Starmer's ‘farcical’ PMQs as Rayner starts leadership race

The BBC has admitted to the Telegraph that it knew of allegations against Scott Mills almost a year ago but failed to investigate.The corporation had claimed it terminated the Radio 2 presenter's contract as soon as it learned of the allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy between 1997 and 2000.But as The Telegraph's associate editor Gordon Rayner tells The Daily T, a former BBC presenter contacted the corporation in May 2025 to say she had received information about alleged “inappropriate communications” involving Mills.She did not receive a response, and today the BBC admitted her information “should have been followed up and we should have asked further questions”. We explore what this latest scandal means for the beleaguered broadcaster.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: Meghan SearleSocial Media Producer: Nada Aggour Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Government could cut your energy bills by drilling more in the North Sea, says shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho, but chooses not to; ideologically wedded to net zero, they instead prefer to view production of oil and gas as “climate vandalism”.Coutinho scriticises Ed Milliband for failing to use Britain’s own resources to keep energy cheap, and that in many cases his drive for net zero has ‘eradicated common sense’ when it comes to energy policy.Elsewhere, Gordon Rayner updates Tim and Rachel on the latest in the Morgan McSweeney stolen phone saga, with the Met Police announcing that they are reopening the investigation into the theft.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: Meghan SearleSocial Media Producer: Nada Aggour Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Labour has promised a tougher approach to migration, but it seems too little, too late.On Friday, Shabana Mahmood has unveiled new restrictions on visas and asylum rules as pressure grows to tackle record numbers of migrants in taxpayer-funded accommodation. Yet proposals to offer failed applicants up to £40,000 to leave the UK have triggered a backlash within Labour, with figures such as Angela Rayner questioning the approach.Rachel Johnson and Tim are joined by Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, to discuss whether the Government has lost control its immigration system, and what a more robust alternative might look like if his party gets into power.He also argues for a ban on face coverings in public, saying it would improve security and strengthen social cohesion in a “western liberal democracy”.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: Meghan SearleSocial Media Producer: Nada AggourEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Keir Starmer has called for Nick Timothy, the shadow Lord Chancellor, to be sacked after he described a Ramadan prayer event in Trafalgar Square as “an act of domination” from an “Islamist playbook”.The row has exposed divisions within the Conservatives. Leader Kemi Badenoch backed Mr Timothy, while James Cleverly, a fellow shadow secretary, distanced himself from the remarks.Tim Stanley and Rachel Johnson are joined by the man himself to unpack the political fallout of his comments for the first time since they were posted and ask whether this is a debate about integration and public religion – or a misstep that risks deepening community divisions.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: Meghan SearleSocial Media Producer: Nada AggourEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reform’s walked out of Prime Minister’s Questions this lunchtime, infuriated at Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to answer Nigel Farage’s question about small boat crossings.Reform deputy leader Richard Tice tells Camilla and Tim that his party felt it was time to “make a point” about Starmer’s “rude” and “arrogant” behaviour.Elsewhere, they also examine the timeline of Morgan McSweeney’s stolen phone, with the news it was in fact lost shortly after Peter Mandelson had been sacked. The plot thickens with reports today that McSweeney didn’t tell police who he was, or that the phone contained top-level government material, when he informed them of the theft.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducer: Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: Meghan SearleSocial Media Producer: Nada AggourEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump says he is negotiating with Iran – but won’t say who with – while, at the same time, thousands of US marines are arriving in the Middle East. Iran says reports of negotiations with the US president are “fake news” and it has placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz.Camilla and Tim attempt to get inside Trump's mind and ask whether he truly is negotiating with Iran with the aim of pulling off an extraordinary feat of international statecraft, or buying time to prepare for a ground invasion.They also speak to Greg Swenson, the chairman of Republicans Overseas, who says the president does have a plan and does not want to telegraph his every move.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: Meghan SearleSocial Media Producer: Nada AggourEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Camilla and Tim react to a shocking arson attack on Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green, with the Government's antisemitism adviser Lord Mann telling The Daily T that "this wasn't random, this was done to scare the Jewish community".We also hear from the diplomat who lifts the lid on alleged Islamist sympathisers inside the Foreign Office, after civil servants attended an event celebrating the anniversary of the Iranian revolution, only weeks after the regime had begun brutally crackdown on its own people, killing thousands.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducers: Georgia Coan and Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: James EnglandEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A self-made financier, a master manipulator or a fraud hiding in plain sight? Jeffrey Epstein’s story begins in Brooklyn. He was the son of working-class parents and left university without a degree. Yet somehow he talked his way into elite classrooms and, eventually, the highest tiers of Wall Street.On today’s Daily T, Camilla and our writers Mick Brown and Robert Mendick trace Epstein’s ascent from a maths-savvy teenager and eccentric teacher to a powerful operator entrusted with billions. They explore his carefully constructed persona, the influential connections and the troubling behaviour that followed him long before his high-profile crimes came to light.Who was the real Jeffrey Epstein and how did he get away with it for so long?We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorLead producer: Georgia CoanProducer: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: James EnglandStudio Operator: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Deranged conspiracy and melodrama". That's how Harry and Meghan have described Tom Bower's explosive new book about them - 'Betrayal' - saying it had "crossed the line from criticism into fixation". On today's Daily T, Tom joins Camilla and Tim in the studio and says that's nonsense; they're awful, and the treachery, disloyalty, and duplicity of the Sussex's post Royal life could see them being cut out of the Royal Family for good.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducers: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: James EnglandStudio Operator: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it really a Prime Minister’s Questions if the Prime Minister refuses to answer any questions? That was the frustration in the Commons this lunchtime, with Kemi Badenoch attempting to pin Sir Keir Starmer down on Peter Mandelson's appointment, but to no avail.Camilla and Tim assess a fractious and chaotic PMQs.Elsewhere, they speak to Sir Geoffrey Cox, the Conservative MP and former attorney general, after a barnstorming parliamentary speech in which he excoriated David Lammy’s plans to limit trials by jury – a feature of our justice system which Sir Geoffrey tells The Daily T is “intrinsic to the English character”.We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X► 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/fromtheeditorProducers: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganExecutive Producer: Charlotte SeligmanVideo Producer: James EnglandStudio Operator: Meghan SearleSocial Producer: Nada AggourEditor: Camilla Tominey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.