

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Today we're excited to bring you the first episode of Shadow Kingdom: God's Banker. In the summer of 1982, the Vatican’s top money man was found dead. Roberto Calvi was at the center of a prolific money laundering scheme that put him in the crosshairs of the Sicilian mafia, a secret far-right chapter of the Freemasons, and the Catholic Church. Forty years after his death was ruled a suicide, Shadow Kingdom host Nicolo Majnoni got a tip that there was more to the story. So who killed God’s banker?

Shadow Kingdom is a new series from Crooked Media and Campside Media. Each season starts with a crime, and as the layers are peeled back to find out who or what is at the center of it, a larger system at play is revealed.

Subscribe to Shadow Kingdom: God’s Banker wherever you get your podcasts or join Crooked's Friends Of The Pod subscription community to hear the full season right now. Join Friends Of The Pod at crooked.com/friends or subscribe through the Shadow Kingdom Apple feed.

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We’ll start with the good news - Reform UK appears to be imploding. Nigel Farage has had a wildly public fallout with (now former) Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who was stripped of his whip and investigated by the police over alleged workplace bullying and “verbal threats” against the party chairman.

As Reform flounders, the Government is busy making itself even more unpopular - if that’s possible - by trailing a series of public sector cuts ahead of the Spring Budget. There are plans to cut half of the staff in NHS England and thousands of jobs in the civil service, not to mention impending benefit cuts. 

Keir Starmer is expected to announce £5 billion of cuts to personal independence payments - commonly known as PIPs - the main disability benefit. Mikey Erhardt from Disability Rights UK speaks to Nish and Coco about the devastating impact this could have on 3.6 million claimants across the UK.

Next up, over the past few years we’ve seen waves of strikes by warehouse workers for the likes of Amazon, Tesco, Argos and others - but what exactly is it like to work in this algorithm-driven gig economy? Coco speaks to Laura Carreira, the director of a new film about the hidden lives of warehouse workers in the UK.

Finally, here’s something nobody wants to hear. King Charles has launched a personal playlist to mark this year’s Commonwealth Day. Nish and Coco strike back with their own playlist.
 

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Useful Links

PSUK Alternative King's Playlist 

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/pod-save-the-uks-alternative-kings-playlist/pl.u-b3b8V47tgYEzz

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/10MMDAPgitIYDgImod7C4T?si=bCtep-upSIyH2SXbbqQ1XQ&pi=2GVMWqSIQlyjq
 

Guests

Mikey Erhardt

Laura Carreira
 

Audio Credits

BBC
 

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A shouting match in the Oval Office probably should have been on everyone’s Trump 25 bingo card - but the extraordinary breakdown in relations between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy shocked the world. Keir Starmer rolled up his sleeves and spent the weekend in full-blown diplomacy mode - leading to Politico calling him the “unlikely leader of the free world”. 

But with Trump pulling the plug on military aid to Ukraine, leaving the UK and Europe scrambling to increase defence spending - will Starmer’s peace plan work? And what does it all mean for the future of the war? Coco and Nish discuss.

With International Women’s Day this week, Political Editor at PoliticsJoe Ava-Santina Evans calls in to discuss what the government has achieved when it comes to women’s equality.

And with less than one in five young women identifying as a feminist and self-described feminists like Kemi Badenoch calling maternity pay ‘excessive’ - Coco wants to know if changing labels and groups would make a difference. Author Sophie Lewis digs into the true heart of feminism and how we can reclaim it.

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Sophie Lewis - Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen and Girlbosses against Liberation 

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2440-enemy-feminisms

Guests

Ava-Santina Evans
Sophie Lewis

Audio Credits

BBC

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War - what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. But this week we found out that defending the UK from it is going to cost us a lot of money. And the losers will be the world's poorest people - the money for Britain's boosted defence budget will come from foreign aid. 

Sir Ed Davey - leader of the Lib Dems - tells Coco he has an alternative: bigger taxes on big tech (and some other ideas). And Coco goes a bit Yoko Ono, wondering how we give peace a chance. 

Zoe Grunewald steps in for Nish as the pod asks what Macron can teach Starmer about Trump wrangling. And we send out a search for Kemi Badenoch… Has anyone seen her? As Ed Davey presents a credible opposition voice to the Government - the Tory leader is missing in action: last seen in a right wing podcast vortex.

While Kemi Badenoch struggles to cut through, the Climate Change Commission has thought of an ingenious way to get us to act on net zero. The humble kebab.

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Guests
Ed Davey 
Zoë Grünewald

Audio Credits
UK Gov
PBS News 
ABC News

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As Europe looks on in disbelief, Donald Trump has been throwing his geopolitical weight around. A monumental meeting with Russia to discuss ending the war in Ukraine was held without Ukraine or Europe.Trump then branded Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and accused Ukraine of starting the conflict. 

Keir Starmer has said he is “ready and willing” to put UK troops on the ground in Ukraine. But is this the answer? And as shares in major arms manufacturers soar, who’s profiting? Nish and Coco chew it over. 

And from war to love - loneliness is on the rise but according to journalist and author Shon Faye, the problem isn’t us, it’s capitalism. Phew! She joins Nish and Coco to discuss the highly politicised terrain of modern romance - and why it eludes us.

Later, Tortoise tech reporter Patricia Clarke calls in to discuss what the government can do about our unhealthy social media habits and if the Online Safety Bill holds up.

And Starmer has been ambushed by tractor-driving farmers blasting out… “Sandstorm” by Darude. Yes, Darude.

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Love in Exile by Shon Faye https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/453476/love-in-exile-by-faye-shon/9780241605981

Guests
Shon Faye
Patricia Clarke

Audio Credits
The Guardian 
The White House
UK Government 

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The government has spent the week trying to out-Reform Reform by stirring up yet another moral panic about immigration. The Home Office has been boasting about its crackdown on “foreign criminals and illegal immigrants” and filming immigration raids and deportations. At the same time, it has toughened up rules to make it almost impossible for refugees who arrive in the UK via illegal routes to become British citizens.

Contributing editor of Novara Media Ash Sarkar joins Nish and Coco to discuss her new book ‘Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War’ - highlighting how a minority elite are profiting from the chaos they create and how the “i” in identity politics can distract and divide progressive movements.

And Health Minister Andrew Gwynne and Burnley MP Oliver Ryan - along with 11 Labour councillors - have been suspended from the Labour Party after it was alleged that they’d sent offensive messages to a whatsapp group chat lovingly entitled, “trigger me timbers”.

Correction: A previous version of this episode included a statement that Sheffield's recycling bins were not collected from the roadside whilst discussing an ongoing workers strike. Recycling bins continue to be collected amidst the strike. We regret the error.  

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Write to your MP about the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill

www.fighttheantirefugeelaw/org 

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Guests

Ash Sarkar

Nathan Phillips
 

Audio Credits

Sky

Channel 5

GB News

ITV

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Donald Trump has left the world reeling with a plan to turn Gaza into *checks notes* “the Riviera of the Middle East”. He vowed that the US will “take over” and “own” the Gaza strip, effectively endorsing the ethnic cleansing of 1.8 million Palestinians who would have “no alternative” but to leave. 

With rumours circling that his inner-circle are calling him an “HR manager” rather than a leader, in classic style, Keir Starmer has pushed back but avoided directly criticising Trump.

News Agents co-host Lewis Goodall joins Nish and Coco to discuss this latest tidal wave of horror and whether Starmer has it in him to stand for something.

On a more hopeful note, the decision to greenlight the giant new Rosebank oilfield off Shetland has been ruled unlawful by the courts. At the forefront of the fight has been Uplift Director Tessa Khan, who calls in to celebrate this major win for climate action and let us know how we can stop this oilfield for good.

Later, Coco sinks her teeth into our household waste, after Green-led Bristol Council unleashes the wrath of local residents. 

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Guests

Lewis Goodall

Tessa Khan

Audio Credits

The Guardian

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Warning: this episode contains strong language and a term of racist abuse.

Nish and Coco dig into some scary data about Gen Z. A poll of 13-27 year olds this week suggested nearly half of them favour authoritarian government. And nearly half of young men think women have been given too many rights. Youtuber JimmyTheGiant joins the pod to tell us about this mindset and how he disappeared into the right wing wormhole, and came out the other side.

And newts v planes:  Nish and Coco check out Rachel Reeves plans for growth. Is she pinning her hopes on the tech bros and Heathrow while sticking two fingers up to net Zero?

Useful Links

https://www.youtube.com/@JimmyTheGiant/videos

Guests

JimmytheGiant

Clare Farrell

Audio Credits

Today Programme, BBC Radio 4

Clare Farrell

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A trigger warning for progressives: this episode contains explicit Trump content.

Nish and Coco’s nightmare begins with inauguration Trump meme coins, grinning tech bros and disputed Nazi salutes. Then comes the blizzard of executive orders targeting migrants and freeing rioters.  But this is not just a bad dream for our liberal hosts. This is the reality of Trump world. The groundwork of MAGA 2.0 has been laid.

How should Britain react? The UK’s very own “basket of deplorables” including Farage, Truss and Braverman donned their MAGA caps and descended on the US. But they didn’t even scrape an invitation to the main event. Back home Keir Starmer and David Lammy opted for love-bombing the new President. But there is an alternative to a sucking up strategy. Pod Save the UK has spotted some green shoots of resistance.  

While Trump has thrown the Paris Climate Agreement out the window - again - the UK has an opportunity to lead the way on the environment. Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer joins the pod to explain how clever cross party collaboration and campaigning could push through the new Climate and Nature Bill.

And Jon Favreau, host of ‘Pod Save America’ and ‘Offline’, joins Nish and Coco from across the pond to find out what’s in store for the US, UK and the world.

Useful Links

Write to your MP about the Climate and Nature Bill

https://action.zerohour.uk/

https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/

Guests

Jon Favreau

Carla Denyer MP

Audio Credits

X / Lawrence Fox

Channel 4 News

Sky News

BBC

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