Show Notes
Within days of winning the general election, Keir Starmer has had to respond to what is undoubtedly a crisis – perhaps even an emergency – in prisons across England and Wales. The equation is a simple one. Too many prisoners, not enough prison places. More prisons are being planned. But even this won’t keep track of the expected rise in prisoner numbers. So how on earth was this allowed to happen? Who is to blame?And has the Labour government come up with a sensible plan to fix the problem – or just a short term sticking plaster? Ken Macdonald, crossbench peer, former Director of Public Prosecutions and president of the Howard League for Penal Reform, joins Anand and Hannah to examine one of the biggest headaches facing the new government. Produced by Milo Hynes. -------- THE EXPERT FACTOR: Each week the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, explore and explain the big questions and policy challenges that will be faced by the Labour government, dominate debate in Westminster and beyond, and shape the political landscape for years to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More from The Expert Factor
Back by popular demand, Hannah White, Paul Johnson and Anand Menon reunited on stage to record a special live episode of The Expert Factor – the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts.
A week is a long time in politics, but it is even longer in international relations. Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the US and Americas programme at Chatham House, joins Paul and Anand to work out what the complex combination of Trump, tariffs and trade negotiations means for Keir Starmer and the UK.
To mark the fifth anniversary of the UK’s departure from the EU, Anand, Paul and Hannah took a trip to Oxford of the Expert Factor. So how has the Brexit worked out for the UK? What questions are still being asked – and unanswered? And how might Keir Starmer and the Labour government approach the UK’s ever-evolving relationship with the EU? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The robots are taking our jobs, we’re going to be a nation run by chatbots, and an all-seeing, all-powerful computer is set to know everything about all of us.
Why is the social care challenge so complicated? Why can’t the nation’s politicians find a way forward? What is a possible solution? And what could Baroness Casey do to succeed when nobody else has managed to do so?