The Standard

The government is considering dropping juries for certain criminal cases in an attempt to reduce court backlogs. Will this move undermine British justice?

In this bumper episode, host Tamara Kormornick speaks to a vocal opponent to the plans, Geoffrey Roberts KC, former judge and founder of Doughty Street Chambers, where Keir Starmer, David Lammy and Attorney General Richard Herman have all practised. She also hears from criminal barrister and Vice Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Andrew Thomas KC, who both prosecutes and defends for the Crown, for his view on whether the British justice system needs as many juries.

Photograph: Getty Images
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Londoners will head to the polls next week to choose their local councillors. Since 2021, Labour has held the majority across the capital, but new polling suggests that even Sir Keir Starmer’s local borough of Camden may fall to the Greens.

In this episode, host Tamara Kormornick speaks to Tony Travers, a professor in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics about the results of the latest London council election poll by JL Partners for LSE. They discuss possible outcomes for the upcoming elections, including which parties might join forces, and the messages Londoners may send to Westminster through the ballot box.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, many Londoners will gain new powers as the Renters' Rights Act comes into force. So what do tenants and landlords need to know?

In this episode, host Tamara Kormornick speaks to The Standard’s Homes & Property editor, Prudence Ivey, about the upcoming changes to rental agreements. The two discuss what renters should look out for in the small print, whether the new bill might inadvertently cause a housing shortage, as well as consider if the bill is enough to convince Londoners to vote for Labour in the upcoming council elections.

Photograph: Getty Images
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s wisteria season — and flower-filled streets in Notting Hill and Kensington have become littered with visitors keen to take a picture in front of pastel coloured houses, with the viral flowers in shot.

In this episode, host Tamara Kormornick speaks to Standard journalist Niva Yadav, to discuss whether it is fair to take pictures of people’s homes, and whether security measures will be taken to curb the anti-social behaviour of some wisteria enthusiasts in London.

Clips: Universal Pictures, ITV News (Faye Barker)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The repeated attacks on Jewish infrastructure over the past few weeks has led to the opening of a Met police counter terrorism investigation into whether the events are linked.

In this episode, host Tamara Kormornick speaks to Jonathan Hall KC, the senior barrister responsible for reviewing the UK government’s terrorism and state threats legislation. The two discuss how the law distinguishes hate crimes from terrorist acts, why the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military wing of the Iranian regime, is not currently proscribed as a terrorist group by the UK government, and whether the normalising of extremism is more worrying than extremism itself.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.