Coffee House Shots

The second tranche of messages related to the vetting of Peter Mandelson to be UK ambassador to the US were released on Monday – the gift that keeps on giving. Tim Shipman joins Patrick Gibbons to discuss his political column, which reveals some of the messages from Darren Jones MP which should have been included... yet they weren't – why? Tim talks to Patrick about how embarrassing the latest messages are for Labour, what they reveal about Keir Starmer's government and what he thinks more broadly about 'government by WhatsApp'.Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

In PMQs today, Kemi Badenoch strategically chose not to talk about the Henry Nowak case given the sensitivity surrounding the subject. Instead she opted for welfare – asking the PM why spending has grown during Labour's government. A statistic some Labour MPs seemed proud of...Nigel Farage however didn’t hold back and clashed with Keir Starmer over the police's handling of the murder of student Henry Nowak. Oscar Edmondson is joined by Noa Hoffman and Michael Simmons. 

Canvassing in Makerfield continues at pace ahead of the by-election in two weeks time, so we dispatched Megan McElroy and James Heale to the north to report from the ground. They discuss each party’s ground game, why it looks like a Labour–Reform shoot-out, whether Restore will split the vote on the right and – most importantly – Nigel Farage’s Desert Island Discs.This comes after revelations in Lord Ashcroft’s book claimed that Farage has effectively been banned from appearing on the programme, a story that has dominated the papers over the last 48 hours, evidencing the continued interest in brand Farage. James spoke with Nigel earlier this morning and can bring the Reform leader’s favourite tracks, book and luxury item exclusively to Coffee House Shots listeners.Produced by Megan McElroy and Oscar Edmondson.

As Parliament returns from recess, the latest files related to Peter Mandelson's appointment as UK ambassador to the US are due to be released today. How bad could they be for Labour? Tim Shipman joins James Heale to discuss – has the self-styled 'Prince of Darkness' proven to be more a ghost of Christmas past for the government?Plus: Mandelson isn't the only ghost haunting British politics today. Tim and James discuss the ghost of Christmas present, the scandal facing the SNP. Former party treasurer – and husband to Nicola Sturgeon – Peter Murrell pled guilty to charges of embezzlement, prompting the former First Minister to deliver a teary interview to the BBC at the weekend. How believable did they find Sturgeon? And, with two by-elections on the horizon, what consequences could there be for the SNP?Finally: the boys discuss the latest poll showing Trade Union support ebbing away from Labour towards Reform. So – continuing the Dickensian metaphor (sorry) – could this be Labour's very own ghost of Christmas future?Produced by Megan McElroy and Patrick Gibbons.

There have been a number of critiques of Tony Blair’s 5,000-word intervention on Labour and the country this week, but none more astute than Lord Wood’s. One of Labour’s foremost thinkers, Lord Wood joins James Heale for this special edition of Saturday Shots to discuss where Blair is right, where he is wrong, and why neither the Labour or Conservative Party have recovered from the financial crash. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

When it comes to political vision, Keir Starmer’s premiership has been something of a vacuum – and power abhors a vacuum. So cue Tony Blair, who this week has rushed in with a 5,000-word essay on what is wrong with Labour and, depending on who you listen to, either an outdated or radical view of where Britain should be as a country.This has galvanised Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and (finally) Keir Starmer to put down on paper their vision for the country and how to solve the biggest issues we face. But whose is more convincing?Oscar Edmondson discusses the question with James Heale and Rachel Wolf, founding partner at Public First and author of the 2019 manifesto.Produced by Oscar Edmondson. 

More than 600,000 16 to 24-year-olds are neither in work nor looking for a job. Youth worklessness is now costing Britain £125 billion a year – almost double the country’s entire defence budget.Those are the findings of Alan Milburn’s new review into youth worklessness, who warns that the UK is facing an ‘urgent national crisis’. But is it already too late?Noa Hoffman is joined by James Heale and Michael Simmons to discuss.

Andy Burnham is the man on everyone’s lips in Westminster. As he campaigns to return to parliament in the Makerfield by-election, Tim and James bring you the definitive guide to Burnham – and what could happen next.They’re joined by Joshi Herrmann, founder and editor of Mill Media, whose profile of Burnham had Westminster buzzing over the weekend. He shares his view of the Greater Manchester mayor’s ‘unusual gifts and glaring weaknesses’, whether ‘Burnhamism’ really exists, and if Burnham’s emotional style of politics could survive the brutality of No. 10.

Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive and Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband, has admitted embezzling £400,000 in party funds. The guilty plea has revived questions about what senior figures in the SNP knew, how long the scandal had been going on, and what happens next. To discuss the story, including some of the ridiculous purchases including a couple of hairdryers (for a bald man) and £2600 salt and pepper shakers, James Heale and Michael Simmons join Megan McElroy.