Last year Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces Queen Anne and Queen Bess became the last remaining primary steelmaking facility in the UK. However there were reports that those facilities were soon to be mothballed - 2,500 jobs lost before Christmas. 

Despite those reports, smoke is still rising from the Scunthorpe Steelworks and talks about its future are continuing between Jingye - the Chinese company which owns the plant - and the government.

But what is the government's plan for the future of British steel? How reliant are we on offshore production? And how did Scunthorpe come to own the latest poltical football?

Kate Lamble is joined by Megan Kenyon and Sam Alvis, as well as Ben Houchen, Nic Dakin, Tony Gosling, Andrea Jenkyns and Martin Foster.

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In 1966, to the chagrin of his fans and the folk music community, Bob Dylan went electric. The five years leading up to this moment is the focus of A Complete Unknown, the new Bob Dylan biopic from James Mangold.

This indignation came at a time where folk was the language of protest, from the civil rights movement to the Vietnam war, but when did folk get left behind? What was Dylan’s lasting effect on the protest song?

Tom Gatti is joined by Kate Mossman, senior writer at the New Statesman, and Dorian Lynskey, writer and author of 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs.

You can read more from Kate and Dorian on newstatesman.com.

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Freddie Hayward joins from Washington DC to answer listener questions on the new Trump administration.

Following his inauguration on Monday January 20, Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders to implement new policy or reverse work done by the Biden administration.

Listeners have asked what the US president's actions will mean for Britain.

Freddie joins Rachel Cunliffe and Hannah Barnes to answer your questions.

--

📚 READ: Trump's techno-futurist inaugural address

https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2025/01/donald-trump-inauguration-techno-futurist-elites

🙋‍♀️ ASK a question: 

We answer listener questions every Friday. Submit your by commenting here, or at www.newstatesman.com/youaskus

📧 FREE get our daily politics email

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💷 SAVE Become a New Statesman subscriber:

Get access to all our reporting at newstatesman.com and receive your copy of our weekly magazine. Podcast listeners can get the first two months for just £2 at https://www.newstatesman.com/save

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Is Axel Rudakubana a terrorist, or just a very disturbed individual?

Hannah Barnes is joined by Andrew Marr and Jacob Davey of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue to discuss the trial of Alex Rudakabana, who has pled guilty to the murder of three young girls in Southport.

Keir Starmer has responded to the guilty plea and ordered a new public inquiry - but critics say the Prime Minister waited too long to act.

How should the government respond to the threat of self-radicalised attackers, and the changing nature of “terrorism”?

–

📚 READ: Southport and the changing face of terror 

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/society/2025/01/southport-and-the-changing-face-of-terror

🙋‍♀️ ASK a question: 

We answer listener questions every Friday. Submit your by commenting here, or at www.newstatesman.com/youaskus

📧 FREE get our daily politics email

https://morningcall.substack.com

💷 SAVE Become a New Statesman subscriber:

Get access to all our reporting at newstatesman.com and receive your copy of our weekly magazine. Podcast listeners can get the first two months for just £2 at https://www.newstatesman.com/save

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This weekend, almost 500 days after the October 7th attack, a ceasefire came into effect between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

But just how fragile is this peace? And what will determine whether it breaks or holds?

Kate Lamble speaks with Sondos Sabra, Yair Wallach and Bruno Maçães.

Follow the links to read more from Sondos, Yair and Bruno.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Birth rates are declining around the world.

Why? And what can - or should - be done?

Tom Gatti meets authors Madeleine Davis and Anastasia Berg, who have both written on the changing attitudes to child-rearing, to explore the reasons behind these changes.

They discuss why financial, social and romantic circumstances are leading fewer people to have children, and what governments and institutions can or should do to address the issue.

Ask a question for a future episode at www.newstatesman.com/youaskus

Get the New Stateman's political analysis in your inbox every weekday by signing up to our newsletter, Morning Call: morningcall.substack.com

Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis: www.newstatesman.com/jan24

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Keir Starmer is stuck between the UN and Donald Trump.

Under pressure from the International Court, Labour are due to relinquish British ownership of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

But the islands house a strategic US airbase, and the Prime Minister needs to maintain good relations with the incoming Trump administration.

Andrew Marr, Hannah Barnes and Rachel Cunliffe answer a listener's question about whether the government will rethink the Chagos Islands deal.

They also discuss whether the New Statesman should regret backing Labour at the general election, and how the UK will be affected by new moderation rules on Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram.

Ask a question for a future episode at www.newstatesman.com/youaskus

Get the New Stateman's political analysis in your inbox every weekday by signing up to our newsletter, Morning Call: morningcall.substack.com

Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis: www.newstatesman.com/jan24

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel Reeves is under fire for her management of the country's finances.

With suggestions of an impending income tax raise, some have called for her to resign. Andrew Marr and Will Dunn join Hannah Barnes to explain why the Chancellor won't quit - yet.

Will Dunn also explains how government debt is calculated - and why the economic crash really might not have been (entirely) Liz Truss's fault after all.

The team also discuss Tulip Siddiq's resignation, and whether Labour have a two-tier approach to discipline.

Ask a question for a future episode at www.newstatesman.com/youaskus

Get the New Stateman's political analysis in your inbox every weekday by signing up to our newsletter, Morning Call: morningcall.substack.com

Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis: www.newstatesman.com/jan24

Articles mentioned in this episode:

How damaging is the Tulip Siddiq affair for Labour?

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2025/01/the-tulip-siddiq-affair-is-a-blow-labour

Will the bond markets defeat Rachel Reeves?

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2025/01/will-the-bond-markets-defeat-rachel-reeves

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Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, Elon Musk - what do these men have in common?

Just a few days from Donald Trump’s second inauguration as US President, hearings to confirm the team around him have started in earnest and the incoming 47th president has managed to pull together a coalition of competing interests - different groups with different priorities - all of whom see value in his Presidency.

But can these opposing factions work together, and what happens when they start falling out?

Kate Lamble is joined by Quinn Slobodian, Katie Stallard, and Freddie Hayward.

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The 90's is often heralded as the era of Blur, Oasis, Pulp - but this decade belongs as much to boybands as it does to Britpop. But what was behind these manufactured groups? What does this era reveal about Britain's relationship with class and masculinity? And will Robbie Williams' legacy be a CGI monkey?

Tom Gatti is joined by senior commissioning editor at the New Statesman, Anna Leskiewicz and writer Emma Garland.

Read: Robbie Williams’ anti-redemption arc, by Emma Garland

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Would it be politically safe to go back on their promise not to raise income tax if the increase only affected high earners?, a listener writes in to ask.

Hannah Barnes is joined by political editor Andrew Marr and associate political editor Rachel Cunliffe, and in the first half of the programme we hear from senior data journalist Ben Walker about whether there has been a swell in youth support for Reform UK.

The team also cast their predictions for the year ahead in UK politics.

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