The Daily T

After finishing his A-Levels, George Finch had planned to go to university and become a history teacher. But instead, at the age of 19, he has become the youngest council leader in the UK, running Warwickshire County Council with a budget of £2bn. He has already set to work taking on the ‘blob’, but will he get the results Reform needs to show they’re ready to run a country? Camilla and Tim joined Finch at his office in Warwick to talk flags, migrant hotels and Farage, who he calls the most influential politician in the last 30 years. Senior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will Walters and Andy MackenzieSocial Producer: James SimmonsStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Charlotte Seligman Production assistance from James Keegan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The full transcripts of Ghislaine Maxwell’s interview with Donald Trump’s deputy attorney general have been published by the Justice Department. The move was reportedly designed to silence weeks of damaging headlines for the Trump administration - but instead it has reignited other questions surrounding the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein death and the conspiracy theories that still surround the case. Mark Epstein, brother of Jeffrey Epstein, joins The Daily T to reveal why he believes his brother may not have taken his own life - but could have been murdered. He also discusses Epstein’s ties to President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon’s alleged Epstein documentary and how speaking out has changed his own life.Producers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Andy Mackenzie Social Producer: James SimmonsStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Charlotte Seligman  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s not been quite the “annus horriblis” of 2024, but the Royal family have never been far from a headline so far this year.There have been fresh allegations about the Duke of York’s private life and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein in a new book by Andrew Lownie; the King and the Princess of Wales are both continuing to recover from cancer; rumours of a reconciliation with the exiled Prince Harry persist – and so does Meghan Markle’s “tone-deaf” Netflix show.Camilla is joined for a special Daily T by Royal Editor Hannah Furness and Deputy Royal Editor Victoria Ward to bring us up to speed on all of the latest Royal news.More Royal T:Prince Andrew's biographer on Fergie, Epstein and the Yorks' 'huge PR machine': https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2025/08/07/prince-andrew-lost-virginity-11-years-old-biography-claims/Grant Harrold - King's former butler on what life is really like in the Royal family:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/22/the-daily-t-kings-former-butler-life-in-royal-family/We want to hear from you! Email us at thedailyt@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailyTpodcast on Instagram, X and TikTok.Producer: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersSocial Producer: James SimmonsStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Charlotte Seligman  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has unveiled a radical mass deportation plan, pledging to remove up to 600,000 migrants in his first term if he wins the next general election. Speaking at an Oxfordshire aircraft hangar, Farage called illegal migration a “national emergency” and has promised to take Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights, repeal the Human Rights Act, and suspend the Refugee Convention for five years as the number of channel crossings rise. Camilla was at the event to hear the announcement and speaks to Deputy Leader Richard Tice and Kent County Council Leader Linden Kemkaran about the party’s hardline immigration plans and why Farage has warned of a “genuine threat to public order” if politicians fail to act.Producer: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersSocial Producer: Ji-Min LeeStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Charlotte Seligman  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s Daily T, Grant Harrold recounts his extraordinary journey from a terraced house in North Lanarkshire to serving as butler to the then Prince of Wales at Highgrove.Harrold’s boyhood fascination with the Queen set him on a path that ended with a critical role in the inner sanctum of every day Royal life, and he tells The Daily T how a young Prince Harry dropped water bombs on him, how the Queen’s mischievous nature saw him sprinting along a corridor with her at Charles’ residence in Scotland, and how Prince Philip turned the air blue after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding in 2018.He also states his belief that, although having left the household by then, Harry and Meghan’s unflattering account of life in the Royal family “doesn’t ring right” to him.‘The Royal Butler: My remarkable life of royal service’ by Grant Harrold is published by Seven Dials on August 28 2025Producer: Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan Searle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inflation has reached its highest level since January 2024, fuelled by soaring air fares and rising food prices. Despite Keir Starmer’s repeated claims that Labour are bringing inflation down, the figures are saying otherwise, laying the ground for a tax grab from the Chancellor Rachel Reeves which will attack the middle-classes. Tim Stanley and Jacob Rees-Mogg discuss how we got into this mess, the latest immigration data, and Kemi Badenoch’s future as the leader of the Tories. And they’ll also be joined by Maurice Glasman, the Labour peer, academic and the man behind “Blue Labour”, who has spent years challenging his own party. He tells us what he thinks about Labour’s first year in Government, his latest trip to Ukraine and why phone snatchers should be publicly humiliated.Producer: Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan Searle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The High Court has ruled against housing asylum seekers at The Bell Hotel in Epping, granting a temporary injunction that could reshape the UK’s asylum policy. Local councils, including Broxbourne, are now considering similar legal action, raising the question: where will migrants go if more hotels are closed?In this episode of The Daily T, Camilla and Tim discuss the political fallout of the Epping ruling, the future of migrant hotels across Britain, and how the Labour government will respond. Will ministers attempt to overturn the decision, or risk a wave of councils following suit? With a record 50,000 migrants crossing the Channel since Labour took office and Reform’s Nigel Farage hailing it “a great victory”, the pressure is mounting on the government.And we talk about the rise of the “Pink Ladies” - the local mothers leading peaceful protests outside asylum hotels - and the growing grass roots movement they represent. Lindsey Thompson, an Epping resident and one of the original protestors, joins us to explain why she took to the streets and why the campaign is gaining national attention.Producer: Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan Searle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yesterday’s much-anticipated summit in Washington, which saw a host of European leaders accompany Volodymyr Zelensky to The White House for talks with Donald Trump about achieving peace in Ukraine, has been talked up optimistically by all who were present.However, with Donald Trump today ruling out American boots on the ground as part of any security guarantees for Ukraine, and Zelensky ruling out Vladimir Putin’s offer of a bi-lateral meeting in Moscow - two of the key takeaways from the meeting - was anything really achieved in Washington?On today’s Daily T, former UK defence secretary Ben Wallace tells Camilla and Tim that the summit was “relatively pointless” and “nothing really came of it”. He makes the point that Donald Trump has never applied serious pressure on Putin - such as through the increased use of economic sanctions - to bring him to the table, as well as outlining his worry that Trump will end up rewarding Putin with “ground that he hasn’t already taken”.Producer: Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan SearleProduction assistance from Antoinette Omole Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following a remarkable summit between the US and Russia in Alaska at the weekend, talks on ending the war in Ukraine continue at pace with a phalanx of European leaders accompanying Volodymyr Zelensky for major discussions with Donald Trump in Washington later today.Keir Starmer is part of an extraordinary show of support for the Ukrainian president, with fears that Trump is pushing Zelensky to accept the demands Vladimir Putin made in Friday’s Anchorage summit - namely that he wants full control of the Donbas region as part of any peace settlement. Camilla and Tim explain what we know about how today’s crucial discussions will play out, what a good outcome looks like for Ukraine, and whether Starmer’s carefully nurtured relationship with Trump could be the key to a positive outcome.Producer: Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan Searle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. David Bull, the new chairman of Reform UK, is an unlikely politician. He made his name as a TV doctor and presenter, even hosting a live ghost hunt. But he played a key role in the transition of the Brexit Party to Reform and even says the name of the party was cooked up in his kitchen. He takes on the role from Zia Yusuf – who quit in dramatic fashion earlier this year – and after a period of splits and infighting.Tim visited Dr Bull at his home in Suffolk, where they spoke about his previous lives as a Tory candidate and as a Brexit MEP; his paranormal experiences; and his relationships with Rupert Lowe and Nigel Farage. Producers: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersSocial Producer: Ece CelikCamera Director: Aaron WheelerExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Keir Starmer proving as unpopular and unpalatable to the left as he is to the right, Jeremy Corbyn’s new - and as yet untitled - political party joins Reform UK in presenting a very real threat to Labour’s chances of re-election in 2029.In this episode of The Daily T, Tim Stanley and Gordon Rayner talk to Ash Sarkar - journalist, Corbyn-supporter and co-founder of left-wing media organisation Novara Media - about how that new party could form a potentially fatal electoral pact for Starmer by teaming up with the Greens in 2029.As well as her dissatisfaction at Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, she also talks about how Reform have outflanked Labour on the left with talk of nationalising utility providers like Thames Water, and why she “previously underestimated Nigel Farage” but is now “taking him a lot more seriously”.We want to hear from you! Email us at thedailyt@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTokProducer: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersSocial Producer: Ece CelikStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The shadow home secretary has said he was confronted by a man with a machete and had glass bottles thrown at him while visiting a migrant camp in Calais.Chris Philp speaks to Tim and Gordon just after the “hair-raising” incident, and what is could tell us about some of the people crossing the Channel illegally. Plus, a new documentary featuring leading medical experts has cast fresh doubt on serial child killer Lucy Letby’s conviction. We hear from the journalist behind Lucy Letby: Beyond Reasonable Doubt?We want to hear from you! Email us at thedailyt@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTokProducer: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersSocial Producer: Ji-Min LeeStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three and a half years in to Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the Russian and American presidents are set to meet in Alaska - possibly to decide its outcome over the heads of European leaders.Having long insisted that Kyiv would not cede any territory to Russia, Ukraine’s President Zelensky could now be softening on that position.Tim and Gordon are joined by Ukraine: The Latest hosts Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley to understand how this historic summit could play out.Plus, we read Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir so you don’t have to. The Telegraph’s best-known Scot Alan Cochrane reviews her political record.We want to hear from you! Email us at thedailyt@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTokRead: Ukraine prepared to cede territory held by RussiaProducer: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersSocial Producer: Ece CelikStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Labour have admitted to failing white, working-class children in Britain. Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says it’s a “national disgrace” that so many pupils are being left behind, pointing to an alarming rise in school absence whilst all-important attainment figures go the other way. Having inherited a strong schools system from the Conservatives, Gordon Rayner is joined by former Tory education minister, Sir Nick Gibb, to try and understand what’s gone wrong. Gibb believes Labour “didn’t do the work in opposition to try and understand how to improve” and that they’ve been “listening to the teacher unions too closely”.Plus, Tim and Cleo speak to Lawrence Newport - the co-founder of Looking for Growth, a campaign group that wants to kick-start our flailing economy. Newport, who made his start in political campaigning by getting XL bully dogs banned, says our politics is fundamentally broken, too slow and too ineffective - echoing one of his group’s backers, Dominic Cummings.We want to hear from you! Email us at thedailyt@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTokRead:White working-class pupils ‘written off’ by society, admits PhillipsonProducer: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Andrew MackenzieSocial Producer: James SimmonsStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He’s worked for some of the most controversial people to enter the dock: OJ Simpson, Harvey Weinstein, Julian Assange.Leading American defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz also represented Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile who has been causing trouble for President Donald Trump from beyond the grave.Dershowitz speaks to Tim Stanley about Epstein’s relationship with Trump and Bill Clinton; what’s really in those files; and the kind of deal Ghislaine Maxwell could do with the Justice Department.The Telegraph has also spoken to Epstein’s former butler, who makes a new set of bombshell allegations about the late financier and his ties to Trump. We put those claims to Dershowitz.We want to hear from you! Email us at thedailyt@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTokRead: ‘I was Epstein’s butler for 18 years. There’s no way he killed himself’Producer: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: James EnglandStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Lownie – bestselling royal historian and author of acclaimed biographies on Lord Mountbatten, Edward VIII and Guy Burgess – joins Tim and Cleo in The Daily T studio to discuss his explosive new book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York. In this revealing joint biography of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Lownie explores the Duke and Duchess of York’s controversial lives - from their relationship and divorce, to Prince Andrew’s Falklands service, business ties, and infamous links to Jeffrey Epstein.Based on four years of investigative research, over 100 exclusive interviews, and multiple FOI requests, Entitled uncovers new details from palace insiders, former staff, diplomats, charity workers, and journalists silenced from reporting on the Yorks – offering an unprecedented portrait of a royal couple at the centre of scandal.We want to hear from you! Email us at thedailyt@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and XProducers: Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: James EnglandStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s been a year since the shocking Southport attacks and the controversial social media crackdown that followed. Gordon Rayner speaks to Simon Pearson, a teacher who lost his job after criticising ‘two-tier justice’ in the case of Lucy Connolly who was jailed last year after posting about the summer riots on her X account. In a post on social media, Pearson, who taught adults at Preston College, said Connolly’s online comments were “obviously wrong” but she “should not have been jailed”. We hear how Pearson has struggled to find another job after he was sacked and why he is taking legal action. Meanwhile, Tory infighting erupts as Kemi Badenoch and Liz Truss go head-to-head in public. In a Telegraph column, Badenoch blamed Truss’s 2022 mini-budget for wrecking the Conservative economic legacy, while Truss accessed Badenoch of repeating “spurious narratives” to deflect from her own party’s failures. Tim and Cleo discuss what is really behind this clash and what it means for the party.Producers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since Labour’s controversial 20% VAT on private school fees has taken effect, over 50 private schools have closed, with many more at risk. The policy was meant to raise billions to hire new teachers, but The Telegraph’s exclusive analysis reveals it may have the opposite effect.In today’s episode of The Daily T, Tim Stanley and Cleo Watson speak to Julie Robinson, CEO of the Independent Schools Council, about how schools are shutting their doors, the impact on SEND pupils, and how the wealthiest families are avoiding the tax altogether by paying fees up front.And why is everyone talking about Sydney Sweeney and… her jeans? The White Lotus star is making headlines after a new American Eagle campaign and revelations that she’s a registered Republican - and now even President Donald Trump is getting involved. Producers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Andy Cooke, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, has told the Sunday Telegraph that there is “every possibility” of rioting this summer, in a repeat of last year's unrest following the Southport murders, as the same ingredients that fuelled that disorder are still very much in place now.With anger at the housing of migrants in hotels spilling over into more violent demonstrations at the weekend, as well as the Telegraph's exclusive story that pro-Palestinian supporters are co-orindating in an attempt to overwhelm the police, are we on the brink of major civil unrest?Gordon Rayner and Cleo Watson are joined by Martin Evans, the Telegraph's Crime Editor, who's been speaking to sources within the police to find out how braced for trouble they are, whilst Cleo reveals how Downing Street may be unprepared with Westminster in summer shutdown.Producers: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Louisa Wells Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether it's the trans issue, net zero, vaccines and masks, Israel and Gaza or DEI, everywhere they hold power liberals are trying to cancel Righties and shut down debate – from university campuses to inside the civil service.Tim and Camilla are joined by American cultural psychologist Luke Conway, whose new book Liberal Bullies goes inside the minds of Leftists to understand why they can be such authoritarian bullies.We want to hear from you! Email us at thedaily@telegraph.co.uk or find @dailytpodcast on X, Instagram and TikTokProducers: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyVideo Editor: Will WaltersStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.