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Is Labour ‘racist’ too? Plus Trump’s Gaza gamble & Rowling vs Watson
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This week, Michael and Maddie report from the Labour party conference in Liverpool and unpick Keir Starmer’s big speech. Was his attempt to reclaim patriotism for Labour a genuine statement of values – or a clumsy exercise in stereotypes about steelworkers, chip shops and football nostalgia? And why does Labour’s attack line on Nigel Farage risk sounding like political ‘nuclear warfare’ that could backfire outside the conference hall? And what about the Tories? With Labour bringing the fight to the Reform party, where does this leave Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives ahead of their conference later this week?
They then turn to Donald Trump’s extraordinary new Middle East peace initiative. With Benjamin Netanyahu on board and Tony Blair drafted into the proposed ‘peace board’, is this a serious diplomatic breakthrough or a surreal ‘fever dream’ that only Trump could cook up?
Next, another peace proposal doomed to fail: Emma Watson’s attempt to reconcile with J.K. Rowling after years of public estrangement. Was Watson’s olive branch an act of goodwill or a late recognition that the cultural tide has turned? And why did Rowling’s sharp response strike such a chord with women who felt abandoned during the height of the trans debate?
Produced by Oscar Edmondson, Oscar Bicket and Matt Miszczak.
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Has Reform peaked? – racism allegations & Farage's toughest week yet
45:06|After a summer in which Nigel Farage seemed to bend the news cycle to his will, Michael and Maddie ask whether the party’s momentum is slipping. Do the allegations dredged up from Farage’s schooldays mark a decisive turning point – or, perversely, strengthen his outsider appeal? And with questions over Reform’s election spending, defections from the Conservatives, and the small matter of finding 500 people to staff a government, is the insurgent right entering its moment of vulnerability?Then: two stories that lay bare a crisis in women’s healthcare. Baroness Amos’s damning interim review of maternity services and the astonishing employment tribunal ruling in the Sandy Peggie case raise the same question – why does the system still fail women at their most vulnerable?And finally: Christmas television takes a surreal turn. Meghan Markle returns with a holiday special, while Liz Truss launches her own American-style politics show. Has Meghan now crossed fully into performance art – and is Liz pioneering the world’s first nostalgia-politics monologue?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to spectator.co.uk/quiteright.
Q&A: Lockdown ‘sins’ & where Conservatism went wrong
40:53|To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to spectator.co.uk/quiteright.This week on Quite right! Q&A: was lockdown the right call – and what did Britain get catastrophically wrong? Michael and Maddie unravel the ‘sins’ of the Covid era, from criminalising everyday behaviour to the rise of snitch culture. Did Sweden show there was a better way?Then: is conservatism suffering from a crisis of confidence? Michael reflects on 14 years of Tory drift, why the party ‘talked right but governed left’, and how Blairism, wokery and cultural blindspots reshaped British politics.Plus: the odd new tone of modern political interviews – from mawkish breakfast-TV hectoring to the emotional manipulation of callers named Doreen – and why some MPs secretly love being skewered in the sketch.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Why Rachel Reeves should go & would Corbyn be a better prime minister?
47:55|This week: Rachel Reeves reels as Labour’s Budget unravels – and a far-left Life of Brian sequel plays out in Liverpool.After a bruising seven days for the Chancellor, Michael and Maddie ask whether Reeves’s position is now beyond repair. Did Keir Starmer’s bizarre nursery press conference steady the ship – or simply confirm that the government is panicking? And is the resignation of the OBR chair a shield for Reeves – or a damning contrast with her refusal to budge?Then: the inaugural conference of Your Party delivers pure comic gold. As Zarah Sultana’s collective-leadership utopians clash with Corbynite diehards and Islamist independents, Michael explains why the far left’s civil war matters more than Westminster thinks. Could independents erode Labour’s urban base? And with Jeremy Corbyn now looking like the centrist dad of the movement, what does this chaos tell us about the future of the British left?And finally: Christmas is coming. Maddie and Michael share their rules for 'sound' gift-giving and give their book recommendations. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to spectator.co.uk/quiteright
The 'wickedness' of Labour's gender war
47:35|This week: After leaked EHRC guidance threw Labour’s position on biological sex into disarray, Michael and Maddie ask whether Bridget Phillipson is deliberately delaying clarity on the law – and why Wes Streeting appears to be retreating from his once ‘gender-critical’ stance. Is Labour quietly preparing to water down long-awaited guidance? And has the return of puberty-blocker trials pushed the culture war back to square one?Then: Shabana Mahmood unveils her first major moves as Home Secretary. But as the Labour left cries foul and legal challenges loom, Michael and Maddie assess whether her plans will really bring order to the asylum system – or whether Labour’s attachment to ‘process over principle’ will scupper the reforms before they bite. Is Mahmood the Iron Lady Labour never expected? Or is this simply Starmerism in its purest form: government by quango, review and delay?And finally: Christmas arrives early… far too early. Michael sets out the case for a ‘dry Advent and festive January’, while Maddie laments Black Friday brawls and the loss of an older, saner rhythm to the year.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright
Q&A: Is it time to abolish the Treasury?
36:12|To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightThis week on Quite right! Q&A: Is the Treasury still fit for purpose – or has ‘Treasury brain’ taken over Whitehall? Michael and Maddie dig into the culture and power of Britain’s most influential department, from the Oxbridge-heavy ‘Treasury boys’ to a ‘visionless’ Chancellor. Then: after Michael’s suggestion that Piers Morgan should be the next director-general of the BBC – why, in his view, could cnly a disruptive outsider could shake the organisation out of its complacency.Plus: the rise of ‘Mar-a-Lago face’ in US conservative politics, and whether Britain has its own aesthetic quirks – from Ozempic-thinned MPs to the enduring Labour ‘power bob’.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Is Net Zero ‘mania’ over? And Labour’s migration crackdown
47:59|This week: a Commons showdown over asylum – and a cold shower for Net Zero orthodoxy.After Shabana Mahmood’s debuts Labour’s new asylum proposals, Michael and Maddie ask whether her barnstorming performance signals a new star in Starmer’s government – or whether the Home Secretary is dangerously over-promising on a problem no minister has yet cracked. Is her Denmark-inspired model workable? Can she get it past the Labour left? And are the right-wing plaudits a blessing – or a trap?Then: at COP30, the great climate jamboree struggles to command attention. As Ed Miliband charges ahead with his Net Zero agenda, the pair question whether Britain has finally passed 'peak Net Zero mania'. Is the UK hobbling itself economically while China cashes in? Has climate policy become more like a faith than a science? And what would a more balanced, less fanatical environmentalism look like?And finally, Channel 4 claims a medical quirk shaped Adolf Hitler: does this kind of genetic reductionism teach us anything – or simply turn history’s greatest monsters into comic-book villains?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright
Q&A: Who could replace Keir Starmer?
32:21|To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightThis week on Quite right! Q&A: Could Britain see a snap election before 2029? Michael and Maddie unpack the constitutional mechanics – and explain why, despite the chaos, an early vote remains unlikely. They also turn to Labour’s troubles: growing pressure on Keir Starmer, restive backbenchers, and whether Angela Rayner’s sacking has boosted her chances as his successor.Plus: should the Scottish Parliament be abolished? And on a lighter note, if you won a free holiday but had to take one Labour MP, who would you choose?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
BBC bias & Bridget ‘Philistine’s’ war on education
48:01|This week: a crisis at the BBC – and a crisis of standards in our schools.Following the shock resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, Michael and Maddie ask whether the corporation has finally been undone by its own bias, and discuss how it can correct the leftward lurch in its editorial line.Then: Labour’s new education reforms come under the microscope. As Ofsted scraps single-word judgements in favour of ‘report cards’, could this ‘definitive backward step’ result in a ‘dumbing down’ that will rob the next generation of rigour and ambition? And will ‘Bridget Philistine’s’ war on education undo the positive legacy of the Conservatives on education?And finally, in Hollywood, actress Sydney Sweeney refuses to apologise for comments made in an interview last week – she now finds herself a heroine of the anti-woke age. Are we finally past peak woke?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright
Q&A: Boris, Cameron or May? Plus, our most left-wing beliefs revealed
35:32|To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightThis week on the first ever Quite right! Q&A: What’s your most left-wing belief? Michael & Maddie confess their guilty liberal secrets on the Elgin Marbles, prison reform and private equity – or ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism’.Also this week: who would you trust to save your life on a desert island – Boris Johnson, Theresa May or David Cameron? And finally, a literary turn: from John Donne to Thomas Hardy, Michael and Maddie share their favourite poems, and make the case for learning verse by heart.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.