Quite right!

The tale of the Cambridge professor, Jason Arday continues, as Michael and Maddie weigh in on the fantasy. How much of a role has Cambridge played in enabling such a serially misleading individual, and can the university claw back some respectability after this saga? – do they even feel a responsibility to do so?

Maddie asks Michael whether Lucy Powell's broadside at his education reforms has made him nostalgic for the days of Bridget Phillipson.

Also: Michael questions Maddie over recent drama in the political sketch writing world, and whether she will defend Quentin Letts amid a backlash from Labour MPs.

Produced by Natasha Feroze and Henry Lloyd.
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Katharine Birbalsingh is the founder and headmistress of Michaela Community School in Wembley, and has been dubbed Britain’s strictest headteacher. Under her leadership, Michaela has become one of the country’s most successful state schools, while openly challenging the progressive orthodoxies of the British education system.
On Quite right!, Katharine argues that ethnic-minority pupils do not need to see themselves reflected in every aspect of a culture to feel that they belong – and that suggesting otherwise may itself be racist. She and Michael also discuss whether individualistic parenting has gone too far, why ritual should be at the heart of British schools and why children need a return to small-c conservative values.

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Andy Burnham has begun his premiership with a sweeping reshuffle, purging many of Keir Starmer’s closest allies and installing a cabinet in his own image. Has he ended Labour factionalism – or simply created a new faction of enemies? And does the appointment of John Healey as Chancellor suggest that Burnham wants a safe pair of hands rather than a rival power base?
Michael and Maddie also ask whether Burnham’s early promises can survive contact with economic reality. With billions already pledged on defence, energy bills, transport and public ownership, where will the money come from – and what is his plan for growth?
Plus: will Shabana Mahmood be allowed to get a grip on immigration? Can Ed Miliband be trusted at the Foreign Office? And could Burnham’s mother help kill off another attempt to legalise assisted dying?
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
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Louis Mosley is the UK head of Palantir, one of the world’s most powerful – and controversial – technology companies. Its work with the NHS, the US government and western militaries has made it a lightning rod for criticism, with opponents accusing it of threatening privacy, enabling mass deportations and supporting military operations in Gaza. Louis therefore occupies an unusual position at the intersection of technology, politics and the British state.
On the podcast, he explains what Palantir actually does, why fears over NHS data are misplaced and why scrapping its contract would be a ‘terrible mistake’. He tells Michael why technology companies should not overrule democratically elected governments, why Palantir is ‘ideological, not political’ and why it believes in strengthening liberal democracies.
They also discuss the coming AI revolution: why Britain is unusually well placed to benefit, how artificial intelligence could transform failing public services and why the ‘lanyard class’ may have more to fear than frontline workers.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
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In this week’s Q&A: does Labour have a women problem? Michael and Maddie discuss why the party has never had a female leader, whether its embrace of identity politics has created a rod for its own back, and why gender-critical feminists on the left have found themselves in exile.
Also this week: why won’t any party touch the triple lock? Michael argues that the state pension has become an unsustainable transfer to the section of the electorate most likely to vote – but can any politician make the case for reform without being accused of ‘mugging granny’?
Plus: Parliament at its best and worst. From Danny Kruger and William Hague to Hilary Benn, George Galloway and Tom Tugendhat – what makes a truly great Commons speech?
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
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