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Coffee House Shots
Can Kemi win the battle for the right?
James Heale is joined by Tim Shipman and Liam Halligan, Telegraph columnist and the new director of the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), to look ahead to Conservative party conference, which kicks off today. Kemi Badenoch’s latest attempt to draw clear dividing lines with Andy Burnham was through a tougher welfare offer aimed at the under-25s – as exclusively revealed by Tim in the Spectator this week. Will this, alongside tougher fiscal restraint and general plain speaking, appeal to the wider public?
Plus: how do the Conservatives outflank Reform while seeking to appeal to those in the centre-ground who may have turned to Labour at the next election? The panel also discuss the state of public finances, the role of think-tanks such as the CPS and what to watch for in Birmingham – from party donors and business representatives, to the mood of younger activists.
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
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Can the Greens survive Burnham?
16:21|James Heale reports from Green Party conference in Brighton, joined by More in Common’s Luke Tryl and Noa Hoffman. After a year in which the Greens appeared to be challenging Labour on the left, has their momentum begun to stall – and how much of that is down to Zac Polanski himself, compared to Andy Burnham winning progressive voters back to Labour?They discuss the tensions within the Greens’ increasingly broad coalition plus look ahead to next week's Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Will Polanski survive losing in London?Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
Suella Braverman on imposter syndrome, 'breaking up' with the Tories and why she’ll never go back
43:38|Suella Braverman joins Tim Shipman to discuss her new memoir Patriot, from growing up with imposter syndrome to her battles inside the Conservative Party and eventual defection to Reform. She reflects on immigration, Brexit and patriotism, her clashes with Rishi Sunak, and explains why she believes she could never work with the Tories again.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
EXCLUSIVE: work or face benefits ban, Kemi tells under-25s
14:54|Tim Shipman has interviewed Kemi Badenoch ahead of Tory party conference this weekend. In the interview, the Conservative party leader exclusively reveals the Tories plan to ban benefits to under 25s who have never worked before. For this special episode of Coffee House Shots, here is an extract from the Spectator's Edition podcast, where Tim sat down with the Spectator's Lara Prendergast and Angus Colwell and the Telegraph's Poppy Coburn.Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
Can Andy keep up with his promises?
16:51|Andy Burnham delivered his first conference speech as Prime Minister in Liverpool yesterday, promising a sweeping expansion of public services and a fresh look at Brexit, to warm reviews from the hall. Patrick Gibbons is joined by Isabel Hardman and Claire Ainsley, Sir Keir Starmer's former director of policy, to weigh up what was promised and how the party is taking it.Produced by Henry Lloyd
Hope again: do you buy Burnham's big pitch?
22:09|Andy Burnham has used his Labour conference speech to set out his clearest vision yet for the country and it was a strikingly ambitious one. Noa Hoffman is joined in Liverpool by Tim Shipman and Michael Simmons to unpack a speech that ranged from a new National Care Service and reform of the pension triple lock to electoral reform, water and Britain’s future relationship with the European Union.How radical is Burnham’s programme in practice and is the ambition matched in the detail? And what was missing from the speech?Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
Can Labour really reindustrialise Britain?
15:10|Noa Hoffman is joined from Labour conference in Liverpool by James Heale and economics editor Michael Simmons to discuss Chancellor John Healey’s keynote speech. They discuss his attempt to sell fiscal discipline in distinctly Labour language, whether the government’s reindustrialisation plans add up and what the speech tells us about the economic argument Andy Burnham wants to make.Plus, as the bars begin to swell on day two of the conference, can Labour's united front continue for Shabana Mahmood's speech?Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
Immigration, Europe and tax: the questions Burnham is avoiding | LIVE
22:06|Live from Labour conference in Liverpool, Noa Hoffman is joined by Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss the questions Andy Burnham still needs to answer. Can Labour tighten immigration controls while edging closer to Europe? How will Burnham pay for his social care ambitions? And is the party already thinking about an early election... despite what the PM might say. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Labour conference day 1 – what's the mood in the bar?
08:56|It’s Labour conference day one, and Oscar Edmondson and James Heale report live from the Pullman hotel bar. What’s the mood of conference so far? Will it be a dour affair like previous years, or will new measures to shorten the beer queues do anything to quell the gossip and plotting?Andy Burnham has taken the opportunity this morning to announce a major policy on social care, proposing a system more closely aligned with the principles of the NHS with a free at the point of use model. But how would Labour pay for it?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.