About this episode
The episode discusses recent political controversies involving Keir Starmer and other party leaders regarding appointments and foreign policy stances.
It has been a week of red faces for party leaders. On Thursday, Keir Starmer apologised and took personal responsibility for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US – after a first round of document disclosures suggested the prime minister was largely absent from the decision-making process. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch were both busy executing awkward U-turns on their earlier vocal support for a US war on Iran that is proving distinctly unpopular with UK voters. Host Lucy Fisher is joined by the FT’s deputy political editor Jim Pickard, columnist and writer of the ‘Inside Politics’ newsletter Stephen Bush, and political editor George Parker to debate the twists and turns of the week in Westminster. Clip from: The Mirror Follow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher, and Bluesky: @ lucyfisher.ft.com ; Jim: @PickardJE and @pickardje.bsky.social; Stephen: @stephenkb and @stephenkb.bsky.social; and George: @GeorgeWParker and @georgewparker.bsky.social Want more? Mandelson papers: what do they show? Pressure grows on Starmer over Mandelson due diligence Embarrassing Iran U-turn for the right, but Keir Starmer’s problems are worse The irrepressible…
People in this episode
Host: Lucy Fisher
Guests: Jim Pickard, Stephen Bush, George Parker
Topics covered
- politics
- UK government
- Middle East
- public opinion
- party leadership
- diplomacy
Keywords
- Keir Starmer
- Peter Mandelson
- Nigel Farage
- Kemi Badenoch
- Middle East
- US war on Iran
- political U-turns
- Westminster
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Financial Times, The Mirror
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