Byline Times Podcast

Adrian Goldberg investigates Imprisonment for Public Protection jail sentences and the licensing conditions that are attached to them.He's join by Ishuba Salmon, who was spent 17 years in jail on IPP sentences; Emma McClure from SL5 legal who represented Matthew Price; and Donna Mooney from campaign group UngrIPP. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"How Brexit Wrecked The Stock Market" is the startling title of new blog by Simon Nixon, one time chief leader writer for the Times and former chief European commentator on the Wall Street journal. His Substack "The Wealth of Nations" is a must read for anyone interested in the workings of the UK economy. Simon is not kneejerk 'Remoaner'. He has recently been critical of the workings of the EU single market, for example, and his analysis of the impact of Brexit on the City of London is both thoughtful and disturbing for anyone concerned about Britain’s long term well-being. Produced by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White in Birmingham. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amalfi Midco - parent company of the UK’s largest children's care Home provider Care Tech – has published annual accounts showing that it charged local authorities £575 million but spent £136 million of that on what it describes as ‘financial expenses’. This means at more than £1 in every £5 provided by Councils for looked after youngsters goes to servicing debts, and other finance charges. Adrian Goldberh talks to Martin Barrow, a journalist specialising in the care system, and Carolyne Willow founder director of Article 39 which fights for children's rights in institutional settings. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former "Observer" Editor in Chief Will Hutton talks to Adrian Goldberg about his new book "This Time No Mistakes - How To Remake Britain" (Bloomsbury) which calls for an alliance on the progressive left.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adrian Goldberg hears from UK-based Jews saying “not in my name” in reaction to Israel’s attack on Gaza. This time – the Jews saying “not in my name” in reaction to Israel’s attack on Gaza. Emily Hilton is the UK Director of Diapora Alliance and co founder of Na'aamod: British Jews Against Occupation. Uri Agnon is an Israeli theatre maker and activist, originally from Jerusalem, now living in London. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New official figures have revealed record sewage spills in in England’s rivers and seas…3.6 million hours of waste dumped in 2023 compared to 1.75 million hours the year before. Sewage works are sometimes overloaded during heavy downpours meaning waste sometimes legally flows out untreated but these occasions should be kept to a minimum. This all begs questions about the regulation our privatised water companies who paid out £1.4 billion to shareholders last year, but are now seeking an additional £10bn from customers to deal with sewage. Adrian Goldberg hears from Charles Watson, founder of the charity River Action and Johnbosco Nwogbo, from the anti privatisation campaign group We Own It. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New UK government figures have revealed the sharpest increase in absolute poverty in the UK for more than 30 years. According to official statistics, 600,000 extra people came into this category last year. Rising energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are partly to blame, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation the trend has been getting worse for decades. Their most recent report published in January outlined how current levels of poverty are around 50% higher than they were in the 1970s – before Margaret Thatcher came to powe. Adrian Goldberg hears from Joe Elliott, analysis manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and Jospeh Howes, from Chief Exec of Buttle UK, which provides grants for children and young people in crisis. He is also Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adrian Goldberg explores the wider meaning of 'tragedy chanting' aimed at supporters of Liverpool FC. He's joined by writer Tony Evans, who survived the the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The apartment where Byline Times correspondent Zarina Zabrisky and war photographer Paul Conroy are living in Kherson has come under attack from Russian rockets. Adrian Goldberg gets their responses to a lucky miss. There's also an update on Odessa from Zarina while Paul assesses the state of international backing for Ukraine. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adrian Goldberg interviews Grace Blakeley about her new book 'Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom". (Bloomsbury) Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Bannon – former Chief strategist to Donald Trump - recently shared a platform with Liz Truss in which he called Tommy Robinson a 'hero'. Truss appeared to agree. This was at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland and in an article you can read now at Byline Times.com Byline Times executive editor Peter Jukes has sounded a warning about the emergence of a darker, dangerous form of right wing conservatism. He shares his thoughts with Adrian Goldberg. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New findings from a team at Oxford University suggest that privatisation bad for your health.   Researchers looked at 13 long-term studies from well-off countries including the UK to examine what happened ‘before’ and ‘after’ public health provision was outsourced.  Their conclusion: Increases in privatisation generally corresponded with worse quality of care. Adrian Goldberg talks to one of the researchers Ben Goodair, and Cat Hobbs, Director of the campaign group We Own It. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Galloway has won victory in the traditionally safe Labour seat of Rochdale by election, after standing on a platform opposing Keir Starmer's stance on Gaza.  Does Gallwoway’s victory - as he suggests - reflect a shift in the tectonic plates of British politics? Or is it just a one off caused in part at least by Labour decision to disown its own candidate Azhar Ali after made anti semitic remarks.Adrian Goldberg talks to Jon Tonge is a professor of politics at Liverpool University.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has Islamophobia been mainstreamed? It certainly looks like it. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman recently wrote in the Telegraph that Islamists are “bullying Britain into submission", while ex Tory party Chairman Lee Anderson told GB News that Islamists had "got control" of London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Tory MP Paul Scully has also weighed in claimed that Tower Hamlets in London and Sparkhill in Birmingham which both have large Muslim populations are no go areas.Adrian Goldberg hears from with Amna Abdullatif, an independent councillor in Manchester, and Raheel Mohammed founder and director of Maslaha, a charity that tackles inequalities and discriminations faced by Muslim communities. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is special episode to mark the second anniversary of invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Russia had already annexed Crimea in 2014, and separatists backed by Moscow also sparked fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region in the same year. The world mostly looked the other way, until Russia launched a full scale invasion of its neighbour two years ago on the false pretext that it was seeking to deNazify Ukraine.Since then more than 42,000 Ukrainian troops are thought to have been killed and 11,000 civilians. Russia’s losses are thought to exceed 150,000 soldiers.Reporter Zarina Zabrisky, who’s been covering the conflict from Ukraine for the Byline Times, has been talking to politicians, military experts, artists and 'ordinary' people to get a sense of how Ukraine is dealing with the conflict. The episode is narrated by her colleague, the war photographer Paul Conroy.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians – many of them non combatants - have been killed since October 7th when Hamas launched a series of co-ordinated incursions into Israel. 1200 Israelis – most of them civilians - were slaughtered - and more than 100 hostages taken at the time are still in captivity.Israel’s response – designed it says to free the hostages and destroy Hamas – has led to the deaths of more than 29,000 people. 85% of the population of Gaza has been displaced. Critics like South Africa have accused Israel of genocide – a claim being tested in the International Court of Justice in The Hague.The latest flashpoint is Rafah on the border with Egypt where more than a million Palestinians have fled in the hope of finding safety, only to learn that Israel will launch a ground offensive if the remaining hostages aren’t freed by March 10th – the start of the holy month of Ramadan.Meanwhile in debating the issue, the UK parliament has been caught up in procedural rows that seem to make a mockery of the very serious issue at stake. So why is it so hard to just call for a ceasefire?Adrian Goldberg hears from Shaista Aziz once a Labour councillor in Oxford who quit over Keir Starmer’s support of the Israeli government’s stance and Byline Times political editor Adam Bienkov.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are Citizens Assemblies the way to make up the so-called "democratic deficit" which leaves many people estranged from parliament?Sue Gray the former senior civil servant who reported on Partygate during Boris Johnson’s time as Prime Minister seems to think so. In her first interview as chief of staff to Keir Starmer, she revealed that plans are being drawn up to bypass Whitehall and involve the public directly in decision making.Citizens assembles are credited with building consensus in Ireland for allowing gay marriage and ending the ban on abortion. But what exactly are they? How do they work? And will they undermine the role of MPs?Adrian Goldberg hears from Sarah Castell, CEO of the Involve Foundation, which aims to put people at the heart of decision making and Rebecca Willis is a Professor of energy and climate governance at Lancaster University who was behind the Climate Assembly which worked with the UK parliament in 2020.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the Tories are trounced in two by elections is there any way back for Rishi Sunak?Labour overturned Peter Bone’s 18,000 majority in the Northamptonshire seat of Wellingborough – a “catastrophically bad” defeat according to Gavin Barwell, an ex Conservative MP and Theresa May’s former chief of staff.Labour also overcame an 11,000 majority in Kingswood in South Gloucesteshire.This is obviously great news for Keir Starmer; but Reform UK, the party that grew from the ashes of UKIP came third in both by elections offering a threat to the Tories on the right.Adrian Goldberg talks to Byline Times political editor Adam Bienkov and Jon Tonge, professor of politics at Liverpool University.Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by Adrian Goldberg/We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Vote Watch, a new Byline Times campaign to ensure that the upcoming UK general election is both free and fair. We want to hold political parties of all stripes to account by making sure that rules around voting and donations are observed; and to identify those trying to unduly influence the outcome of the ballot, whether through bots on social media, artificial intelligence or supposed grass roots campaigns that are in fact a front for one undeclared interest or another.It's an issue which has been brought into sharp focus recently by changes to rules around voting eligibility and election finance, which led the Labour MP Dawn Butler to say she fears the Conservatives are trying to steal the next election.A new strategy document set out for the The Electoral Commission has also roused fears that ministers might be leaning on this supposedly independent voting watchdog.We want you to act as our eyes and ears in the months ahead, and there’s a crowdfunder too, so that you can help support our work. You can also email votewatch24@bylinetimes.comAdrian Goldberg hears from Byline Times chief reporter Josiah Mortimer and Byline Times editor Hardeep Matharu.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The two likeliest contenders to be the next UK Prime Minister have both come under pressure in recent days...PM Rishi Sunak mocked Kier Starmer's stance on trans women, even though the mother of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey was in the Visitors Gallery of the House of Commons; meanwhile Starmer himself, the Leader of the Opposition, has been criticised for u-turning on Labour's Green Prosperity Plan.Byline Times Political Editor Adam Bienkov assesses the performance of two leaders under pressure with Adrian Goldberg.Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times. Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.