In this episode of the Brexit and Beyond podcast, Dr Robert Saunders, Reader in Modern British History at Queen Mary university, talks to host Anand Menon about constitutional law and politics,  what the Labour Party's leadership can learn from their recent past, and why combining story-telling and good policy making is key for the opposition to win power.

Brexit and Beyond with Robert Saunders

In this episode of the Brexit and Beyond podcast, special guest Elizabeth David-Barrett, Director of the Centre for the Study of Corruption, joins Anand Menon to discuss corruption in the
UK and beyond.

From Covid-19 contracts to the House of Lords, Elizabeth shares fascinating insights on a timely subject.

Brexit and Beyond with Elizabeth David-Barrett

Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge, is our special guest in this episode of the Brexit and Beyond podcast. Hosted by Director Anand Menon, they discuss the geopolitics of energy, the inflation of the 1970s compared to today, the 2019 general election, and Helen's new book which explores the impact that energy challenges can have on wider political disruption.

Brexit And Beyond: Helen Thompson

In this episode of our Brexit and Beyond podcast, Anand Menon speaks with Fiona Hill, the first guest in our new Unlocked event series.

In this discussion, Fiona, a former Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019, shared her insights on the war in Ukraine, her experience working as a former Deputy Assistant to President Donald Trump, her views on levelling up and more.

This audio was recorded on 19 April 2022.

Brexit and Beyond with Fiona Hill

In a special edition of the Brexit and Beyond podcast, Katy Hayward, Senior Fellow at UK in a Changing Europe and Professor of Political Sociology at Queen's University Belfast, joins Jill Rutter and Anand Menon to discuss the rapidly changing circumstances in and around Northern Ireland.

Brexit and Beyond with Katy Hayward

In this episode of UK in a Changing Europe's Brexit and Beyond podcast, Helen Drake, Professor of French and European Studies at Loughborough University London, and Joël Reland, Researcher at UKICE, join Anand Menon to discuss the state of French politics.

Brexit and Beyond with Helen Drake and Joël Reland

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum joins Professor Anand Menon to discuss the rise of authoritarianism around the world and her book, 'Twilight of Democracy'; Western support for Ukraine; and the effects of Brexit on British politics.

Democracy, Brexit and the war in Ukraine with Anne Applebaum

Professor Aileen McHarg joins Professor Anand Menon to discuss the effects of Brexit on the UK's territorial constitution, Scottish independence and the intersection of law and politics.  

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Aileen McHarg has been Professor of Public Law and Human Rights at Durham University since 2019.  She previously worked at the Universities of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Bristol. She has published widely in the fields of UK and Scots public law, but has particular expertise on devolution and the UK’s territorial constitution. Amongst other things, she is joint general editor of the journal Public Law, co-chair of the British-Irish Chapter of the International Society of Public Law, and a member of the UK Constitution Monitoring Group.

Scottish independence and the UK's territorial constitution with Aileen McHarg

Laura Kyrke-Smith, UK Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Abdul Amin, PhD student and a refugee client of the IRC join Professor Anand Menon to discuss the work of the IRC, issues around humanitarian assistance and the effects of the Illegal Migration Bill.

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Laura Kyrke-Smith was appointed executive director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the UK in 2020. As executive director, Kyrke-Smith is responsible for delivering policy and practice change and increasing funding. She has been with IRC since 2015, when she joined as director of communications in Europe – her previous experience at Portland Communications working with philanthropic clients having bolstered her skills and connections in this area. Kryke-Smith has also worked in government and foreign affairs; she started her career in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a policy analyst and speechwriter.

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Abdul Amin is a former UN Staff Member, with UNDP being his most recent employer. He is also a Chevening and a Warm Welcome Scholar. Since arriving in the UK in August 2021 with his family, Amin has undertaken an MA degree in Conflict, Security and Development at the University of Sussex last year, and is now pursuing a PhD in Politics at the University of Exeter. Amin was a refugee client of the International Rescue Committee.

Humanitarian support and the Illegal Migration Bill with Laura Kyrke-Smith and Abdul Amin

In this episode of 'UKICE (I Tell)' - formerly known as 'Brexit and Beyond' - Rosie Collington, PhD student at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) and co-author of 'The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments and Warps Our Economies' talks to Professor Anand Menon about the value created by consultancies and the revolving door between consulting and government. 

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Rosie Collington is a PhD candidate at IIPP, under the supervision of Professor Mariana Mazzucato and Dr Kate Roll. Her research explores the political economy of health innovation and the role of the state in value creation. She holds an MSc in Political Science (International Political Economy) from the University of Copenhagen, during which she also received a grant to study on exchange at the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Alongside her studies, she worked at Copenhagen Business School, and at the Center for Medical Science and Technology Studies at the University of Copenhagen as a Research Assistant.

Before joining IIPP in September 2020, she held roles in policy and advocacy at the British Heart Foundation, and most recently as a Researcher for a project led by Professor William Lazonick on pharmaceutical industry financialization, funded by the Institute for New Economic Thinking. She has also worked on a freelance basis with a number of think tanks and advocacy groups, and has written for public audiences in The Guardian, The New Statesman, openDemocracy and elsewhere. She is a Coordinator of the Economics of Innovation Working Group with the Institute for New Economic Thinking’s Young Scholars Initiative.

'The Big Con' and the value of consultancies with Rosie Collington

In this episode of 'UKICE (I Tell)' - formerly known as 'Brexit and Beyond' - Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia and Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London talks to Professor Anand Menon about the role of women in public life, tackling inequality and 'Australia-style' politics in the UK. 

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Julia Gillard is the only woman to have served as Prime Minister of Australia, a position she held from 2010 to 2013. Julia was central to the successful management of Australia’s economy, the 12th biggest in the world, during the global financial crisis, and delivered nation-changing policies including reforming Australian education at every level and establishing the nation’s first ever national scheme to care for people with disabilities. In October 2012, Julia received worldwide attention for her speech in parliament on the treatment of women in professional and public life. In April 2018, Julia was appointed Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London.

Women in public life, inequality and Australian influence in British politics with Julia Gillard

On this special episode of UKICE (I Tell), we have a live recording of our most recent Unlocked event with Minister of State for Security, Tom Tugendhat. The event took place in late April and we covered a range of issues from the main security threats facing the UK at home, the UK’s role in European defence, the response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and addressing China’s increased assertiveness on the world stage.

You can watch the event online on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZObCGIgEr4&

Tom Tugendhat on national security, Russia's war in Ukraine and the rise of China

In this episode of 'UKICE (I Tell)' - formerly known as 'Brexit and Beyond' - Professor Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, talks to Professor Anand Menon about his new book, 'Why Politics Fails: The Five Traps of the Modern World & How to Escape Them', the merits of proportional representation and the politics of the housing crisis. 

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Ben Ansell is Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. Following a PhD at Harvard he taught at the University of Minnesota for several years, becoming a full Professor at Oxford in 2013 at the age of thirty-five. He was made Fellow of the British Academy in 2018, among the youngest fellows at that time. His work has been widely covered in the media, including in the World Bank's World Development Report, The New York Times, The Economist, The Times and on BBC Radio 4's 'Start the Week'. He is the Principal Investigator of the multi-million-pound ERC project 'The Politics of Wealth Inequality', co-editor of the most-cited journal in comparative politics, and has written three award-winning academic books. 'Why Politics Fails' is his first for a general reader.

The five political traps and tackling the housing crisis with Professor Ben Ansell

On this special episode of UKICE (I Tell), we have a live recording of our latest Unlocked event with the Rt Hon Lord Kinnock, former Labour leader, European Commissioner and stalwart of British politics. Talking to Professor Anand Menon on 6 June, Neil discussed Keir Starmer’s chances in the next general election, Labour’s EU policy and what it was like to be Leader of the Opposition against Margaret Thatcher.

You can watch the event on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TEzcocfJE8

The Rt Hon Lord Kinnock on Labour's electoral chances, UK-EU relations & Margaret Thatcher

In this episode of 'UKICE (I Tell)' - formerly known as 'Brexit and Beyond' - Sunder Katwala, Director of British Future, talks to Professor Sarah Hall about what his new book, 'How to Be a Patriot: Why Love of Country Can End Our Very British Culture War', says about the challenges to identity in polarised times, from the Brexit divides to the politics of immigration and race.

British identity, Brexit and polarisation with Sunder Katwala

Daniel Chandler joined this week’s episode of the UKICE (I Tell) podcast to talk to Professor Anand Menon about his new book, Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like?, what his top two policy recommendations for Keir Starmer would be and whether COVID has made radical change more achievable.

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Daniel Chandler is an economist and philosopher based at LSE.
His first book, Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like?, makes the case for a new progressive liberalism grounded in the ideas of the philosopher John Rawls, and was published by Penguin/Allen Lane in Spring 2023.

Daniel has degrees in economics, philosophy and history from Cambridge and the LSE, and was awarded a Henry Fellowship at Harvard where he studied under Amartya Sen. He has worked in the British Government as a policy advisor in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and Deputy Prime Minister's Office, and as a researcher at think tanks including the Resolution Foundation and Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Daniel Chandler on rehabilitating liberalism and the political implications of economic inequality

On this episode of UKICE (I Tell), Professor Sarah Hall talks to Professor Philip Hubbard about his book, 'Borderlands: Identity and Belonging at the Edge of England', Brexit and myths of Englishness.

Philip Hubbard on Brexit, borders and myths of Englishness

On this special episode of UKICE (I Tell), Professor Anand Menon interviews BBC presenter and journalist Ros Atkins, famous for his viral explainer videos on current affairs. Recorded at our Unlocked event on 13 December, they discussed Ros’s new book ‘The Art of Explanation’, which outlines the key elements of good explanation and clear communication.

Ros Atkins on clear communication and ‘The Art of Explanation’

On this episode of UKICE (I Tell), Professor Anand Menon talks to Professor Sir John Curtice and Professor Sara Hobolt about the media and political discourse around polls, their predictions for the UK general election and what is at stake in the upcoming European Parliament election.

Elections and public opinion with Professor Sir John Curtice and Professor Sara Hobolt

On this week's episode of UKICE (I Tell), Professor Sarah Hall talks to Professor Jonathan White, Professor of Politics and Deputy Head of the European Institute at the London School of Economics about his new book, In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea, the relationship between technology and democracy, his thoughts on direct democracy and much more.

Jonathan White on the politics of the future and what it means for democracies

On this special episode of UKICE (I Tell), we have a live recording of our latest Unlocked event with the “doyen of British elections”, Sir John Curtice.

Sir John needs little introduction to followers of British politics, as one of the UK’s best-known political scientists and the man who guides the nation through election nights for the BBC. Recently he calculated that on current polling, the Labour Party have a 99% chance of forming the next government. 

With the election looming, Sir John reflects on historic election shocks such as 1992, through to the changes of government in 1997 and 2010. He also offers an insight into what it is like to crunch the numbers on polling day while the nation awaits the exit poll.

You can watch the event on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4C4fAZMJW4

Sir John Curtice on predictions for the general election and historic election shocks

On this week's episode of UKICE (I Tell), UKICE Senior Fellow Jill Rutter interviews Dmitry Grozoubinski, former Australian trade negotiator and diplomat and current Executive Director of the Geneva Trade Platform. They talk about Dmitry's new book, 'Why Politicians Lie About Trade... and What You Need to Know About It', his insights from having trained UK trade negotiators after Brexit and how power differences play out in trade negotiations.

'Why Politicians Lie About Trade' by Dmitry Grozoubinski is available to order from Canbury Press: https://www.canburypress.com/collections/frontpage/products/why-politicians-lie-about-trade-by-dmitry-grozoubinski-isbn-9781914487118

Dmitry Grozoubinski on 'Why Politicians Lie About Trade' and the UK's post-Brexit trade policy

On this week's special episode of UKICE (I Tell), Professor Anand Menon talks to UKICE Senior Fellow Professor Rob Ford and Sophie Stowers from our research team about the upcoming general election. They discuss the challenges facing a potential Labour government, the extent to which campaigns influence election outcomes, and the most interesting seats to watch.

Election special with Rob Ford and Sophie Stowers

This week, UKICE Deputy Director Professor Paula Surridge talks to Professor Will Jennings (Associate Dean Research & Enterprise, University of Southampton) and Dr Jamie Furlong (Research Fellow, Research Fellow, University of Westminster) about their new book, 'The Changing Electoral Map of England and Wales'. They discuss the concept of a ‘Blue Wall’, how place-based factors can explain unusual political characteristics and which results they think are going to capture the story of the 2024 UK general election.

Will Jennings and Jamie Furlong on 'The Changing Electoral Map of England and Wales'

What does the general election tell us about the stability of the British two-party system? Will Brexit rise again as an issue on the political agenda? And can smaller parties ever thrive in coalition governments? 


In the first episode of The UK in a Changing Europe podcast, Professor Anand Menon discusses these questions and much more with Dr Alan Wager, Senior Analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and the author of ‘Cross-Party Politics in Britain, 1945-2019’.

What's next for cross-party politics in Britain?

How do borders relate to questions of identity? What can we learn from thinking of Europe as a "made-up continent"? And what is the analytical power of maps?

On this episode of The UK in a Changing Europe podcast, Professor Sarah Hall talks to Jonn Elledge, author of 'A History of the World in 47 Borders' and Lewis Baston, author of 'Borderlines: A History of Europe, Told from the Edges' about these questions.

What can borders tell us about politics, history and identity?

On this episode of The UK in a Changing Europe podcast, the BBC's Chief North America Political Correspondent, Gary O'Donoghue, dials in from Washington DC to discuss the recent US elections and their aftermath with UKICE Director Professor Anand Menon. 

What was it like covering one of the most decisive - and divisive, US elections in history? What impact will a second Trump presidency have both domestically and internationally? And just how special does Trump feel the UK-US 'special relationship' is? Listen in for all of this and more.

The view from the US: With the BBC's Gary O'Donoghue

On this special episode of the UK in a Changing Europe podcast, we have a live recording of Michael Gove's in-conversation event with Professor Anand Menon Anand at Bush House on 13 November 2024 as part of UKICE's 'Unlocked' series.

Michael Gove has been a key player in British politics during one of its most turbulent periods. A cabinet veteran, he was chosen to be a minister by four out of five Conservative prime ministers during their 14 years in government (with the exception of Liz Truss). Alongside his long ministerial career, Gove is well-known for being a leading figure in the Leave campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum. Following his decision to stand down in the 2024 election, he has recently taken up the role of Editor at The Spectator.   

As he transitions from politician to journalist, hear firsthand about his lengthy career in the cabinet, as well as his reflections on both Brexit and on what has been going on with British politics.  You can also watch the full video recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy-yK18zS-s

Michael Gove in-conversation with Professor Anand Menon

In this episode of the UK in a Changing Europe podcast, Anand Menon sits down with UKICE researchers Sophie Stowers and Zain Mohyuddin to discuss their recently published 'Minorities report: the attitudes of Britain’s ethnic minority population'.

Research suggests that ethnic minority voters often have political and social views at variance with those held by the population as a whole, and indeed by other ethnic groups. Yet we often lack the data to examine these attitudes and how they differ. 

The 'Minorities report: the attitudes of Britain’s ethnic minority population' aims to set that right. It attempts to look at the diversity of political opinion, social values and economic preferences not just between Britain’s white and non-white population, but between different ethnic and religious groups. The report looks not just at voting and elections, but more broadly at questions of identity, tolerance, and experiences of race and discrimination. It covers political views and values at both the 2019 and 2024 elections, questions of identity, being ‘British’, discrimination and prejudice, and economic preferences and social values.

Access a PDF copy of the report in full here: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/reports/minorities-report-the-attitudes-of-britains-ethnic-minority-population/

Minorities report: the attitudes of Britain’s ethnic minority population

On this episode of The UK in a Changing Europe podcast, leading German journalist and television presenter Theo Koll joins our host Jill Rutter to discuss the upcoming election in Germany that has seen one of the most volatile election campaigns the country has experienced.

What can we expect from Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats, currently the frontrunners to win? How much of an impact is the far-right party 'Alternative for Germany' having? And what is the most important issue for German voters? Listen in for all of this and more.

German election special: with Theo Koll and Jill Rutter

The first three months of Donald Trump's presidency have been remarkable. But what are the key differences between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0?  How have the Democrats and other Republicans responded? As Trump and his team hollow out the US state, why have Congress and the courts not been able to slow his agenda? And what does his willingness to flout judicial orders mean for the checks and balances of democracy in the US?

On this episode of The UK in a Changing Europe podcast, director Anand Menon speaks to Scott Lucas, Professor of American Studies at the Clinton Institute at University College Dublin to find out more about the impact Trump is having on the US state and the US. Listen in to hear his expert analysis.

Scott Lucas on Trump 2.0

The first post-Brexit UK-EU summit on Monday 19 May was heralded as a key milestone in UK-EU relations. But what exactly did it achieve? To analyse this in-depth, director Anand Menon is joined by Sir Ivan Rogers, former UK Permanent Representative to the EU, who, in Anand's words, "knows more about the EU than anyone in the world."
 
They discuss what it is like negotiating these deals behind the scenes, why the Defence and Security Pact is important for the UK but a little lacking in substance, the overreaction of parts of the media and political right, what the agreements signed actually mean in terms of dynamic alignment, why energy negotiations were a surprising win, and, crucially, what comes next now that leaders have paved the way to what are likely to be highly difficult and technical negotiations with our European partners.
 
Listen now for everything you need to know about the UK-EU summit and the future of the UK-EU relationship..

Ivan Rogers on the UK-EU relationship

Since Donald Trump entered office six months ago, he has cast doubt on the US commitment to the NATO alliance and applied pressure on European countries to increase their defence spending. This dominated June's NATO summit in the Hague which took place during a time of acute global security challenges, from Russia's war in Ukraine to escalating conflict in the Middle East. 
 
To explore the complexities of American politics and foreign policy and how it affects Europe, Anand Menon is joined by Constanze Stelzenmüller, a leading expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy and strategy and Director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.
 
They reflect on the NATO summit and its remarkably brief summit declaration, the transformation of Article V to 'Article 5%', and whether Europeans can both reach the new 5% spending target and spend the money efficiently. They also discuss whether Europe can rely on the US as a security partner, Trump's foreign policy agenda, and the connection between the MAGA right and populist right parties in Europe and ask whether the UK-US relationship is really all that special. 



NATO, Trump and 'Article 5%': What are the implications for European security?

In each episode of The UK in a Changing Europe Podcast, formerly known as UKICE (I Tell), we sit down with a new guest and explore their area of expertise. We investigate the key issues and discuss how and why it helps us better understand our society. The podcast was cited by the Guardian in 2022 as one of the best podcasts to understand British politics.

The UK in a Changing Europe Podcast

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