Lee Anderson Out, Uniting Parliament on Israel-Gaza & Will North Korea ever collapse? 

This channel is a small window of sanity in an increasingly crazy world - thanks, guys.

I found your podcast only 2 months ago, but haven't missed an episode since. Two people having a measured and reasonable conversation, without click bait video titles, is a hugely revolutionary act these days. Thank you ☺

That Truss was able to appoint people into the HofL and receive a PM’s “pension” after approximately 40 days is intolerable.

It wasn't 'people' in Rotherham Rory, it was underage girls.

Gents, any chance you could form a Party and get us all out of the shite?

I'd genuinely hoped never to see George Galloway in politics again. He'll use anything to push himself forward, including Gaza.

What I really think lets this podcast down is how Alastair very rarely engages with the arguments. Everything is spin. Everything. I am reasonable moderate liberal who would be the first to call out racism and the tory hard-right, but the misleading representation of the arguments about Islamism was ridiculous. You don't need to misrepresent them to disagree with them covincingly. Please stop condescending to us.

I don't think there is a problem with Islamophobia. Any criticism of any muslim leads to cries of Islamophobia. While it is considered ok to lay unfounded charges on other people, even thru British public institutions.

Truss I am afraid has proven what I always believed, she is a complete self server who will do and say almost anything to further her own individual progression, she knows the chance of her having any political clout is minimal and is just cashing in and is prepared to sell Britain down the river! She never worked for the people of Britain? She worked for Liz with her very limited ability, she will sell anything, and I mean anything as proven in her past history for financial progression!

You've missed one bit about Lee Anderson's background there. He was expelled from labour after receiving a community-protection warning (which was based on racism against the Traveller community). He is one of those people who loves the sound of his voice.

Bit unfair on Christopher Hitchens was that comment by Rory. Hitchens was never racist about his dislike for the Muslim faith... and he was also not a fan of Judaism or Christianity either.

Thank heavens for Rory’s consistent clarity.

Hi Alistair and Rory. I doubt it will reach Alistair, but I just wanted to thank him. I just finished reading "But what can I do?" and I think it has changed my life for the better. I've just signed up as a member of the Lib Dems and am going to make an organisation to encourage young people to go into politics. It's inspired me to take the plunge into politics and I am so excited for it brings.

Rory Stewart is literally my favourite politician. So smart, so clear thinking and honest.

Have to be honest, pretty horrified by the Rochdale result. Not because I support what Israel is doing in Gaza (though I'm certainly appalled that we have an MP who days ago was openly chanting "from the river to the sea", but because the far left is just as dangerous as the far right. There is a place in politics for people with very socialist or very libertarian views, and both should be accepted as valid political perspectives... but not where their electoral capital is openly stirring hatred. Openly being the operative word.

Does Rory Stewart live in a multi racial area. Very much doubt it

Thank you for playing the lee Anderson clip, it's hard to find it online without giving ad revenue to GB news!

Why oh why do we not see this level of commonsense and honesty amongst UK parliamentarians (particularly the leadership)

If this podcast was on while Rory was in the government, he'd have made it to prime minister. Reaching the masses is so important and so hard. Politics is better with you in it. Hope you have another go. Much love xx

It makes me very sad that it seems to be acceptable for parties to use parliamentary time for petty point scoring, rather than the process of running the country.

I usually love this podcast, but what a poor episode. Such disrespectful for the legitimate concerns raised by Christopher Hitchens. So disrespectful to lump him in with Lee Anderson. He raised concerns about all religions and spoke out against them all. You're better than this.

Thank you SOOO MUCH!,,

Greetings and thanks from NYC very good stuff

Hoyle cited 'outdated rules & offering the widest possible debate' when announcing his decision. He did not cite 'safety' concerns until the safety of his speakership was at risk.

Putting Hitchens in that category is madness from Rory

Thank you both for treating this Islamophobia with the seriousness with which it deserves. The depressing thing about all this is we are spending so much time trying to undo the waves of venom emanating from Truss, Anderson et al. On Rory's note, the Gaza situation is well on the way to tearing Western civilisation apart.

You guys give me hope that there is still an element of sanity in this old man’s world. The last refuge.

Fascinating to listen to you two as ever. Thank you

Thank you Gents for a sober reflection on our Mayor... + the clearest explanation of the Parliamentary Procedure anomaly

Maybe if centrist politicians actually tackled crime and immigration we wouldn’t have people like Lee Anderson?!

Very informative conversation, but mentioning Christopher Hitchens in the same breath as 30 p Lee was a bit out of order. Would be interested to see Rory breakdown one of Christopher's speeches on the issue and see what he makes of it.

Alistair, looked for you Saturday to say thank you for standing up to the liars! I have a soft spot for Burnley because when I first supported my club we wore Claret and Blue

Good episode gents. I particularly appreciate the breakdown of the fury over the speaker, which I hadn’t really appreciated before. I have to say the political point scoring going on in Westminster (and the devolved parliaments) in relation to Gaza is sickening to me.

30p Lee also thinks we can "grow coal", apparently he's sane and balanced....

5:35 "eccentric bits of the kind of liberal secular left" An interesting way to describe Sam Harris 😂 Amazing conversation if anyone hasn't seen it yet, well worth it. I hope rory is right, and terrified Sam is right...

I do agree mostly with all points, HOWEVER I do get the feeling that Alistair and Rory (Rory in particular) sometimes overlook some of the genuine questions and concerns that the British public have over religious fundamentalism in the UK generally; it's just that in our case that fundamentalism is seen with the Islamic faith, rather than Judaism, Christianity, Sikhism etc. All we need to do is compare the middle east with the West to see what impact religious fundamentalism can have on freedom and human rights if allowed to grow unhindered. Edit: example, Rory states there are 1.3 million Muslims in London, and 1 in 8 support Sharia Law. So that's approximately 200,000 people in the capital city that believe in a fundamentally murderous, homophobic, intolerant, medieval set of laws and restrictions on society. Is that not something to be concerned about?

Christopher Hitchens died 12 years ago and it is interesting how he is still referenced on all kinds of issues.

You guys should have Douglas Murray or Sam Harris on. I think you may have somewhat misrepresented their views, but also those of us who don't think Islam is a positive force in the world. Racism is clearly wrongheaded and unethical. But attacking ideas, especially bad ideas is fair game. You are right of course Islam isn't the only negative force in the world. I don't think the people you are saying that, are saying that. The issue isn't that we think (we don't) that there is 'one Islam'. The problem is that those who follow closest, most strictly the tenets of Islam are antithetical to a free and plural world. That the facts are the Qur'an can easily be used to justify some really terrible things with a very plain reading, not a distorted one. It is supposedly the perfect word of the creator of the universe which makes it rather difficult to make sensible arguments against.

I love it when Rory is being spicy but in his polite way . Like when he’s talking about Liz Truss. He subtly read her fir filth 😂

I’m starting to like you guys even though I dislike both of the parties you represent

curious that safety concerns never necessitated upending this convention before... I suppose it's a coincidence the first time coincided with doing Starmer a tremendous favor 😂

Love the show, but The Telegraphs coverage of Ukraine and 5 day a week Podcasts on Ukraine has been as good as, if not better than The Times. They should be commended for that.

Rory doesn't seem to have taken anything from his most recent conversation with Sam Harris

I listened live to the Gaza motion debate, roughly 4 hours. I heard the SNP motion, nothing in there to disagree. I then heard the Labour amendment, it sounded ok also. I then heard the Government amendment, it had reasonable arguments. I then heard the debates between members, it was very balanced and reasonable. A key moment was when a Conservative MP asked why the SNP motion didn't denounce Hamas. Then I had the 'ahh" moment. That then explained the Labour amendment as you cannot ask for unilateral one-sided ceasefire and it was then obvious that SNP was not seeking a vote for a ceasefire but to make Labour look bad. The day then ended badly. Even though all 3 major parties were effectively 90% identical in agreement, and could have finished the day with different vote counts for a ceasefire, we ended the day with it being about everything else. I was left most annoyed with the SNP. They could have raised all their concerns privately quietly and settled their issues to the side.

Though Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart come from parallel ideological backgrounds, I really admire their concordance and interesting show of wisdom and extensive knowledge.

Always ‘enjoy’ listening but I regularly think that, I don’t see how the world isn’t going to go down the toilet

I love you guys as a centre left voice of reason. But you cannot possibly desiagree with the fact the world was a safer place under trump than it is now??? How is that an outragous statement? Its clearly self evident.

Excellent episode

Astonishingly you have both glossed over the very disturbing reason that Hoyle did what he felt he had to do: the threats to MP's from extremists. It was an alarming day for democracy. And it happened as protesters projected slogans onto the outside of the same building. They went unchallenged by police, Jewish people are afraid to go out in the street, children in non-denominational schools are prevented from getting to school by parents who want political slogans on their kids clothing, teachers in other parts of the country have had to go into hiding - all of these things happening because of heat from the Islamic side of the spectrum. Anti-semitic protests started in Britain even before Israel had responded to the Oct 7th attacks so it wasn't even about Gaza to begin with. If reasonable people like you two don't take these things seriously and discuss them seriously you just get more Bravermans and Andersons ratcheting up the rhetoric. Also Alastair you referred to the deselected Rochdales candidates anti-semitic conspiracy comments: 'oh, he said something silly' and waved it away. I normally love the podcast but you got this one wrong guys- please revisit this very important issue and maybe have a full podcast on it with a couple of guests on to discuss

The Telegraph’s coverage of Ukraine is amongst the very best

9/11, 7/7, Ariana Grande, Charlie Hebdo, Bataclan, borough market, London Bridge, Lee rigbey and so on and so on. I really enjoy listening to this podcast but you both must have your heads in the sand if you don’t think there’s an issue with Islam.

The differences were not as minor as this conversation suggests. Labour put all kind of conditions on a 'humanitarian pause'.

Rory is smart enough to know the tone and language of the questions/statements he made on leading. It was clear they were made to inflict damage. When asked he’s not accountable, he was not wound up but … the other guy was wound up and apologised. While they were both at it considering the guy is a guest to the podcast it surprised me that Rory took that route with his questioning P.S. you can have a robust debate without resorting to just being vindictive

Why are you discussing Truss? There is no chance of her getting anywhere again is there?

I believe Hoyle buckled under threat from Starmer, not terrorism. But even if its the reverse, Hoyle still buckled under threat. How can any MP have confidence he wont do so again?

You two guys have just got this wrong

Hitch was right!!! On EVERYTHING.... "Why Orwell Matters"..... more relevant today than it ever was! Down the memoryhole goes the truth.

What I would love to hear from you guys is why labour is against an immediate ceasefire? What is there to gain I don’t understand …

We are such a dangerous era in terms of society and wider world and some politicians are irresponsibly putting out this hateful language. There does not seem to be any decent politicians or journalists where has our morals gone!!!!

Re the Telegraph, 30 years ago it was my go to paper. Clearly now it is rabble rousing garbage.

Two bell ends in one room

Great talk show again 😊

Russian journalists call the invasion of Ukraine, a special military operation, American and UK journalists call the genocide in Gaza, the conflict in Isreal and Gaza... Arguably downplaying a genocide, is worse than downplaying an invasion...

I may be mistaken, but didn't you overlook the SNP clause regarding the accusation that the IDF have been committing the crime of collective punishment?

19:00 Rory disappointed me here. That is a complete distortion of what Hitchens, in particular, believed and argued. It is not Islam they see as the threat but Islamic theocracy and fundamentalist autocracy. And while it's possible to be racist against Muslims, you cant be racist against an idea. That why people like Murray and Hitch don't like the word Islamophobia, it conflates the two. We don't call people who hate Jews "Jewophobes" we call them anti-semites. We should call racists who don't like Muslims anti-Muslim or something else. Simple fact is I know many Muslims that I like and are wonderful people, and to the extent that they are Muslims, it is the ways in which they ignore their holy book (just like Christians) that allows them to be good people by any modern standards. I like Muslims, I don't like their religion one bit. Anyone who gets their morality from a millenia old book needs to rethink things.

I know youve probably heard this countless times.. but just wanted to say THANK YOU for bringing a bit of sanity into British politics at a time where Insanity sadly seems to be VERY rewarding

To be fair to the late Christopher Hitchens. I do believe he would have said all religion is evil, not exclusively Islam. If my memory serves.

Anderson is not my cup of tea , but the guy has a right to be heard... Shutting down debate does no one any favours

There needs to be laws that force politicians to take responsibility for their actions and words!

Excellent … again 🎉

Some things never change - when I was growing up in the 1950s Roman Catholics were perceived as a threat (allegiance to the Pope, not the Queen, etc.)

Interesting, thanks

Truss was pissed, anyone could see that.

How is saying a group of religious people have control over someone "racist?"

Didn't the SNP motion on Gaza cease fire also include a sentence that was illegal or not in keeping with article 33 of the international courts (of justice?) that put blame on one side? As law makers (Parliament), this is a big no no.

Whatever the ins and outs of Lindsay Hoyle action. It was clearly a deliberate act to thwart the democratically elected 3rd party. Would he have done this if that was the Lib Dem’s and not the SNP?

David Kelly.

A couple of awful colonialists that can't see the world has moved on from USUK international violence.

The speaker shouldn't have been favouring his parent party. If anything on difficult issues it serves democracy better if he goes the other way!

I think you're wrong about Islam. The fundamental tenets are of Islam are objectionable as are many of the fundamental tenets of Christianity. So much harm has been done and is being done in the name of religion.

The fall of The Telegraph is a tragedy. I'm a lefty but 20 years ago would read it for intellectual stimulation. It was well written and argued although wrong. I miss it.

Thanks for handling the disgusting Lee Anderson bilge so that i dont have to go anywhere near anything that will give GB Nooze a click or ad revenue.

Truss thinks she's been treated badly ,and now shes running to fill her own pockets, for her impending retirement from politics.

All very well and good BUT you seem to want to deliberately downplay what political Islam is about. Remember, history shows us that the silent majority are often irrelevant but the active minority are not irrelevant. Ed. Hussain’s book Amon the Mosques seems to me to give a perspective that we ought to recognize as a light shining on an issue many of our leaders might want to ignore.

Christopher Hitchens was never wrong about anything.

Thank you Rory for a clear explanation of what went on in the Gaza vote. For a non-Brit it was pretty well incomprehensible

Criticising using the name "Khan" when you openly admit in previous shows calling them "Johnson" & "Musk" to be derogatory. Is this consistent, congruent, and ethical?

Anyone who elects George Galloway as their MP deserves George Galloway as their MP. The people of South West Norfolk have a lot in common with the people of Rochdale.

The 2023 Shawcross report into the British counter-radicalisation strategy Prevent concluded that Islamism terrorism is the largest terrorist threat facing the UK. Not extreme right wing terrorism as you say.

Silly question, but how do we suggest a question/topic for discussion in your Q&A sessions, please? I am very new to your channel, and so far so gooooooood

I think Hoyle was right. The convention that inhibits opposition amendments only makes sense when the motion is being used to attack the government; with the SNP attacking Labour it is daft that they are not allowed a response. The idea that it took SNP's day away makes no sense; Labour's amendment could only pass with Tory support anyway. The SNP still got their motion, and they still would have got their vote.

Very pleased to hear Rory’s gracious remarks about Jamie Rubin. Its another demonstration of Rory’s intrinsic decency and sense of balance……qualities that were not quite so manifest in that particular exchange with Jamie😂

The SNP's motivation is irrelevant. It was their day, period! Yet, at the behest of Starmer, Hoyle took it away and delivered it to Labour.

It's so nice to see intelligent and reasoned debate without agenda. It does feel like I'm drowning in a sea of idiots most of the time.

Switched it off when Alistair said Saddiq had done a good job🤔

You can do a lot of hairsplitting about definitions of racist like expressions. But the meaning and way of thinking behind Lee‘s words are clear. No doubt. It is dangerously inflammatory just as other members of the Tories did and still do.

To some extent acism has been imported into the U.K. the dislike between two AsIan countries with a large population in the U.K. are the most acist people you will ever meet.

Mr Stewart’s lighting has gotten better hasn’t it ?

re Rory v Sam Harris on lslam. I spent years working in Saudii Arabia and can confirm the tenets of respect , compassion for people in need, all of whch Rory experienced in abundance on his trek. Neverthless I was bombarded with verbal condemnation , " you will go to the fire" every week, because of my agnosticism.I obvioulsy did not dare to go as far as Sam. The respectful aspect of Islam is noble , but supericial. Pipes of peace stufff.

Magical thinking, links to Tufton Street. Any *substance* in that?