The News Agents

The release of the Mandelson files revealed that Keir Starmer pushed on with appointing Peter Mandelson at US ambassador despite warnings over his links to Epstein. The National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, called the appointment 'weirdly rushed' and said that Mandelson was ‘always a disaster’. The Prime Minister 'it was me that made the mistake'.
So, was due diligence really followed in the appointment of Mandelson? And how much have we actually learnt from the files?
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Trump has made it clear he thinks it’s time to end the war with Iran. There’s only one problem: Iran is not so sure it wants to. By using cheap, fairly low tech drones it’s managed to strike cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The message it’s sending out is clear: we can disrupt the flow and the price of oil from our waters. The regime today has told the world to brace for the price of a barrel of oil to rocket to $200. It’s the last thing Trump wants to hear. So has Iran got Trump over a barrel (of oil)? And what, if anything, can he do about it?
Later, why Starmer has had his best fortnight in the job - and why Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch seem to have forgotten about the sovereignty they claimed was so important it made Brexit necessary.
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In a zig-zagging, confused and at times weirdly low energy press conference from President Donald Trump last night, a remarkably new tone was struck on the conflict in Iran. Just hours earlier, his defence secretary Pete Hegseth had announced that this stage of the war was "just the beginning". But yesterday evening. Trump declared that the conflict was, in fact, "very complete"; at one point even downplaying the US attacks as "an excursion" rather than a war.
It doesn't take a genius to work out what's behind the volte-face - following his intervention, the price of oil plummeted. Welcome respite for the markets, but where does it leave Trump's war objectives? What does it mean for the Iranian people, who'd been promised regime change? Has Trump bottled it? And does that risk emboldening the regime in Tehran?
Later - why is white genocide being casually discussed on GB News? And why have Kwasi Kwarteng and Nigel Farage teamed up in a crypto venture?
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For a Prime Minister obsessed with driving down the cost of living, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East is shaping up to be something of a nightmare. Oil prices have surged, the Bank of England is now expected to raise, rather than cut, interest rates, and the AA is telling drivers to consider cutting down on non-essential journeys due to the price of the pumps.
The war has shown no sign of winding up - indeed over the weekend Donald Trump seemed to leave open the idea that it could last more than six weeks. Remarkably, his press secretary failed to rule out a return of the draft, not seen in America since the Vietnam war. Why? Because the desired endgame for the Trump administration is still very difficult to see. A new Supreme Leader has been installed and appears to be as hardline as his predecessor father. Iranian missiles are still raining down on the region. And if gas prices continue to squeeze Americans, could Trump find himself blinking first?
Later, Tony Blair's off the record remarks about Keir Starmer became very much on the record after his criticisms of the current Prime Minister's resistance to joining the US efforts in Iran made their way into the press. Jon and Lewis discuss why Downing Street is unlikely to be losing any sleep from the advice being dished out by its former occupant.
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Jon and Lewis are back to mark the end of a momentous week in geopolitics with a special live Q&A taking your questions.
When will we know if the conflict in the Middle East has morphed into World War 3? Why has American politics embraced 'toxic masculinity' and 'big d*ck energy'? And how badly do the local elections need to be for Labour in order for Keir Starmer to be toppled?
Plus, a bit of trivia about the 1924 Winter Olympics thrown in for good measure.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/