The Bunker – News without the nonsense

As the Delta Variant continues to spread, is it time for the Government to give up on a grand reopening on June 21 – and for the press to stop calling it “Freedom Day”? And if Dominic Cummings’ revelations are proving to be a bit of a damp squib in the polls, what will it take to move an electorate that’s not interested in the truth? Special guest MUSA OKWONGA – author of One Of Them: An Eton Memoir and host of the amazing Stadio football podcast – joins us to mull these matters and football’s worrying future too.• “Johnson promising fidelity? He’s probably had mistresses called Fidelity.” – Alex Andreou • “You can forgive the British public for not thinking Cummings is the most trustworthy • person.” – Yasmeen Serhan • “A lot of people are very comfortable – and happy to sit back and watch the world burn.” – Musa Okongwa • “Lord Geidt has fulfilled his job as Lord Chief Whitewasher.” – Alex Andreou Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison with Yasmeen Serhan and Alex Andreou. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic . Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As COVID cases rise again, do we need to brace for a full Third Wave? Has the Government learned anything from the disastrous consequences of their last two late lockdowns? And do we really need to rename the variants? Plus the Tories’ polling takes a post-Cummings hit, and the Pentagon prepares to reveal its UFO research. ROS TAYLOR sets up your week ahead. • “Don’t worry about mixing on beaches. Worry about mixing in homes.”• “We don't even know if the Kent variant started in Kent.”• “People will be shocked by how much travel has changed when they can travel again.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Daniel Morgan’s murder in 1987 exposed a toxic nexus between the police, private investigators, and top politicians. And over thirty years later, Priti Patel is putting her foot down on the release of the public report. Friend of the podcast and Financial Times columnist David Allen Green joins Alex Andreou to join the dots between cabinet and cop corruption, and why the Home Office’s excuses nothing but “codswallop”… "The police, private investigators, and government have all worked together since 1987." "Each of the parties involved had an ultimate weapon." "The Home Office had three motivations - delay, forewarn, retract." "The report could reveal that this goes far into the Met, and very far into Fleet Street and private industry." "This is the Home Secretary trying to bully an independent panel." "This is just government intolerance of anyone outside of the central government having power." "Conspiracies are used to cover cock-ups…the Home Office just did not like the idea of learning about this at the same time as everyone else." Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s an increasingly cynical, unequal, unpredictable and worrying world. So what are we going to do about it? Turkish journalist and author Ece Temelkuran, talks to Dorian Lynskey about her new book Together: 10 Choices For a Better Now, how we can rebuild faith in humankind, the journalistic experiences which shaped her worldview, and why we should focus our anger on those in power rather than on social media. “Hopelessness is a timid code for the loss of people’s faith in their own kind.” “I try to talk about politics without the political discourse, and it’s not a piece of cake.” “What you do as a journalist is to witness the extraordinary.” “Anger is a commodity on social media, and we are selling our most intimate emotions.” Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump’s Big Lie that Democrats stole the Presidential election is poisoning Republican minds against democracy itself. Could a future Republican Congress simply refuse to confirm an elected Democrat as President in 2024? Would Democrats willingly hand power to a victorious Republican – possibly Trump himself – who was openly committed to curtailing democracy? Georgetown public policy professor Donald Moynihan looks at these nightmare scenarios and explains why American democracy is in critical danger. • “The Big Lie is not a marginal idea… Some 55 to 70% of Republicans believe that Trump won the election.” • “If these ideas remain dominant it could lead to the end of democracy as we know it in the United States.” • “The Republican Party hasn’t bothered with a sensible autopsy like in 2012 because it’s committed to this Big Lie.” • Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison with Ayesha Hazarika and Justin Quirk. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While Labour agonises over whether it can reclaim working class votes, one question gets lost: what is work for? What do we get from it? If “good work” can give life meaning in an automated world, can Labour capture the post-working class world? Jon Cruddas, Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, talks to Ian Dunt about his new book The Dignity of Labour, why the somewhere-anywhere mantra is “wretched”, what Starmer can take from FDR… and if the dream of “automated luxury communism” is just Get Out Of Jail politics. • “Dignity today is often more about how you die than how you live.”  “The work that we value most in society – caring for one another - is the work that we value least in pay.” “I fear that the Right want the Left to choose between Somewhere and Anywhere, so they can lock in their power forever.” • “Progressive politics is being outmanoeuvred at every turn. We need to turn the tide.”Presented by Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Productionhttps://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jon-Cruddas/The-Dignity-of-Labour/25421083 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Conservative Britain batters the BBC with a Diana-shaped club, is this latest attack more serious than a customary Mail-on-Broadcasting-House punishment beating? Special guest Liz Saville Roberts MP, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, explains the grim truth behind Britain’s trade future and tells us why English people should support Welsh independence. And why can’t Brexit Britain stop coming bottom in Eurovision?• “We had a huge market on our doorstep, and now we’re trying to replace it with one thousands of miles away” – Liz Saville Roberts • “If you love the BBC, you should want it to be held to a high standard than the tabloids.” – Ayesha Hazarika • “Can you imagine the headlines if Diana were around now? ‘Look at this woke virtue-signaller.’” – Justin Quirk Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison with Ayesha Hazarika and Justin Quirk. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can European countries do about Belarusian tyrant Alexander Lukashenko’s bizarre “air piracy” move to divert a RyanAir flight and make a dissident disappear? What does Dominic Cummings have in store for his Westminster appearance on Wednesday? And the BBC haters scent blood. NAOMI SMITH sets up another glorious week in politics. • “Lots of popcorn shall be consumed this week.”• “Why on earth are we having to rely on Cummings for COVID scrutiny? Where are the opposition parties?” • “The BBC row is manna from heaven for Tories who want to stoke the culture wars.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A surprise weekend extra edition, because there’s just too much news… Apparently we’re doing a “gradual” tariff-free deal with Australia. What exactly does that mean? Will it really wipe out the Welsh lamb industry and Scottish hill farmers? And have Johnson and Truss given away Britain’s negotiating advantage just for a headline? International trade expert and former negotiator Dmitry Grozoubinski explains how one deal could come back to bite Brexit Britain in painful places. • “When you look at what Britain has just given away for a modest deal, the precedent is remarkable.”• “The Americans will be asking, why can’t we have the same very favourable terms as Australia? And the US is a much, much bigger and stronger economy than Australia.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Labour still longing for victories past, where should the party go next? And why are the Tories so much better at dealing with defeat? Former Shadow Economic Advisor and Director of the Progressive Economy Forum James Meadway talks to Dorian Lynskey about prioritising concrete concerns over culture wars, whether Labour will ever win a majority again, and why working in the Shadow Cabinet was one of his worst jobs…• “The Tories are very good at dusting themselves down and working out what to do next.”• “Labour needs to say to voters, ‘This is how your life would be better if you voted Labour’.”• “The focus should be on how you get middle class voters to vote Labour instead of Tory.”• “If you try to reproduce policy tricks and electoral victories, you get negative returns.” Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices