Morgan McSweeney on voters and discontent
5/26/202625 min
With two hugely consequential months ahead in British politics, Sam and Anne look beneath the headlines and Westminster drama to ask what really comes next.
As Donald Trump escalates tensions in the Middle East once again, the duo examine the pressure on Whitehall. Would any Prime Minister, whoever occupies Number 10, make a difference or face the same issues?
Anne reports back from the Prague Security Conference where former Downing Street chief of staff – Morgan McSweeney – makes a stark warning on AI, political disruption and the future of campaigning.
Plus, is Britain simply ungovernable?
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAnne McElvoy· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hello, good morning, and welcome. It's Tuesday, May the 26th. Parliament is in recess, and despite all the action, British politics seems to take a bit of a pause over the bank holiday weekend for the record temperatures. And we're going to look into what lies beyond this recess as Westminster readies itself for two very consequential months in British politics. I'm Anne Calvoi from Politico.
Sam Coates· Host0:28
And I'm Sam Coates of Sky News. The rest of the world absolutely isn't waiting for us to get our affairs in order, shall we say. President Trump authorized fresh bombing raids in Iran overnight. Um, we'll do a little bit on this, Anne, but I just want to read you the headline of the Bloomberg lead on this story. It's up on their site at the moment. Uh, "US strikes target in Iran as Trump hails progress on peace deal." Um, yep, I think that just about sums up the modern era of news. Uh, we're back to the idea of bombs for peace, but all in one headline.
Anne McElvoy· Host1:01
After days of Donald Trump talking up a peace agreement, the US and Israeli jets struck Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and other targets. US Central Command said the strikes were targeting missile launch sites and boats trying to place mines, and stressed they were defensive in nature and intended to protect troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.
Sam Coates· Host1:24
My sense, Anne, is that the Foreign Office absolutely knew that fresh strikes were on the way as, as recently