Nov 21

How to raise taxes and get away with it

As Rachel Reeves' budget approaches, Westminster is braced for tax hikes. The political manoeuvring necessary may just be one of the greatest political challenges of her career. So on this week's episode of Westminster Insider, Sascha speaks to those who have been there, and com ... Show More

38m 9s

Nov 14

Inside No. 10: The creaky house that runs Britain

After a wild week in No.10 Downing Street, host Patrick Baker takes listeners on a podcast tour of the famous building to find out how the hell a cobbled-together Georgian townhouse is meant to run a modern state. Patrick asks how the rabbit warren layout influences those who gov ... Show More

45 m

Nov 7

Who really cares about Britain's farmers?

Does anyone care about British farmers? Those ploughing the fields and harvesting crops certainly don't feel Westminster pays attention to them. So this week Westminster Insider finds out how the relationship between politics and farming – from post-Brexit trade deals to inherita ... Show More

39m 14s

Nov 2024

What to make of the Labour government's first budget?

The Autumn Budget was the most significant since George Osborne implemented austerity in 2010. Rachel Reeves announced one hundred billion pounds for infrastructure, forty billion in tax rises and a whole host of policy changes, which she hopes will deliver Labour’s mission of na ... Show More

31m 48s

Nov 2024

I like big budgets and I cannot lie

Go here to get tickets for Oh God, What Now? live at the Comedy Store on Tue 10 Dec – now with special guest John Crace of The Guardian. Big tax rises, big ambition. Labour’s first budget since regaining power, from Britain’s first-ever female chancellor, is rocking the nation. B ... Show More

1 h

Jul 2024

Labour confronts £20bn black hole

The chancellor Rachel Reeves is about to confront the British public with the size of the black hole in the country’s finances. A funding shortfall of about £20bn is likely to lead to tax rises at the Budget later this year. So — how to fix the problem? The FT ... Show More

34m 40s

Nov 2024

Labour's Economic Conundrum

William Davies joins Tom to assess the efforts of the new Labour government in tackling the UK's many economic challenges. They consider whether Rachel Reeves’s first budget, with its substantial tax rises, can do anything more than arrest the decline of the public finances, and ... Show More

53m 19s

Jun 2025

Reeves sets Labour’s course – but what will it deliver?

Labour’s long-awaited spending review dropped this week. Rachel Reeves unveiled funding settlements for government departments – and a newly upbeat tone after the gloomy promise of hard times in her previous Commons set pieces. The NHS and defence were prioritised but other depar ... Show More

34m 49s

Mar 2024

Spring budget reaction

We’re waiting longer than ever for hospital appointments, our kids’ schools are literally crumbling, and homelessness has sky-rocketed in the past year. This week’s spring budget was a vital chance for chancellor Jeremy Hunt to respond to the huge problems our country is facing. ... Show More

31m 14s

Sep 2024

How “painful” will the Budget be for your finances?

With a £22bn ‘black hole’ in the public finances, the new chancellor Rachel Reeves has difficult decisions to make ahead of Labour’s autumn Budget next month. How might this hole be plugged, and where might tax rises land? In this episode, Dan Neidle, founder of think-tank Tax Po ... Show More

31m 32s

Dec 2024

Is Rachel Reeves a bad Chancellor?

New figures show that not only has the economy contracted, but job hiring is at a record low. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves strode into Downing Street on July 5th talking about just one thing - growth. But since then the government has raised employers’ national ins ... Show More

40m 12s

Jul 2024

Is there really no money left?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she's discovered a "£20bn black hole" in the public finances left by the previous government. In the Commons, she set out her plans to address the funding shortfall through spending cuts, as shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt accused Labour of using ... Show More

17m 56s

Oct 17

Britain: a beacon of economic stability?

The countdown is on: Chancellor Rachel Reeves has just six weeks to finalise her Autumn Budget before the November 26 deadline. This week, she was in Washington DC for the annual meeting of the IMF, where she hinted at tax rises for the rich, while pinning some blame for Britain’ ... Show More

33m 12s

How to deliver a great budget