Keir Starmer says closer co-operation with France will help stop the small boats crisis — but is Britain paying hundreds of millions for more failure and inaction?

Alex Phillips - stepping in for Julia - is joined by former Border Force chief Tony Smith to break down Labour’s latest Channel deal, including the extra cash for France, the promise of tougher beach enforcement, the role of French riot police, and why surveillance alone will not stop illegal crossings in the Channel.

They also look at the key questions ministers still have not answered: what happens when migrants are intercepted, why detention capacity matters, whether Belgium is now becoming a new launch point, and how people-smuggling gangs are using social media and encrypted platforms to stay one step ahead. If you want serious insight into border security, illegal migration and the real-world limits of government policy, this is essential listening.

Also: Andrew Allison from Popular Conservatism joins Alex to discuss the mounting pressure on Keir Starmer, the mood inside Labour, and the growing row around Attorney General Lord Hermer.

They examine concerns over the power of unelected figures at the heart of government, the controversy surrounding legal claims brought against British soldiers, and wider questions over who is really shaping policy on national sovereignty, immigration and the Chagos Islands.

In response to claims he had prosecuted British soldiers despite knowing claimants were lying, a spokesman for Lord Hermer said that he had “always acted with the highest professional standards, and the suggestion the Attorney acted for individuals with the knowledge that their claims were false is categorically untrue”.

Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.

Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

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

Keir Starmer is facing fresh questions over the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal after the explosive evidence from former senior civil servant Olly Robbins — and the pressure on No.10 is building. Julia Hartley-Brewer asks: is the Prime Minister a dead man walking? With claims of disquiet from inside Downing Street, accusations of “jobs for the boys”, and Labour figures openly turning on their own leader, this row is fast becoming a full-blown crisis for Starmer.

Joined by former Conservative adviser Claire Pearsall and independent MP Karl Turner, Julia tears into the toxic culture at the heart of government, whether Starmer misled Parliament, and why Labour nerves are jangling after PMQs and before the local elections. If the drip-drip of revelations continues, can No.10 survive the summer — or is this the scandal that finally breaks him?

Also: Julia reacts to the alarming poll showing half of young people would never fight for Britain, asking what it says about patriotism, identity and whether this country is still worth defending.

There’s also the growing fallout from the Iran crisis and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, with warnings of higher fuel costs, rising energy bills, supply chain shocks and fresh pain for British households already squeezed by Rachel Reeves’ faltering economy.

And fury too over the tobacco and vapes bill, as MPs wave through a lifetime smoking ban for anyone born after 2008 — a common-sense health measure, or another open goal for smugglers, black-market gangs and the nanny state?

Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.

Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

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

Keir Starmer is under huge pressure after Sir Olly Robbins gave explosive evidence on the Peter Mandelson appointment — as he describes an 'atmosphere of pressure' to approve Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

Julia reacts to the extraordinary claims that Mandelson’s appointment was effectively treated as a done deal before the vetting process had run its course, with senior figures allegedly pushing for approval and little appetite inside government to stop it. If warning signs were already there, why was the process handled in this way? And if Starmer knew more than he later admitted, did he mislead Parliament?

Veteran journalist Adam Boulton joins Julia to give his verdict on Robbins’s defence, the sacking of officials, and whether the Prime Minister has made the crisis even worse by trying to pin blame on everyone around him. Was this simply a disastrous political judgement — or evidence of a deeper culture of arrogance at the heart of Labour?

Also: Blue Labour founder Lord Maurice Glasman tears into the Labour establishment’s obsession with Peter Mandelson, explains why the party is losing working-class voters, and warns that Starmer now looks like a leader with no clear direction and no easy escape.

The allegations discussed in this episode are denied by Peter Mandelson, who has not been charged - as of the time of publishing.

Julia Hartley-Brewer broadcasts on Talk from Monday to Thursday, 10AM to 1PM.

Available on YouTube and streaming platforms, along with DAB+ radio and your smart speaker.

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