For years there has been an argument, sometimes loud, sometimes subdued, on whether Britain needs an ID card system. One big reason given for wanting them is simply to know who is here legally. With illegal and irregular migration never far from the headlines these days and with President Macron, during his recent visit describing the “pull factor” of illegal migrants being able to work in Britain, the debate is being resurrected. So, what is the history of ID cards in the UK, what form might they take if we have a system and would they work? Presenter: David AaronovitchGuests:Jon Agar, author of The Government Machine
Rainer Kattel, Professor of Innovation and Public Governance, UCL
Edgar Whitley, Professor of Information Systems in the Department of Management, LSE
Rachel Coldicutt, technology specialist and executive director of the research consultancy, Careful Industries. Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight and Sally Abrahams
Productions co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineers: James Beard and Neil Churchill
Editors: Sam Bonham and Bridget Harney
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28:53
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28:53
How close is the UK getting to the European Union?
'Britain is back on the world stage' said Prime Minister Keir Starmer in May following the first UK-EU summit since the UK left the EU in January 2020. Outline agreements were reached to remove red tape for British farm exports and energy trading with the EU as well as plans for a security and defence partnership. Then a few weeks later
the Prime Minister held summits in London with first the French President, Emmanuel Macron and then the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz. David Aaronovitch asks whether this is the beginning of a new closer relationship with the European Union and if so, what compromises might need to be made.Guests:
Peter Foster, World Trade Editor of the Financial Times
Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government
Anand Menon, Director of the UK in a Changing Europe
Mujtaba Rahman, Managing Director for Europe at Eurasia Group ConsultancyPresenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Studio engineers: Callum Mclean and James Beard
Editors: Richard Vadon and Lisa Baxter
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28:26
Is the tide turning in the Ukraine war?
It’s been 3 1/2 years since Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of its Ukrainian neighbour. Ukraine’s capacity to resist has depended on two things: its own will to fight and support from its allies. Until January this year the US was one of those allies. Then things changed. But in the last week President Trump seems to have taken a turn against Russia. The US president said he was “very unhappy” with President Putin over the lack of progress towards a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Ukraine. On Monday the White House announced 100 per cent tariffs on countries which do business with Russia - those tariffs to begin in 50 days time unless a ceasefire with Ukraine is agreed. President Trump also announced that the US would be sending weapons to Ukraine which NATO allies - and not America - would pay for. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss whether the tide is turning in the Trump-Putin relationship and if this could change the course of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Guests:
Paul Adams, BBC World Affairs Correspondent
Anton Grushetskyi, Executive director Kyiv International Institute of Sociology
Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor, The Economist
Angela Stent, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former US National Intelligence Officer for RussiaPresenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Studio engineers: Tom Bartlett and Alyson Purcell-Davis
Editor: Richard Vadon
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28:31
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28:31
The Trump hokey cokey is back - what happens to world trade now?
The Trump hokey cokey is back. Tariffs on, tariffs reduced - now they’re heading back up again.
It really got going on April 2nd- President Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” - when he announced a swathe of punitive tariffs on trading partners across the world. The markets tanked and then there was a pause. Countries had 90 days to strike a trade deal - 90 deals in 90 days - we were told. But there weren’t. There were only 2. The deadline was this week but now it’s next month. But in the past few days the White House has been sending out a flurry of letters with higher tariffs for those without a deal - which is almost everyone. David Aaronovitch asks his guests just what is going on, what’s happening to world trade and what happens next? Guests:
Soumaya Keynes, Economics Columnist The Financial Times
Meredith Crowley, Professor of Economics, University of Cambridge
Justin Wolfers, Professor of Economics and Public Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan
Philip Coggan, author, The Economic Consequences of Mr Trump: What the Trade War Means for the World Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill and David Crackles
Editor: Richard Vadon
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28:41
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28:41
Why is there a row about disability benefits?
The Government was forced into a humiliating climbdown over its controversial benefits bill this week, and any savings the Treasury had hoped to make were wiped out. The politics of this is a subject on its own, but the underlying problem the government was trying to solve, however, remains. David Aaronovitch asks his guests why the cost of disability benefits has ballooned so unexpectedly, who gets them and why and whether the system works for disabled people.Guests:Paul Lewis, Presenter Moneybox, BBC Radio 4
Tom Waters, Associate Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Louise Murphy, Senior Economist, Resolution Foundation
Ruth Patrick, Professor of Social and Public Policy, University of GlasgowPresenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight and Sally Abrahams
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineers: Sarah Hockley and Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon
Ireland