Quite right!

This week, Michael is joined by Munira Mirza. Raised in Oldham and educated at Oxford, Munira worked at Policy Exchange before serving as Deputy Mayor of London under Boris Johnson and later as Director of the No.10 Policy Unit, where she helped shape the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto. She now leads Civic Future and the think tank Fix Britain.In the first of this two-part interview, Munira reflects on Labour’s vulnerability in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election, and the ‘serious threat’ it faces if the Muslim votes flees to the Greens. She discusses the politicisation of religious identity, the influence of Islamism in Britain, and what she sees as a failure of public authorities to confront hard truths.They also discuss the news this week that Valdo Calocane – the man who killed three people in Nottingham in 2023 – was released from hospital in 2020 because health professionals were concerned about the disproportionate number of black men who were being detained in the mental health system. Munira argues that fear of being accused of institutional racism has distorted decision-making, a scandal of potentially greater magnitude than the grooming gangs and with serious consequences for public safety.Finally, she revisits Brexit and the 2019 realignment, defending the decision to leave the EU and arguing that levelling up was an attempt to fix a broken economic model built on high immigration and weak productivity.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

This week, Michael and Maddie consider Reform UK's succession plan. With Nigel Farage unveiling his new shadow cabinet, attention shifts to the bigger question: who comes after him? Is Reform preparing for life beyond its founder – and if so, who stands ready to inherit the crown?Also this week, they examine the fallout from the court’s decision to overturn the government’s attempt to proscribe Palestine Action – and ask what it means for free speech, public order and the limits of the state.They explore whether Britain is drifting toward a de facto blasphemy law, and debate claims of ‘two-tier justice’ in the handling of extremist activism. Has the government lost control of the argument — or is it simply constrained by the courts?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright.In this week’s Q&A, Michael and Maddie ask whether Britain should abolish the monarchy. In the wake of fresh controversy surrounding members of the royal family, they debate whether scrapping the institution would be a long-overdue democratic correction – or a profound strategic mistake. Is the Crown an outdated relic, or one of Britain’s greatest diplomatic assets?Also this week: with Labour MP Dan Norris facing charges, could North East Somerset be heading for a by-election – and might Jacob Rees-Mogg stage a dramatic return to parliament? Would Reform stand aside, or is the right now locked in a battle for survival?And finally, they explore whether people really do move right as they get older. Is it psychology, property ownership, parenthood – or simply ‘grim reality’ that shifts political instincts over time?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

This week: Michael and Maddie examine the crisis engulfing the Labour party and ask whether Keir Starmer is facing a Boris-style collapse of authority.They explore what could be to come in the continued fallout from the Peter Mandelson affair, the rebellion over the release of government files, and what Starmer’s pattern of scapegoating aides reveals about his grip on power. Is this a corruption scandal – or something more damaging: a failure of judgment?Finally, they look ahead to what comes next. If Starmer’s authority is ebbing, who could replace him? From Angela Rayner to Wes Streeting – and the outsiders hovering on the edge – will internal revolt mark the beginning of a wider realignment in British politics?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright.In this week’s Q&A, Michael and Maddie unpack the controversy over whether Rishi Sunak is English or British – and why a debate about national identity has become so politically charged. Is Englishness a civic identity, an ethnic one, or something more elusive? And why has the Labour party increasingly reached for accusations of racism when the question is raised at all?Also this week: are claims that Britain is drifting towards civil unrest alarmist scaremongering – or a warning we should take seriously?And finally, they reflect on the earliest political moments that shaped them – from Margaret Thatcher and the Falklands to Tony Blair, Princess Diana, and the politics of the countryside. Produced by Oscar Edmondson

This week: Michael and Maddie examine the fallout from the Epstein files and ask how a story of questionable judgment became a far more serious test of trust at the top of British politics. As new revelations emerge about Peter Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein, has a tawdry association escalated into a question of the national interest? And what does the affair reveal about Keir Starmer’s judgment – and the risks of relying on political experience over proper scrutiny?Then: the growing generational backlash over student loans. With graduate repayment thresholds frozen and interest rates soaring, are younger voters being systematically squeezed to prop up an unsustainable system?Finally: the countryside culture war. From Defra’s diversity targets to mounting regulation of rural life, Michael and Maddie ask whether policymakers fundamentally misunderstand the countryside – and whether independence, not prejudice, is what really makes it a target.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.co.uk/quiteright.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright.In this week’s Q&A: Michael and Maddie tackle Labour’s uneasy majority and ask why a government with a 174-seat majority already looks so skittish. Are backbench rebellions a sign of weakness – or a rational response from MPs who expect to be out in one term? Does Keir Starmer lack the political instincts needed to hold such a sprawling parliamentary party together?Also this week: could the Rwanda scheme ever have saved the Conservatives? Michael lifts the lid on why the plan stalled – from internal resistance within the state to the limits of last-minute delivery – and explains why even a symbolic flight would not have reversed Tory defeat.And as faith in multilateral institutions frays, they ask whether the UN still serves a meaningful purpose, or whether international law has acquired an undeserved air of moral infallibility.Produced by Oscar Edmondson

This week: Michael and Maddie ask whether Keir Starmer’s grip on the Labour party is beginning to slip. After the party machine moved to block Andy Burnham from returning to Westminster, is Starmer governing from a position of strength – or fear? Does the decision expose a deeper crisis of authority at the top of the Labour party, and are we entering the early stages of a succession battle over who comes next?Then: Suella Braverman’s long-anticipated defection to Reform UK. Was her exit inevitable, and what does it mean for the balance of forces on the right? As Reform continues to lure Conservative figures across, is it consolidating as a serious insurgent party – or accelerating a destructive fragmentation that could leave the Conservative party locked out of power for a generation?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.co.uk/quiteright.