Talk Podcasts: Recent Episodes
Marcus Stead
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the topic of assisted dying in a way that is both sensitive and forthright.This is a complicated subject matter that generates strong opinions on all sides. On the one hand, few would argue against the principle that people should be allowed to die with dignity and minimal suffering when all meaningful quality of life has gone.On the other hand, legalising assisted dying could be a slippery slope – if we’re not careful, vulture family members may end up pressurising elderly relatives to end their own lives if they are set to benefit from their wills, and the mentally unwell could see assisted dying as an option where what they really need is better support.Greg brings an interesting perspective on this – he has been battling kidney and bladder cancer for well over two decades – he’s doing alright at the moment but he knows what it’s like to face death.The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
The Princess of Wales has revealed in a video message that in January, she underwent major abdominal surgery. While the surgery was successful, tests after the operation showed that cancer had been present, and she is now undergoing a course of preventative chemotherapy.Kate’s announcement is yet another setback for the Royal Family, following the news last month that the King has a form of cancer, and the Duchess of York has revealed that she, too, is suffering from a form of skin cancer.We send our best wishes to all three and will be remembering them in our prayers.In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss whether the recent difficulties could have been handled better by the Royal Family’s public relations team, and whether the clumsiness of it all played straight into the hands of vile trolls who have been spreading cruel and malicious rumours about the Princess of Wales.The Mother’s Day photo that was pulled appears to be a collage of other photos blended together. The image of Catherine looks like one that appeared on the front of Vogue magazine some time ago.The grainy video of Kate ‘out shopping’ with William that The Sun ran as an exclusive in the days before her announcement is certainly very odd. The woman in it looks to be no older than her late teens or early 20s, and her facial features are different to Kate’s. We also do not see a clear image of William to identify it as him. Good public relations is about clarity and controlling the story, and Kensington Palace have failed in those objectives.The discussion moves on to wider themes – where is the line to be drawn between the public having ‘the right to know’ and respect for the privacy of the Royal Family? What can be done about online trolls, who can spread appalling rumours without consequence?Prince Harry and Meghan have burnt their bridges with the Royal Family – if they had handled things differently in recent years, they could have held the fort while other senior members of the family receive treatment and recuperate in the months ahead. Their narcissistic behaviour means that is not possible.The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Time To ReflectWhere is Julie and how is Hollie over two decades on from Michael’s death and how does she feel about the MOD and remembrance services?
Blood MoneyNo amount of money - big or small - equates or compensates for Michael’s death.Hear how the MOD admit negligence - but it is not quite 100%.
Julie makes the trip to Sierra Leone to see where Michael was killed. Suddenly, and only now, do the Ministry of Defence begin to admit liability for Michael’s death...
Just over one year on from Michael’s death, it is time for the inquest. Will Julie finally get any answers?The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Michael is laid to rest. But unrest is laid bare.The funeral is cancelled, then re-arranged. The guest list is vetted….A comedy of errors adds to the truth of lies...Presented by Tony Horne.The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Days later, Michael’s body is returned to the UK. His widow Julie is lied to about which airbase he is coming into. Then, as his body goes missing for four days, the lies begin to stack up.Presented by Tony Horne.The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
December 2001. Michael has been home on leave. It is the only time he will see his newborn daughter Hollie.The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
It is 0630, 28 January 2002. There is a knock on the door. Michael is dead.The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
On 27 January 2002, Corporal Michael Phillips was killed in Sierra Leone. He had just returned there after a brief visit home before Christmas on paternity leave. Daughter Hollie was born early December.From the moment, when his wife Julie received that dreaded knock at the door, she knew the truth did not add up.A truth of lies.Finally, nearly nine years later, the Ministry of Defence admitted negligence.It has been two decades since Michael’s death. Hollie is now an adult.For the first time, his widow Julie Phillips goes on the record in conversation with renowned ghostwriter Tony Horne to unravel that Truth of Lies...The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
The inquest: Cover up or covering yourself? Hear how Darren and Tony had to ask to give statements. Then litigation. How on earth did the judge exonerate Northumbria Police?
Hosted by Tony Horne.
Why were there three funerals? Because there were at least three agendas.
Hosted by Tony Horne.
The end is nigh. David melts down on Twitter, returns home from Australia and takes his own life.
Hosted by Tony Horne.
Two trips to Oz. Who is Lisa French? Did Darren see that the end was nigh?
Hosted by Tony Horne.
What happens when your 15 minutes of fame is up? 'They build you up and knock you down' - we have all heard that phrase.
We analyse the whole process in case study of how the unprepared become front page news and then on a whim or a whisper, become persona non grata.
Hosted by Tony Horne.
The trial is over. Awaiting the verdict has been agony. 'I have a lifetime ahead. They have a lifetime to reflect.'
Hosted by Tony Horne.
Growing up in Staffordshire. The Cornetto moment. Struggles to get into the police. Meeting Kath and moving to the Northeast. And dear Naomi...
Hosted by Tony Horne.
After two weeks in hospital, it is time for David to go home. Amongst his visitors: Craig, with the Control Room confession.
Hosted by Tony Horne.
Two stories on a collision course. A manhunt is underway in Rothbury, Northumberland.
Meanwhile, on a hospital bed in Newcastle upon Tyne, PC David Rathband faces the new reality. He is blind.
Hosted by Tony Horne.
Serious questions begin about what really happened on 3 and 4 July 2010.
Hosted by Tony Horne.
British policeman David Rathband is gunned down in Newcastle upon Tyne.
This is his story. But where does it start?
Hosted by Tony Horne.
For more than a decade, conversations between the late David Rathband and his ghostwriter Tony Horne recorded during the writing of the best-selling Tango 190 have remained in a vault.
Now for the first time Tony shares them with David's twin Darren - and you.
Darren and Tony walk you through the story from its humble beginnings in Staffordshire to its tragic end in Northumberland.
You will hear David's own account of being shot and the subsequent trial of the two accomplices in the case, the untold story of dealing with becoming blind and the fatigue of the endless admin involved, tensions he held within Northumbria Police, depression, Pride of Britain Awards and going from hero to zero overnight, and ultimately how both contributors warned his suicide was inevitable.
In this emotional and painful story - albeit with the twins' dark sense of humour, you will hear David. In his own words. For the first time.
It has now been more than three years since the United Kingdom formally left the European Union. Since then, the UK, and the world, has gone through a pandemic that has caused enormous economic and political upheaval.In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins take stock of the situation.What have been the advantages of Brexit so far? Being outside the EU’s procurement programme led to a far swifter rollout of the vaccine, which inevitably saved many lives and allowed society to return to a larger degree of normality far more quickly than it otherwise would.Beyond that, why is our political establishment being so slow to take advantage of the freedoms and flexibility Brexit allows? Who are Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt actually working for?It appears as though the price to be paid for a broadly-favourable Brexit deal was throwing Northern Ireland under a bus. Can the Northern Ireland Protocol be made to work?The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
In this specially-extended Christmas edition of Twenty Minute Topic, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins look into Britain’s energy crisis.We’re all spending a lot more than we did this time last year on energy bills, and Marcus and Greg explain this situation was entirely avoidable. It came about because British governments of all colours have made the country increasingly dependant on foreign energy sources and market forces over many years, all in the name of combatting climate change.The poorest members of society are being hit the hardest, but it goes beyond that. Millions of people who go out to work for a modest income and have £100 or £150 left at the end of each month to treat their families are seeing all that money swallowed up by high energy bills and soaring inflation. This has consequences for restaurants, theatres, cinemas and family-owned cafes. Why did the government get it so wrong, and who is REALLY pulling the strings?Later in the podcast, with Christmas upon us, and with millions of people feeling the pinch, Marcus and Greg share their advice on how to have a very pleasant, memorable Christmas without spending a fortune.The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
WHAT ON EARTH is going on with British politics right now? Liz Truss lasted 44 days as Prime Minister, during which time her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, delivered a mini-Budget, which Ms Truss approved of…and then she sacked him for doing what she asked him to do!
Confused? How about this – a governing party with a majority of about 80 seats was struggling to get the legislation Liz Truss wanted through the House of Commons.
So now, here we are, Rishi Sunak is Prime Minister. Unlike Liz Truss, Mr Sunak was a Brexiteer in the 2016 referendum, and the markets have reacted well to him becoming Prime Minister. Should we take comfort in the grown-ups being put back in charge after the Truss debacle? Or should we be wary? Mr Sunak has already put a block on future fracking projects, and he’s committed to the appeasing the climate change cult with absurd ‘net zero’ targets, much like Boris Johnson was.
As for the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, this is a man who during the David Cameron years was in charge of the rollout of city TV channels – the business model was flawed from day one, lots of them have pretty much closed, and none have made much of an impact.
During during his years as England’s Health Secretary, Mr Hunt did little to endear himself to the medical profession. As Foreign Secretary, he shamefully supported Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen – an ongoing seven-year conflict that the BBC doesn’t bother to tell us about. Mr Hunt actively continued to support and endorse arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Fills you with confidence, doesn’t it? Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of it all.
For more than 70 years, the Queen was our country’s Head of State, and she was also Head of the Commonwealth, a body of nations that clearly meant a huge amount to her. In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins look back on the Queen’s reign, and assess what sort of a King Charles III will be. You don’t have to be a Royalist to have a deep respect for the life the Queen led. It was a life of duty and service. We live in an age where politicians frequently say and do inappropriate things – maybe it was always thus. But for the last seventy years, the Queen has been the one person in public life we could always trust to behave appropriately, and say the right things. Guided by her Christian faith and sense of duty, Her Majesty set an example that can and should live on. We should be grateful that just three months ago, we as a nation, and as a Commonwealth, indeed as a world, had the opportunity to tell Her Majesty just how much we appreciated her lifetime of service. So much has changed in three months. We have a different Prime Minister, and a different Monarch. But we’re also going to have some fun. The Queen had a tremendous sense of humour and mischief, and Greg is going to tell us about the time HE experienced it first-hand.
Going to university and getting a degree isn’t the golden ticket to getting on in life that it once was.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins debate whether going to university is a good idea for young people in the modern era.
In the 1960s, just 4% of young people went to university. By the end of the 1970s, that figure had risen to 14%. The university sector expanded hugely during the 1990s, and later on, the Blair government set a target of getting 50% of young people into university, and that figure was reached a few years ago.
Modern-day students can expect to pay tuition fees of £9,000 per year, which over three years equates to £27,000, and that’s without taking into account rent and living costs.
Having a university degree does not guarantee young people a well-paid job in the subject area for which they are qualified, and the days when a degree meant a company pension and early retirement are long gone.
Far from encouraging free speech and exposing students to new ideas and perspectives, all too often, modern-day universities are restricting these freedoms and are promoting fashionable left-wing causes, complete with ‘safe zones’ for students unable to cope with hearing opinions with which they differ.
Getting large numbers of young people into universities is politically convenient because it allows governments of all colours to make youth unemployment figures appear far lower than they actually are. Meanwhile, there is very obviously a shortage of plumbers, electricians and skilled handymen (and women) in modern Britain. Would many young people not be better off learning a trade?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
THE PLATINUM Jubilee has arrived, and we're in for a four-day weekend of fun, thanksgiving and reflection.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins reflect on the Queen's reign, assess the role of the Crown in our unwritten constitution, and discuss what might happen when the Queen is no longer around.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Since the last edition of the podcast, Vladimir Putin has carried out actions in Ukraine that go against all forms of decency and civil behaviour.
One month later, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of the situation.
All decent people are disgusted and appalled with Putin’s deliberate targeting of innocent civilians, and he has no role to play in any lasting discussions on a peace settlement.
However, this has been a horrendous military campaign by Russia. They are facing a humiliating defeat, but the big question is – where does Ukraine go from here?
This conflict has been going on since the Meidan Revolution of 2014, when the democratically-elected pro-Russian President Yanukovych was overthrown by a US and EU-backed mob, which included Nazi-sympathising elements such as the Azov Battalion and the Right Sector.
The rights of the ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking peoples of Donbas were signed away at gunpoint, and an eight-year conflict began, in which 14,000 innocent civilians have died in the region.
The Minsk II agreement, brokered with the help of Germany, France and Poland, would have seen Donbas giving autonomy within the Ukrainian state, but this was never implemented. While this in no way excuses Putin’s actions, it nevertheless played into his hands.
The current Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is also no saint, as the Pandora Papers reveal huge corruption and offshore accounts linked directly to him.
One of the great tragedies of this conflict is that Ukraine has the potential to become a rich, prosperous country. It has a great deal of natural resources, and its ports are located in superb positions in terms of trade. But a lasting peace will require compromise and for the language and civil rights of all peoples to be respected.
The lack of leadership from the West is also deeply concerning. President Biden, once a steady, likeable if unspectacular Senator and Vice President, is very clearly in cognitive decline. The British army is now so small in size, it would fit comfortably into Wembley Stadium, and the Royal Navy so small that recapturing the Falkland Islands, as happened in 1982, would now be impossible.
A key ‘piece of the jigsaw’ is Russia’s relationship with China, which will soon become the world’s largest economy, which will have serious consequences for us all. The days of China being ordered about by Western countries are over.
As for Russia itself, it appears as though Putin has surrounded himself with sycophants, or at the very least people who are terrified of telling him the truth about how badly this military campaign is going.
What does all this mean for Russia? Putin does not look well. If he is overthrown, will Russia survive as a nation state?
This podcast does not claim to have all the answers, but it does provide an interesting discussion.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
The situation on the Russia – Ukraine border is becoming more serious by the day. There are now 130,000 Russian troops on the border, but what’s it really all about?
In this new episode of Twenty Minute Topic, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of the situation.
The history, politics and demography of Ukraine is complex and bloody. We’re being told by the mainstream media that Russian president Vladimir Putin could be about to invade Ukraine.
President Putin is many things – a bully, a tyrant and an egotist, but there is very little evidence that he is mad. There is a lot more to this story than the simple cliches we’re seeing banded about on our TV news bulletins.
Neither President Putin nor President Zelensky of Ukraine say an invasion is coming, so why are there so many Russian troops on the border? An understanding of Ukraine’s history and population is vital when assessing the current situation.
A significant minority of the Ukrainian population are Russian-speaking and identify culturally with Russia, particularly in the area around Donetsk.
During the collapse of the USSR, Russia surrendered a great deal of land in Europe and Asia, mostly without violence, and it consented to the reunification of Germany.
Documents in the George Washington University show that at the time, agreements were made that NATO would not expand towards the Russian border in return.
George Kennan, the greatest anti-Soviet diplomat of the immediate post-Cold War era, warned against the expansion of NATO towards Russia’s borders. He said: “The expansion of NATO right up to the Russian borders is the greatest mistake of the post-Cold War period.” Yegor Gaidar, the former Prime Minister of Russia, liked in the West because of his economic reforms., contacted Canada’s ambassador, Chris Westdal, in Moscow in 2004, to say he had come ‘to beg, to plead’ to advise Ottawa against further NATO expansion which would, he warned, ‘bring out the worst of Russian instincts’.
In 2014, President Yanukovych, who refused to sign a political association or free trade agreement with the EU, was overthrown by a mob which included Nazi sympathisers and hardline football hooligans, with the support of the EU and the USA. At the time of the revolution, President Yanukovych was just one year away from facing re-election at the ballot box.
The government that came next was much more friendly towards the EU, and an agreement followed.
The Minsk II agreement, signed by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany in 2015, was intended to pave the way for a federal, peaceful Ukraine, allowing for enhanced rights for the significant section of the population that speaks Russian and identifies with Russia culturally.
Not a single provision of the Minsk II agreement has been fully implemented.
History teaches us that it is far easier to begin a conflict than it is to end it. Should NATO or any Western countries be involving themselves in a complex and dangerous conflict few people outside the region understand?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Tony Horne returns with episode three of The Dead Good Podcast, with a look back on the life of Meat Loaf, who has died at the age of 74.
Meat Loaf was a larger-than-life character who had a rare ability to condense a range of different emotions into a single song. He was wild, he was unpredictable, and he pushed boundaries.
Yet for all his on-stage antics, there was another side to him. In interviews he came across as good-humoured, self-deprecating and family-orientated, and he didn’t like to hear himself referred to as a ‘legend’. As far as he was concerned, he was a man doing a job, just like a plumber or a brickie does his job.
But Meat Loaf’s music managed to transcend generations, and he was a consistent chart presence from the 1970s to the 1990s, with hits ranging from Bat Out of Hell to I Would Do Anything for Love.
Tony argues that Meat Loaf was, perhaps, underrated, and that his music focussed on quality rather than quantity. Much of his success was down to the writing and production values of Jim Steinman, whose death last year greatly saddened Meat Loaf.
His vocal range was extraordinary, and his music videos were superb. On stage, he had a gravitas and a presence few could match.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Tony Horne returns with further memories and reflections on his friend of more than 30 years, James Brokenshire MP.
James served as Northern Ireland Secretary during Theresa May's years as Prime Minister, where he was widely respected by all sides.
But for Tony, James was a long-time personal friend, who gave him his first break on student radio in Exeter.
Tony also provides an interesting insight into what it is like to attend a funeral of a prominent public figure, where security is an issue.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
FOR THE last four years, Tony Horne, writer and broadcaster, has reflected on how tragic he finds the process when individuals pass away, from the speed with which their death is updated on Wikipedia to the paucity and inadequacy of the letters RIP being used on social media.
Tony also felt that many people who paid tribute perhaps might actually be grieving if they were the right person to be paying tribute at all. Therefore, for some time it has been rumbling inside Tony’s head that there might be another way – a regular obituaries-based podcast has been on his mind.
Tony has lost many close friends in the last few years, from PC David Rathband to Lisa Shaw. At the back end of last week, former Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire MP passed away. Tony and James had been friends since the late 1980s. It was James who enabled Tony to take his first steps in student radio.
This sad moment has finally spurred Tony into action. Here are his reflections on his late friend.
AFTER nearly twenty years, British and American military involvement in Afghanistan is finally at an end. But why was our military ever sent there in the first place?
Military intervention began on the pretext that the Taliban government in Afghanistan harboured the terrorists responsible for the attacks of 11 September 2001, but the facts do not back this up. Of the attackers, 15 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two were from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Lebanon and one was from Egypt.
Osama Bin Laden boasted of his involvement, but there is no solid evidence linking him to the attacks. We loathe and despise the Taliban with good reason, but evidence that they were in any way responsible for the 9/11 atrocities is flimsy.
Two decades on, and the Taliban are back in control of Afghanistan, far more quickly than so-called ‘experts’ predicted as recently as a few weeks ago.
So what are we to make of it all? And on what terms should Britain, America and her allies engage with the Taliban in the future? Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of a highly complex situation.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
THE WORD ‘woke’ seems to be everywhere nowadays. How did we get from a situation where unpleasant racial slurs were rightly made socially unacceptable, to what we have today, where a small minority of the population is constantly on the lookout for new things to be offended by?
With every year that passes, the sphere of opinions it’s considered socially acceptable to hold becomes narrower and narrower, and ever-greater limits are placed on free speech and freedom of expression.
In so many spheres of work, certain opinions are now compulsory, while others are impossible to express, particularly if you want to hold on to your job or gain promotion. Why has so much ground been conceded to performance offence takers? In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of how British, and indeed Western society got into this mess, and what can be done to get us out of it.
At the heart of it is a long-running far-left culturally Marxist agenda to destabilise and undermine the pillars of society such as the traditional family unit, the police, the civil service, the media and the education system.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
In this edition, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins focus on Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Serious mistakes have undoubtedly been made during his handling of the pandemic so far, but on the other hand, the speed and efficiency vaccine rollout has been an enormous success, and, with a few hiccups along the way, Mr Johnson has delivered the Brexit the British people entrusted him to deliver at the 2019 general election. Could anyone else have handled the pandemic better than Mr Johnson? And if he is not the right person to lead the country through the tough challenges that lie ahead, then who is? With the Labour Party not looking like a credible opposition, and few stand-out personalities among the Conservative ranks, what does this mean for British parliamentary democracy? Mr Johnson seems a different man to the one he was before his Covid health scare. His wife, Carrie Symonds, appears to have huge influence over him and over Government policy, particularly in relation to the 'climate change' agenda. The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
IT HAS now been two months since Lord Dyson’s damning report into the behaviour of Martin Bashir and the way in which he and the BBC obtained the exclusive interview with Princess Diana in 1995. Dyson’s comments about Bashir’s ethics and the behaviour of future Director General Tony Hall portray both men in a poor light, but within days, the story died down and everything at the BBC appears to be carrying on as before. Marcus Stead, who used to work for the BBC, along with Greg Lance-Watkins, who used to appear on the BBC as a guest, discuss the secretive and unaccountable culture of the corporation, along with the institutional bias. What do recent events mean for the BBC’s credibility with the British public? In an age where most younger people consume their entertainment via streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, Marcus and Greg discuss whether the BBC licence fee model has a future, and if it does not, what does this mean for public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom? The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
THE GOVERNMENT has confirmed that a new royal yacht costing £200 million will be built and commissioned.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the merits of the project. They are both strongly in favour of it, arguing that the Blair government’s decision to scrap its predecessor, Royal Yacht Britannia in 1997 was a serious mistake that even Mr Blair himself went on to regret.
Events held on board Royal Yacht Britannia helped raise £3 billion for the Treasury between 1991 and 1995 alone. A new royal yacht would act as a status symbol and could be a tremendous asset in forming trade deals and bringing jobs to the United Kingdom.
Marcus and Greg argue that arguments against it are based on class snobbery, a foolish myth that it is only used for members of the Royal Family to take holidays on, and fails to take into account that the £200 million cost will be rapidly recouped in terms of the trade deals and jobs the yacht’s activities will generate.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Following the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins reflect on his extraordinary life of duty and service in this special ‘double dose’ edition of Twenty Minute Topic.
He was born in 1921 in Corfu, but the family was forced to flee Greece following a military coup.
His education at Gordonstoun school proved to be character-forming, and he went on to have a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, where he was mentioned in dispatches for his service during the battle of Cape Matapan.
Following his marriage to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, Prince Philip dedicated himself to a life of duty and service, and following the death of King George VI in 1952, he was forced to abandon his promising naval career to dedicate himself full-time to being the Queen’s consort.
The podcast also discusses his many passions – British industry, animal conservation, bringing the best out of young people and carriage driving.
Other aspects of his life discussed during the podcast include his role as a great moderniser of the Royal household, and the support he gave to the Queen and to the rest of the family.
Greg tells of the occasion where he met Prince Philip in the 1960s. To those he met, he was very well-informed, had a wicked sense of humour, but had a gruff, no-nonsense manner and didn’t suffer fools.
Towards the end of the podcast, Marcus and Greg discuss how the Queen will adapt to life without her husband of more than 73 years.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
AS THE dust settles following the broadcast of Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle earlier in the week, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the fall-out. Are they victims, or self-centred narcissists?
It appears as though Meghan married into the Royal Family believing they would adapt to ‘Project Meghan’, and, as someone who is used to getting her own way, she did not appear to understand she was committing to a life of duty and service.
During the interview, much was made by Meghan about the restrictions placed on her personal freedom, yet did she attempt to work around that with other members of the Royal Family and the staff to reach an understanding?
One of the most controversial aspects of the interview were Meghan’s claims that inappropriate comments were made by somebody connected to them when speculating about the colour of baby Archie’s skin. Yet not much has been said about the context of the comments – were they a case of them saying ‘will the baby look more like its mother, or its father?’ (a commonplace comment among families expecting a baby, especially when the parents have different racial backgrounds), or were there more sinister connotations? There are almost certainly two sides to this story.
Much has been made of Meghan’s claims that she wasn’t given the support she needed when experiencing mental health difficulties. Yet she is by no means the first member of the Royal Family to go through such problems. Her husband, Prince Harry, has received therapy and support for his own mental health struggles. Could he not have picked up the phone and contacted his therapist and arranged appropriate support for his wife?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
GREG Lance-Watkins recently celebrated his 75th birthday, and a few days afterwards he had his first Covid jab.
The aim of this podcast is to put your mind at rest if you’re nervous or feeling anxious about having the vaccine.
In conversation with Marcus Stead, Greg details the process from beginning to end, and having been there and done that, he explains that it’s well-organised, painless, and that you probably won’t have any side effects at all, though if you do, they’ll be short-term and very mild.
As a survivor of cancer and a heart attack, Greg explains that the vaccine has given him a huge amount of protection from Covid-19, and urges everyone to have the jab.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
THE ROLLOUT of the Covid vaccine has been an enormous success story. The United Kingdom now leads the world in terms of the speed and efficiency in which the population is being vaccinated. Boris Johnson’s Government decided not to join the EU vaccine procurement programme last year, and the decision was widely vilified at the time, yet the events of the last few days have shown that the decision not to join was absolutely the right one.
Less than a month into the new Brexit deal and it’s clear that not being part of the EU is quite literally saving lives in the United Kingdom.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the extraordinary spat between AstraZeneca and the EU. They assess the reckless language and behaviour from Brussels bureaucrats in relation to the vaccine and with regards to Northern Ireland.
With Greg due to receive his vaccine in the days ahead, they discuss the importance of having the vaccine, though they question whether it will, in itself, lead to the return of normality.
Towards the end of the podcast, Marcus and Greg discuss the dangers of misinformation on the internet, and the urgent need for new legislation to regulate social media.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
ONE WEEK into 2021, and ‘Project Fear’ has been utterly discredited: World War III has not broken out, Western civilization has not come to an end, there has been no Emergency Budget, the FTSE has not collapsed, the pound has not collapsed, and there are no queues of lorries on the motorways of Kent.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the Brexit deal announced on Christmas Eve, which both are giving a cautious ‘thumbs up’ though there are some down sides.
The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
CHRISTMAS is nearly here, and it’s going to be very different for all of us this year. Much of the country is already living under severe restrictions, and from Boxing Day, 24 million people in England alone will be in Tier Four. In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss how worried we should be about the new variants of Covid, and how best to strike a balance between enjoying the festive season, and keeping ourselves and our families safe. The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
THE COVID-19 vaccine has arrived, and the logistically-complex process of rolling it out to the British population will get underway in a matter of days.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss whether all of us should have the vaccine, the measures that have been taken to ensure it’s safe, and the level of immunity it will give us.
They also discuss the dangers of conspiracy theorists, online and in the traditional media.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
THE RECENT report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) into antisemitism in the Labour Party delivered a damning verdict on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. In this special podcast, Marcus Stead talks to Graham Perry, a Labour supporter and an antisemitism awareness trainer about the findings of the EHRC’s report and the events that followed it, including Jeremy Corbyn’s statement which led to him having the Labour whip withdrawn. The EHRC found Labour breached the Equality Act in two cases when its agents were engaged in “committing unlawful harassment”, including using “antisemitic tropes and suggesting that complaints of antisemitism were fake or smears”. The first referred to former Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London, and the second concerned Pam Bromley, a Labour councillor in Rossendale, Lancashire. A further “18 more borderline harassment cases” were identified in the sample of 70 studied by the EHRC, and the watchdog also indicated relations with Labour were not always smooth during the investigation. The discussion then turns to the wider problem of antisemitism in British politics and in wider society. Plaid Cymru was co-founded by playwright Saunders Lewis, whose work and letters contain many examples of antisemitism. Lewis is still widely revered by the Welsh nationalist community, and the party was recently engulfed in controversy after activist Sahar Al-Faifi, who has a long track record of antisemitism, was readmitted to the party and will stand as a candidate in next year’s elections to the Welsh Parliament. Beyond politics, how prevalent is antisemitism in wider society? Marcus and Graham discuss the issue of antisemitism in institutions such as golf clubs. In this age where roads and concert venues named after slave traders are being renamed, is it right that prominent antisemites such as Roald Dahl are honoured with public monuments bearing their name? Roald Dahl Plass is less than a minute’s walk from the Welsh Parliament building. What is the difference between blatant antisemitism and subconscious antisemitism? And is antisemitism all too often regarded as ‘the lesser racism’? Graham Perry graduated from Churchill College Cambridge with degrees in History and Economics in 1968. He qualified as a Solicitor and became a Partner in Clinton-Davis & Co in Hackney, East London and focused on representing clients in the Magistrates Courts of North-East London. He made a career switch in 1979 when he joined the family firm, London Export Corporation, set up in 1953 by Jack Perry to focus on Trade with China. Graham made his final career change when he became an independent commercial arbitrator resolving disputes between companies involved in the trans-national shipment of food, feeding stuffs and oils – which work he continues to undertake. Graham was a Justice of the Peace from 1986 to 2002 and an Immigration Judge from 2002 to 2015. He has made 100+ visits to China on business, with political groups and most recently with former Lord Chief Justice Woolf whom Graham arranged to give Lectures in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the Rule of Law. Graham writes and lectures on two main topics – China and Anti-Semitism and honed his presentational skills with LBC radio, where he was a regular overnight cover presenter in the 1990s, before focusing exclusively on his arbitration work. The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
JOE BIDEN will become the 46th President of the United States. It’s been an extraordinary week – Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins return to assess the situation.
Biden won the most votes of any presidential candidate in US history. Donald Trump won seven million more votes than he got in 2016, and four million more than Hillary Clinton got, but still lost.
Marcus and Greg discuss just how divided and polarised the United States is. How can bridges be built? And is this the sign of a hegemonic power in decline?
There are good reasons NOT to like Joe Biden – are those who despise Donald Trump getting a little over-excited?
Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities are a real cause for concern. Is he mentally fit to be president, and is his presidency likely to be a short one before he hands over to Kamala Harris?
What does a Biden presidency mean for Brexit? Biden doesn’t have a close relationship with Boris Johnson’s administration, and his priority is likely to be the EU and the Republic of Ireland.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
WE’RE ALL familiar with the quote from Evelyn Beatrice Hall’s biography of Voltaire, which says: “I don’t agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Freedom of speech is under attack in Britain and across the Western world, with the rise of ‘safe zones’ in universities, and the ‘woke’ movement. With every year that passes, the limitations on what it’s permissible to say become narrower and narrower. Saying the wrong thing in the wrong place won’t land you in prison, (not yet, anyway,) but it can certainly have a detrimental effect on your career.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins ask: What are the limitations on free speech? What constitutes ‘hate speech’? And who or what is behind the agenda to put ever-increasing limitations on what we can say?
The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
THE ONGOING pandemic has resulted in millions more Britons working from home, and a recent report revealed that almost nine out of ten employees who worked from home during lockdown wish to continue doing so in some capacity.
The report, called ‘Homeworking in the UK: before and during the 2020 lockdown’ said 88% of employees who worked from home during lockdown would like to continue doing so to some extent, with 47% wanting to do so ‘often’ or even all of the time.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the revolution that is taking place in our working habits and ask, is this a good thing?
The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
FROM THURSDAY, pubs, cafes and restaurants will have to close at 10pm each evening as part of a wider package of restrictions aimed at halting the spread of Covid-19 cases, which have risen sharply in recent weeks.
We need to get real about this – ahead of us is a winter where there’ll be a significant amount of disruption to our lives.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss what’s gone wrong in recent months. Marcus argues strongly that the younger generations took the ‘eat out to help out’ scheme and the gradual reopening of the hospitality sector in July and August as a sign that the danger had passed, and that it was ‘party time’.
But what should happen now? Marcus and Greg agree that there is a lack of clarity over exactly what the rules are. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on Tuesday evening was rambling and lacked clarity.
Isn’t it time for clear, concise public information films on every advert break on every TV channel, as well as on YouTube and Spotify, to make it clear exactly what the rules are, in terms of how many people we should meet indoors, outdoors and how much distance we should keep? How many people actually know what the rules are?
Social media, especially Facebook, is awash with gross misinformation and conspiracy theories that play down the significance of the virus. What, if anything, can and should be done about it?
The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
BRITISH society is now split into two groups: In the one group are people who are behaving in a sensible, cautious and responsible way to prevent the spread of Covid-19. In the other group are people who, if they ever cared to begin with, no longer do so, and are behaving in any way that suits themselves.
Between 11-16 August, the United Kingdom recorded more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases every day, the first time it had broken the thousand barrier since 26 June, and the first time we had seen six days in a row of more than 1,000 new cases since June 16-21.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the likelihood of the pandemic returning in a major way as we head into the autumn. What are we to make of the sharp rise in cases seen during the last week? Is it due to increased testing? Is it due to so many people not taking the danger seriously? And has people losing their inhibitions while under the influence of alcohol played its part?
What does having the virus actually mean? On the one hand, a very large number of those diagnosed aren’t actually unwell, and the biggest danger appears to be to the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. On the other hand, Derek Draper, husband of TV presenter Kate Garraway, has been seriously ill with the effects of Covid-19 for many months at the age of just 53. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was seriously ill with the virus at the age of just 55. And Charlton Athletic superfan Seb Lewis sadly died from the virus at only 38 years of age. So evidently, the risk to younger people shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Marcus and Greg also assess the negative impact devolution is having on the management of the pandemic. The guidelines for the four constituent parts of the UK are muddled and confused. How many people really know who they can mix with outdoors, indoors, and how much distance they should keep? Devolution has led to mixed messages and confusion at a time when people require clarity and simplicity.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
IT’S AUGUST, and perhaps it’s time for some ‘silly season’ light relief. In this edition, Marcus Stead interviews Greg Lance-Watkins about his pet hates.
There may well be further podcasts along these lines in the future, but in this edition, Greg picks music in movies, dramas and TV programmes, and so-called ‘experts’ on TV programmes who don’t know what they’re talking about.
Greg isn’t a fan of the Sound of Music, or an orchestra piping up in an open field. He doesn’t like dramatic music during car chases in action movies, nor does he like soft music in romantic scenes. Does Greg have a point, or is he a miserable git who struggles with the suspension of reality?
Marcus and Greg do agree that the music is often too loud in documentaries, to the point where we cannot hear what the narrator is saying.
The discussion then moves on to so-called ‘experts’ appearing on TV programmes who don’t know what they’re talking about. How often have you tuned in to the Sky News paper review to see that the guest is some 25-year-old middle class recent graduate working for an obscure think tank who is going to tell you all about the world?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
AS WE come towards the end of July, how bad is the COVID-19 situation, in Britain and overseas? How much credibility should we place on official figures? And what about masks – their use wasn’t compulsory when the virus was at its most prevalent in Britain during March and April, but now it is. What are we to make of the Government’s U-turn?
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the situation.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
In this edition, Marcus Stead is joined by Graham Miller, an experienced journalist and broadcaster, probably best known for his years as the face of Saturday teatime sports bulletins on the ITN news.
Graham began his career in hospital radio, but his big break came in 1973 when he joined BBC Radio Birmingham, where he worked on both news and sport. A year later, he moved to BBC Radio London, where he covered the Moorgate tube crash of 1975.
During his radio years, Graham worked alongside some of the giants of radio sports journalism, including Bryon Butler and Peter Jones.
Graham moved into television, where at Anglia he worked as an in-vision continuity announcer and newsreader/reporter on About Anglia. He then moved to HTV West, where he worked as a sports presenter and producer. Colleagues included legendary newsreader Bruce Hockin and long-serving sports broadcaster Roger Malone.
In 1983, Graham moved to Thames News, where he worked alongside veteran newscaster Andrew Gardner, and on 31 December 1992, Graham presented the last ever bulletin before Thames lost the ITV weekday franchise in London.
A move to ITN followed, and Graham quickly became associated with the Saturday teatime bulletin, where he fronted a comprehensive roundup of the day’s sports news and the classified football results. During his years with ITN, Graham reported from around the globe on top sporting events including World Cups and Olympic Games, and he twice won the Royal Television Society Sports Presenter of the Year award.
After leaving ITN in late 2002, Graham set up public relations and media training company Media-Vu. Graham helps a variety of businesses, sports federations and individuals by advising on media strategy. His client list includes executives at Manchester United FC, the banking industry, and a range of individuals.
Graham continued to broadcast as a reporter for Gillette Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports, and he read news and sport for London Tonight and sports bulletins on Sky News.
In the latter part of the podcast, Marcus and Graham discuss modern trends in journalism, including the dangerous mixing up of ‘fact’ and ‘opinion’ in mainstream news and current affairs programming. Graham and Marcus share concerns about the BBC’s move away from the emphasis on ‘facts and analysis’ towards more opinion-led campaigning journalism.
The podcast concludes by Graham and Marcus providing advice to young people starting out in journalism today. The industry is very different to when Graham took his first steps at hospital radio and at the BBC in Birmingham, so what can people entering the industry do to help themselves get on in these difficult times?
You can read more about Graham’s work with Media-Vu by visiting his website.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
In this edition, Marcus Stead talks to Graham Perry, a leading authority on China and Anti-Semitism, as well as a former radio presenter on LBC during the 1990s.
Is China’s economic development and growing political influence something that should be feared or embraced? What will the long-term implications be for the USA’s dominance as the world’s leading political and economic power? Is China creating a slave empire in Africa, or is Chinese investment crucial to the continent’s economic development?
The podcast was recorded at the time when Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner have received the draft report into antisemitism from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Graham has extensive experience as a speaker and educator on the subject of Anti-Semitism, including to the Welsh Labour Party and Wales’s First Minister, Mark Drakeford, who wrote him a letter of appreciation for his work.
Graham graduated from Churchill College Cambridge with degrees in History and Economics in 1968.
He qualified as a Solicitor and became a Partner in Clinton-Davis & Co in Hackney, East London and focused on representing clients in the Magistrates Courts of North-East London.
He made a career switch in 1979 when he joined the family firm, London Export Corporation, set up in 1953 by Jack Perry to focus on Trade with China.
Graham made his final career change when he became an independent commercial arbitrator resolving disputes between companies involved in the trans-national shipment of food, feeding stuffs and oils - which work he continues to undertake.
Graham was a Justice of the Peace from 1986 to 2002 and an Immigration Judge from 2002 to 2015.
He has made 100+ visits to China on business, with political groups and most recently with former Lord Chief Justice Woolf whom Graham arranged to give Lectures in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the Rule of Law.
Graham writes and lectures on two main topics – China and Anti-Semitism and honed his presentational skills with LBC before focusing exclusively on his arbitration work.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
IN CHINA, at least one million Uighur Muslims have been taken from their homes and put in what the Chinese government calls ‘correction facilities’, which are in reality concentration camps, where brutal human rights abuses are taking place. Harrowing details of those human rights abuses are detailed during the podcast.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the Chinese government has introduced harsh measures that severely erode free speech, freedom of expression and freedom of association.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins ask – where is Britain’s moral compass? Where is the West’s moral compass? Where is the world’s moral compass? What should be done, and perhaps more to the point, what can be done, to curtail China’s growing influence as a global superpower? And what will the long-term consequences be for ourselves, and for the generations that follow us, if we live in a world dominated by Chinese economic and political influence?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
In this edition, Marcus Stead talks to Geraint Powell, one of Wales’s leading rugby union bloggers and writers, perhaps best known for his work on the Dai Sport website.
Geraint has a wide range of life experiences, having lived in South Africa and in various parts of England, and he has a good understanding of the problems facing rugby union at all levels.
In this wide-ranging discussion, Marcus and Geraint assess the problems facing the structure of club and regional rugby union in both Wales and England, which they trace back to mistakes that were made in the years before the game went professional in 1995. They lament key missed opportunities to restructure the game for the better in the early years of professionalism.
The ongoing pandemic has made the need to address the problems all the more urgent, with regional rugby in Wales and club rugby in England at crisis point, which has increased the likelihood of the Six Nations ending up on pay TV, as a means of bringing new money into the sport.
There is no ‘quick fix’ to the problems, but in Wales, rugby matches are attended by an ageing demographic, and TV viewing figures for the PRO14 are appallingly low. In England, the club game has been living beyond its means for a long time, and is now reaching crisis point.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
The Aftermath
The podcast was recorded on the afternoon of Wednesday 1 July. Several hours later, Geraint published this tweet, which attracted considerable controversy on social media.
In his social media posts, Geraint has rightly pointed out that the Black Lives Matter UK movement has Marxist and anarchist objectives, including the ‘dismantling’ of capitalism and the ‘defunding’ of the police, and it has also expressed anti-Semitic sentiment.
Following Geraint’s initial tweet, Ben Jeffreys, CEO of Pontypool RFC, issued this tweet making it clear that Geraint was no longer welcome at their matches, despite having supported the club through thick and thin since childhood.
Jeffreys received some support from the ‘woke mob’ on Twitter, but his actions were widely condemned in the ‘comments’ section of the Wales Online article, suggesting that out there in the ‘real world’, a very large number of people agree with Geraint’s stance and consider Jeffreys’s actions absurd.
Talk Podcasts prides itself on providing our listeners with a wide range of views and perspectives. We condemn racism and anti-Semitism and support the Kick It Out campaign against racism in football.
We also applaud the efforts of Geraint and our friend Jonny Gould, who in recent days have gone to great lengths to expose the toxic agenda of Black Lives Matter UK.
HAVE YOU noticed the way in which online adverts are targeted at you based on private conversations you've had with other members of your family in your living room? Do your household smart devices know far more about you than you think?
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the enormous influence a small number of technology companies now have over our lives, from what information we receive, and which consumer products we buy.
Journalist Peter Hitchens recently conducted an interview with a popular and widely-viewed YouTube channel. He discovered that while YouTube hadn't taken down the video, somebody, somewhere had messed around with the algorithms to make it much more difficult to find.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, has long held a policy of censoring pornography and extremist material, but in recent times, this has been extended to removing the content of people like documentary maker Michael Moore, who dared to challenge the orthodoxy on the man-made climate change agenda.
YouTube and Twitter censors have powers equivalent to, and arguably greater than the courts. Anybody can find themselves subject to a kangaroo court run by Twitter or YouTube staff, and there is nothing they can do about it.
Should we be concerned about the sheer level of influence these tech giants have, and should we be much more cautious as to what information we freely give them about our lives, or lifestyles and our shopping habits?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
THE PAST is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” So reads the opening line of L.P. Hartley’s novel ‘The Go-Between’, published in 1953.
Last weekend saw ‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters in Bristol tear down a statue of Edward Colston, a philanthropist who supported and endowed schools, hospitals and churches, especially in Bristol and London, in an era when the state couldn’t be bothered with such things. However, much of his wealth was as a result of the slave trade, and protesters took the law into their own hands by toppling the statue and throwing it into the harbour.
Is it right to judge people’s actions in centuries past by the standards of today? Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the weekend’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests and the tearing down of statues.
Has mob rule and police inaction replaced law and order? Why were mass gatherings even tolerated at a time when we are under clear instructions to socially distance for the sake of not spreading the COVID-19 virus?
What does this all mean for the future of statues of other controversial figures, including Horatio Nelson, Sir Thomas Picton, Sir Cecil Rhodes and even Sir Winston Churchill?
While George Floyd’s funeral was taking place, ‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters gathered around the statue of Nelson Mandela in London. But as Mandela himself openly admitted, his own track record was far from perfect. Should statues of Gandhi (a racist in earlier life), Desmond Tutu (an anti-Semite), and Muhammad Ali (who held unpleasant views until he embraced moderate Sunni Islam in the mid-late 1970s) be torn down?
Do the protesters have a point, or is this just the latest attempt by the woke brigade to posture and virtue signal, even if it means endangering public health by causing a second wave of COVID-19 infections?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
WHAT IS ‘the new normal’? It’s a phrase we hear a lot on TV news bulletins and read a lot in the papers, but what does it actually mean? As the lockdown begins to ease, and economic activity picks up, what restrictions on working life and on recreation are we going to have to learn to live with well into the future?
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss whether restaurants, theatres and other places of recreation have a future, if social distancing means they will have to operate at massively reduced levels of capacity.
The discussion then turns to the wider issue of tax revenue. Around 60% of tax yield comes from VAT and National Insurance. With places of entertainment and recreation operating in a much-reduced way, this, in turn, means a much-reduced tax revenue. What does this mean for the future of public services and public sector workers?
Finally, the discussion turns to new ways of working. The pandemic has proven that it is possible for many office jobs to be done from home, most of the time. Businesses will increasingly question whether they need so much office space. But will the trend spread to other sectors?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and the TuneIn app.
IN A SPECIAL ‘double dose’ edition of Twenty Minute Topic, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the impact of devolution in Wales 20 years after its inception, and at a time when the institution has recently changed its name to the ‘Welsh Parliament’.
Greg played an important role in the ‘No’ campaign leading up to the referendum of 1997, in which the ‘Yes’ side won by the narrowest of margins.
Greg makes some shocking allegations of foul play, both during the campaign of 1997 and at crucial counts on the night.
The term ‘crachach’ is discussed extensively during the podcast. It is a term that refers to the Welsh-speaking middle class elite, often sympathetic to Welsh nationalism, nepotistic in character, that has huge influence across the Welsh arts, media, civil service and higher education sectors.
Veteran left-leaning journalist Paul Starling observed in his Welsh Daily Mirror column on 26 April 2002 that ‘our country is run by no more than 50 extended families or individuals’.
Indeed, far from being a swivel-eyed conspiracy, the crachach was thought to be very real by former First Minister Rhodri Morgan, who saw their elitist control of so many tenets of Welsh civic life as a real threat to the success of devolution. He said: ““As well as horizontal devolution – spreading power and responsibility more widely – we have to have vertical devolution as well. I have sometimes tried to sum up this dimension by describing our devolution settlement as a shift from crachach to gwerin, from government by a self-replicating élite to a new engagement with a far wider and more representative group of people, women and men, people from north and south Wales, Welsh speakers and not, black people as well as white, and so on.”
Marcus and Greg agree that Rhodri Morgan’s words were not heeded, and far from creating a more diverse and inclusive civic sector in Wales, devolution has led to a consolidation and intensification of crachach power and influence.
Leighton Andrews, a former Education Minister in Wales, also spoke out against Crachach influence in the Welsh higher education sector.
The podcast begins with a brief history of devolution, beginning with the referendum of 1979, in which the Welsh electorate categorically rejected the proposal for an Assembly. The discussion moves on to the ‘quango culture’ of the 1980s and 90s, the impact of the Welsh Language Act of 1993, through to the referendum on giving the Assembly primary law-making powers in 2011.
There is discussion on the broken promises of 2011. The people of Wales were told it was a ‘tidying up exercise’ and the ‘end game’ for devolution, but in the years since, income tax powers have been devolved, and the institution’s name has been changed to the ‘Welsh Parliament’.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and the TuneIn app.
THE UK Government’s slogan ‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’ has been replaced by the altogether more woolly, ‘Stay alert, control the virus, save lives’.
In this week’s Coronavirus Update podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the Government’s strategy, as we enter a new phase of the pandemic.
Marcus and Greg also look into the problems devolution is causing in preventing a UK-wide, co-ordinated response to the crisis.
Later in the podcast, they discuss whether Germany’s part-relaxation of lockdown rules is likely to lead to a second spike in COVID-19 cases, and whether the planned resumption of Bundesliga football this weekend is wise.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
MUCH HAS been made of the news that the UK death toll from COVID-19 is now higher than that of Italy. But is that a fair comparison because the figures were collated in very different ways?
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss how much emphasis should be put on the statistics. They also explore what the ‘easing’ of restrictions in Spain, Italy, Germany and Austria really means and how their lockdown measures compare to those in the UK.
Germany has announced plans to resume the Bundesliga football, a decision which Marcus and Greg utterly condemn.
They go on to explore what the ‘new reality’ will be for restaurants, pubs, cafes and the rail industry, all of which will be operating on much reduced capacity well after lockdown restrictions begin to be eased.
They assess the situation in the United States, where different states are handling the lockdown in widely contrasting ways.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will address the nation and announce his plans for handling the next phase of the pandemic. Marcus and Greg discuss what this is likely to entail.
In a broad context, they ponder what life in Britain will look like in six months’ time.
Finally, they look into whether the changes we’re seeing with more people working from home will become a more permanent fixture – will companies need as much office space in the future?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
PRIME Minister Boris Johnson is back in Downing Street and has returned to work, but he’s warning against complacency and is saying that the lockdown must remain in force for the time being.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation warns that having the virus once doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t get it again. And there is a rare but serious new syndrome in children that could be linked to COVID-19.
Marcus Stead is joined by veteran campaigner and blogger Greg Lance-Watkins to try and make sense of this deeply concerning global situation.
The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
MARCUS Stead and James Easton return with another Coffee Break podcast, taking a look at the lighter side of life.
Topics discussed include rude website URL names past and present, Brian Clough’s 44 days at Leeds United, Admiral retro football shirts, things you notice when watching old episodes of The Bill, home cooking experiments, darts gamesmanship, how much money you can save by taking a packed lunch and a flask of coffee to work, and the appalling way the FA has handled the pandemic situation.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
THE LOCKDOWN in the United Kingdom is set to continue for the next three weeks. Schools will not be reopening any time soon, and there is a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in hospitals.
In this week’s podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the situation in Britain and around the world, and also look into the effect the lockdown is having on people’s personal relationships and social lives.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
AS THE number of global COVID-19 cases passes the two million barrier, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the situation and conclude it is highly unlikely that life will return to normal any time soon.
The figures from Spain, Italy and France suggest the threat to life posed by the virus remains very real, and that the scientific community knows very little about how COVID-19 actually works.
After you have had the virus, do you have immunity for one month, three months, six months, twelve months, a lifetime, or not at all? We simply do not know.
Later in the podcast, Marcus and Greg deliver a scathing verdict on the Welsh Government’s attempts to bully and silence journalists and NHS staff, as was revealed on David Morris Jones’s excellent Penarth News hyperlocal site, which has recently been revived following a sabbatical.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
ON THE EVENING of Sunday 05 April, Her Majesty the Queen gave a very rare address to the nation, and just over one hour later, it was announced that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been admitted to hospital for tests after suffering from the coronavirus for more than a week.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins reflect on a dramatic evening. They also assess the latest statistics, which make very grim reading, and debunk some of the more absurd conspiracy theories about the virus.
Marcus and Greg both think the value of the antibody test has been massively overstated, and with specific reference to Singapore, they discuss just how difficult it will be to get out of the lockdown situation.
Singapore briefly came out of lockdown, and there was an almost immediate surge in cases, and on Saturday, new cases in the city state reached a record high.
The podcast concludes on a lighter note as Marcus and Greg discuss how they’ve been keeping themselves occupied during the lockdown.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
In this edition, Marcus Stead talks to Jeremy Jacobs, a familiar voice to radio listeners in southern England, who has worked as a football reporter for Capital Gold Sportstime, BBC London and BBC Kent, as well as having read sports bulletins on a range of commercial radio stations.
Jeremy is also a widely-respected conference and events host. Sales is another of his passions, and he now can teaches others what works in today’s world and shares insights about the future of sales. His methods work and are constantly evolving. For more information about his work, visit: thesalesrainmaker.co.uk
In this wide-ranging discussion, Marcus and Jeremy look at the impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on the NHS and the economy, particularly within the M25.
They assess the effect it is having on small and medium-sized businesses, and ask whether enough is being done by the Government to help business owners and the self-employed.
Later on, they discuss the Football Association's decision to suspend leagues at semi-professional level. Jeremy, a passionate Margate fan, is far from happy with the way the FA has handled the situation.
Towards the end of the podcast, the conversation turns to the way in which the pandemic has forced individuals and businesses to explore new ways of working, and they look into the ever-changing world of sales, and talk about how Jeremy is adapting to a rapidly-evolving environment.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
MARCUS Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins return with another Coronavirus Update.
In this week's podcast, they reflect on the death of Seb Lewis, a 38-year-old Charlton Athletic super-fan who died from Covid-19 on Wednesday.
Other topics of discussion include the Chancellor Rishi Sunak's proposals for helping the self-employed, which Marcus says are too complex and don't go nearly far enough.
The area around Newport/Blaenau Gwent has the highest number of cases in the UK outside London. Marcus and Greg discuss how devolution is hampering a UK-wide, co-ordinated approach to tackling the pandemic.
Towards the end of the podcast, they discuss the testing of NHS workers, to establish whether they've already had the virus. How useful is it? Nobody knows whether a person can get the virus more than once, or whether having it once buys you immunity for a set period of time.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
LIFE IN Britain has changed dramatically in the last seven days. At the start of the week, the Government encouraged people to work from home where possible. By midweek, it was announced that schools were to close indefinitely from this Friday onwards.
And on Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that all cafes, pubs, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and leisure centres were to close at the end of the days training, or sooner, if practical to do so. The public were were strongly discouraged from socialising on Friday evening.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins take stock of the situation, and assess the extent of the crisis, in terms of public health, and in terms of the enormous damage it is doing to the economy.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
THE SITUATION here in Britain is becoming more and more serious by the day. At the time of recording, it’s just been announced that Health Minister Nadine Dorries has tested positive for coronavirus.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins aim to strike a balance between making listeners aware of the sheer seriousness of the situation, while remaining calm and avoiding hysteria. They also aim to give sensible advice as to what we, as individuals can do to minimise the risks to ourselves, or families, and to wider society.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
MARCUS Stead and James Easton return with an hour-long Coffee Break. Topics discussed in this month's edition include:
- Products that used to be commonplace, but you can still buy if you know where to look.
- What obsolete technology are you still using?
- What technology do we use that will be obsolete in ten years' time?
- Memories of the 'good old days' of independent local radio.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, TuneIn and Stitcher.
AS OF 2 March 2020, more than 3,000 people have been killed by the coronavirus, including 50 in Iran and more than 30 in Italy.
Globally, there have been almost 90,000 confirmed cases, with the numbers outside China now growing faster than inside China.
In this podcast, journalist Marcus Stead and veteran campaigner and blogger Greg Lance-Watkins tackle some key questions:
- How concerned should we be?
- Why is the coronavirus more serious than conventional strains of flu?
- Is it time to follow the example of other countries by closing schools and banning mass gatherings at sporting events and theatres etc?
- What can we all do to minimise the risk?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
DURING RECENT weeks, large areas of Britain have experienced flooding, resulting in millions of pounds in damage to homes and businesses.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the causes of the flooding – they dismiss claims it a consequence of man-made climate change, and condemn the lazy narrative being peddled by the mainstream media.
As former TV weatherman John Kettley said on LBC radio last week, the heavy rain that led to the floods was a result of ‘weather’ not ‘climate’ and was comparable to the rainfall he experienced growing up in Yorkshire more than 60 years ago.
Instead, Marcus and Greg pin the blame for the flooding on absurd planning applications that have seen housing estates built on flood-planes, and EU regulations that prevented the dredging of rivers.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
ON SATURDAY evening, we learnt that television presenter Caroline Flack had taken her own life at the age of just 40. Caroline was a popular and talented entertainer, yet she had a deeply troubled personal life.
In this week’s podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the sort of society we live in, and to what extent the media, and indeed social media, is to blame for Caroline’s death.
At the start of the podcast, we take a few minutes to listen to some words by broadcaster Alex Belfield, which he recorded very shortly after Caroline’s death was announced on Saturday, for which he received a great deal of criticism on social media, but which Marcus found fitting and poignant.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
ON SUNDAY 2 February, Sudesh Amman injured three people in a terror attack on the Streatham High Road, less than two weeks after being released from prison for possessing and distributing terrorist material.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss what can be done to minimise the threat from Islamic terrorists living in Britain.
The evidence clearly points to ‘lone wolf’ attackers usually being radicalised by viewing extremist material on the internet, rather than in the mosques. A very large number appear to be heavy users of cannabis, a mind-altering drug that has dangerous, unpredictable and often-permanent effects on the brains of some who use it.
The Muslim population of Britain has more than trebled since 1990. Marcus and Greg ask whether the Islamic community is doing enough to deal with extremism.
We read stories from prisons of people converting to Islam and joining Muslim extremist gangs for their own protection. What can be done about that? And should those who pose a threat ever be released from prison?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Marcus Stead and James Easton return with the second Coffee Break podcast of 2020.
Topics discussed include:
Memories of Blockbuster video stores The future of the TV licence fee Other great podcasts, including the return of Danny Baker The importance of a good pillow
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
TO CELEBRATE the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins bring you a 'triple dose' of Twenty Minute Topic.
Marcus and Greg reflect on the moment last Friday night at 11pm when the UK left the EU and became an independent country again after 47 years.
They assess what this means for the UK, what happens next, and what being free from the shackles of the EU will mean for the country.
Later in the podcast, they discuss the latest developments with the coronavirus outbreak, as a follow-up to the special podcast recorded in the middle of last week.
Finally, they discuss the absurd sacking of veteran newscaster Alastair Stewart for quoting Shakespeare, and why this, along with Katie Hopkins's censorship by Twitter, are extremely disturbing developments for lovers of free speech.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
In this special podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the rapidly-developing situation with the coronavirus outbreak:
What is the coronavirus? Has the Chinese government reacted appropriately? In western countries, what can citizens and governments do? How serious could this potentially become? And at some point, probably not this time, is a serious pandemic inevitable?
The podcast is also available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
THE UNITED Kingdom will finally leave the European Union this coming Friday at 11pm, and in this special edition of Twenty Minute Topic, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins pay tribute to those eurosceptics who campaigned for Brexit, but sadly did not live long enough to see it delivered.
Among those Marcus and Greg pay tribute to are Norris McWhirter, perhaps best known for his role on long-running children's TV programme Record Breakers, Labour politicians Peter Shore and Tony Benn, as well as Greg's friend Christopher Booker, the campaigning journalist who died last year.
Marcus and Greg could not possibly pay tribute to everyone who did their bit to make Brexit happen, but this podcast gives a brief insight into just some of the great characters who helped make Brexit happen.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and via the TuneIn app.
IN THIS week’s edition, Marcus Stead talks to Greg Lance-Watkins about an idea Greg has for tackling homelessness.
Greg’s idea is a remarkably simple, yet effective way of bringing dignity and safety to the homeless.
Marcus asks Greg a series of questions about potential problems and pitfalls, all of which Greg addresses convincingly.
There doesn’t appear to be any obvious downside to Greg’s proposals, so why won’t local councils go ahead and implement it?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
THE DUKE and Duchess of Sussex, or ‘Harry and Meghan’ as they are more commonly known, released a bombshell statement in which they announced they were stepping back from Royal duties to pursue their own paths.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins reflect on the appalling way in which they went about announcing this, without consulting the Queen or senior members of the Royal Family.
With ‘crisis talks’ set to take place during the next few days, they also assess what could and should happen from here.
Was Meghan Markle naive about what a life of Royal duty and service would mean, or is she calculating and scheming?
And how do Harry and Meghan’s ‘woke’ credentials contrast with the example set by the Queen over more than 60 years?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Marcus Stead and James Easton return with the first Coffee Break podcast of 2020. Topics discussed include:
Christmas shopping in January Do other countries 'do Christmas' better? Good manners/etiquette in Japan and South Korea 2020 in sport
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
THE ASSASSINATION of major general Qasam Soleimani marked a major escalation of tensions with Iran, and what happens next is highly unpredictable.
In this week's podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins put the events of early 2020 into a wider historical context, and assess what may happen in the days and weeks ahead.
What motivated President Trump to carry out this reckless action? Are we heading for a major conflict for Iran, and could this turn into a much larger war?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
AS 2019 draws to a close, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins reflect on how the year will be remembered in the history books.
They also debate whether the Labour Party can recover from its current dire state, and assess whether the time has come for decent, patriotic Labour supporters to break away from the party and set up an alternative opposition movement.
The podcast is also available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins reflect on a week that saw the EU Withdrawal Bill pass through the House of Commons with ease.
They discuss what'll happen next, how the EU is likely to react, and the challenges Boris Johnson's Government will face in handling the next phase of negotiations during the early months of 2020.
Marcus and Greg also discuss the serious problems facing the Labour Party, and a lack of a credible opposition in Britain at the moment.
The podcast is also available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
AFTER A GAP of more than two years (nearly three years, actually) the Coffee Break podcast returns in its new home on Talk Podcasts with Marcus Stead and new regular presenter James Easton.
Christmas isn’t far away and that’s the basis of our first podcast back. Topics covered include:
Classic Christmas telly Advent calendars Crap Christmas decorations Retro toys Christmas dinners for pescatarians, vegans and vegetarians Hovercrafts (erm, very festive, we know…)
So pour yourself a cuppa, sit back and relax. Oh and don’t forget to send us your feedback!
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
The election is over, Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has won with a majority of 80, exactly as Marcus Stead has been predicting on Twenty Minute Topic for many weeks!
In this week’s podcast, Marcus and Greg Lance-Watkins assess how quickly Brexit can now be implemented, now that the United Kingdom has a stable Government with a large majority.
They also discuss what went wrong for Labour, and conclude that the party’s sneering contempt for its heartlands is what led to the catastrophic defeat. Labour has spent the last few years telling them they were wrong about Brexit and didn’t know what they were doing when they voted Leave. They have patronised their voters, ignored their concerns and obsessed about niche ‘woke’ issues that only really resonate with the London bubble and middle class students.
The election result is a clear rejection of Jeremy Corbyn’s Marxist or close-to-Marxist agenda, and a rejection of the stench of toxic anti-Semitism that surrounds the Labour Party.
They discuss the extraordinary arrogance of Corbyn-supporting media pundits, who as the results came in decided NOT to reflect on where Labour went wrong, but chose to attack Labour heartland voters and give them a telling off for daring to vote for another party!
Is the Labour Party beyond saving? Is it now a party made up of hardline Marxists, and middle class students and academics, totally out of touch with working people? Does the country have a credible opposition that looks like a government in waiting? If not, where do we go from here, in the interests of democracy?
Have Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party done damage in this election by denying the Conservatives seats in constituencies where they split the anti-EU vote? The presence of a Brexit Party candidate also almost certainly cost honourable Labour MP Caroline Flint her seat.
And what about social media’s role in this election? It’s now beyond doubt that the Twitter mobs and the echo chambers bear absolutely no resemblance to how most people think and behave.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, as well as on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
With less than a week to go until polling day, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins take stock of the situation.
The polls consistently show a consistent and substantial lead for the Conservative Party, but Marcus and Greg interpret the data in slightly different ways, and have reached different conclusions as to how the votes will translate into seats.
Is it the case that people are massively unimpressed with the entire election campaign, and that faced with the inevitability that either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn will be Prime Minister, people will vote for the ‘least worst’ option?
What should habitual Labour voters who feel uncomfortable with the direction in which Jeremy Corbyn has taken the party do on Thursday, especially those who can’t bring themselves to vote Conservative?
Marcus and Greg reflect on the appalling slurs from the once-respectable Channel 4 News during the election campaign, and the decline in trust in other media outlets, including the BBC.
They also discuss the gradual decline of proper investigative journalism in both the print and broadcast media over the course of the last 25 years.
The podcast is also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
On Friday, Usman Khan, an already-convicted terrorist out on licence, killed two innocent people on London Bridge.
In this week’s podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins pay tribute to the extraordinarily brave people who helped disarm the terrorist, and discuss what steps can be taken to prevent similar attacks in the future.
Marcus and Greg also assess what effect the terror attack has had on the election, which is now less than two weeks away.
The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, as well as on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
Marcus Stead and James Easton return with the final pubcast of 2019, recorded at the Mount Stuart in Cardiff Bay.
There was a ‘no politics’ rule in place, which was only loosely enforced. Topics covered in this edition include:
Tattoos – tasteful or tacky? Are they OK provided they’re well-hidden? And are heavily-tattooed people doing it for attention?
Cymru Premier football – differences and similarities with the English semi-professional ranks.
Defunct beers and lagers. By the way, Hofmeister is back!
Brian Clough’s legacy.
Wrestling – British and American, past and present.
The rise of Black Friday and Halloween, and the decline of Guy Fawkes Night.
Proper Saturday morning telly – Ghost Train, Gimme 5, Going Live!, Live & Kicking.
Fred Dinenage and the Krays.
The podcast is also available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
In the week the Conservative and Labour parties launched their manifestos, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins take a look at what’s inside them.
Are Boris Johnson’s plans for a huge wave of investment in infrastructure, apprenticeships and nursing realistic?
As for Labour, there are big elements of it that have not been widely reported in the mainstream media. There are lots of things in there that will appeal to the politically correct, virtue signalling ‘woke’ agenda, including ‘putting LGBT+ equality at the heart of government, ensuring our public services are LGBT+ inclusive and delivering on the national LGBT Action Plan’ along with a pledge to ‘conduct an audit of the impact of Britain’s colonial legacy to understand our contribution to the dynamics of violence and insecurity across regions previously under British colonial rule.’
Marcus and Greg ask: Is this REALLY a vote winner in Labour’s heartlands?
The podcast is also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
Events have taken over the election campaign in the last week, with Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn responding in very different ways to the terrible floods in Yorkshire.
With less than a month to go until polling day, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins ask: How could Boris Johnson have handled the terrible situation with the floods in Yorkshire without attracting criticism?
Something profound is happening in Labour's heartlands. Support for the party has halved in 2019 alone, but polls show that no single party is benefiting from the collapse. The percentage points that Labour has lost are fragmented among several parties. That makes predicting the outcome of the election extremely difficult. Could it be that under the 'first past the post' electoral system, Conservative candidates may 'come through the middle' in some of the Labour heartlands.
And it’s nearly the time of year when an old man with a white beard hands out free gifts – no, we're not talking about Father Christmas, but Jeremy Corbyn, whose manifesto pledges sound incredibly far-fetched. We ask how is it all going to be paid for, or more specifically, who is going to pay for it?
Something extraordinary is happening with the opinion polls. They are consistently showing that in the Labour heartlands, support for the party has halved in 2019 alone.
Across the country, support for the Conservatives has fallen a little, but not to anything like the extent as Labour.
There is no single beneficiary of the collapse in support for Labour. Some of those percentage points have gone to the Brexit Party, others to the Liberal Democrats, and the smaller parties have benefited to an extent as well.
Under the ‘first past the post’ system, this makes the outcome very difficult to predict in many seats.
In this week’s podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of the polls.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, also available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Nigel Farage launched the Brexit Party’s election campaign on Friday of last week. He stated that if Boris Johnson didn’t ditch the deal he negotiated with the EU, the Brexit Party could stand in every seat in the country.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins both had dealings with Nigel Farage during his days as a senior figure in UKIP. Marcus and Greg explain why Mr Farage’s actions last week risk splitting the pro-Brexit vote, thereby allowing anti-Brexit candidates to win seats, and they also explain how this is by no means the first time Mr Farage has put his own ego before the national interest.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, on iTunes, Spotify, the TuneIn app and Google Podcasts.
Boris Johnson has been granted the Brexit extension he didn’t want, and Jeremy Corbyn turned down the chance to trigger the general election he’s been calling for all year. But come Tuesday evening, we could be in election mode!
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of it all, and address issues that were raised during Monday’s debate in Parliament: Should 16-year-olds be allowed to vote? Should university students be allowed to vote in the city where they’re studying, even though they only live in the area part-time and are likely to leave once they graduate? And should the Brexit Party enter into electoral pacts with pro-Brexit candidates in an upcoming election?
All our podcasts are available via the Talk Podcasts website, on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn App.
The Brexit 17.4 million people voted for in June 2016 has still not been delivered. On Saturday, the House of Commons put yet more obstacles in the way of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins take stock of the situation. Have we now reached the stage where it’s ‘Parliament versus the people’?
The podcast is also available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
At the start of what is certain to be one of the most dramatic weeks in British political history, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins take stock of the situation as it currently stands.
Marcus and Greg both believe that it is likely that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union at the end of October.
They argue that an extension to Article 50 will force Labour to back a general election, which would be fraught with risk, and could well result in a sizeable majority for Boris Johnson's Conservatives, which would in turn give him a strong mandate to pull the UK out of the EU, with or without a deal.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the future of the Royal Family.
Will Britain still have a Royal Family in 20 years’ time? How has the recent behaviour of Harry and Meghan undermined the institution? And what do we make of the Queen being dragged into the Brexit process?
All podcasts are also available via iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins argue that the Supreme Court’s ruling has set a dangerous precedent that gravely undermines British Parliamentary democracy.
All our podcasts are now also available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Rising numbers of children are being treated for ‘eco anxiety’ because they’re being fed terrifying propaganda by their schoolteachers on the theory of man-made climate change.
Before and since the EU referendum of 2016, there were media reports of teachers indoctrinating children with pro-EU propaganda, and telling them that Brexiteers were bad, nasty people.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess bias within the teaching profession, and deliver a scathing verdict on teachers who are brainwashing and frightening innocent children.
Marcus and Greg also discuss what can be done to redress the balance and bring integrity back into the teaching profession.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins are committed Brexiteers, but how did their journeys begin?
Marcus, 35, became a eurosceptic while at secondary school in the mid-late 1990s, partly inspired by the late Sir James Goldsmith and the Referendum Party he led into the 1997 general election.
Greg, who is in his 70s, has been opposed to the entire EU project since the 1960s, when it was known as the European Economic Community (EEC).
In this podcast, Marcus and Greg tell their stories about how they became eurosceptics, and why they believe the United Kingdom would be better off leaving the European Union.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, there were hugely controversial scenes in the House of Commons as the prorogation ceremony got underway, with Speaker John Bercow becoming the centre of attention.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins deliver a damning verdict on Speaker Bercow's behaviour, and assess where the Brexit process goes from here.
BBC News has seen a 56% decline in viewing figures since 2014 and a 19% drop in the last year alone.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the decline in quality and trust of traditional news outlets and look into how more and more people are getting their news from alternative sources.
This week, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins debunk the theory of man-made climate change.
Climate change in itself is undeniable, it’s been going on for as long as the earth has existed, but to say mankind is responsible is to rely on VERY wobbly science. The reality is that the green lobby and the oil giants are on the same side – this is a multi-billion dollar industry!
They also discuss how vulnerable teenager Greta Thunberg is being exploited and manipulated by people to further this toxic agenda.
Shayne ‘Bulldog’ Burgess is one of darts’s most colourful characters, and he’s a man with a story to tell.
To mark the publication of his autobiography, ‘Everybody Gets Fifteen Quid’, Shayne, from Hastings in Sussex, gave an in-depth interview to Marcus Stead where he discussed his life on and away from the oche.
Shayne, 55, was at his peak in the 1990s and early 2000s. Darts was in a very different place back then.
The early-mid 1990s were tumultuous years for darts. TV broadcasters had scaled back their coverage, and players found it impossible to make a living from the game. Something had to be done.
Most of the world’s best players broke away from the sport’s governing body to form the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), and the foundations were laid for the multi-million pound sport darts is today. Shayne made the switch to the PDC not long after it was formed.
Shayne’s story is full of ups and downs. He reached three major PDC finals, but in each of them he came up against Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, the greatest player of all time. By the time big money arrived in the mid-2000s, Shayne’s game was in decline.
But Shayne’s book is no sob story. It’s packed with hilarious anecdotes from the local darts scene in Sussex and Kent, and the professional darts tour of the 1990s and early 2000s.
There are also laugh out loud tales of adventures in his campervan and brushes with the law.
‘Everybody Gets Fifteen Quid’, ghost written by Tony Horne, is available on Amazon, and is published by Wild Wolf Publishing.
The term ‘Groupthink’ has its origins in George Orwell’s 1984, but it has gained new prominence with the advent of social media. Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss ‘groupthink’ and the impact of social media. Far from encouraging healthy debate and exposing people to new ideas, social media appears to be encouraging people to engage with echo chambers, namely people who share the same views as them. This, in turn, insulates people from hearing viewpoints that go against theirs, and leaves them dangerously unaware of the views of wider society.
Few moments in British history have been looked back on as more humiliating than when, in September 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew back from Munich having supposedly been duped by Hitler into thinking that he had secured ‘peace for our time’.
Conventional wisdom has regarded Chamberlain’s act as one of foolish appeasement. But we should look again.
Marcus Stead is joined by Greg Lance-Watkins, who tells a story about how, as a 19-year-old soldier, he had a chance meeting with former Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas Home on a train.
They discussed Chamberlain and the Munich Agreement. Sir Alec revealed to Greg that far from being an act of appeasement, Chamberlain knew war was coming. However, by pretending to have been duped by Hitler, he had bought Britain vital time to rearm and prepare for war.
Sir Alec left Greg in no doubt that Chamberlain had handled the situation brilliantly, and that history has judged him harshly.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins address some tough issues with regards to personal responsibility and welfare dependency. Is the welfare state in its current form sustainable? Will people have to make their own provisions for old age? Are those who cover their bodies in hideous tattoos to blame for making themselves unemployable? And do we need to 'press the reset button' to redefine where the state's role ends and the individual/family's role begins?
Boris Johnson is the UK's new Prime Minister. Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the likelihood of Brexit being delivered by the October 31 deadline. Can a new deal be negotiated with the EU? Can Parliament block a 'no deal' Brexit? And how likely is a General Election before the Brexit deadline?
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the subject of personal responsibility. At what point does it become the responsibility of the individual and the family, rather than the welfare state, to provide for our needs? The discussion then turns to the subject of gambling, both in the high street and online, which often has a devastating impact on people living in socially deprived areas.
A second podcast on personal responsibility will be released in two weeks’ time, where Marcus and Greg will look into how the welfare state in its current form is unsustainable.
Marcus Stead is joined by veteran campaigner and blogger Greg Lance-Watkins as they debate whether the NHS has a future. If so, what form it will take? What changes need to be made if it is to survive and provide world-class healthcare in the decades ahead?
On Wednesday 3 July 2019, Christopher Booker, one of Britain’s very best journalists, died at the age of 81.
Greg Lance-Watkins knew Christopher for more than 50 years. He reflects on Christopher’s remarkable life with Marcus Stead.
Christopher led an extraordinary life – he was an integral part of the satire boom of the 1960s, as part of David Frost’s team on That Was The Week That Was, and he was the first editor of the magazine Private Eye. Christopher wrote about a broad range of topics, from jazz to cricket, but he was perhaps best-known for his investigative work, and for his deep understanding of the inner-workings of the European Union.
Christopher’s final column in the Sunday Telegraph on 29 March was a masterpiece, where he reflected on his eventful life and provided a sad, but all-too-accurate analysis of the state Britain is currently in.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins address some big, often uncomfortable questions about the future of the British economy and workplace. Does the minimum wage have a future? Do we live in a corporatist, rather than a capitalist society? The ‘elephant in the room’ – why has Britain got such a large productivity problem? Is it time to industrialise? Is the long period of uncertainty over Brexit doing more harm than anything else to British business? Is it time to de-industrialise? Is a ‘climate change’ policy based on wobbly science doing immense, unnecessary damage to the economy? And how can young people build a career in the modern world?
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss how workplaces will be transformed by technology in the next five to ten years. Issued raised include: Are university degrees still worth it? Are the millennial generation equipped for the workplace? Is the UK education system fit for purpose? Does manufacturing in the UK have a future? How will 5G technology transform all our lives?
Journalist Marcus Stead responds to the issues Lance Forman raised in the latest edition of Jonny Gould's Jewish State. Marcus offers broad praise for Forman, but presents a more optimistic vision for post-industrial satellite towns, and explains the economic opportunities Brexit can bring to these areas. Marcus also describes how antisemitism is by no means confined to the Labour Party, and that Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru has a long and shameful history of antisemitism and Nazi appeasement.
Jonny’s guest is a fourth generation smoked salmon purveyor and a wannabe European politician (but not wannabe European Union member).
Lance Forman’s standing for the Brexit Party in a European election he says shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
In our conversation, he accuses the political class of being fast and loose with extremist rhetoric, while being cowardly in making the big decisions lest they lose votes.
He pots a 115-year history of H Forman & Son and describes the challenges of succession, planning and adaptation to modern times.
He harks for a return to the days of Thatcher, says Nigel Farage is “Maggie in men’s clothing” and says “antisemite” Jeremy Corbyn’s vision of “Britain as Venezuela” needs to be stopped.
He’s proud to be a Jewish member of the party, shrugging off the unpleasant daubing of a swastika on his factory in recent weeks.
Marcus Stead returns with a Brexit Briefing special in the week the United Kingdom goes to the polls in European Parliamentary elections that weren’t supposed to happen. Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party is polling nearly twice as many votes as their nearest rival. If the polls are correct, British politics is about to experience a massive earthquake.
Marcus’s guest is businessman, blogger and veteran anti-EU campaigner Greg Lance-Watkins, who has been an active eurosceptic for nearly SIXTY years.
In a wide-ranging discussion, they look at the history of euroscepticism in the UK, the rapidly declining influence of the traditional media, the rise of the Brexit Party, what this all means for the future of British politics, and Greg makes some grim predictions as to where Britain will be in ten years’ time, Brexit or no Brexit.
"Seek the peace and prosperity of the city of your exile, pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper", Jeremiah 29:7 and repeated to me by this remarkable of men, Trevor Horn.
The Grammy Award, Brit Award, Ivor Novello Award winning record producer, coined "the man who invented the 80s", gave me a fantastic interview about his current projects, (touring and a new album) plus a rundown of his musical career and influences plus his journey into Judaism, something he says he "believes in more than anything else".
If you’ve been to Wembley or White Hart Lane, you’ll have almost certainly heard the word, “Yid” chanted in support of Tottenham.
You may have even chanted it yourself as a Spurs fan. But what does it mean exactly? Do you think it still has a place on football’s terraces?
Campaigner Ivor Baddiel and his brother David began a campaign seven years ago with a short film, “!The Y Word” which explained that it’s a derogatory word for Jewish people – similar to using the P Word or N Word.
The Baddiel brothers wanted to start a debate and Jonny caught up with Ivor.
Jonny's two guests are from very different parts of British society - but are united in voice in opposing Jeremy Corbyn and the antisemitism scandal sweeping the Labour Party.
Jassem Tamim is a Sufi Muslim originally from Morocco, who considers it payback to Britain's acceptance of him to oppose antisemitism. He also believes it's his Islamic duty to defend Israel and Jews.
And Richard Millett is the longtime activist who the Labour leader famously called lacking English irony.
Marcus Stead and his friend James Easton (Charlton Athletic fan, real ale aficionado and Brexiteer) went to the Mount Stuart pub in Cardiff Bay and recorded their conversation for Talk Podcasts listeners.
The chat began on a sombre note as they reflected on their visit to the memorial to Emiliano Sala at the Cardiff City Stadium earlier in the day. They then moved on to discuss the disconnect between professional football clubs and the fans, the delights of non-league football, the rise and rise of PDC darts, and where the JD Wetherspoon name really came from.
Gareth Allen played on the professional snooker tour between 2015-2017, and he had a lengthy career among the amateur ranks before earning his pro tour card. His snooker journey began at the age of three, when he would watch the game on TV with his grandmother and imitate the players while sitting on the floor with a pencil and some marbles.
In conversation with Marcus Stead, Gareth discusses his life in snooker, before the conversation turns to the realities of life for a modern professional snooker player.
The game has been utterly transformed since Barry Hearn took charge of the governing body in late 2009. In that time, prize money has increased from £3.5 million to an astonishing £14 million. There are more tournaments than ever before, but this means more travel, and inevitably far more expenses, which hits the lower ranked players hard. Is the game’s governing body doing enough to help the lower ranked players?
This is a very special podcast. To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, Jonny Gould located an old cassette of an interview he recorded with his late Grandma in 1984, when she was 77 – and he was 17. She narrates her own escape from Hitler’s Vienna in 1938 and arrival in Birmingham.
In the first of an occasional series of long-form interviews, Marcus Stead meets writer Karen Harradine, where they discuss the issues raised in an article she wrote for the Conservative Woman website, in which she called for the creation of a Christian equivalent of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and explains that Christians are the most persecuted group in the world today, especially in the Middle East and parts of Africa.
A wide range of related subjects are debated during the hour-long interview, including the wilful decline of the United Kingdom’s Judaeo-Christian heritage, and the dangers of ‘identity politics’, narcissism, and fashionable virtue-signalling.
The discussion turns to the Orwellian control of language and how accusations of ‘hate speech’ are a serious threat to freedom of expression, and of how the brainwashing of innocent children on transgenderism is nothing more than child abuse which will have serious repercussions in years to come.
On Brexit, they discuss the difficulties Leave supporting students face on university campuses, and ask whether British universities are places for rigorous debate and an exchange of ideas, or whether they are indoctrinating young people.
In the latter part of the podcast, the discussion turns to the Israel, Palestine, antisemitism and whether Christian organisations are harming followers of their own faith by backing Palestinian militants and organisations with links to terror.
The discussion concludes with Karen’s thoughts on how to tackle Islamic extremism and the importance of creating a single, united British identity.
“We ought not deal in the soft bigotry of low expectations of the Palestinians” – Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, Our Soldiers Speak.
The first in a series of podcasts in which Jonny Gould discusses the biggest Jewish and Israeli issues with the most fascinating guests.
Today Jonny discusses securing peace in the Middle East with Brigadier General Amir Avivi (ret.) and Sergeant Benjamin Anthony of Our Soldiers Speak.
In response to the impasse of the Oslo Accords, they’re devising a win-win peace deal for Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Gazans, Muslims and Christians called the New State Solution.
They met in Central London as these impressive soldiers turned diplomats continued their discussions.
Marcus Stead returns with another Brexit Briefing, where he exposes some of the shocking details of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, largely unreported by the mainstream media. Marcus also explains what the ‘Northern Ireland Backstop’ actually means and why there’s no way the DUP can support it. There’s also analysis on the Parliamentary arithmetic of getting the proposed deal through the House of Commons, and with the deal as good as dead on arrival, Marcus explores the viable alternatives as the Brexit date of 29 March 2019 draws nearer.
Marcus Stead returns with another Brexit Briefing following a week that saw Prime Minister Theresa May 'talk tough' to the EU. Marcus asks: Where do we go from here? What's likely to happen? What are the realistic options? Is there likely to be a second referendum? And are we heading for a General Election in November?
In this week’s Brexit Briefing, Marcus Stead reports on the developing situation as Theresa May’s position looks increasingly precarious. He also looks into the consequences of a ‘No Deal’ Brexit for the aviation industry, and gives a damning assessment of Boris Johnson’s suitability to be Prime Minister.
Marcus Stead returns with another Brexit Briefing. Following comments from Boris Johnson, David Davis, and then Michel Barnier, are the Chequers proposals dead? Why did Frank Field resign the Labour whip? And how likely is a so-called ‘People’s Vote’?
Marcus Stead presents the first in a new series of Brexit Briefing podcasts. In this week's edition, Marcus asks: Could the civil service be about to betray Brexit? As Brexit day gets nearer, is Philip Hammond fit to be Chancellor? Dominic Raab outlines what he believes a 'No Deal' Brexit would look like - is there any cause for alarm?
Marcus Stead tries to make sense of a dramatic and tumultuous week in the Brexit process. What is actually in the Chequers White Paper? What does it mean for the country, and for Theresa May's chances of clinging to office? And how will the EU react to the proposals?
Marcus Stead investigates the alleged chemical attack by Assad's forces in the Syrian city of Douma on 7 April 2018. Did the attack take place at all? Who was responsible? Why did the USA, the UK and France carry out air strikes on specific targets? How much do we ACTUALLY know, and how much of what we're being told by the mainstream media is merely speculation?
Siwan Reynolds was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 14, and spent years trying to reduce her seizures before her life was transformed with the help of meditation and mindfulness.
In this podcast, Siwan tells her story to Marcus Stead, and explains how her techniques can be implemented by anyone, anywhere.
Siwan now helps schoolchildren, businesses and individuals transform their lives. You can visit her website: http://www.cardiffmeditation.com or you can email her at: siwan@cardiffmeditation.com
Marcus Stead looks back on recent Brexit-related speeches by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former Prime Minister Sir John Major and current Prime Minister Theresa May.
Jonny Gould is a sports broadcaster, radio host, TV pundit and businessman. During the recent fallout from the Presidents Club dinner fiasco, Jonny was incorrectly identified in a number of publications as the host of the event’s charity auction.
In conversation with Marcus Stead, he discusses how the story developed, the fallout from it, and the steps he took to gain corrections, apologies and compensation from the publications who wrongly identified him.
Jonny is a supporter of mental health charity Mind, and he tells us about his current project, Striker Boy.
Jonny also talks about his long career as CEO of Sportsmedia, who provided sponsored sports bulletins to independent radio stations around the UK, and why he had to close the business several years ago.
There’s also a chat between Marcus and Jonny about the overall state of radio, journalism and hyperlocal news in the UK today.
You can find out more about Jonny's 'Striker Boy' venture by visiting: http://www.strikerboy.com
Marcus Stead looks back on a week when the EU Withdrawal Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons, and explains in some depth what is likely to happen in the tumultuous months ahead.
Marcus also assesses the situation in Calais, and asks some important questions about the refugee crisis.
You can read more analysis on the Brexit situation by Marcus on: http://www.sovereigntyuk.com
Elliott Spiteri previews the 2021 baby MINI SUV, McLaren’s $1 million Senna hypercar, the Porsche 911 next generation, and the Lamborghini Urus.
Marcus Stead explains what the terms ‘Single Market’ and ‘Customs Union’ actually mean. He also looks into the implications of the recent defeat inflicted on the government by the House of Commons, and asks whether it actually matters. Marcus also corrects Gina Miller’s false claim that visas will be necessary to travel to EU countries after Brexit.
Marcus Stead brings clarity and perspective to a tricky few days in the Brexit negotiations. He explains what the proposed £50 billion settlement is REALLY all about and offers a way through the Irish border issue.
Marcus Stead and James Easton launch Talk Podcasts, and discuss their vision for the service.