In this week’s ‘News Roundtable’ episode, host Chris Wright joins Will Jennings, professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southampton; Richard Taylor, political commentator, and broadcaster; and Angela Epstein, journalist, broadcaster, and commentator.

The episode begins by discussing “partygate” and the Met's announcement that they will be issuing 20 fixed-penalty notices over Downing Street parties. The panel considers how this will impact the government if the prime minister receives a fine for breaching covid regulations and whether Johnson’s luck of escaping the scandal is running out.

The conversation touches on the government’s mishandling of PPE contracts during the pandemic and whether Michelle Mone made a profit of as much as £76 million selling to the NHS.

The conversation moves on to chew over the way that P&O Ferries sacked 800 members of staff to replace them with overseas agency staff. The panel argues whether there is a need for laws to prevent these situations from arising in the future and if the government has turned a blind eye to widespread pay abuses.

Together they also discuss the Royal tour of the Caribbean and the memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh. Are the Royals out of tune with the rest of the country? And finally, the conversation ends with guests delving into the Oscars and whether Will Smith should be stripped of his award after “the slap.”

Created & produced by Podcast Partners: www.podcastpartners.com

Sign up to receive updates by email when a new episode drops at

www.wrightonthenail.fm

This podcast is published by New Thinking: www.newthinking.com