The Julia Hartley-Brewer Show

Julia Hartley-Brewer examines Keir Starmer’s chances of staying as prime minister. After Labour lost over 1500 councillors in local elections on Thursday, the floodgates have opened: over 50 MPs have demanded Keir Starmer resign. They want a leadership contest - with Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting all listed as potential candidates. To garner any remaining support, the PM made a speech this morning, wherein he vowed to nationalise British steel, bring the UK to the ‘heart of Europe’, and a youth experience scheme with the EU. He also took responsibility for the local election results. But it wasn’t enough to stem the calls for him to go. Catherine West MP, a relatively unknown backbencher who caused panic over the weekend by saying she would challenge Keir Starmer if nobody in the cabinet did by this morning, decided the speech wasn’t enough to stop her from asking MPs to support a timeline for Sir Keir to leave. She did row back on her leadership challenge threat though. With her guests, Julia reacts to the speech. She debates Lord Foulkes, Labour peer, on whether Keir Starmer is right for the job. She asks Richard Tice MP about a £5m donation he didn’t declare, and a Reform councillor saying ‘Nigerians should be melted down to fill in potholes’. Then, Karl Turner diagnoses what’s wrong with the Labour party, and backs Angela Rayner as the next Labour leader. Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

Julia Hartley-Brewer and Claire Pearsall discuss the news that Australia is preparing to receive - and arrest - ISIS linked families. With Chris Phillips, former counter terror officer, she questions the repatriation of “walking time bombs” who may have committed serious crimes following Islamist radicalisation. The conversation shifts to the latest health panic: the Hantavirus. As British passengers self-isolate following a cruise, Julia asks whether we are witnessing another bout of state-sponsored scaremongering. Professor Carl Heneghan joins to provide a dose of reality on the actual risks of human-to-human transmission.Finally, Julia unleashes on the "immorality" of Britain’s welfare system. With news that 1.5 million migrants are claiming Universal Credit, Julia and Claire debate the collapse of the social contract, as civil servants "swing the lead" at home and Britain deals with the culture of a lack of shame in living off the taxpayer.Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

Zack Polanski’s Green Party surge comes under fierce scrutiny as Julia Hartley-Brewer asks whether the bubble has finally burst amid allegations of antisemitism, radical policies and growing questions over the party leader’s past claims.Former Senior Military Intelligence Officer Philip Ingram MBE joins Julia to examine the Greens’ controversial platform — from wealth taxes and net zero targets to leaving NATO, scrapping Trident and legalising drugs — and whether protest voters are now seeing what lies beneath the party’s “nice” image.As local elections loom, the pressure on Keir Starmer intensifies. With Labour facing potentially disastrous results in Wales, Scotland, London and the Red Wall, Julia and Philip discuss whether the Prime Minister could soon face rebellion from his own MPs, a major reshuffle, or even a leadership challenge. Rachel Reeves’ future also comes under the spotlight as UK borrowing costs rise and the markets react nervously to Labour’s economic direction.Then, Julia turns to the escalating Iran crisis. Donald Trump’s shifting position on escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, fears of military escalation, and the West’s ability — or inability — to confront hostile regimes are all on the table.Also on the podcast, Spiked Online’s Brendan O’Neill delivers a blistering assessment of Zack Polanski, the Green Party, antisemitism allegations and what the rise of radical protest politics says about Britain today. He also weighs in on Labour’s collapse in its traditional heartlands and whether anyone — from Andy Burnham to Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting or Ed Miliband — can rescue the party from freefall.Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

Keir Starmer faces mounting pressure on borders, crime and national security as small boat arrivals over the Channel head towards 200,000 since the crisis began. Only a fraction have been removed from Britain.Julia Hartley-Brewer is joined by Spiked Online editor Tom Slater to take on the biggest stories shaking Westminster: alleged Iranian attempts to destabilise Britain, rising antisemitism on UK streets, the failure to proscribe the IRGC, and growing anger over “two-tier policing” at protests and football fixtures.As Labour battles a collapse in support among Muslim voters and the Greens surge in some inner-city areas, Julia asks whether Starmer’s party has lost control of the debate on Gaza, antisemitism and public order.Also: Reform UK’s proposal to build migrant detention centres in Green-voting areas — and deport hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants. Is it serious policy, political theatre, or a brutal challenge to the open-borders Left?Former Sun political editor Trevor Kavanagh joins Julia to react to the small boats milestone, the scale of illegal migration, and whether any government can regain control of Britain’s borders.Plus: Kemi Badenoch’s pitch on zero-tolerance policing, shoplifting, vandalism and street crime; Nigel Farage’s rising profile; Labour’s local election nightmare; and the growing speculation over who could replace Keir Starmer if the party turns on him — Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting or Shabana Mahmood?Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM. Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

Julia Hartley-Brewer takes on the day’s biggest stories as Keir Starmer faces a crunch Commons showdown over claims he misled Parliament on Peter Mandelson’s vetting. With bombshell evidence, Labour unrest and fresh questions over trust, competence and cover-up, is the Prime Minister finished? Plus, the King addresses Congress, shoplifting chaos on Britain’s high streets, and growing alarm over Iran-linked threats. Ruthless, fair and unmissable from Talk.

Julia Hartley-Brewer takes on the biggest stories shaking Britain and beyond — from growing pressure on Keir Starmer over sleaze claims and Labour infighting, to the latest Donald Trump assassination attempt, royal diplomacy in America, and outrage over attacks on British troops. Ruthless, fair and unmissable, this is the Julia Hartley-Brewer Podcast from Talk.

Keir Starmer says closer co-operation with France will help stop the small boats crisis — but is Britain paying hundreds of millions for more failure and inaction?Alex Phillips - stepping in for Julia - is joined by former Border Force chief Tony Smith to break down Labour’s latest Channel deal, including the extra cash for France, the promise of tougher beach enforcement, the role of French riot police, and why surveillance alone will not stop illegal crossings in the Channel.They also look at the key questions ministers still have not answered: what happens when migrants are intercepted, why detention capacity matters, whether Belgium is now becoming a new launch point, and how people-smuggling gangs are using social media and encrypted platforms to stay one step ahead. If you want serious insight into border security, illegal migration and the real-world limits of government policy, this is essential listening.Also: Andrew Allison from Popular Conservatism joins Alex to discuss the mounting pressure on Keir Starmer, the mood inside Labour, and the growing row around Attorney General Lord Hermer.They examine concerns over the power of unelected figures at the heart of government, the controversy surrounding legal claims brought against British soldiers, and wider questions over who is really shaping policy on national sovereignty, immigration and the Chagos Islands.In response to claims he had prosecuted British soldiers despite knowing claimants were lying, a spokesman for Lord Hermer said that he had “always acted with the highest professional standards, and the suggestion the Attorney acted for individuals with the knowledge that their claims were false is categorically untrue”.Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

Keir Starmer is facing fresh questions over the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal after the explosive evidence from former senior civil servant Olly Robbins — and the pressure on No.10 is building. Julia Hartley-Brewer asks: is the Prime Minister a dead man walking? With claims of disquiet from inside Downing Street, accusations of “jobs for the boys”, and Labour figures openly turning on their own leader, this row is fast becoming a full-blown crisis for Starmer.Joined by former Conservative adviser Claire Pearsall and independent MP Karl Turner, Julia tears into the toxic culture at the heart of government, whether Starmer misled Parliament, and why Labour nerves are jangling after PMQs and before the local elections. If the drip-drip of revelations continues, can No.10 survive the summer — or is this the scandal that finally breaks him?Also: Julia reacts to the alarming poll showing half of young people would never fight for Britain, asking what it says about patriotism, identity and whether this country is still worth defending. There’s also the growing fallout from the Iran crisis and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, with warnings of higher fuel costs, rising energy bills, supply chain shocks and fresh pain for British households already squeezed by Rachel Reeves’ faltering economy.And fury too over the tobacco and vapes bill, as MPs wave through a lifetime smoking ban for anyone born after 2008 — a common-sense health measure, or another open goal for smugglers, black-market gangs and the nanny state?Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

Keir Starmer is under huge pressure after Sir Olly Robbins gave explosive evidence on the Peter Mandelson appointment — as he describes an 'atmosphere of pressure' to approve Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Julia reacts to the extraordinary claims that Mandelson’s appointment was effectively treated as a done deal before the vetting process had run its course, with senior figures allegedly pushing for approval and little appetite inside government to stop it. If warning signs were already there, why was the process handled in this way? And if Starmer knew more than he later admitted, did he mislead Parliament?Veteran journalist Adam Boulton joins Julia to give his verdict on Robbins’s defence, the sacking of officials, and whether the Prime Minister has made the crisis even worse by trying to pin blame on everyone around him. Was this simply a disastrous political judgement — or evidence of a deeper culture of arrogance at the heart of Labour?Also: Blue Labour founder Lord Maurice Glasman tears into the Labour establishment’s obsession with Peter Mandelson, explains why the party is losing working-class voters, and warns that Starmer now looks like a leader with no clear direction and no easy escape. The allegations discussed in this episode are denied by Peter Mandelson, who has not been charged - as of the time of publishing.Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.