Planet Normal

You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z53vu3azxZsIn this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, your co-pilots of sanity Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, address the rise of antisemitic attacks in Britain, including the chilling firebombing of Jewish charity ambulances in North London. Alison shares her continuing case against Essex’s police and crime commissioner, as well as the county’s police force over a post on X, which has since been deleted, which led officers to investigate her for a potential offence of ‘inciting racial hatred’.Liam is dismayed at the cognitive dissonance in government promising an ‘AI revolution’ while the national grid remains unfit for purpose, warning that the government’s green activists are threatening the very data centers needed for the technological future they claim to champion.Returning stowaway is former adviser to then-Chancellor George Osborne, Helen Thomas, CEO of Blonde Money who tells your co-pilots why Labour is signing its own death warrant…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 Allison ‘If Nadiya Hussain thinks she’s suffered from BBC discrimination, she should try being a white man’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/18/nadiya-hussain-bbc-discrimination/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read ‘Allison Pearson sues police chief over social media investigation’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/24/allison-pearson-sues-essex-police-chief-social-media/ |Read Liam ‘Artificial intelligence won’t solve Britain’s looming fiscal crisis’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/22/artificial-intelligence-wont-solve-looming-fiscal-crisis/ | 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.

You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QVXFsa07RpoIn this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan examine a growing sense of national insecurity as Britain faces a perfect storm of energy, military, and financial fragility, and the unfolding meningitis outbreak.With oil climbing back above $100 a barrel and the Strait of Hormuz remaining shut, Liam argues that it is time for the government to junk the ‘Net Zero virtue signalling’ and urgently greenlight drilling in the North Sea. Allison discusses her recent column on a controversial clause in the Crime and Policing Bill that would effectively ‘decriminalise’ abortion up to birth. Labelling the move ‘legalised infantcide’ she and Liam explore the ethical implication of late-term viability, drawing on Allison’s moving personal experiences and her observations from a neonatal ICU. The duo are joined in the rocket by Linden Kemkaran, the Reform UK leader of Kent County Council. Representing the ‘border county’ at the forefront of the small boats crisis, she discusses her decision to declare an ‘illegal migration emergency’ and her demand for the government to provide full funding for the local impact of arrivals.  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 Allison ‘Britain is about to make a sickening change to the abortion law’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/17/britain-sickening-change-to-abortion-law/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘Labour needs to be grown-up about the North Sea’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/15/labour-needs-to-be-grown-up-about-the-north-sea/ | 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.

You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uRceQCyRYIUIt’s markets this, oil prices that, and what will happen next, so your co-pilots are blasting in to make sense of the tsunami of news flooding across the globe from the Middle East and the war with Iran.Allison points to the shame of all governments for not protecting British interests and defence strategy has left us woefully unprepared for any disruption to energy supplies. And as the news is pointing away from the UK Allison has spied Labour still pressing ahead with a definition of Islamophobia and potentially curbing Free Speech in the process.Liam looks at the economic fallout as the Strait of Hormuz continues to be closed and Iran attacks cargo ships, and brings on board journalist and energy market expert Andrew Critchlow to discuss the UK’s energy security and strategy.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 Allison ‘The BBC is not living up to the ‘British’ part of its name’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/11/bbc-boat-race-cancellation-crufts/ |Read Allison ‘Starmer is pandering to Islamist extremists to save his own skin https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/10/keir-starmer-islamism-concerns-hannah-spencer/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘Britain needs economic security – and a sovereign wealth fund’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/08/britain-needs-economic-security-sovereign-wealth-fund/ | 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.

You can watch this episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/KQ1dUe4FxZ0As conflict with Iran hots up across the Middle East, your co-pilot blast in to make sense of the madness.Strapping into the rocket is Dr Alan Mendoza, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Henry Jackson Society to give his expertise on the conflict and how the ‘special relationship’ is faring as the PM holds back on British intervention.Allison thinks delays to assisting US forces has left the UK as ‘billy no mates’ should we need military help in the future.Liam looks at the economic fallout as the Strait of Hormuz is closed and this could send the cost of living soaring again for the British people.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 Allison ‘Rachel Reeves’s Freudian slip betrayed the truth about this Government’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/04/rachel-reeves-freudian-slip/ |Read Allison ‘Trump is right. Starmer has humiliated the land of Churchill’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/03/starmers-cowardice-over-iran-shames-britain/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘The tide is turning on ludicrous net zero policies’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/01/rumours-of-oils-demise-have-been-greatly-exaggerated/ |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.

Suella Braverman, former Home Secretary turned Reform UK MP, speaks about immigration, the Home Office and her break with the Conservatives. Lionel Shriver, satirical novelist of We Need to Talk About Kevin, discusses her new book and critiques of progressive attitudes to immigration. They debate border policy, political betrayals, publishing backlash and the cultural stakes of immigration in short, sharp exchanges.

A rapid rundown of Reform’s new top team and the party’s push to claim fiscal credibility. A debate over identity politics, immigrant gratitude and the risk of ethno-nationalist rhetoric. A moving interview with a mother whose daughter was killed by an illegal migrant, and the campaign she launched for children left behind. Discussion of market worries, party unity and the UK listing slump.

Sophie Winkleman, actress and campaigner for limits on children’s smartphone and social media use, discusses her drive to reduce screen-based learning. She outlines campaigns for stricter platform rules, compares international approaches, and raises concerns about AI tutors and school-issued devices. Short, urgent conversation about protecting childhood attention and reshaping tech in schools.

Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6, offers a blunt national security perspective. Conversation covers the Mandelson email scandal and its political fallout. They probe vetting failures, potential legal risks and elite accountability. Dearlove also discusses the Chagos Islands deal, Chinese influence in the region, Taiwan contingencies and UK defence posture.

General Sir Peter Wall, former head of the British Army with frontline experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, reflects on military morale and veteran welfare. He discusses the fallout from retrospective prosecutions, how trust in leadership affects willingness to deploy, and the wider implications for defence and recruiting. He also touches on balancing diplomacy with China while defending core principles.

In this engaging discussion, Robert Jenrick, the former Conservative MP and ex-Shadow Justice Secretary, shares his reasons for defecting to Reform UK. He reflects on the Conservative Party's failures, especially regarding immigration policy, and argues they no longer deserve a second chance. Jenrick candidly recounts his own political evolution, emphasizing the importance of experienced ministers and radical reforms. The conversation also touches on the geopolitical significance of Greenland and the broader implications for international relations.