Politics Unpacked

PMQs: A Racist’s Refund

Rishi Sunak struggles to deflect questions about a Tory donor's racist comments, and accuses of Keir Starmer of double standards. But have government communications descended into the kind of 'inept catastrophe' we saw during the Boris Johnson years? Matt Chorley is joined by Tim Shipman, Hugo Rifkind and Lara Spirit to pause and unpack the exchanges from the Commons chamber. Plus: Columnists Alice Thomson and Robert Crampton discuss the NHS <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/children-no-puberty-blockers-nhs-gender-identity-clinic-6tck7wm52" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">puberty blocker ban</a>, state school pupils <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-crisis-turned-into-an-oscar-winning-drama-not-for-state-school-pupils-7spwtnc0z" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">making it in the arts</a>, and whether Keir Starmer was right to <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/keir-starmer-lorraine-tv-appearance-labour-leader-r88rpvmkl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">open up about his family</a>. Columnists (03:30) PMQs Unpacked (24:35) Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Hugo Rifkind unpacks the the politics of the day - and the stuff that's even more important - with the brightest brains from the Times and Sunday Times. You can listen to Hugo on DAB, smart speaker or app 10am-1pm Monday to Friday. If you like what you hear, then read more at <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.thetimes.com/</a> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.