Share Sounds from The Bigger Picture

In the wake of a shambolic speech to the CBI, political commentator Mike Indian looks at the political future of Boris Johnson and asks if we are seeing the beginning of his end as PM. After the tragedy with a migrant boat in the English Channel, he suggests a possible solution. And he turns again to the Northern Ireland protocol and Article 16 and wonders whether, if there is a majority in favour in Northern Ireland, a United Ireland is a possible outcome.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks at the mounting tensions in Central and Eastern Europe and asks what's going on and explains why Germany is so beholden to Putin's Russia. Delving into the roots and reality of sleaze in British politics, he wonders if we should have amateur or professional politicians. And he admires a TV programme in which Ed Balls looks at the care system, in a crisis towards which the country seems to be in denial.

Political commentator Mike Indian looks at the issue of MPs having second jobs and how to prevent paid lobbying. Are the rules fit for purpose? He looks at the issue of Northern Ireland, Lord Frost, whether Article 16 might be triggered and what the consequences could be. And he reflects upon COP26 and expresses optimism that the UK can use technology to show the rest of the world how to achieve a zero-carbon future.

Food banks are providing a vital role to help people this winter, and the Trussell Trust supports more than 1,200 throughout the United Kingdom. In this special episode of The Bigger Picture, their Chief Executive Emma Revie briefs supporters about their progress, and their plans for the future. If you would like to support the extraordinary work undertaken by this charity, please visit https://trusselltrust.org

With Cop26 underway, Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University discusses the way that the culture wars are moving into the realm of science. He also contrasts how the UK public's behaviour has changed in a generation with the polarised politics of the USA. He examines why the NHS has failed to use private hospitals to clear its backlog despite a £10 billion deal. And he pays tribute to Lord Frank Field, looking at his ideas – way ahead of their time – on the provision of unemployment benefit.

In December 2015, the then US President Barack Obama gave his reaction to the climate change deal brokered in Paris. Among the headline-making initiatives was the promise to keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius, yet for some green activists that deal was hardly a resounding success. Countries were legally bound to have their emission reduction levels checked but there was flexibility on how they went about hitting their targets - and they haven't. In this episode recorded in February 2016, Juliette Foster is joined by the author Andrew Simms of the New Economics Foundation and by Share Radio's then regular economics commentator, Professor John Weeks. They also discussed the 2016 perspective on the economics of climate change, and ask whether Paris made the link between excess human consumption and the impact on economies dependent on fossil fuels. As the Glasgow COP 26 conference gets underway, it's helpful to re-visit these plans made 5 years ago, and consider how far we still have to travel.

In the wake of the killing of Conservative MP Sir David Amess, Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University, who had worked with him, asks how the threat to MPs can be better managed. He looks at the Prime Minister's big gamble on a green future with huge political and technological problems to overcome. And with the EU and Poland at loggerheads where we are witnessing the dialogue of the deaf, he wonders who will prevail.

Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the reported plans to amend the Northern Ireland Protocol and considers whether they could solve the problem. He reviews Boris Johnson's party conference speech ("brief and insubstantial") and wonders where the strategic direction of the government is. He looks forward to the Chancellor's autumn Budget ahead of what might be a winter of discontent. And in the light of the waiting list of people in England waiting for hospital treatment growing to 5.7m, he ponders where the plan is to ameliorate the situtation.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University asks whether Britain is to become a high-wage, high-skill globally-competing nation or become unsustainably mired in debt and stagflation. He discussed the plans for a "Galactic Britain" and wonders what it might mean for the economy. And he looks at a study which shows that only 2% of blue plaques in London commemorate black people.

Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University looks at 100 years of the Culture War, as expounded in a new book by Frank Ferudi. He wonders if the Aukus pact is a sign of a new global order and discusses why the French are so very angry about it. And with NHS waiting lists approaching 6 million, he considers the ramifications for socialised healthcare of a growing number of people without health insurance deciding to pay for operations.