Ayes to the Left

Welcome to a two part special edition of our podcast: The Climate Crisis Panel.Campaigner and TV presenter Chris Packham chairs a special panel of scientists and activists to discuss the climate crisis.In Part 2, the panel talk about how fast fashion affects the environment, whether public figures are doing enough to promote lifestyle changes and the panel reveal their climate change 'demands'.Daily Mirror Environment Editor Nada Farhoud wraps up the panel by talking about how those insights helped steer the Climate Issue edition of the newspaper and our coverage online.You can see our Climate Issue coverage on social media by searching #MirrorClimateCrisis and if you have questions for our panel, please send them to community@mirror.co.uk For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to a two part special edition of our podcast: The Climate Crisis Panel.In part 1, campaigner and TV presenter Chris Packham chairs a special panel of scientists and activists to discuss the climate crisis.The experts discuss why the climate issue is everyone's issue, what we can do to save the planet and break down some of the terminology around the debate.Daily Mirror Editor Alison Phillips speaks about why climate change is a cause the newspaper has to highlight, and the panel cover everything from the personal cost of saving the planet and whether Extinction Rebellion are making a difference.You can see our Climate Issue coverage on social media by searching #MirrorClimateCrisis and if you have questions for our panel, please send them to community@mirror.co.uk For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MirrorNextGen is a ground-breaking project by the Mirror which has seen us hand over control of our print and online coverage for one day. It is a chance for a group of British teenagers to put the things they care about at the heart of the national conversation.In this special episode of the podcast, our Head of Politics Jason Beattie is joined by four members of that teenage team of editors: Jaspreet Khatkar, Ross Forman, Courtney Bradley and Saleem Akhtar.They explain how they put together the special edition of the Mirror, what they learned and how it has shaped their views on the media. They also discuss the challenges facing young people, votes at 16 and their ambitions for the future. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final podcast of 2018 we look back at a tumultuous, gripping and febrile year in politics.There were resignations and rebellions.There were moments of madness and moments of goodness. There was dancing and dark plotting.Above all it was dominated by the bitter battles over Brexit.It was also the year of the Salisbury attacks, rows over anti-semitism and the Windrush scandal.2018 also saw Theresa May suffer a vote of non-confidence, the Tories torn apart over Europe and the rise of the people’s vote campaign.The Mirror’s Jason Beattie, Ben Glaze and Nicola Bartlett discuss the highs and lows of the year.They give their verdicts on how the last 12 months went for Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems, name their heroes and villains and predict what could happen in 2019. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Philip Hammond claimed his Budget meant austerity was coming to an end.There was more money for the NHS, defence and to help ease the roll out of the universal credit.And sprinkled on top of the spending spree was a new round of income tax cuts.But how generous was the Chancellor?And does his boast about ending austerity stack up?In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast the Mirror’s Kevin Maguire, Jason Beattie and Dan Bloom deliver their verdict on Budget.They go through the small print to find out who are the winners and losers and explain why the spending squeeze is going to continue for years to come.They also look at Labour’s response and discuss how John McDonnell may have made a strategic blunder in refusing to reverse the tax cuts which overwhelmingly benefit the very richest at the expense of the poorest. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There were rows, rallies, parties and career-ending speeches.This year’s conference season saw Labour leave Liverpool on a high, the Conservatives suffer the blues in Birmingham and the Lib Dems struggle to be heard in Brighton.In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast the Mirror’s Kevin Maguire, Nicola Bartlett and Jason Beattie give their verdict on this year’s conferences.They discuss Theresa May’s speech, how the Boris Johnson bubble has burst and the Conservative angst over the threat posed by Jeremy Corbyn.They also name which politicians had a good conference and which return to Westminster with their tale between their legs. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Corbyn used his conference speech to sell his radical agenda to voters.The Labour leader made a persuasive case that his plans for renationalisation, handing power to workers and reshaping the economy were “common sense.”In this week's Ayes to the Left podcast the Mirror's Kevin Maguire, Jason Beattie and Nicola Bartlett give their verdict on Corbyn's big speech in Liverpool.The discuss why his policies are starting to chime with the public and what more he needs to do seal an election victory.They also review Labour's week which was dominated by Brexit. Is the party in the right place now on the issue or are there further rows still to come?And they look ahead, with unrestrained glee, to next week's Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vince Cable failed to rally the troops in a gaffe-prone and muted conference speech.The Lib Dem leader looked like someone on the way out as he addressed the faithful in Brighton.The only remarkable thing about his speech was his mangling of his phrase “erotic spasm”. Other than that he came across as someone trying to sell encyclopedias door-to-door in the age of Wikipedia.In this week's Ayes to the Left podcast Jason Beattie, Kevin Maguire and Ben Glaze deliver their verdicts on his big address and discuss how long he has left as leader.They also talk about why the Lib Dems are struggling, why their time in coalition remains toxic and who should take over the reins when Vince Cable finally steps down.They also look ahead to the Labour conference and ask whether Jeremy Corbyn will be able to keep the party united as it debates changes to candidate selections and the demand for a people's vote on Brexit. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lord John Bird says he got into the House of Lords by “lying, cheating and stealing”.In this week’s Ayes To The Left podcast, the Big Issue founder revealed how he learned the skills to build his hugely successful career in prison.In a frank and funny chat with the Mirror’s Mikey Smith and Dan Bloom, the avuncular crossbench peer talked about homelessness, poverty, Thatcher, Blair and whether he wants to see Jeremy Corbyn in Number 10. And he revealed whether he still thinks all politicians are “failures.” For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been an extraordinary few days of high drama, plotting and political turmoil.Theresa May was left fighting to save her career after the double resignation of Boris Johnson and David Davis.Her Brexit plans are now in doubt and she has been placed on warning by mutinous Tory MPs that they could still try to topple her.In this week’s Ayes to the Left podcast we examine one of the most turbulent weeks in recent political history.Jason Beattie talks to Prof Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe about the implications of Johnson’s departure and where it leaves Brexit.He explains how the chaos in Britain is viewed from Brussels and whether it will help or hinder the Brexit negotiations.And he discusses how Theresa May will almost certainly have to make further concessions to get her deal through. But could the EU also concede some ground?Anand also highlights the dangers which could still see the UK crash out without a deal. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last year an estimated 50,000 retail jobs have gone. Major stores have closed while others such as House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer are slashing branches.Unless the decline can be reversed there are fears our high streets could become ghost towns of boarded up shops and derelict malls.In this week’s Ayes to the Left podcast we discuss why our town centres are fighting for their lives and what can be done to save them.Mirror’s business editor Graham Hiscott and reporter Oliver Milne talk to Jason Beattie about the threat posed by the online giants, the hollowing out of our public spaces and the need to reform business rates.But it is not all doom and gloom. Oliver tells how a small Belgium town has been transformed by an innovative mayor who has encouraged pop up shops, brought families back to the centre and used art to brighten the landscape.The high street can be saved. It just needs government help and a bit of enterprise and imagination. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Across Europe the centre left is in trouble. Of the 28 EU states only six have a left-wing government and most of those are minority administrations.In the last elections the workers party in Holland came eighth.In the French elections the socialist party's Benoit Hamon came fifth with 6% of the vote.It is a similar story in Germany, the Czech Republic, Greece and Italy. Centre left parties which were in power for much for the second half of the 20th century are now locked in a battle for survival.In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast Jason Beattie talks to Labour MP Liam Byrne and Stewart Wood, a former adviser to Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, on why support for mainstream social democratic parties has collapsed.They discuss how Jeremy Corbyn has bucked the trend and whether his brand of socialism offers a way forward.And they talk about how the left needs to respond to the tide of populism and anti-immigration sentiment sweeping across Europe and America.Is there hope for moderate social democratic parties? Listen and find out. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Cameron once branded them "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists".Now UKIP face being something much worse - irrelevant.Where next for Nigel Farage's flailing anti-EU party just three years after it won 4million votes - helping push the Leave campaign to victory?Mirror reporters Dan Bloom and Mikey Smith took a party legend to London's Fruit Cake Patisserie to find out.Gawain Towler spent 14 years as UKIP's tweed-clad press chief after cleaning toilets in a Knightsbridge club, working on the cheat phone line for video game Worms and "modelling" for Italian Vogue in Paris.As UKIP's official spokesman, he often found himself defending the indefensible - all in the polite chirpy manner of a Victorian gent.So we chatted about the party's scandals, its plummeting popularity - and where it goes next. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the 2008 financial crash Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett published one of the defining books on austerity.The Spirit Level showed how countries with the greatest inequality have higher rates of violence, imprisonment, drug use and obesity.Now they have published a sister book, the Inner Level, which reveals how unequal societies also have higher rates of mental illness.In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast they discuss their findings with the Mirror’s Head of Politics Jason Beattie.They explain how inequality leads to a fracturing of communities, increases loneliness and leaves people with less time to care for friends, relatives and the disabled.A society where your status is judged by how much you earn causes higher levels of stress and anxiety, they have found.And they argue that only by capping executive pay, giving workers a greater say in running companies and beefing up trade unions can tackle the problem. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few will have heard of Neil Jameson but he is one of the most influential people in British.Neil is the founder and executive director of the community-based organisation Citizens UKAnd its campaigns have been instrumental in improving the lives of millions of people.It has championed the living wage, pushed for action against loan sharks and pay-day lenders and helped persuade the Government to give an amnesty to illegal migrants.In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast Neil talks to Jason Beattie about how he founded Citizens UK and how it is has grown from a small group in East London into a national organisation representing thousands of people.He tells how it has helped build and strengthen communities by bringing people from different faiths and backgrounds together.And he explains how mainstream political parties can learn from grassroots, non-partisan organisations such as Citizens UK. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Advances in AI and robotics will dramatically change our lives over the next few decades.Greater automation will affect not just how we work but if we work at all.And the use of artificial intelligence is revolutionising how companies hire and fire, monitor staff performance and make commercial decisions.Few will be exempt from these changes.Whether it is driverless cars, facial recognition or shops without checkout assistants the world around us is changing fast.In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast Labour’s Tom Watson tells the Mirror’s Jason Beattie that unless the government acts then millions of people could lose their jobs.He also discusses the need for greater regulation to protect people from surveillance and how big data has become a precious commodity in the hands of few global companies.Far from being pessimistic, Watson says we cannot be Luddites about the changes taking place and points to how AI has benefits for medical research and healthcare.But he warns it will require a major investment in skills and education to ensure nobody is left behind by the revolution taking place. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Towns used to be great places to live with a strong sense of community, thriving high streets, lots of green spaces and good local amenities.But while our cities are booming, the towns have become left behind. Too often our towns have ageing populations, a lack of jobs and opportunities and boarded up shops.And there is growing anger that political parties don’t understand their residents’ needs, ambitions and frustrations.In this week’s Ayes to the Left podcast Labour MP Lisa Nandy and Ros Wynne-Jones talk to Jason Beattie about the neglect of our towns and why they hold the key to winning the next general election.While Labour is piling up votes in the major cities it is losing ground in towns such as Basildon, Nuneaton, Bolton and Wigan.Lisa says this presents a real challenge for her party.“Whoever starts to address the issues people are raising in our towns wont just win the next general election it will win the one after that.“It’s a warning for Labour that the vote which has come out for us in 100 years is not guaranteed,” she says.We discuss what Labour needs to do, how towns can be turned around and why politicians ignored the warning call from the EU referendum. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Saturday will see tens of thousands of people march through London to demand a new deal for workers.The TUC rally has been organised to highlight how millions of people are stuck in low-paid, insecure and part-time jobs.Ahead of the gathering the TUC’s Frances O’Grady talks to Jason Beattie and Mark Ellis about why they called the march, what they hope it will achieve and why the Government needs to act.She explains how work is no longer the way out of poverty. The changing nature of work, with more people having to do agency jobs or zero hours contracts, has created a generation who are struggling to pay the bills, provide for their family and get on the housing ladder.Frances also talks about why the Government must give all public sector workers a pay rise, not just NHS staff.And she discusses the challenges facing the trade union movement in attracting new members, especially young workers on temporary contracts. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are millions of voters out there who have been ignored, abandoned and misunderstood.But they could hold the key to winning the next general election. They are, according to Claire Ainsley, the new working class.This new demographic is different to the traditional working class. They are people on low to middle incomes, working in insecure and low paid jobs such as catering and retail and more likely to rent than own their homes.This new working class is multi-ethnic and geographically diverse. What they have in common is their needs have been overlooked by politicians.In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast Ainsley, who works for the Joseph Rountree Foundation, talks to the Mirror’s Head of Politics Jason Beattie on why politicians of all parties need to reach out to the new working class.She says they are driven by strong values - family, fairness, hard work and decency - but they have been left behind by successive governments.And she sets out the policies which would make a real difference to the lives of millions of people in Britain. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have seen the best and worst of politics this week. There has been the Home Office shambles on Windrush and the searing debate in the Commons on anti-Semitism. The issues may be cause to despair but amid the gloom we have seen Parliament at its best: MPs speaking from the heart, holding power to account and engaging in honest debate. In this week’s Ayes to the Left podcast Jason Beattie, Nicola Bartlett and Dan Bloom pick through a difficult few days for both Labour and the Conservatives. They examine why Theresa May and Amber Rudd got caught out by the Windrush fiasco, the government’s botched response and what are the political consequences. They don’t hold back in apportioning the blame: how the Conservatives have used immigration for base political advantage since coming to power in 2010. The Mirror’s political team also review the anti-Semitism debate which saw powerful speeches from Luciana Berger, Ruth Smeeth and others. Has Jeremy Corbyn done enough to tackle the problem in the Labour Party? And could it damage Labour at next month’s local elections? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices