Planet Normal

This week on the rocket, co-pilots Halligan and Pearson dive into the political firestorm engulfing Westminster as Sir Keir Starmer faces intense scrutiny over the botched appointment of Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the US. Following explosive evidence from former civil servant Sir Olly Robbins, the duo explores the ‘process-driven’ culture of the current government and whether it is shielding a lack of transparency.

Liam explains why even a potential ceasefire or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz may not be enough to prevent a global energy crisis. With the UK inflation rate unexpectedly rising to 3.3% in March, the hosts warn of a "stagflation" trap that could see food and energy prices soaring for years to come.

And co-pilot Pearson brings a report from her homeland in Wales ahead of the Senedd election in May…

Highlights:
Middle East infrastructure damage threatens high energy prices and rising UK inflation.
Reform UK surges in Wales as voters consider abandoning the traditional two-party system.

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 |
Read Allison ‘Keir Starmer and Olly Robbins deserve each other’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/21/keir-starmer-olly-robbins-deserve-each-other/ |
‘British Jews are in danger. Either we do something about it or they’ll leave’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/22/britains-double-standards-over-anti-semitism/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘Britain is the most inflation-prone nation in the G7. That was true before the Iran war’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/19/britain-most-inflation-prone-in-g7-true-before-iran-war/ |
Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |
Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |
Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |
Email: [email protected] |
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You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-e1x0gsvjfY

This week on the rocket, co-pilots Halligan and Pearson eye a horizon of storm clouds gathering over Britain’s economy and national security.

Liam breaks down the "serious downgrade" from the IMF, which predicts the UK will suffer more economic fallout from the war in Iran than any other major economy. He asks if the government is blaming external conflicts for vulnerabilities that were already "starkly exposed" months ago?.

Meanwhile, Allison reels from Liam’s sudden appearance on the front pages of the tabloids before diving into her powerful column on the Southport inquiry. They discuss the catastrophic failures of agencies that ignored unambiguously signposted warnings, and the ‘woke priorities’ that may have silenced those trying to protect the public.

Strapping in this week is former Royal Marine commando James Glancy who tells your co-pilots why the UK military can no longer meet its responsibilities around the world.

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 |
Read ‘Harry and Meghan need to stop pretending they’re Royals. It’s embarrassing’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/15/prince-harry-meghan-stop-pretending-to-be-royals/ |
Read ‘We want people jailed for failing to prevent the mass murder of our children’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/14/we-want-people-jailed-mass-murder-children-southport/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘Reform should not have pledged to keep the pension triple lock’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/12/reform-should-not-have-pledged-keep-pension-triple-lock/ |
Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |
Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |
Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |
Email: [email protected] |
For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/B0VweeU7QlA

This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots navigate their way from the high-stakes geopolitics of the Strait of Hormuz to the local battlegrounds of the South London Waitrose middle aisle, they examine whether common sense has gone to die - and whether the UK is becoming ‘Blighty no-mates’ on the world stage.

Pondering the paradox of a superpower that can send the Orion spacecraft to the far side of the moon while struggling to control a 20-mile-wide sea passage in the Middle East. Allison shares her fuzzy memories of the 1969 moon landing.

They ask if the sacking of 54 year old Walker Smith for intervening in a shoplifting incident is capitulation to HR and if the policy of non-intervention is undermining the fabric of society.

A Tug-of-War emerges as your hosts clash over Reform UK’s pledge to guarantee the state triple lock, with Liam arguing we are living beyond our means, whilst Allison defending it for those nearing retirement.

Strapping in this week is former UK ambassador to Iran, Nicholas Hopton who tells your co-pilots how the continuing war is affecting politics within the Iranian regime…

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 |
Read ‘Allison Waitrose’s sacking of a hero employee sums up Broken Britain’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/07/waitrose-sacking-hero-employee-broken-britain/ |
Read ‘I was asked out by a Richard Gere look-alike, but you won’t catch me getting a ‘Mounjaro Divorce’’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/08/fat-jabs-fuelling-divorce-boom/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘Britain’s vulnerability to war exposes need for fundamental reforms’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/05/britains-vulnerability-to-war-exposeneed-fundamental-reform/ |
Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |
Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |
Read Nicolas Hopton: Iran has offered Trump an olive branch
https://spectator.com/article/iran-has-offered-trump-an-olive-branch/ |
More from Nicholas: https://www.nicholashopton.com/ |
Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |
Email: [email protected] |
For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan examine a growing sense of national insecurity as Britain faces a big economic hit from the US-Iran war and the systemic economic vandalism of a new tax year.

The duo discuss the ongoing scandal of NHS waiting lists, with Alison analysing the apparent waiting list cleansing and the statistical chicanery used to massage figures ahead of local elections.

Liam highlights a tax-bonanza of pre-announced tax rises hitting family farms and small businesses, arguing that the government is the true price gouger as it rakes in millions from fuel duties.

Returning stowaway Professor Matt Goodwin joins your co-pilots to discuss his new book, Suicide of a Nation, and why the government is still ignoring the migrant crisis.

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 |
Read Allison ‘The elite can’t stand the truth about mass migration’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/01/elites-attack-matt-goodwin-immigration/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read ‘It’s time to stop pretending we have a First World health service’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/31/socialist-nhs-failed-time-to-change-funding/|
Read Liam ‘Britain’s small firms are needed to rescue us from this slump’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/29/britains-small-firms-are-needed-to-rescue-us-from-slump/ |
Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |
Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |
Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |
Email: [email protected] |
For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

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

You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z53vu3azxZs

In this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, your co-pilots of sanity Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, address the rise of antisemitic attacks in Britain, including the chilling firebombing of Jewish charity ambulances in North London.

Alison shares her continuing case against Essex’s police and crime commissioner, as well as the county’s police force over a post on X, which has since been deleted, which led officers to investigate her for a potential offence of ‘inciting racial hatred’.

Liam is dismayed at the cognitive dissonance in government promising an ‘AI revolution’ while the national grid remains unfit for purpose, warning that the government’s green activists are threatening the very data centers needed for the technological future they claim to champion.

Returning stowaway is former adviser to then-Chancellor George Osborne, Helen Thomas, CEO of Blonde Money who tells your co-pilots why Labour is signing its own death warrant…

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 |
Read Allison ‘If Nadiya Hussain thinks she’s suffered from BBC discrimination, she should try being a white man’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/18/nadiya-hussain-bbc-discrimination/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read ‘Allison Pearson sues police chief over social media investigation’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/24/allison-pearson-sues-essex-police-chief-social-media/ |
Read Liam ‘Artificial intelligence won’t solve Britain’s looming fiscal crisis’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/22/artificial-intelligence-wont-solve-looming-fiscal-crisis/ |
Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |
Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |
Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |
Email: [email protected] |
For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.