Osborne and Cameron cut UK defence spending - and now Starmer is making it worse

You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-e1x0gsvjfY

This week on the rocket, co-pilots Halligan and Pearson eye a horizon of storm clouds gathering over Britain’s economy and national security.

Liam breaks down the "serious downgrade" from the IMF, which predicts the UK will suffer more economic fallout from the war in Iran than any other major economy. He asks if the government is blaming external conflicts for vulnerabilities that were already "starkly exposed" months ago?.

Meanwhile, Allison reels from Liam’s sudden appearance on the front pages of the tabloids before diving into her powerful column on the Southport inquiry. They discuss the catastrophic failures of agencies that ignored unambiguously signposted warnings, and the ‘woke priorities’ that may have silenced those trying to protect the public.

Strapping in this week is former Royal Marine commando James Glancy who tells your co-pilots why the UK military can no longer meet its responsibilities around the world.

Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor |

Read ‘Harry and Meghan need to stop pretending they’re Royals. It’s embarrassing’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/15/prince-harry-meghan-stop-pretending-to-be-royals/ |

Read ‘We want people jailed for failing to prevent the mass murder of our children’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/14/we-want-people-jailed-mass-murder-children-southport/ | 

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘Reform should not have pledged to keep the pension triple lock’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/12/reform-should-not-have-pledged-keep-pension-triple-lock/ | 

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.