UK Resilience 1: How prepared are we for climate change?
The UK is getting hotter. And wetter. Extreme weather events in the UK are happening more often. And that trend won’t stop any time soon. It all means more flooding and fire risk. Enter the R word - resilience - how well are we coping with what’s going on now, and how advanced is our planning for what’s coming? In the first of our three part mini series looking at how the resilient the UK might be in dealing with potential future crises we ask how prepared are we to deal with the changing climate? Guests:Mark Maslin, professor of Climatology at University College London
Richard Dawson, professor of Engineering at Newcastle University
Jess Neumann, Associate professor of hydrology at the University of ReadingProducers: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight and Sally Abrahams
Productions co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
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28:24
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28:24
Should the government worry about debt?
In a time of sluggish economic growth, the favourite way of squaring the circle of spending more but not increasing taxes is to borrow - and we have. Keeping everybody’s lights on during the pandemic and homes heated after the Russian invasion of Ukraine has helped send our national debt up from £1.8 trillion to £2.8 trillion in recent years.But the question for the chancellor Rachel Reeves is how much more debt we can afford - and how much more debt do the markets think we can afford?So what’s the answer to that? Guests:Duncan Weldon, economist and author of 'Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through'
Mehreen Khan, economics editor of The Times
Chris Giles, economics editor of The Financial TimesProducers: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight and Sally Abrahams
Productions co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
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28:41
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28:41
Why don't we have ID cards in the UK?
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
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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
UK