Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet circles the wagons as he survives another hellish week in office. One that saw the loss of his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, and his director of communications, Tim Allan, as the scandal over Peter Mandelson's ties to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein rages on. 

Nish and Coco are joined by Paul Holden, the “unofficial biographer” of Morgan McSweeney, to discuss his key role in the rise of Keir Starmer to power and his close relationship with Mandelson. Plus - reports that Labour Together hired a PR firm to investigate Paul and others looking into its funding under McSweeney.

Also, comedian Stuart Goldsmith on the serious business of being funny about climate change and why it goes all the way to the top of British intelligence.

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Paul Holden, Investigative Journalist and author of The Fraud
Stuart Goldsmith, Climate Comedian

USEFUL LINKS

The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy

Stuart Goldsmith

CREDITS

Sky News / YouTube
Sky News / YouTube
GOP Oversight / YouTube
Sky News Australia / YouTube

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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The release of the latest Epstein files triggered a deluge of revelations, spelling the end for one of UK’s biggest political characters. Nish and Coco chat about Lord Mandelson’s fall and the damage done to Keir Starmer and his government as well as the new police investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Economist Ann Pettifor, one of the few who predicted the 2008 financial crash, is the author of a new book “The Global Casino”. She has a lot to say about the Mandelson scandal, the financial systems that control our lives and what governments need to do to challenge the global billionaires who speculate with our money every day.

Plus - move over Barbenheimer, Nish and Coco give their take on two premieres: The Moment and Melania.

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Ann Pettifor, economist and author of ‘The Global Casino’

USEFUL LINKS

Nish Tour Tickets
https://www.nishkumar.co.uk/gigs/

The Global Casino: How Wall Street Gambles with People and the Planet
https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3258-the-global-casino

CREDITS
Keir Starmer MP / Parliament TV
Lord Mandelson / ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ BBC One
Melania Trailer 

Pod Save the UK is a Reduced Listening production for Crooked Media.
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Keir Starmer jets off to Beijing, leaving Westminster - once again - bubbling with rumours about his future. The King of the North might be off the cards, but Angela Rayner and even Ed Miliband are eyeing up the top spot. 

Reform thinks GB News Presenter and right-wing activist Matt Goodwin is the right man to be their MP candidate in Gorton and Denton - if only he can shelve his disdain for Manchester… Nish and Coco chew it all over with political journalist Zoë Grünewald.

Away from the psychodrama, controversial plans to overhaul special educational needs education in England risk children’s legal rights to cut costs. Campaigners Rachel Filmer and Carrie Grant share their concerns with Coco.

And surveillance firm Palantir is using medical records to target people for ICE in the US - could the UK be next?

This podcast has been edited to remove a story about Matt Goodwin after he clarified the context of his comments about Manchester. We regret the error.

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GUESTS 
Zoë Grünewald, journalist, broadcaster and political commentator
Dr Carrie Grant MBE, TV presenter and voice coach
Rachel Filmer, SEND campaigner

USEFUL LINKS

Save Our Children’s Rights Campaign

Stop Palantir in the NHS

CREDITS

Keir Starmer / TikTok
Pod Save America / X
Good Law Project / Instagram
Sky News / YouTube
UKLabour / X

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Donald Trump brings his particular brand of terrible speeches to the billionaires and bankers at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Nish and Coco try to work out how Keir Starmer can keep on track when facing the threat of US tariffs over Greenland as well as criticism of a lease deal with the Chagos Islands - which the US had previously praised.

Liam Thorp, the Liverpool Echo’s Political Editor, is on hand to break down Labour’s big plan to make homes warmer, the fortunes of Reform and the latest delay to the Hillsborough Law

Plus comedian Alaa Shehada, fresh from his show ‘The Horse of Jenin’, talks to Nish and Coco about the ‘Palestine Comedy Club’, a documentary which follows a group of Palestinians as they take their comedy show on tour in an occupied state.

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GUESTS 

Liam Thorp - Political Editor, Liverpool Echo

Tess Ingram, UNICEF

Alaa Shehada - Comedian

USEFUL LINKS

Palestine Comedy Club collective

https://www.palestinecomedyclub.com/

Palestine Comedy Club documentary

https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/palestine-comedy-club

Starting Feb 27th:

London - Rich Mix and Bertha Doc House 

Tywyn - Magic Lantern Cinema 

Birmingham - Mockingbird Cinema 

Brighton - Komedia 

Gloucester - Guildhall 

Belfast - Queen’s Film Theatre

CREDITS

Donald Trump - BBC Online

‘Palestine Comedy Club’ - Tough Crowd

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X has been firmly in the firing line after its Grok AI tool was used to create sexualised images of women and children. Elon Musk’s company could face a fine of up to 10% of its global earnings by internet regulator Ofcom, or a ban in the UK. He denies that the AI has done anything illegal and says users are responsible for the images they create.

How can we regulate AI? Nish and Coco speak to Rutger Bregman, historian and author who called out billionaires at Davos. He argues Big Tech should be treated like Big Tobacco, and gives his take on Iran, as thousands of protestors take to the streets, and what a radical policy platform looks like for the UK Left today.

Plus - what on earth is UKIP proposing as a terrifying rebrand? 

*Update on Palestinian Hunger Strikers*: On 14th Jan Heba, Kamran, and Lewie collectively paused their hunger strike. They made British history, lasting 73 days.

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Rutger Bregman - Historian and Author of Moral Ambition, out in paper back on 15th Jan

USEFUL LINKS

Let us know your experiences of SEND support in schools - or any other stories.

CREDITS

Liz Kendall MP, Technology Secretary - Parliament TV

Rutger Bregman - Publicae   

Rutger Bregman and Tucker Carlson - Now This

Tehran protests - Shaparak Khorsandi/Instagram

Donald Trump - New York Times

Laila Cunningham - Daily Express/YouTube

Nadim Zahawi - Sky News

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The US President put the season of goodwill behind him with a New Year Venezuelan coup and the threat of further action across Central America and the Caribbean. Then there’s the little matter of his promise to seize control of Greenland.

Nish and Coco try to make sense of the senseless - and to assess the possibility that Donald Trump could end up destroying NATO - with Tommy Vietor from our sister podcasts Pod Save America and Pod Save the World. 

Plus, comedian Cody Dahler gives us his take on how 2026 will shape up for politicians and satirists. How easy is it to make jokes while the world - literally and metaphorically - is on fire? 

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GUESTS 

Cody Dahler, Comedian and Presenter of The Truth (In My Opinion)

Tommy Vietor, Co-Host of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World

Nida Jafri

USEFUL LINKS

Palestine Action Hunger Strikers:

How to write to your MP 

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

Petition calling for action from the Justice Secretary

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/call-on-mp-and-secretary-of-justice-david-lammy-to-intervene-and-protect-the-hunger-strikers/

CREDITS

Parliament TV

Cody Dahler/TikTok

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg/BBC One

Tonight with Andrew Marr/LBC

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You asked, Nish and Coco answered!

What are their most conservative opinions? Why do both the left and right hate NATO so much? Should we ditch GDP? Why doesn’t the UK have compulsory voting and why do some many progressives stay true to Labour when the party is failing to measure up?

All that plus the latest on Coco’s love-hate relationship with AI and a quickfire round to make sure no question is left unanswered.

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Warning: this episode contains a use of a racial slur.

From the rollback of human rights and Trump’s BBC lawsuit to AI slop in politics - what the %@£! was that? Nish and Coco are joined by comedian Shappi Khorsandi and political commentator Jovan Owusu-Nepaul to make sense of the wild year that was. 

Labour’s first full year in office was marked by u-turns and an inability to use the word ‘genocide’ but there were some significant new bills that boosted the rights of renters and employees. 

Reform’s polling and local election success had mainstream parties running scared - but the reality of actually running stuff may have revealed the party’s limits. While Starmer focused on the threat from the right, the left was revitalised by the resurgence of the Greens and the (albeit chaotic) energy of Your Party - can they shift the political dial?

As 2025 draws to a close - Nish and Coco hand out some very special awards and can we get a Palestinian lullaby to Christmas No.1?

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GUESTS 

Shappi Khorsandi, Comedian

Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Co-Host of What’s Left? 

USEFUL LINKS

CREDITS

Labour Party/TikTok 

Parliament TV

Sky News/YouTube  

Channel 4 News/YouTube 

Channel 4 News/YouTube 

BladeoftheSun/X 

Shaparak Khorsandi/TikTok

The Last Leg/Channel 4

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg/BBC

Basil the Great/X

Sky News/YouTube

5 Live/BBC

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Donald Trump has taken another swipe at Europe’s “weak” leaders over Ukraine and immigration including a special mention for - surprise surprise - Sadiq Khan, who got a shout out for being a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”. Honestly, why is he SO obsessed?! 

But a Labour government trying to convince European allies to water down human rights law to deport people faster seems perfectly in line with Trump's vision. Nish and Coco are joined by Sky’s Deputy Political Editor Sam Coates.

They also take a dive into the latest allegation swirling around Reform UK - this time the party’s election spending in Nigel Farage’s Clacton constituency is under the spotlight.

And the scale of the homelessness crisis always seems more acute at this time of year - so the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, Alison McGovern, joins PSUK to explain how their new plan will be the one to finally make a difference.

Finally - PSUK has watched the first episode of the Liz Truss Show, so you don’t have to. Nish and Coco give it a rating out of one to limp lettuce.

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GUESTS 

Sam Coates, Deputy Political Editor at Sky News

Alison McGovern MP, Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness

USEFUL LINKS: 

Nish’s Carol Performance 

CREDITS

Politico 

The Liz Truss Show / YouTube

Keir Starmer MP / TikTok

Rishi Sunak MP / TikTok

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“Dead and rotting seagulls within the roof insulation” and “maggots literally raining down on to the lobby” - this quote from a court in South Tyneside sums up the state of our creaking judicial system. So what are we going to do about it? Cut jury trials.

Deputy PM and Justice Secretary David Lammy is hoping to clear the court backlog by scrapping jury trials for crimes with sentences of less than three years - but stories like these make Nish and Coco doubtful it will be the silver bullet Lammy hopes. Is removing one of the fundamental building blocks of our justice system worth some sweet sweet efficiency gains? 

Then - is this the next post office scandal? Nish and Coco are joined by Liz Sayce OBE to discuss her damning report into how the Department of Work and Pensions failed to notify unpaid carers that they were accruing enormous debt for years. 

And Your Party had its founding conference this weekend… and surprise surprise… it was a spicy one. In the end, Team Zarah’s collective vision for the party defeated Team Jeremy. Will this be a new chapter or - for a party prone to in-fighting - will this leadership model trip them up from the get go?

Reminder to send in your questions for our mailbag special to [email protected]

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Liz Sayce, OBE

CREDITS

BBC News

Turn Left Media

The Mirror 

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Coco and Nish listened to Rachel Reeves' budget so you don't have to. But hang on, we could all have skipped the speech and read it online. Someone screwed up big time, pressing a button and releasing the budget before Reeves even stood up. That cock up was possibly the most exciting thing about Labour's second budget. 

A bit vanilla for you? Too much tax for ordinary workers? Too little for the wealthy?

Journalist Zoë Grünewald tells Pod Save The UK why this budget might have done enough to pacify the Labour backbenches by lifting the two child benefit cap while soothing the markets with tax and spend plans...

Dr Faiza Shaheen, Director of Tax Justice UK, was hoping for bolder action on wealth taxes, but she spots some reasons to be cheerful in the mix. 

In other news, Nigel Farage gets rattled by questions about his past. Nish and Coco enjoy the novelty of seeing him squirm but wonder if it will harm his electoral chances. And bring a bottle and bury the hatchets, can 'Your Party' make this weekend their kiss and make up moment?

Send in your questions for Nish and Coco and they’ll answer them in our mailbag special. Email us at [email protected]

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GUESTS 

Zoë Grünewald, Journalist 

Faiza Shaheen, Director of Tax Justice UK

USEFUL LINKS 

Aditya Chakrabortty Guardian article

CREDITS

House of Commons Live

Sky News

The New Statesman 

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