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Episode details

Radio 4,24 Jan 2026,28 mins

Available for over a year

Following President Trump's pressure on European allies over the future of Greenland, Ben analyses whether there has been a fundamental shift in the Transatlantic alliance with Lord Darroch, former UK Ambassador to the USA, and Sarah Elliott, director of the US-UK Special Relationship Unit at the Prosperity Institute. As the government approves plans for a new Chinese embassy in London ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to China, Ben brings together Lord Beamish, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, and Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who previously chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. After the House of Lords voted in favour of a ban on social media for children under 16, Ben speaks to Professor Amy Orben of Cambridge University who co-led a government study to understand the impact of social media on young people. And, is centrism dead? Times columnist Matthew Parris does not think so and argues that Conservative defections to Reform give Kemi Badenoch an opportunity to pivot her party to the centre. He debates that with non-affiliated peer, Claire Fox, a former Brexit Party MEP, a forerunner to Reform UK.

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