What’s New?
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 69: The Royal Family In Crisis
The Princess of Wales has revealed in a video message that in January, she underwent major abdominal surgery. While the surgery was successful, tests after the operation showed that cancer had been present, and she is now undergoing a course of preventative chemotherapy.
Kate’s announcement is yet another setback for the Royal Family, following the news last month that the King has a form of cancer, and the Duchess of York has revealed that she, too, is suffering from a form of skin cancer.
We send our best wishes to all three and will be remembering them in our prayers.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss whether the recent difficulties could have been handled better by the Royal Family’s public relations team, and whether the clumsiness of it all played straight into the hands of vile trolls who have been spreading cruel and malicious rumours about the Princess of Wales.
The Mother’s Day photo that was pulled appears to be a collage of other photos blended together. The image of Catherine looks like one that appeared on the front of Vogue magazine some time ago.
The grainy video of Kate ‘out shopping’ with William that The Sun ran as an exclusive in the days before her announcement is certainly very odd. The woman in it looks to be no older than her late teens or early 20s, and her facial features are different to Kate’s. We also do not see a clear image of William to identify it as him.
Good public relations is about clarity and controlling the story, and Kensington Palace have failed in those objectives.
The discussion moves on to wider themes – where is the line to be drawn between the public having ‘the right to know’ and respect for the privacy of the Royal Family? What can be done about online trolls, who can spread appalling rumours without consequence?
Prince Harry and Meghan have burnt their bridges with the Royal Family – if they had handled things differently in recent years, they could have held the fort while other senior members of the family receive treatment and recuperate in the months ahead. Their narcissistic behaviour means that is not possible.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Episode 8
Time To Reflect
Where is Julie and how is Hollie over two decades on from Michael’s death and how does she feel about the MOD and remembrance services?
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Episode 7
Blood Money
No amount of money – big or small – equates or compensates for Michael’s death.
Hear how the MOD admit negligence – but it is not quite 100%.
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Episode 6
Julie, makes the trip to Sierra Leone to see where Michael was killed. Suddenly, and only now, do the Ministry of Defence begin to admit liability for Michael’s death…
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Episode 5
Just over one year on from Michael’s death, it is time for the inquest. Will Julie finally get any answers?
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Episode 4
Michael is laid to rest. But unrest is laid bare.
The funeral is cancelled, then re-arranged. The guest list is vetted….A comedy of errors adds to the truth of lies…
Presented by Tony Horne.
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Episode 3
Days later, Michael’s body is returned to the UK. His widow Julie is lied to about which airbase he is coming into. Then, as his body goes missing for four days, the lies begin to stack up. Presented by Tony Horne.
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Episode 2
December 2001. Michael has been home on leave. It is the only time he will see his newborn daughter Hollie.
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Episode 1
It is 0630, 28 January 2002. There is a knock on the door. Michael is dead.
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Truth of Lies Preview
On 27 January 2002, Corporal Michael Phillips was killed in Sierra Leone. He had just returned there after a brief visit home before Christmas on paternity leave. Daughter Hollie was born early December.From the moment, when his wife Julie received that dreaded knock at the door, she knew the truth did not add up.A truth of lies.Finally, nearly nine years later, the Ministry of Defence admitted negligence.It has been two decades since Michael’s death. Hollie is now an adult.For the first time, his widow Julie Phillips goes on the record in conversation with renowned ghostwriter Tony Horne to unravel that Truth of Lies…
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
The Rathband Tapes
For more than a decade, conversations between the late David Rathband and his ghostwriter Tony Horne recorded during the writing of the best-selling Tango 190 have remained in a vault.
Now for the first time Tony shares them with David’s twin Darren – and you.
Darren and Tony walk you through the story from its humble beginnings in Staffordshire to its tragic end in Northumberland.
You will hear David’s own account of being shot and the subsequent trial of the two accomplices in the case, the untold story of dealing with becoming blind and the fatigue of the endless admin involved, tensions he held within Northumbria Police, depression, Pride of Britain Awards and going from hero to zero overnight, and ultimately how both contributors warned his suicide was inevitable.
In this emotional and painful story – albeit with the twins’ dark sense of humour, you will hear David. In his own words. For the first time.
The podcast series is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Episodes
Episode 1 – The Night In Question
Episode 2 – The Night IS in Question
Episode 4 – Senses Working Overtime
Episode 5 – What Only The Blind Can See
Episode 6 – Two Twins One Story
Episode 7 – Chicken Wraps; A Badger’s Hat
Episode 9 – 15 Minutes of Fame
Episode 10 – Two Trips One Story
Episode 12 – Three Funerals, Several Stories
Episode 13 – I Fought The Law And The Law Won
Episode 14 – Loose Ends, Damaged Goods – One Last Tango
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 68: How’s Brexit Going?
It has now been more than three years since the United Kingdom formally left the European Union. Since then, the UK, and the world, has gone through a pandemic that has caused enormous economic and political upheaval.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins take stock of the situation.
What have been the advantages of Brexit so far? Being outside the EU’s procurement programme led to a far swifter rollout of the vaccine, which inevitably saved many lives and allowed society to return to a larger degree of normality far more quickly than it otherwise would.
Beyond that, why is our political establishment being so slow to take advantage of the freedoms and flexibility Brexit allows? Who are Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt actually working for?
It appears as though the price to be paid for a broadly-favourable Brexit deal was throwing Northern Ireland under a bus. Can the Northern Ireland Protocol be made to work?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 67: Britain’s Energy Crisis
In this specially-extended Christmas edition of Twenty Minute Topic, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins look into Britain’s energy crisis.
We’re all spending a lot more than we did this time last year on energy bills, and Marcus and Greg explain this situation was entirely avoidable. It came about because British governments of all colours have made the country increasingly dependant on foreign energy sources and market forces over many years, all in the name of combatting climate change.
The poorest members of society are being hit the hardest, but it goes beyond that. Millions of people who go out to work for a modest income and have £100 or £150 left at the end of each month to treat their families are seeing all that money swallowed up by high energy bills and soaring inflation. This has consequences for restaurants, theatres, cinemas and family-owned cafes.
Why did the government get it so wrong, and who is REALLY pulling the strings?
Later in the podcast, with Christmas upon us, and with millions of people feeling the pinch, Marcus and Greg share their advice on how to have a very pleasant, memorable Christmas without spending a fortune.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 66: Truss and Sunak – What Next for Britain?
WHAT ON EARTH is going on with British politics right now? Liz Truss lasted 44 days as Prime Minister, during which time her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, delivered a mini-Budget, which Ms Truss approved of…and then she sacked him for doing what she asked him to do!
Confused? How about this – a governing party with a majority of about 80 seats was struggling to get the legislation Liz Truss wanted through the House of Commons.
So now, here we are, Rishi Sunak is Prime Minister. Unlike Liz Truss, Mr Sunak was a Brexiteer in the 2016 referendum, and the markets have reacted well to him becoming Prime Minister. Should we take comfort in the grown-ups being put back in charge after the Truss debacle? Or should we be wary? Mr Sunak has already put a block on future fracking projects, and he’s committed to the appeasing the climate change cult with absurd ‘net zero’ targets, much like Boris Johnson was.
As for the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, this is a man who during the David Cameron years was in charge of the rollout of city TV channels – the business model was flawed from day one, lots of them have pretty much closed, and none have made much of an impact.
During during his years as England’s Health Secretary, Mr Hunt did little to endear himself to the medical profession. As Foreign Secretary, he shamefully supported Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen – an ongoing seven-year conflict that the BBC doesn’t bother to tell us about. Mr Hunt actively continued to support and endorse arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Fills you with confidence, doesn’t it? Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of it all.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
A Tribute to Her Majesty
For more than 70 years, the Queen was our country’s Head of State, and she was also Head of the Commonwealth, a body of nations that clearly meant a huge amount to her.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins look back on the Queen’s reign, and assess what sort of a King Charles III will be.
You don’t have to be a Royalist to have a deep respect for the life the Queen led. It was a life of duty and service.
We live in an age where politicians frequently say and do inappropriate things – maybe it was always thus. But for the last seventy years, the Queen has been the one person in public life we could always trust to behave appropriately, and say the right things.
Guided by her Christian faith and sense of duty, Her Majesty set an example that can and should live on.
We should be grateful that just three months ago, we as a nation, and as a Commonwealth, indeed as a world, had the opportunity to tell Her Majesty just how much we appreciated her lifetime of service.
So much has changed in three months. We have a different Prime Minister, and a different Monarch.
But we’re also going to have some fun. The Queen had a tremendous sense of humour and mischief, and Greg is going to tell us about the time HE experienced it first-hand.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 65: Is University Worth It?
Going to university and getting a degree isn’t the golden ticket to getting on in life that it once was.
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins debate whether going to university is a good idea for young people in the modern era.
In the 1960s, just 4% of young people went to university. By the end of the 1970s, that figure had risen to 14%. The university sector expanded hugely during the 1990s, and later on, the Blair government set a target of getting 50% of young people into university, and that figure was reached a few years ago.
Modern-day students can expect to pay tuition fees of £9,000 per year, which over three years equates to £27,000, and that’s without taking into account rent and living costs.
Having a university degree does not guarantee young people a well-paid job in the subject area for which they are qualified, and the days when a degree meant a company pension and early retirement are long gone.
Far from encouraging free speech and exposing students to new ideas and perspectives, all too often, modern-day universities are restricting these freedoms and are promoting fashionable left-wing causes, complete with ‘safe zones’ for students unable to cope with hearing opinions with which they differ.
Getting large numbers of young people into universities is politically convenient because it allows governments of all colours to make youth unemployment figures appear far lower than they actually are.
Meanwhile, there is very obviously a shortage of plumbers, electricians and skilled handymen (and women) in modern Britain. Would many young people not be better off learning a trade?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 64: The Platinum Jubilee
THE PLATINUM Jubilee has arrived, and we’re in for a four-day weekend of fun, thanksgiving and reflection.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins reflect on the Queen’s reign, assess the role of the Crown in our unwritten constitution, and discuss what might happen when the Queen is no longer around.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 63: Ukraine – What Happens Next?
Since the last edition of the podcast, Vladimir Putin has carried out actions in Ukraine that go against all forms of decency and civil behaviour.
One month later, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of the situation.
All decent people are disgusted and appalled with Putin’s deliberate targeting of innocent civilians, and he has no role to play in any lasting discussions on a peace settlement.
However, this has been a horrendous military campaign by Russia. They are facing a humiliating defeat, but the big question is – where does Ukraine go from here?
This conflict has been going on since the Meidan Revolution of 2014, when the democratically-elected pro-Russian President Yanukovych was overthrown by a US and EU-backed mob, which included Nazi-sympathising elements such as the Azov Battalion and the Right Sector.
The rights of the ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking peoples of Donbas were signed away at gunpoint, and an eight-year conflict began, in which 14,000 innocent civilians have died in the region.
The Minsk II agreement, brokered with the help of Germany, France and Poland, would have seen Donbas giving autonomy within the Ukrainian state, but this was never implemented. While this in no way excuses Putin’s actions, it nevertheless played into his hands.
The current Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is also no saint, as the Pandora Papers reveal huge corruption and offshore accounts linked directly to him.
One of the great tragedies of this conflict is that Ukraine has the potential to become a rich, prosperous country. It has a great deal of natural resources, and its ports are located in superb positions in terms of trade. But a lasting peace will require compromise and for the language and civil rights of all peoples to be respected.
The lack of leadership from the West is also deeply concerning. President Biden, once a steady, likeable if unspectacular Senator and Vice President, is very clearly in cognitive decline. The British army is now so small in size, it would fit comfortably into Wembley Stadium, and the Royal Navy so small that recapturing the Falkland Islands, as happened in 1982, would now be impossible.
A key ‘piece of the jigsaw’ is Russia’s relationship with China, which will soon become the world’s largest economy, which will have serious consequences for us all. The days of China being ordered about by Western countries are over.
As for Russia itself, it appears as though Putin has surrounded himself with sycophants, or at the very least people who are terrified of telling him the truth about how badly this military campaign is going.
What does all this mean for Russia? Putin does not look well. If he is overthrown, will Russia survive as a nation state?
This podcast does not claim to have all the answers, but it does provide an interesting discussion.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 62: Ukraine – Will Putin Invade?
The situation on the Russia – Ukraine border is becoming more serious by the day. There are now 130,000 Russian troops on the border, but what’s it really all about?
In this new episode of Twenty Minute Topic, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of the situation.
The history, politics and demography of Ukraine is complex and bloody. We’re being told by the mainstream media that Russian president Vladimir Putin could be about to invade Ukraine.
President Putin is many things – a bully, a tyrant and an egotist, but there is very little evidence that he is mad. There is a lot more to this story than the simple cliches we’re seeing banded about on our TV news bulletins.
Neither President Putin nor President Zelensky of Ukraine say an invasion is coming, so why are there so many Russian troops on the border? An understanding of Ukraine’s history and population is vital when assessing the current situation.
A significant minority of the Ukrainian population are Russian-speaking and identify culturally with Russia, particularly in the area around Donetsk.
During the collapse of the USSR, Russia surrendered a great deal of land in Europe and Asia, mostly without violence, and it consented to the reunification of Germany.
Documents in the George Washington University show that at the time, agreements were made that NATO would not expand towards the Russian border in return.
George Kennan, the greatest anti-Soviet diplomat of the immediate post-Cold War era, warned against the expansion of NATO towards Russia’s borders. He said: “The expansion of NATO right up to the Russian borders is the greatest mistake of the post-Cold War period.”
Yegor Gaidar, the former Prime Minister of Russia, liked in the West because of his economic reforms., contacted Canada’s ambassador, Chris Westdal, in Moscow in 2004, to say he had come ‘to beg, to plead’ to advise Ottawa against further NATO expansion which would, he warned, ‘bring out the worst of Russian instincts’.
In 2014, President Yanukovych, who refused to sign a political association or free trade agreement with the EU, was overthrown by a mob which included Nazi sympathisers and hardline football hooligans, with the support of the EU and the USA. At the time of the revolution, President Yanukovych was just one year away from facing re-election at the ballot box.
The government that came next was much more friendly towards the EU, and an agreement followed.
The Minsk II agreement, signed by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany in 2015, was intended to pave the way for a federal, peaceful Ukraine, allowing for enhanced rights for the significant section of the population that speaks Russian and identifies with Russia culturally.
Not a single provision of the Minsk II agreement has been fully implemented.
History teaches us that it is far easier to begin a conflict than it is to end it. Should NATO or any Western countries be involving themselves in a complex and dangerous conflict few people outside the region understand?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
The Dead Good Podcast with Tony Horne Episode 3: Meat Loaf
Tony Horne returns with episode three of The Dead Good Podcast, with a look back on the life of Meat Loaf, who has died at the age of 74.
Meat Loaf was a larger-than-life character who had a rare ability to condense a range of different emotions into a single song. He was wild, he was unpredictable, and he pushed boundaries.
Yet for all his on-stage antics, there was another side to him. In interviews he came across as good-humoured, self-deprecating and family-orientated, and he didn’t like to hear himself referred to as a ‘legend’. As far as he was concerned, he was a man doing a job, just like a plumber or a brickie does his job.
But Meat Loaf’s music managed to transcend generations, and he was a consistent chart presence from the 1970s to the 1990s, with hits ranging from Bat Out of Hell to I Would Do Anything for Love.
Tony argues that Meat Loaf was, perhaps, underrated, and that his music focussed on quality rather than quantity. Much of his success was down to the writing and production values of Jim Steinman, whose death last year greatly saddened Meat Loaf.
His vocal range was extraordinary, and his music videos were superb. On stage, he had a gravitas and a presence few could match.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
A Tribute to James Brokenshire with Tony Horne Part 2
Tony Horne returns with further memories and reflections on his friend of more than 30 years, James Brokenshire MP.
James served as Northern Ireland Secretary during Theresa May’s years as Prime Minister, where he was widely respected by all sides. But for Tony, James was a long-time personal friend, who gave him his first break on student radio in Exeter.
Tony also provides an interesting insight into what it is like to attend a funeral of a prominent public figure, where security is an issue.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the iTunes app.
A Tribute to James Brokenshire with Tony Horne
FOR THE last four years, Tony Horne, writer and broadcaster, has reflected on how tragic he finds the process when individuals pass away, from the speed with which their death is updated on Wikipedia to the paucity and inadequacy of the letters RIP being used on social media.
Tony also felt that many people who paid tribute perhaps might actually be grieving if they were the right person to be paying tribute at all. Therefore, for some time it has been rumbling inside Tony’s head that there might be another way – a regular obituaries-based podcast has been on his mind.
Tony has lost many close friends in the last few years, from PC David Rathband to Lisa Shaw. At the back end of last week, former Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire MP passed away. Tony and James had been friends since the late 1980s. It was James who enabled Tony to take his first steps in student radio.
This sad moment has finally spurred Tony into action. Here are his reflections on his late friend.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the iTunes app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 61: Afghanistan – What’s It All About?
AFTER nearly twenty years, British and American military involvement in Afghanistan is finally at an end. But why was our military ever sent there in the first place?
Military intervention began on the pretext that the Taliban government in Afghanistan harboured the terrorists responsible for the attacks of 11 September 2001, but the facts do not back this up. Of the attackers, 15 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two were from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Lebanon and one was from Egypt.
Osama Bin Laden boasted of his involvement, but there is no solid evidence linking him to the attacks. We loathe and despise the Taliban with good reason, but evidence that they were in any way responsible for the 9/11 atrocities is flimsy.
Two decades on, and the Taliban are back in control of Afghanistan, far more quickly than so-called ‘experts’ predicted as recently as a few weeks ago.
So what are we to make of it all? And on what terms should Britain, America and her allies engage with the Taliban in the future?
Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of a highly complex situation.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 60: Woke
THE WORD ‘woke’ seems to be everywhere nowadays. How did we get from a situation where unpleasant racial slurs were rightly made socially unacceptable, to what we have today, where a small minority of the population is constantly on the lookout for new things to be offended by?
With every year that passes, the sphere of opinions it’s considered socially acceptable to hold becomes narrower and narrower, and ever-greater limits are placed on free speech and freedom of expression.
In so many spheres of work, certain opinions are now compulsory, while others are impossible to express, particularly if you want to hold on to your job or gain promotion. Why has so much ground been conceded to performance offence takers?
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins try to make sense of how British, and indeed Western society got into this mess, and what can be done to get us out of it.
At the heart of it is a long-running far-left culturally Marxist agenda to destabilise and undermine the pillars of society such as the traditional family unit, the police, the civil service, the media and the education system.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 59: Boris Johnson – Leader or Liability?
In this edition, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins focus on Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Serious mistakes have undoubtedly been made during his handling of the pandemic so far, but on the other hand, the speed and efficiency vaccine rollout has been an enormous success, and, with a few hiccups along the way, Mr Johnson has delivered the Brexit the British people entrusted him to deliver at the 2019 general election.
Could anyone else have handled the pandemic better than Mr Johnson? And if he is not the right person to lead the country through the tough challenges that lie ahead, then who is? With the Labour Party not looking like a credible opposition, and few stand-out personalities among the Conservative ranks, what does this mean for British parliamentary democracy?
Mr Johnson seems a different man to the one he was before his Covid health scare. His wife, Carrie Symonds, appears to have huge influence over him and over Government policy, particularly in relation to the ‘climate change’ agenda.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 58: Martin Bashir and the BBC
IT HAS now been two months since Lord Dyson’s damning report was published into the behaviour of Martin Bashir and the way in which he and the BBC obtained the exclusive interview with Princess Diana in 1995.
Dyson’s comments about Bashir’s ethics and the behaviour of future Director General Tony Hall portray both men in a poor light, but within days, the story died down and everything at the BBC appears to be carrying on as before.
Marcus Stead, who used to work for the BBC, along with Greg Lance-Watkins, who used to appear on the BBC as a guest, discuss the secretive and unaccountable culture of the corporation, along with the institutional bias. What do recent events mean for the BBC’s credibility with the British public?
In an age where most younger people consume their entertainment via streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, Marcus and Greg discuss whether the BBC licence fee model has a future, and if it does not, what does this mean for public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 57: A New Royal Yacht
THE GOVERNMENT has confirmed that a new royal yacht costing £200 million will be built and commissioned.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the merits of the project. They are both strongly in favour of it, arguing that the Blair government’s decision to scrap its predecessor, Royal Yacht Britannia in 1997 was a serious mistake that even Mr Blair himself went on to regret.
Events held on board Royal Yacht Britannia helped raise £3 billion for the Treasury between 1991 and 1995 alone. A new royal yacht would act as a status symbol and could be a tremendous asset in forming trade deals and bringing jobs to the United Kingdom.
Marcus and Greg argue that arguments against it are based on class snobbery, a foolish myth that it is only used for members of the Royal Family to take holidays on, and fails to take into account that the £200 million cost will be rapidly recouped in terms of the trade deals and jobs the yacht’s activities will generate.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 56: Prince Philip Remembered
Following the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins reflect on his extraordinary life of duty and service in this special ‘double dose’ edition of Twenty Minute Topic.
He was born in 1921 in Corfu, but the family was forced to flee Greece following a military coup.
His education at Gordonstoun school proved to be character-forming, and he went on to have a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, where he was mentioned in dispatches for his service during the battle of Cape Matapan.
Following his marriage to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, Prince Philip dedicated himself to a life of duty and service, and following the death of King George VI in 1952, he was forced to abandon his promising naval career to dedicate himself full-time to being the Queen’s consort.
The podcast also discusses his many passions – British industry, animal conservation, bringing the best out of young people and carriage driving.
Other aspects of his life discussed during the podcast include his role as a great moderniser of the Royal household, and the support he gave to the Queen and to the rest of the family.
Greg tells of the occasion where he met Prince Philip in the 1960s. To those he met, he was very well-informed, had a wicked sense of humour, but had a gruff, no-nonsense manner and didn’t suffer fools.
Towards the end of the podcast, Marcus and Greg discuss how the Queen will adapt to life without her husband of more than 73 years.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 55: Harry and Meghan – The Oprah Interview
AS THE dust settles following the broadcast of Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle earlier in the week, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the fall-out. Are they victims, or self-centred narcissists?
It appears as though Meghan married into the Royal Family believing they would adapt to ‘Project Meghan’, and, as someone who is used to getting her own way, she did not appear to understand she was committing to a life of duty and service.
During the interview, much was made by Meghan about the restrictions placed on her personal freedom, yet did she attempt to work around that with other members of the Royal Family and the staff to reach an understanding?
One of the most controversial aspects of the interview were Meghan’s claims that inappropriate comments were made by somebody connected to them when speculating about the colour of baby Archie’s skin. Yet not much has been said about the context of the comments – were they a case of them saying ‘will the baby look more like its mother, or its father?’ (a commonplace comment among families expecting a baby, especially when the parents have different racial backgrounds), or were there more sinister connotations? There are almost certainly two sides to this story.
Much has been made of Meghan’s claims that she wasn’t given the support she needed when experiencing mental health difficulties. Yet she is by no means the first member of the Royal Family to go through such problems. Her husband, Prince Harry, has received therapy and support for his own mental health struggles. Could he not have picked up the phone and contacted his therapist and arranged appropriate support for his wife?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 54: Having the Covid Vaccine
GREG Lance-Watkins recently celebrated his 75th birthday, and a few days afterwards he had his first Covid jab.
The aim of this podcast is to put your mind at rest if you’re nervous or feeling anxious about having the vaccine. In conversation with Marcus Stead, Greg details the process from beginning to end, and having been there and done that, he explains that it’s well-organised, painless, and that you probably won’t have any side effects at all, though if you do, they’ll be short-term and very mild.
As a survivor of cancer and a heart attack, Greg explains that the vaccine has given him a huge amount of protection from Covid-19, and urges everyone to have the jab.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 53: EU Cannot be Serious!
THE ROLLOUT of the Covid vaccine has been an enormous success story. The United Kingdom now leads the world in terms of the speed and efficiency in which the population is being vaccinated.
Boris Johnson’s Government decided not to join the EU vaccine procurement programme last year, and the decision was widely vilified at the time, yet the events of the last few days have shown that the decision not to join was absolutely the right one.
Less than a month into the new Brexit deal and it’s clear that not being part of the EU is quite literally saving lives in the United Kingdom.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss the extraordinary spat between AstraZeneca and the EU. They assess the reckless language and behaviour from Brussels bureaucrats in relation to the vaccine and with regards to Northern Ireland.
With Greg due to receive his vaccine in the days ahead, they discuss the importance of having the vaccine, though they question whether it will, in itself, lead to the return of normality.
Towards the end of the podcast, Marcus and Greg discuss the dangers of misinformation on the internet, and the urgent need for new legislation to regulate social media.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 52: The Brexit Deal
ONE WEEK into 2021, and ‘Project Fear’ has been utterly discredited: World War III has not broken out, Western civilization has not come to an end, there has been no Emergency Budget, the FTSE has not collapsed, the pound has not collapsed, and there are no queues of lorries on the motorways of Kent.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins assess the Brexit deal announced on Christmas Eve, which both are giving a cautious ‘thumbs up’ though there are some down sides.
The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 51: The Covid Christmas
CHRISTMAS is nearly here, and it’s going to be very different for all of us this year. Much of the country is already living under severe restrictions, and from Boxing Day, 24 million people in England alone will be in Tier Four.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss how worried we should be about the new variants of Covid, and how best to strike a balance between enjoying the festive season, and keeping ourselves and our families safe.
The podcast is available via the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 50: The Covid Vaccine
THE COVID-19 vaccine has arrived, and the logistically-complex process of rolling it out to the British population will get underway in a matter of days.
In this podcast, Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins discuss whether all of us should have the vaccine, the measures that have been taken to ensure it’s safe, and the level of immunity it will give us.
They also discuss the dangers of conspiracy theorists, online and in the traditional media.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Antisemitism: Labour and Beyond
In this special podcast, Marcus Stead talks to Graham Perry, a Labour supporter and an antisemitism awareness trainer about the findings of the EHRC’s report and the events that followed it, including Jeremy Corbyn’s statement which led to him having the Labour whip withdrawn.
The EHRC found Labour breached the Equality Act in two cases when its agents were engaged in “committing unlawful harassment”, including using “antisemitic tropes and suggesting that complaints of antisemitism were fake or smears”. The first referred to former Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London, and the second concerned Pam Bromley, a Labour councillor in Rossendale, Lancashire.
A further “18 more borderline harassment cases” were identified in the sample of 70 studied by the EHRC, and the watchdog also indicated relations with Labour were not always smooth during the investigation.
The discussion then turns to the wider problem of antisemitism in British politics and in wider society. Plaid Cymru was co-founded by playwright Saunders Lewis, whose work and letters contain many examples of antisemitism. Lewis is still widely revered by the Welsh nationalist community, and the party was recently engulfed in controversy after activist Sahar Al-Faifi, who has a long track record of antisemitism, was readmitted to the party and will stand as a candidate in next year’s elections to the Welsh Parliament.
Beyond politics, how prevalent is antisemitism in wider society? Marcus and Graham discuss the issue of antisemitism in institutions such as golf clubs. In this age where roads and concert venues named after slave traders are being renamed, is it right that prominent antisemites such as Roald Dahl are honoured with public monuments bearing their name? Roald Dahl Plass is less than a minute’s walk from the Welsh Parliament building.
What is the difference between blatant antisemitism and subconscious antisemitism? And is antisemitism all too often regarded as ‘the lesser racism’?
Graham Perry graduated from Churchill College Cambridge with degrees in History and Economics in 1968.
He qualified as a Solicitor and became a Partner in Clinton-Davis & Co in Hackney, East London and focused on representing clients in the Magistrates Courts of North-East London.
He made a career switch in 1979 when he joined the family firm, London Export Corporation, set up in 1953 by Jack Perry to focus on Trade with China.
Graham made his final career change when he became an independent commercial arbitrator resolving disputes between companies involved in the trans-national shipment of food, feeding stuffs and oils – which work he continues to undertake.
Graham was a Justice of the Peace from 1986 to 2002 and an Immigration Judge from 2002 to 2015.
He has made 100+ visits to China on business, with political groups and most recently with former Lord Chief Justice Woolf whom Graham arranged to give Lectures in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the Rule of Law.
Graham writes and lectures on two main topics – China and Anti-Semitism and honed his presentational skills with LBC radio, where he was a regular overnight cover presenter in the 1990s, before focusing exclusively on his arbitration work.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Twenty Minute Topic
JOE BIDEN will become the 46th President of the United States. It’s been an extraordinary week – Marcus Stead and Greg Lance-Watkins return to assess the situation.
Biden won the most votes of any presidential candidate in US history. Donald Trump won seven million more votes than he got in 2016, and four million more than Hillary Clinton got, but still lost.
Marcus and Greg discuss just how divided and polarised the United States is. How can bridges be built? And is this the sign of a hegemonic power in decline?
There are good reasons NOT to like Joe Biden – are those who despise Donald Trump getting a little over-excited?
Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities are a real cause for concern. Is he mentally fit to be president, and is his presidency likely to be a short one before he hands over to Kamala Harris?
What does a Biden presidency mean for Brexit? Biden doesn’t have a close relationship with Boris Johnson’s administration, and his priority is likely to be the EU and the Republic of Ireland.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
WE’RE ALL familiar with the quote from Evelyn Beatrice Hall’s biography of Voltaire, which says: “I don’t agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Freedom of speech is under attack in Britain and across the Western world, with the rise of ‘safe zones’ in universities, and the ‘woke’ movement. With every year that passes, the limitations on what it’s permissible to say become narrower and narrower. Saying the wrong thing in the wrong place won’t land you in prison, (not yet, anyway,) but it can certainly have a detrimental effect on your career. 
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