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Coffee House Shots
Has the Bank of England forgotten what its job is?
Some excitement on Threadneedle Street today after the Bank of England cut interest rates to 4 per cent. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has just voted five to four – after a revote – for what is the third cut this year. This takes interest rates back down to levels not seen since the beginning of 2023. Concerns about an increasingly slack labour market seem to have driven the MPC’s decision.
This sounds like good news – and Starmer will welcome it as such – but the Bank’s apparent comfort with loosening policy in this context is baffling says Michael Simmons. Its own forecasts show inflation climbing back to 4 per cent by September – double the official target. If they’re wrong, and inflation slips the leash again, it won’t be brought back under control easily. This also coincides with yesterday’s news that the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) forecast that Rachel Reeves must find £50 billion of revenue or cuts if she is to return to the £9.9 billion of fiscal headroom she left herself in the spring. Are there any rays of light escaping from the black hole as we head towards autumn’s Budget, or is it all gloom?
Also on the podcast today: Trump’s tariffs have come into effect across the world. He declared on Truth Social that ‘Billions of Dollars have started flowing into the US’… but is that true? And what’s been the reaction in the US?
Oscar Edmondson speaks to Michael Simmons and Kate Andrews.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.
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Laura Trott: 'Labour are kowtowing to the unions'
21:17|England's 15-year-olds came eighth in the world for science, ninth for reading and tenth for maths in Tuesday's Pisa results, though it took the education secretary, Lucy Powell, hours to send the congratulatory message. James Heale is joined by Tim Shipman and the shadow education secretary, Laura Trott, to go through the numbers, why Labour wants to unpick the reforms behind them, and whether a vocational route at 14 would help the pupils it is aimed at.Produced by Henry Lloyd.
Assisted dying dead – for now
07:54|James Heale joins Patrick Gibbons to react to the news that MPs have voted against Assisted Dying. The vote was close – 286 vs 270 – but not a knife-edge, and several MPs changed their minds compared with previous votes earlier this year. What conclusions can we draw?Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
Assisted dying is back: what does Burnham think?
14:46|The topic of assisted dying returns to Parliament today, with a vote scheduled in the Commons this afternoon. Labour MP Lauren Evans has used her private member's bill to reintroduce it, after Kim Leaderbeater's attempt failed, running out of time during the last parliamentary session. Then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer voted for the Bill; now, Andy Burnham has pledged to abstain, saying that – as Prime Minister – he should remain neutral. So what are the chances of this Bill passing? And what does Burnham really think? Tim Shipman and James Heale join Noa Hoffman to discuss.Plus: the team reflect on the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US and its consequences, 25 years on from that seminal moment. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
The most powerful woman in Britain
12:13|After plans emerged for the Cabinet Secretary, Dame Antonia Romeo, to consolidate power across the civil service this week, Oscar Edmondson is joined by James Heale and Tim Shipman, to discuss this week's political column, in which Tim unpacks the potentials motives behind the new alpha at the very top of Whitehall.Produced by Henry Lloyd
Burnham’s BIG blunder
18:27|It's only Burnham's second PMQs and he's already dropped a clanger. He may have handed the Conservatives their next election slogan after declaring that ‘national security cannot come at the expense of social security’. Has the Prime Minister exposed the fault line at the heart of his government?Noa Hoffman is joined by Isabel Hardman and Tim Shipman to discuss Burnham’s approach to welfare and defence, his increasingly ideological foreign policy – and whether his promise of hope and consensus can survive contact with political reality.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Why Ed Miliband is taking on Israel
15:59|Ed Miliband has made his first major intervention as Foreign Secretary, with Britain set to announce a trade ban on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The move comes amid increasingly strained relations between London and Jerusalem – and marks Andy Burnham’s first big foreign policy fight.Oscar Edmondson is joined by James Heale and Michael Stephens to discuss whether the sanctions will have any real effect, how far UK–Israel relations have deteriorated and whether Labour is simply moving with public opinion.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
‘Andy Burnham did the Tories a huge favour’ | Sir Malcolm Rifkind
29:52|Sir Malcolm Rifkind joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss the future of the conservatism and tells The Spectator why Kemi Badenoch is the person to bring the Conservative Party back from the brink. He explains why he thinks Reform is already losing momentum, why Nigel Farage is ‘not fit to govern’, and why Andy Burnham could actually help the Conservatives at the next election.He also reflects on Britain’s relationship with Israel and the United States, criticises Labour’s approach to sanctions on Israel, and gives his verdict on Donald Trump second term. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Abigail Brierley.
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 06/09/2026
12:37|Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Nigel Farage is on the defence again, after two senior Reform officials are forced to step down. James Orr and Dan Jukes were filmed arranging to break rules on foreign donations with journalists pretending to have access to money from an American businessman.
LIVE | Reform conference round-up – everything you need to know
23:31|Noa Hoffman, James Heale and Tim Shipman host a special live recording of Coffee House Shots from Reform conference. They discuss whether a damaging 48 hours for the party have breached the walls of Birmingham’s NEC, whether Nigel Farage can weather serious questions over Reform’s funding, and whether Zia Yusuf should throw his phone in the nearest river and get off Twitter.Produced by Oscar Edmondson, Henry Lloyd and The Spectator’s events team.