Planet Normal

You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wQSgb9En2k0

This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Alison Pearson, take us back to the 1970s as they look at the retro economic policies dragging the country in reverse. With financial markets reacting to the Labour infighting with horror, sending the UK government's borrowing costs to a staggering 30-year high, the duo warns that the British economy is on a knife edge.

Liam focuses on the unfolding fiscal emergency, explaining how sovereign bond markets are reeling from a protracted Labour leadership battle, where all the major contenders are looking to increase borrowing and spending even further.

Meanwhile Allison shares her deep frustrations with the current state of the nation, highlighting the desperate struggles of local community hubs and family pubs fighting to survive under the weight of punishing economic changes.

This week’s stowaway on the rocket is royal historian and biographer Andrew Lownie, who discusses the ongoing fallout surrounding the royal family and his investigations into institutional secrecy.
Highlights
Labour drags us further to the '70s and Burnham stokes the psychodrama
Sir Keir Starmer's leadership is under intense pressure amidst a protracted Labour leadership battle.
Sovereign bond markets react to high spending as government borrowing costs spike to a 30-year high.
Royal biographer Andrew Lownie exposes new allegations and the culture of institutional secrecy.

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 ‘‘Don’t drink them all at once’: Regulars enjoy free pints on National Pub Day’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/16/allison-pearson-national-pub-day/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘As Labour lurches further Left, the markets are calling time’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/17/as-labour-lurches-further-left-the-markets-are-calling-time/ |
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: [email protected] |
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 YoutTube: https://youtu.be/5Zb71ekLVBE

This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, sift through the debris of a historic set of local elections that have left Sir Keir Starmer clinging to power.

The duo analyse the turquoise tsunami that saw Reform UK gain over 1,400 council seats, whilst the Prime Minister faces a precarious future after Labour’s vote share collapsed in traditional hubs like Birmingham and Cambridge.

Who is your co-pilots preferred replacement? Wes Streeting? Angela Rayner? ‘Mad’ Ed Miliband? Or does Andy Burnham stand the best chance with the softy Labour Left?

Return stowaway William Coulston joins your co-pilots to dissect the local election results, and where the Social Democrat Party stands on Welfare and why Labour's approach is bankrupting the country.

Highlights:
Planet Normal: Is Starmer’s Labour drama as fleeting as Streeting?
Reform UK gains over 1,400 seats as the traditional two-party system fragments following the May 7th elections.
Streeting eyes the prize but is Andy Burnham waiting in the wings?

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 |
Liam Halligan and Serge Kogan - London to Paris in 24 hours - ON A TANDEM: https://www.justgiving.com/page/liam-halligan-serge-kogan |
Read Allison ‘Starmer quitting isn’t enough. Furious voters want an end to politics as we know it’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/12/allison-pearson-starmer-quitting-isnt-enough/ |
Read Allison ‘Sick of being dismissed as a racist, Essex Man has turned to Reform’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/08/essex-voters-embracing-reform-liked-nigel/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘Oil prices are detached from reality’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/10/headline-oil-prices-are-detached-from-reality/ |
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: [email protected] |
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/81-0uu_POWE

On the rocket of sweet reason this week we are avoiding talking about the May elections, so hold tight for a bumper episode next week!

Meanwhile, Allison reflects on one hundred years of Sir David Attenborough as he celebrates his birthday this coming Friday and shares her memories of interviewing him in the Venezuelan rainforest nearly 30 years ago.

Liam breaks down the economic fallout of the continuing to impact consumer prices and why the government is paying more in borrowing costs than it did in 1998.

Return stowaway and advocate for financial education, Justin Urquhart-Stewart straps in to give your co-pilots a view of the geopolitical landscape as the to and fro of the Strait of Hormuz continues to impact food, energy and production prices across the world…

Highlights:
Planet Normal: Happy birthday to Sir David Attenborough!
Allison recalls her Venezuelan rainforest interview with Sir David Attenborough
Blockades in the Strait of Hormuz continue to threaten global energy supplies and UK inflation.

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 |
LIAM HALLIGAN and SERGE KOGAN - London to Paris in 24 hours - ON A TANDEM: https://www.justgiving.com/page/liam-halligan-serge-kogan |
Read Allison: 'The day an unflappable David Attenborough saved me from a gun-toting militia': https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/07/david-attenborough-saved-me-from-a-gun-toting-militia/ |
Read Allison ‘We all know who is to blame for the rise in anti-Semitism – and it is not Israel’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/05/we-know-who-to-blame-for-the-rise-in-anti-semitism/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘Labour is steering Britain into a bond market meltdown’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/03/labours-political-antics-could-spark-bond-market-meltdown/ |
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: [email protected] |
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/v0ptnvQnGUQ

This week on Planet Normal your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, navigate the wreckage of the UK’s two-party system as seismic local and devolved elections loom on May 7th. With the UK inflation rate remaining a major concern and the Strait of Hormuz effectively blockaded by Iran, the duo examines how geopolitical instability is hitting British pockets.

Liam breaks down the "end of the world as we know it" for the traditional political establishment, as Reform UK and the Greens surge while both major parties face a potential hammering at the polls.

Meanwhile, Allison reflects on her recent trip to Wales, where a "turquoise tsunami" threatens the Labour heartlands as Reform gain in the polls.

Stowing away on the rocket this week is former 22 SAS commander Colonel Richard Williams, who discusses how "lawfare" and the prosecution of veterans are undermining British military recruitment and national security.

Highlights:
Planet Normal: Starmer survives a vote this week, but what will the May elections reveal for Labour
Reform UK and the Greens surge as the traditional two-party system faces a May 7th meltdown.
Blockades in the Strait of Hormuz threaten global energy supplies and UK inflation.

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 ‘Nigel Farage is winning the battle for the soul of my beloved Wales’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/24/allison-pearson-on-labour-party-in-wales/ |
‘Prime minister Angela Rayner would be a new low for Britain’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/28/prime-minister-angela-rayner-new-low-for-britain/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘We’re on the brink of a global recession, but it’s not Iran we need to worry about’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/26/does-geopolitics-pose-greatest-economic-danger-or-is-it-ai/ |
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: [email protected] |
For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the rocket, co-pilots Halligan and Pearson dive into the political firestorm engulfing Westminster as Sir Keir Starmer faces intense scrutiny over the botched appointment of Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the US. Following explosive evidence from former civil servant Sir Olly Robbins, the duo explores the ‘process-driven’ culture of the current government and whether it is shielding a lack of transparency.

Liam explains why even a potential ceasefire or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz may not be enough to prevent a global energy crisis. With the UK inflation rate unexpectedly rising to 3.3% in March, the hosts warn of a "stagflation" trap that could see food and energy prices soaring for years to come.

And co-pilot Pearson brings a report from her homeland in Wales ahead of the Senedd election in May…

Highlights:
Middle East infrastructure damage threatens high energy prices and rising UK inflation.
Reform UK surges in Wales as voters consider abandoning the traditional two-party system.

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 ‘Keir Starmer and Olly Robbins deserve each other’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/21/keir-starmer-olly-robbins-deserve-each-other/ |
‘British Jews are in danger. Either we do something about it or they’ll leave’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/22/britains-double-standards-over-anti-semitism/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘Britain is the most inflation-prone nation in the G7. That was true before the Iran war’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/19/britain-most-inflation-prone-in-g7-true-before-iran-war/ |
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: [email protected] |
For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.