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The Crime Agents

Q&A: Andy Burnham’s police protection, Edinburgh machete attack & Peter Murrell's sentence

6/25/202620 min

Andy Burnham looks to be on the cusp of becoming the next Prime Minister. In this Q&A episode, Andy and Neil reveal how police work out which politicians need close protection, and whether Burnham will automatically be getting extra security now he's back in Parliament.

Plus, a knife attack in Edinburgh reportedly targeted Muslims and left five people injured, so why didn't it get more news coverage? Andy explains how newsrooms decide which stories lead the agenda, while Neil asks the uncomfortable question: would this have received more attention if the alleged attacker was Muslim and the victims were white?

They also give their verdict on Peter Murrell's five-year sentence for embezzling SNP funds, and debate whether fraudsters like him deserve space in our overcrowded prisons.

And in the shocking case of a child allegedly thrown into a crocodile enclosure at a Cambridgeshire zoo, Andy and Neil explain why a suspect arrested on suspicion of attempted murder might still be granted bail.

Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents

The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Clips

If Roles Were Reversed
No Deaths, No Headlines
Nine Ex-PMs Under Guard
96-Hour Charge Clock
Trial of the Facts Explained

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 10:00

    [digital music] This is a global production.

  2. Andy Hughes· Host0:04

    If there is no one dead, then that just lowers it on the scale of how big a story it is.

  3. Neil Basu· Host0:09

    If this had been effectively a Muslim attacker and five white victims, then our influencers rather than our politicians would've been the first people to have leapt upon this. We had the stabbing of Stephen Timms, we had the murder of Jo Cox, and we've had the murder of David Amess. The budget for protecting MPs, all 650 of them, has been increased, and they will get more measures around their surgeries, around their homes.

  4. Andy Hughes· Host0:30

    It is alleged that this man picked up this child and threw them into this enclosure where the child was bitten.

  5. Neil Basu· Host0:37

    Any decent politician will be grateful that he's got such a d- uh, sentence, 'cause it's both a deterrent- Mm ... and says something about the fact that you can't get away with things when you're in a position of power.

  6. Speaker 10:48

    [piano music] The Crime Agents.

  7. Andy Hughes· Host0:51

    Hello, and welcome to this Q&A episode of The Crime Agents with me, crime journalist Andy Hughes.

  8. Neil Basu· Host0:56

    And me, the ex-cop Neil Basu.

  9. Andy Hughes· Host0:58

    Right, um, why don't you start for a change, eh?

  10. Neil Basu· Host1:01

    [laughs] Okay. I can, I can... I'll start because I think I can answer this one. [laughs] Uh, Michael on Instagram, thank you very much, Michael. "Does Andy Burnham get police protection now he is an MP, and will his security be more than other MPs given is he, he is expected to be the next prime minister?" Do you want- Well- Are you gonna go?

  11. Andy Hughes· Host1:19

    Sh- should I start?

  12. Neil Basu· Host1:20

    Yes.

  13. Andy Hughes· Host1:20

    Because, um, I, I, I saw this question come in, and, uh, I rang Scott Hamer, who's been on this podcast. He's a former senior protection

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