The New Statesman | UK politics and culture

On Saturday, in Westminster, police arrested more than 500 people under the Terrorism Act. That’s more in a single day than have ever been charged with terrorist-related activity in a whole year.Many of those arrested were pensioners. Their crime: holding cardboard signs which read “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”One of those 532 people arrested on Saturday was Sir Jonathon Porritt, a long-time activist and campaigner on green and social justice issues, former environmental adviser to King Charles and patron to over 20 charities. He joins Anoosh Chakelian to explain why he took part in the protest, what led to his arrest, and why he fears the Home Secretary - and the Labour party - are becoming more authoritarian.--👉 Listen ad-free on the New Statesman app. Download it here.📧 Get our daily politics email, Morning Call📖 Read Palestine Action and the radicalisation of Grandma

US President Donald Trump will meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for a high stakes summit to discuss the war in Ukraine.Trump has been upping the ante with his rhetoric around Putin in recent months. On July 14, the US president set Putin a 50 day deadline to agree a ceasefire with Ukraine. On July 28th, he reduced it to 10-12 days. As that deadline was reached last Friday, Trump announced plans for this summit. So, why is this happening now, and what will be on the agenda?Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Katie Stallard.Read: What Putin wants from talks with TrumpDownload the app

Youth membership for the Labour party has collapsed – from 100,000 to just 30,000 under Starmer’s leadership. The relationship between Labour HQ and its members on university campuses has soured over the past year, reaching boiling point following the prime minister’s decision to conditionally recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire.Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Hattie Simpson.Read: Inside Labour students’ revolt over Gaza

Whit Stillman is something of a cult film director. He rose to prominence in 1990 with his debut film Metropolitan, which became the first in the so-called “Doomed. Bourgeois. In love” trilogy: Barcelona came out in 1994 and The Last Days of Disco in 1998. Set among America’s so-called “Preppy” class, the films are comedies of manners in the tradition of Jane Austen, exploring the transitional phase of youth and a certain American identity.The films are now having something of a revival. Stillman joins the New Statesman's culture editor Tanjil Rashid.

Is Keir Starmer sucking up to Donald Trump, and what do politicians get up to during parliamentary recess?Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe and George Eaton to answer listener questions.Download the app

New polling has found that Keir Starmer is now less popular amongst British voters than Donald Trump.Today, we’re talking about Keir Starmer’s first year in government and the rapid decline in his personal popularity. From a triumphant election victory to sliding approval ratings, where has it gone wrong for the Labour leader? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman's senior data journalist, Ben Walker.

Nine years after the Brexit referendum, the dream of 'Singapore-on-Thames' has quietly evaporated. Instead, we’ve got a Labour government embracing high taxes, stronger workers’ rights, even state ownership. What’s behind Labour’s European turn and is Starmer quietly reversing Thatcher’s legacy?Rachel Cunliffe is joined by George Eaton.

The dormant Democrat party must find a way to revive itself if it is to have any hope of challenging the Maga movement, Donald Trump, and his eventual successor. The party is split on whether Trump is simply an aberration to endure, or whether he represents the death of democracy, justifying a dirtier form of opposition politics.Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman's US correspondent Freddie Hayward.Download the app

Parliament is in recess for the next four weeks, a time when Westminster usually goes quiet, but this year there’s one man who’s determined to keep working. Nigel Farage.Today the Reform UK leader delivered his third weekly conference as part of his campaign on “Lawless Britain”, broadening out (slightly) from the party's usual single-issue politics. Of course, much of the emphasis is still heavily on migration.But do these conferences tell us about the current contradictions in British politics and have Reform peaked too soon?Read: One year on, tensions still circle Britain’s asylum-seeker hotels