Today James Heale has been on quite the magical mystery tour. Bundled into a bus at 7.45 a.m. along with a group of other hacks, he was sent off to an aircraft hangar in Oxfordshire where Nigel Farage finally unveiled his party’s long-awaited deportations strategy. The unveiling of ‘Operation Restoring Justice’ was accompanied by some impressive production value, including a Heathrow-style departure board and an enormous union flag.

The headlines of Farage’s mass deportation initiative are as follows: Reform will leave the ECHR and disapply the Refugee Convention for five years if elected in 2029; a new British Bill of Rights will be introduced, with all government departments required to make the migration crisis their number one ministerial priority; and all this at a cost of £2 billion. But how realistic is it? And since we now have headline deportation plans from the parties at the top of the polls (just), which is more impressive?

Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Karl Williams, research director at the Centre for Policy Studies.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Svitlana Morenets says that Trump has given Zelensky cause for hope; Michael Simmons looks at how the American healthcare system is keeping the NHS afloat; Ursula Buchan explains how the Spectator shaped John Buchan; Igor Toronyi-Lalic argues that art is no place for moralising, as he reviews Rosanna McLaughlin; Richard Morris reveals how to access the many treasures locked away in private homes; and, Mark Mason provides his notes on bank holidays.

Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the government’s decision to proscribe the group Palestine Action, arrests have mounted across the country, raising questions not only about the group’s tactics but also about the government’s handling of free speech and protest rights.

On today’s special edition of Coffee House Shots, Michael Simmons is joined by The Spectator’s James Heale and journalist Ash Sarkar to debate whether this is evidence of an increasingly authoritarian bent to Starmer’s Labour. Has the ban made prosecutions easier, or has it created a chilling effect on freedom of expression? And is this further evidence of the overreach of the attorney-general, Lord Hermer?

Also on the podcast, with Keir Starmer’s majority secured but his party’s membership dwindling, is there space for a new populist party to Labour’s left? Ash defends Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana’s efforts to establish Your Party. Should they be taking a leaf out of Reform’s playbook?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: Putin has set a trap for Europe and Ukraine

‘Though you wouldn’t know from the smiles in the White House this week… a trap has been set by Vladimir Putin to split the United States from its European allies,’ warns Owen Matthews. The Russian President wants to make a deal with Donald Trump, but he ‘wants to make it on his own terms’. ‘Putin would like nothing more than for Europe to encourage Ukraine to fight on… and lose even more of their land’. But, as Owen writes, those who count themselves among the country’s friends must ask ‘whether it’s time to choose an unjust peace over a just but never-ending war’.

Have European leaders walked into Putin’s trap? Owen joins the podcast alongside Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times.

Next: Lionel Shriver, Toby Young & Igor Toronyi-Lalic on the decline of shame in society

A rise in brazen shoplifting, attempts to police public spaces and moralising over ‘Art’ – these are all topics touched on by columnists Lionel Shriver and Toby Young and Arts editor Igor Toronyi-Lalic in the magazine this week. Are these individual problems in their own right, or could they be symptomatic of wider failings in British society?

Lionel, Toby and Igor joined the podcast to try to make sense of why guilt and shame seem to have disappeared in modern Britain.

And finally: the hell of owning a holiday rental

William Cash writes in the magazine this week about the trials and tribulations of running a holiday let. He complains that the lines between hotels and holiday lets have become blurred, and people of all ages are now becoming guests from hell. He writes: ‘it has become increasingly evident that middle class families have no idea how to behave on holiday… basic guest decorum seems to belong to a different summer holiday age’.

So how did things get so bad? William joined the podcast alongside Spectator columnist Melissa Kite – who runs her own B&B in Ireland.

Plus: ahead of the long weekend, Mark Mason reveals who we can thank for bank holidays.

Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, joins James Heale to discuss his campaign to improve working class representation in politics. Tom, newly elected in 2024, explains how getting his mum involved in local politics in West Yorkshire led him to think about the structural issues that exist preventing more people from getting involved in politics.

Plus, with both the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK challenging the traditional Labour and Conservative duopoly, what lessons can both parties learn from each other?

Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson. Photo credit: House of Commons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.