Why this lifelong Conservative turned on the British establishment | Peter Oborne

Why this lifelong Conservative turned on the British establishment | Peter Oborne

From Real Talk by Middle East Eye

May 3, 2026 · 1h 11m · Season 1 · Episode 43

About this episode

Peter Oborne discusses his departure from the British establishment and critiques current political figures regarding their stance on Israel and media integrity.

Peter Oborne spent decades at the heart of the British establishment. The award-winning journalist and author of ‘Complicit’ sits down with Mohamed Hashem on Real Talk to break down how the Iraq war set the template for Gaza, and why there is a direct path between the two. Oborne also calls out Keir Starmer for not condemning Israeli war crimes, and what it means that Margaret Thatcher was more willing to stand up to Israel than the UK's current prime minister. He also opens up on why he walked away from mainstream British media, and never looked back.

People in this episode

Host: Mohamed Hashem

Guest: Peter Oborne

Topics covered

  • British establishment
  • Iraq war
  • Gaza
  • media criticism
  • political commentary

Keywords

  • Peter Oborne
  • British establishment
  • Iraq war
  • Gaza
  • Keir Starmer
  • Margaret Thatcher
  • media

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: British establishment, mainstream British media, Keir Starmer, Margaret Thatcher

Books & works: Complicit

Places: Gaza, Iraq

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