The New Statesman Podcast

After more factional strife within Labour, the academic and former Downing Street staffer Patrick Diamond speaks to Anoosh Chakelian about his new book:Labour's Civil War: How infighting has kept the left from power (and what can be done about it).They discuss the party’s history of fighting itself, what lessons can be learned from its time in government, and what Keir Starmer needs to do to end the conflict.If you have a question for You Ask Us, email:podcasts@newstatesman.co.ukPodcast listeners can subscribe to theNew Statesmanfor just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visitnewstatesman.com/podcastoffer.

This podcast is sponsored by Rio AIAs the world faces a climate emergency, what power do ordinary people have to try and shape the way big companies behave. One of the biggest areas of investment is our pension funds – but do we have the information or ability to shape how companies invest our money?Philippa Nuttall discusses how to make our pension funds work for the environment with David Hayman from Make My Money Matter and Ros Altman, former pensions minister.Rio ESG is an intelligent sustainability software platform that helps equip corporate, public sector, financial services and investment management entities with the knowledge and technology to do better.From data capture to investment consultancy, Rio combines market-leading sustainability knowledge with its intelligent sustainability software platform to deliver award-winning, solution-based data analysis, governance and education tools, to help organisations of all sizes report on, and improve, their ESG metrics.Rio partners with organisations of all sizes to deliver bespoke sustainability solutions that reduce risk, increase investment prospective and deliver lasting impact, for both corporations and the planet.Visit www.rio.ai to begin your sustainable investment journey.

The Bank of England has raised interest rates by 0.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent, the highest increase in 27 years, and predicts that the UK will enter a deep recession within months. As the cost-of-living crisis worsens and with strikes planned throughout the summer, Labour remains split over frontbenchers joining picketing workers.Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth, Freddie Hayward and Rachel Cunliffe discuss Labour leader Keir Starmer’ssoftening stanceon picketing–after shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy joined striking telecoms workers and union leaders claimed that Labour was“irrelevant”to working people–and ask whether the party’s ambiguity can be sustained through a summer of strikes.Then In You Ask Us, a listener enquires about the communication issues and presentation style of Liz Truss’s Conservative leadership campaign.If you have a question for You Ask Us, emailpodcasts@newstatesman.co.ukPodcast listeners can subscribe to theNew Statesmanfor just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visitnewstatesman.com/podcastoffer.

With the Conservative leadership hopefuls offering competing promises of tax cuts, the New Statesman podcast looks at whether either has anything to say about Britain’s cost-of-living crisis.Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Wearmouth, deputy political editor, and Emma Haslett from the New Statesman’s business desk to pick through the promises, and ask whether Rishi Sunak’s campaign is looking more and more desperate.Then in You Ask Us, a listener asks if the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves’s stance against nationalising utilities could put Labour’s plans for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions at risk.If you have a question for You Ask Us, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.uk

Two years after it was commissioned, the Forde report into infighting in the Labour Party during the years of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has finally been published. Such tensions have never fully gone away. Keir Starmersacked Sam Tarry, a shadow transport minister, on July 27 after he joined a rail picket line against the leadership’s instructions.Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth and Freddie Hayward discuss what led to the Forde inquiry, its key findings and why this is unlikely to spell the end of the party'sdeep factionalism.Then in You Ask Us, a listener asks what the point of the Labour Party is when they don’t support organised labour.If you have a question for You Ask Us, email: podcasts@newstatesman.co.ukPodcast listeners can subscribe to theNew Statesmanfor just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visitnewstatesman.com/podcastoffer.

After Boris Johnson talked of a "deep state" undermining his ability to govern, have we entered an era of conspiracy theories? Jonn Elledge, one of the authors of a new book,Conspiracy: A History of Boll*cks Theories and How Not To Fall For Them, talks to Rachel Cunliffe about how conspiracy theories are nothing new.They discuss QAnon, whether a few hundred years of European history were just made up–and why Britney Spears shows that sometimes obscure internet theories can be true.Podcast listeners can subscribe to theNew Statesmanfor just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visitnewstatesman.com/podcastoffer.

With Penny Mordaunt having been eliminated from the contest on Wednesday 20 July, either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss will become Britain’s next prime minister.Anoosh Chakelian and Rachel Cunliffe speak to theNew Statesman’s political editor, Andrew Marr, about how the Johnson “loyalist” and the “traitor”emerged victorious, whether Boris Johnson will indeedbe backas he hinted in his final PMQs, and theclimate emergencythat overshadows this race.Then, in You Ask Us, a listener asks: why Liz Truss? What are the qualities that her a backers believe would make her a good PM?If you have a question for You Ask Us, emailpodcasts@newstatesman.co.ukPodcast listeners can subscribe to theNew Statesmanfor just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visitnewstatesman.com/podcastoffer.

This evening one of the remaining five candidates to be the next prime minister will be eliminated in a vote of MPs. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe, Ben Walker and Rachel Wearmouth, our new deputy political editor, to discuss who came out of the two debates over the weekend best and why Labour has enjoyed watching the candidates tear strips out of each other on live TV.Then, in You Ask Us, they answer a listener’s question on what Boris Johnson might do next.If you have a question for You Ask Us, emailpodcasts@newstatesman.co.ukPodcast listeners can subscribe to theNew Statesmanfor just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visitnewstatesman.com/podcastoffer.

Rory Stewart, the former international development secretary and Conservative leadership candidate, speaks to Rachel Cunliffe about the lessons he learned from running for leader in 2019. They talk about whether this year’s candidates show growing diversity in the party, why our political culture has got so bad at argument and debate, and what he got wrong when he was in government.Stewart’snew series,The Long History of Argument, starts on BBC Radio 4 on 19 July at 9am.Podcast listeners can subscribe to theNew Statesmanfor just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visitnewstatesman.com/podcastoffer.