Best of the Spectator

Michael Gove and Lara Brown discuss the downfall of Russell Brand, and ask why the BBC and figures on the Left were so willing to embrace him. What does his rise and fall tell us about the institutions that gave him a platform, and their pursuit of younger audiences?
Plus, is Labour right to argue that schools have become exam factories?
And finally, how Labour's proposed conversion therapy legislation could threaten free speech and leave parents at risk of criminal prosecution for questioning their child's gender identity.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Henry Lloyd.

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On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Harry Cole traverses America during the US midterms; Max Jeffery dissects the problems caused by the early release scheme; Lisa Haseldine explains how to cope with ruinous hen dos; and Jonathan Sumption and Nick Lezard talk through their favourite books of the year.

Produced and presented by Abigail Brierley.

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Israel has voted in its first general election since the 7th of October attacks, and the result is deadlock. Netanyahu’s bloc took 53 seats, the opposition 48 and the Arab parties a record 19. Shas, the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party, fell from 11 seats to six, its worst result since 1992, after insisting that haredi men should stay exempt from military service.

Damian Thompson is joined by Anshel Pfeffer, Israel correspondent for The Economist and biographer of Benjamin Netanyahu, to ask how much religion is shaping the country’s future. They discuss the ‘status quo’ deal David Ben-Gurion struck with the rabbis before the state was founded, why Israel still has no civil marriage, the three main branches of ultra-Orthodoxy, and a birth rate that has taken the haredim from 2-3% of the population to 13-14%. Could they be half of Israel within a generation or two? And with the parties promising not to sit with Netanyahu, the Arab parties or the haredim, which of those promises will be broken first?

Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Henry Lloyd

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Labour has a new leader, but does Andy Burnham have a plan to give voters back control?

In this episode of Coffee House Shots, Noa Hoffman speaks to Claire Ainsley, Keir Starmer’s former director of policy, about her new book, Control: How We Lost It and How to Take It Back.

They discuss whether Burnham’s government is doing enough to address immigration and welfare, why Ainsley is sceptical about reopening the Brexit debate, and how Britain can get ahead of the AI revolution.

Plus: Ainsley reflects on Starmer’s downfall, the challenges facing the new Prime Minister and whether Labour can keep Reform at bay.

Produced by Abigail Brierley.

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

This week: Lara Prendergast is joined by Michael Gove, Tali Fraser and Tim Stanley.
Has Labour lost control of Britain's prisons? As the government's early release scheme comes under increasing scrutiny, Michael Gove diagnoses the failures of the prison system and the growing strain on probation services.
Meanwhile, following a bruising set of US midterm results for Donald Trump, what next for the American right? Tim Stanley discusses the Republicans' increasingly nasty politics, the battle to succeed Trump and whether the president could escalate the war in Iran.
Plus: are lab-grown diamonds unbearably tacky? And why are the posh flocking to Poundland?

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