The Daily T

Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing was meant to signal a reset in Britain’s relationship with China. Instead, it has sparked fresh questions about how far the UK should go in courting a global superpower accused of sliding back towards authoritarian rule.

On today’s Daily T, Camilla and Tim speak to bestselling author Jung Chang, whose latest book Fly, Wild Swans traces China’s path from the horrors of Mao’s Cultural Revolution to the Xi Jinping era. Chang argues that Western leaders are ignoring uncomfortable truths about modern China, and warns that the country risks drifting back towards a darker past.

She also reflects on her own extraordinary story: growing up under Mao, watching her father persecuted, and eventually escaping to Britain, where she would go on to write one of the most influential accounts of modern China ever published. So, as Britain looks east for trade and diplomacy, are we forgetting the lessons of history?

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Producers: Georgia Coan and Lilian Fawcett
Senior Producer: John Cadigan
Additional production from Annabel Hogan
Executive Producer: Charlotte Seligman
Video Producer: Will Walters
Studio Operator: Meghan Searle
Social Producer: Nada Aggour
Editor: Camilla Tominey
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Letby is modern Britain’s most prolific child killer.

The former neonatal nurse was convicted of murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to kill seven more. But medical experts and others have since raised serious doubts about the evidence used to convict her and some are now calling the case one of the greatest miscarriages of justice ever.

In an exclusive interview, The Daily T speaks to Letby’s lawyer, who tells Camilla Tominey he is convinced she is innocent – and reveals her state of mind as she serves a whole-life order in prison.

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► 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

Producers: Lilian Fawcett
Senior Producer: John Cadigan
Executive Producer: Charlotte Seligman
Video Producer: Will Walters
Studio Operator: Meghan Searle
Social Producer: Nada Aggour
Editor: Camilla Tominey
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a rebellion by Labour MPs over his handing of the Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Labour backbencher Andy McDonald tells Camilla and Tim the PM is “hanging by a thread” after the Government was forced into an embarrassing climbdown on the release of Mandelson’s vetting documents.

Elswhere, Kemi Badenoch tells Camilla that “someone should lose their job” over the “number one” sleaze scandal of modern times.

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► 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

Producers: Georgia Coan and Lilian Fawcett
Senior Producer: John Cadigan
Executive Producer: Charlotte Seligman
Video Producer: Will Walters
Studio Operator: Meghan Searle
Social Producer: Nada Aggour
Editor: Camilla Tominey
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Keir Starmer was given a grilling at Prime Minister’s Questions this lunchtime, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch forcing the Prime Minister into admitting that he was aware of Peter Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein at the time of his appointment as US ambassador, but decided to press ahead with the move anyway.

Starmer, for his part, threw the one-time party grandee to the wolves, saying Mandelson had “lied repeatedly to his team, had “betrayed” his country with the apparent leaking of sensitive financial documents and “regretted appointing him”.

On today’s Daily T, Camilla and Tim reflect on whether, with his own MPs turning on him again, and his self-ascribed reputation of being a squeaky clean man of integrity lying in tatters, Keir Starmer himself is now finished.

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► 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

Producers: Georgia Coan and Lilian Fawcett
Senior Producer: John Cadigan
Executive Producer: Charlotte Seligman
Video Producer: Will Walters
Studio Operator: Meghan Searle
Social Producer: Nada Aggour
Editor: Camilla Tominey
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Mandelson is under criminal investigation by the Metropolitan Police over claims that he leaked confidential government emails to Jeffrey Epstein.

The Labour peer finally stepped down from the House of Lords today following a damaging week for the Government, after newly released material laid bare his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

The revelations have intensified pressure on Labour and reopened questions about why the twice-disgraced former Cabinet minister was brought back into the fold time and again.

Camilla and Tim assess what Lord Mandelson’s resignation means for Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, and Tim explains the web of Labour relationships that linked Mandy to Epstein.

Plus, attention turns again to Andrew Mountabatten-Windsor, amid reports he could imminently leave Royal Lodge for accommodation on the Sandringham estate as a potential criminal investigation hangs over him.

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► 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

Producers: Georgia Coan and Lilian Fawcett
Senior Producer: John Cadigan
Executive Producer: Charlotte Seligman
Video Producer: Will Walters
Studio Operator: Meghan Searle
Social Producer: Nada Aggour
Editor: Camilla Tominey
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.