Quite right!

This is the second of a two-part discussion with Dominic Cummings, in which he reflects on his time in government – what he got right and what he regrets – and what he believes must change for the country to thrive.In part two, Dominic diagnoses the ‘pre-revolutionary’ mood of British politics, marked by voter rage, economic stagnation and institutional failure. He dismisses government promises on immigration as ‘total nonsense’, attacks the political class’s handling of the cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine, and delivers a sobering account of why the Conservative Party is ‘completely dead’. Dominic also assesses the prospects of Reform and Nigel Farage, warns of an increasingly aggressive establishment response to outsider movements, and weighs in on whether Michael would have made a good prime minister.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special two-part interview, Michael and Maddie are joined by Dominic Cummings. After starting his political career at the Department of Education, Dominic is best known as the campaign director of Vote Leave, the chief adviser in Downing Street during Boris Johnson’s premiership, and one of the most influential strategists of modern times.Whether you consider him a visionary reformer or (as David Cameron once said) a ‘career psychopath’, his ideas – on government, technology, the blob, education and the future of the right – continue to provoke debate.In part one, Dominic diagnoses Britain’s institutional decline and takes us inside Whitehall’s ‘heart of darkness’. He explains that ministers have been stripped of real power by lawyers and the Cabinet Office, and how the ‘madness’ of the Human Rights Act has produced chilling outcomes for defence and counter-terrorism. He reflects on the reforms launched after the Conservatives’ 2019 election victory and why they were ultimately abandoned, criticises Boris Johnson’s failure to pursue the mandate he was given, and revisits the government’s handling of Covid.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie at spectator.co.uk/quiteright.This week on Quite right! Q&A: is demography destiny? With Britain’s birth rate falling, Michael Maddie Grant discuss whether the country is quietly drifting towards decline – and whether immigration, pro-natal policy or something more radical is the answer. Is importing labour a short-term fix that stores up long-term problems? And can advanced economies really persuade families to have more children?Then: adoption, identity and love. Michael reflects candidly on being adopted, how it shaped his sense of responsibility and gratitude, and why he believes the system too often lets the perfect become the enemy of the good.And finally, a festive question: favourite Christmas carols and songs. From ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ to Wham!, via Bowie, Lennon and some truly unforgivable seasonal dirges, Michael and Maddie reveal their tastes – and their intolerance for musical heresy.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Gove and Madeline Grant confront the horror of the Bondi Beach massacre and ask why anti-Semitic violence now provokes despair rather than shock. As Jewish communities are once again targeted on holy days, they examine the roots of Islamist ideology and the failure of political leaders to name it. Why has anti-Semitism metastasised across the radical left, the Islamist world, and the far right – and why does the West seem so reluctant to grapple with its causes?Then, on the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, Michael and Maddie ask why Austen is endlessly repurposed, politicised and rewritten by modern adaptors? Was she an abolitionist, a moralist, or something far subtler – and why do her novels continue to resist ideological shoehorning two centuries on?And finally: what makes the perfect whodunit? From Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers to Midsomer Murders and modern television crime, the pair explore puzzles, red herrings, atmosphere – and why readers feel cheated when justice doesn’t quite add up.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.co.uk/quiteright.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie at spectator.co.uk/quiteright.This week on Quite right! Q&A: should Britain reinvent the Commonwealth – and should Ukraine be invited to join? Is the Commonwealth an embarrassing relic… or an untapped strategic asset?Then: what if Jeremy Corbyn had actually won in 2019? Maddie and Michael sketch the counterfactual Britain – from a Jezza-led lockdown to vaccine chaos, union-driven school closures and a very different Brexit.Plus: the greatest artwork of the 21st century. Michael champions a modern choral masterpiece, Maddie defends The Lord of the Rings as the true Gesamtkunstwerk, and both confess their musical shortcomings (including Michael’s rogue childhood instrument).Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a summer in which Nigel Farage seemed to bend the news cycle to his will, Michael and Maddie ask whether the party’s momentum is slipping. Do the allegations dredged up from Farage’s schooldays mark a decisive turning point – or, perversely, strengthen his outsider appeal? And with questions over Reform’s election spending, defections from the Conservatives, and the small matter of finding 500 people to staff a government, is the insurgent right entering its moment of vulnerability?Then: two stories that lay bare a crisis in women’s healthcare. Baroness Amos’s damning interim review of maternity services and the astonishing employment tribunal ruling in the Sandy Peggie case raise the same question – why does the system still fail women at their most vulnerable?And finally: Christmas television takes a surreal turn. Meghan Markle returns with a holiday special, while Liz Truss launches her own American-style politics show. Has Meghan now crossed fully into performance art – and is Liz pioneering the world’s first nostalgia-politics monologue?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to spectator.co.uk/quiteright.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to spectator.co.uk/quiteright.This week on Quite right! Q&A: was lockdown the right call – and what did Britain get catastrophically wrong? Michael and Maddie unravel the ‘sins’ of the Covid era, from criminalising everyday behaviour to the rise of snitch culture. Did Sweden show there was a better way?Then: is conservatism suffering from a crisis of confidence? Michael reflects on 14 years of Tory drift, why the party ‘talked right but governed left’, and how Blairism, wokery and cultural blindspots reshaped British politics.Plus: the odd new tone of modern political interviews – from mawkish breakfast-TV hectoring to the emotional manipulation of callers named Doreen – and why some MPs secretly love being skewered in the sketch.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: Rachel Reeves reels as Labour’s Budget unravels – and a far-left Life of Brian sequel plays out in Liverpool.After a bruising seven days for the Chancellor, Michael and Maddie ask whether Reeves’s position is now beyond repair. Did Keir Starmer’s bizarre nursery press conference steady the ship – or simply confirm that the government is panicking? And is the resignation of the OBR chair a shield for Reeves – or a damning contrast with her refusal to budge?Then: the inaugural conference of Your Party delivers pure comic gold. As Zarah Sultana’s collective-leadership utopians clash with Corbynite diehards and Islamist independents, Michael explains why the far left’s civil war matters more than Westminster thinks. Could independents erode Labour’s urban base? And with Jeremy Corbyn now looking like the centrist dad of the movement, what does this chaos tell us about the future of the British left?And finally: Christmas is coming. Maddie and Michael share their rules for 'sound' gift-giving and give their book recommendations. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to spectator.co.uk/quiterightBecome a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: After leaked EHRC guidance threw Labour’s position on biological sex into disarray, Michael and Maddie ask whether Bridget Phillipson is deliberately delaying clarity on the law – and why Wes Streeting appears to be retreating from his once ‘gender-critical’ stance. Is Labour quietly preparing to water down long-awaited guidance? And has the return of puberty-blocker trials pushed the culture war back to square one?Then: Shabana Mahmood unveils her first major moves as Home Secretary. But as the Labour left cries foul and legal challenges loom, Michael and Maddie assess whether her plans will really bring order to the asylum system – or whether Labour’s attachment to ‘process over principle’ will scupper the reforms before they bite. Is Mahmood the Iron Lady Labour never expected? Or is this simply Starmerism in its purest form: government by quango, review and delay?And finally: Christmas arrives early… far too early. Michael sets out the case for a ‘dry Advent and festive January’, while Maddie laments Black Friday brawls and the loss of an older, saner rhythm to the year.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightBecome a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightThis week on Quite right! Q&A: Is the Treasury still fit for purpose – or has ‘Treasury brain’ taken over Whitehall? Michael and Maddie dig into the culture and power of Britain’s most influential department, from the Oxbridge-heavy ‘Treasury boys’ to a ‘visionless’ Chancellor. Then: after Michael’s suggestion that Piers Morgan should be the next director-general of the BBC – why, in his view, could cnly a disruptive outsider could shake the organisation out of its complacency.Plus: the rise of ‘Mar-a-Lago face’ in US conservative politics, and whether Britain has its own aesthetic quirks – from Ozempic-thinned MPs to the enduring Labour ‘power bob’.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: a Commons showdown over asylum – and a cold shower for Net Zero orthodoxy.After Shabana Mahmood’s debuts Labour’s new asylum proposals, Michael and Maddie ask whether her barnstorming performance signals a new star in Starmer’s government – or whether the Home Secretary is dangerously over-promising on a problem no minister has yet cracked. Is her Denmark-inspired model workable? Can she get it past the Labour left? And are the right-wing plaudits a blessing – or a trap?Then: at COP30, the great climate jamboree struggles to command attention. As Ed Miliband charges ahead with his Net Zero agenda, the pair question whether Britain has finally passed 'peak Net Zero mania'. Is the UK hobbling itself economically while China cashes in? Has climate policy become more like a faith than a science? And what would a more balanced, less fanatical environmentalism look like?And finally, Channel 4 claims a medical quirk shaped Adolf Hitler: does this kind of genetic reductionism teach us anything – or simply turn history’s greatest monsters into comic-book villains?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightBecome a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightThis week on Quite right! Q&A: Could Britain see a snap election before 2029? Michael and Maddie unpack the constitutional mechanics – and explain why, despite the chaos, an early vote remains unlikely. They also turn to Labour’s troubles: growing pressure on Keir Starmer, restive backbenchers, and whether Angela Rayner’s sacking has boosted her chances as his successor.Plus: should the Scottish Parliament be abolished? And on a lighter note, if you won a free holiday but had to take one Labour MP, who would you choose?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: a crisis at the BBC – and a crisis of standards in our schools.Following the shock resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, Michael and Maddie ask whether the corporation has finally been undone by its own bias, and discuss how it can correct the leftward lurch in its editorial line.Then: Labour’s new education reforms come under the microscope. As Ofsted scraps single-word judgements in favour of ‘report cards’, could this ‘definitive backward step’ result in a ‘dumbing down’ that will rob the next generation of rigour and ambition? And will ‘Bridget Philistine’s’ war on education undo the positive legacy of the Conservatives on education?And finally, in Hollywood, actress Sydney Sweeney refuses to apologise for comments made in an interview last week – she now finds herself a heroine of the anti-woke age. Are we finally past peak woke?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightBecome a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightThis week on the first ever Quite right! Q&A: What’s your most left-wing belief? Michael & Maddie confess their guilty liberal secrets on the Elgin Marbles, prison reform and private equity – or ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism’.Also this week: who would you trust to save your life on a desert island – Boris Johnson, Theresa May or David Cameron? And finally, a literary turn: from John Donne to Thomas Hardy, Michael and Maddie share their favourite poems, and make the case for learning verse by heart.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightThis week on Quite right!: Rachel Reeves goes on the offensive – and the defensive. After her surprise Downing Street address, Michael and Maddie pick over the many kites that have been flying in advance of the Budget at the end of the month. Was she softening the public up for tax rises, or trying to save her own job? Michael explains why Reeves is wrong to say that Labour’s inheritance is the reason for our current economic misfortune and says that it is ‘absolute bollocks’ that Brexit is to blame.Next, a chilling weekend of violence sparks a bigger question: are we witnessing the rise of nihilistic crime in Britain? From the Huntingdon train stabbings to rampant shoplifting, are we becoming used to the ‘anarcho-tyranny’ that is taking hold – where petty crimes go unpunished and public order breaks down?And finally, from Halloween to Bonfire Night, the culture wars go seasonal. Michael and Maddie debate whether we should loathe ‘pagan’ Halloween and instead turn 5 November into a national holiday.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael & Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiterightThis week on Quite right!: the great Home Office meltdown. After a week of fiascos – from the accidental release of a convicted migrant to the collapse of the grooming gangs inquiry – Michael and Maddie ask: is the Home Office now beyond repair? Why is Britain’s most important department also its most dysfunctional? And what does it say about a civil service more obsessed with ‘listening circles’ and ‘wellbeing surveys’ than actually running the country?Then to Westminster, where Jess Phillips faces fury over the grooming gangs inquiry. Are ministers diluting the investigation to avoid awkward truths about race and culture? Michael argues that empathy is no substitute for justice – and that Labour still can’t bring itself to confront the problem honestly.Next, Maddie shares an extraordinary personal story of her mother’s nightmare tenant – thirty dogs, tens of thousands in damages, and zero help from the state – as she and Michael debate whether Britain’s social contract is breaking down, and if new housing laws will only make things worse.Finally, the big news of the week: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau’s hard-launch romance. But what do Justin Trudeau’s sartorial choices say about the state of politics and pop? And who would be their British equivalent?Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Quite right!: the slow-motion disgrace of Prince Andrew. As Virginia Giuffre’s new book reignites the Epstein scandal, Michael and Maddie ask: how much longer can the monarchy carry its most toxic member? Or should the Duke of York be stripped of his titles and sent into exile?Then to Birmingham, where sectarian politics, bin strikes and football collide. After Israeli fans were barred from attending a Europa League match, Michael and Maddie debate how Britain’s second city became a byword for failed multiculturalism. Has the country finally started telling the truth about integration – or just found new ways to divide itself?Finally, the British Museum’s attempt to out-glamour the Met Gala. From Ed Vaizey’s ‘LSD-infused Del Boy’ outfit to George Osborne’s A-list trolling in front of the Elgin Marbles, Maddie asks: have we reached peak luvvie? And what would a truly British gala look like?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Quite right! Michael and Maddie turn their sights to Westminster’s latest espionage scandal – and the collapse of the case to prosecute two men accused of spying for China. Was the case dropped out of incompetence, or out of fear of offending Beijing? As Michael puts it, ‘Either we’re not being told the truth, or this is a government of staggering incompetence.’They also unpick the growing row over Jonathan Powell, Keir Starmer’s National Security Adviser, and his alleged role in shelving the case. What does his re-emergence, along with Peter Mandelson and other ‘Sith Lords of Blairism’, tell us about the return of New Labour’s old moral compromises?Elsewhere, Donald Trump’s surprise Gaza peace deal has upended diplomatic expectations and ushered in a new style of negotiation – the ‘Manhattan real estate’ approach – which has succeeded where the UN’s moralising failed. Is it Trump’s world and we’re all living in it?Finally: The Traitors. Maddie confesses she’s never watched an episode, but would Michael be a traitor or a faithful? What does the show reveal about the darker truths of human nature? And which politicians would make the perfect traitors?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Michael and Maddie record Quite right! in front of a live audience at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester – with attendance down, the big question is whether Kemi Badenoch can survive as leader of the opposition. There is the unmistakable air of fatalism among MPs staring down electoral annihilation – but would another change in leadership cement the Tories as pathologically regicidal?They also debate Badenoch’s bold pledge to bar candidates who won’t back leaving the European Convention on Human Rights – a ‘calculated risk’ that could redefine the party’s identity or too little too late? Then, in the wake of the horrific Manchester synagogue attack, they turn to the rise of anti-Semitism and the crisis of policing. Are Britain’s streets really being governed by ‘two-tier justice’? And what does it say about public order – and public confidence – that Jewish Britons are being told to stay indoors for their own safety?Finally, they dissect the Church of England’s choice of Sarah Mullally as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Is she an inspired appointment, or proof that the Church has become, as Michael puts it, ‘another bureaucratic manifestation of generalised niceness’?Produced by Oscar EdmondsonBecome a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Michael and Maddie report from the Labour party conference in Liverpool and unpick Keir Starmer’s big speech. Was his attempt to reclaim patriotism for Labour a genuine statement of values – or a clumsy exercise in stereotypes about steelworkers, chip shops and football nostalgia? And why does Labour’s attack line on Nigel Farage risk sounding like political ‘nuclear warfare’ that could backfire outside the conference hall? And what about the Tories? With Labour bringing the fight to the Reform party, where does this leave Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives ahead of their conference later this week?They then turn to Donald Trump’s extraordinary new Middle East peace initiative. With Benjamin Netanyahu on board and Tony Blair drafted into the proposed ‘peace board’, is this a serious diplomatic breakthrough or a surreal ‘fever dream’ that only Trump could cook up?Next, another peace proposal doomed to fail: Emma Watson’s attempt to reconcile with J.K. Rowling after years of public estrangement. Was Watson’s olive branch an act of goodwill or a late recognition that the cultural tide has turned? And why did Rowling’s sharp response strike such a chord with women who felt abandoned during the height of the trans debate?Produced by Oscar Edmondson, Oscar Bicket and Matt Miszczak.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.