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Is Keir Starmer’s vision enough? With Ed Miliband
Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward are joined by Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change and net zero secretary and former Labour leader, to discuss Keir Starmer’s speech from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
They discuss the pledge to create a publicly owned “Great British energy” company to cut bills and the conference slogan “A fairer, greener future”; how the economic turmoil will affect their ability to deliver these promises; and whether Miliband would advise a note of caution to the optimistic party faithful.
Then the New Statesman polling expert, Ben Walker, joins the podcast to discuss a recent YouGov poll that shows Labour leading the Tories by 17 points and whether the plunging pound has damaged public confidence in Liz Truss’s government.
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Is Burnham brave or naive?
38:19|At this week’s Labour conference, Andy Burnham announced bigger and bolder policy ambitions than anyone expected. Was this too big a swing? Or the grand vision the country needs?Elsewhere, next Thursday, there is a by-election happening in Holborn and St Pancras, the seat vacated by Keir Starmer.Oli Dugmore is joined by business editor Will Dunn and political correspondent Megan Kenyon to discuss.
Burnham delivers packed conference speech
21:08|Labour Conference 2026 draws to a close with Andy Burnham's speech.The PM's announcements included scrapping the triple lock pension, electoral reform, a new help-to-buy scheme, Great British Grid, an end to the public ownership ban on water companies and a range of options for our relationship with Europe which he will be looking into.Anoosh Chakelian is at the Labour Conference and is joined by Ethan Croft and Ailbhe Rea to discuss.
Has Andy Burnham reached his peak?
24:07|The Chancellor gives his conference speech just four weeks before his first budget and Andy Burnham proposes a national care service in England. Anoosh Chakelian, Ailbhe Rea and Ethan Croft bring you the latest from the Labour Conference.
Is Ed Davey too nice?
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Has power changed Andy Burnham?
55:37|For this week’s New Statesman, our Politics Show stars have been busy interviewing some key players in the past year of Labour turmoil.Ailbhe Rea, our Political Editor, had a fascinating encounter with the MP and former chief secretary to the Prime Minister, the Starmer loyalist Darren Jones. And speaking of Andy Burnham, Tom McTague, our Editor-in-Chief, has been busy profiling the Prime Minister himself…
Will AI kill us all?
01:08:55|Are tech companies turning apocalypse into profit?In 2022, we were all having fun with a new chatbot called ChatGPT. Meanwhile, ministers and civil servants of the British government were imagining how it might go horribly wrong. Four years ago, AI experts were concerned about what people might do using their technology. Today, they fear what the technology is doing on its own, without being asked.Tom McTague is joined by Will Dunn to discuss his cover story.READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/business/2026/09/will-ai-kill-us-all
Burnham's political donations headache
32:26|Reform UK received two £36 million donations from crypto billionaire Ben Delo. This has sent shockwaves through Westminster and thrown the question of political finance reform into sharp relief.Labour is caught in an uncomfortable bind - appalled by the scale of Reform's fundraising, but reluctant to cap donations in a way that could threaten trade union funding and destabilise its own finances.
Farage’s fan club doesn’t care about scandal
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Ed Miliband resets relations with Israel
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