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The Telegraph

The podcast that speaks your language. News and views from beyond the bubble with Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, every Thursday.
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Planet Normal

You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4f7eZbkA91Q

It's been a week of defections, rejections and tantrums in the world of politics, and your co pilots are here to wade through the madness. 

After the Telegraph published an article outlining the role Starmer took in prosecuting soldiers your co-pilots speak to General Sir Peter Wall to delve deeper into the scandal.

Allison thinks Starmer ‘isn’t for Britain’ and his human right activism undermines the important role the British Army plays in the defence of our Country.

Liam thinks as China starts to overtake the US economically the West will have to deal with them, but at what cost will this be to British business and values?

Planet Normal Live! You can purchase your ticket here: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive

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/fromtheeditor |

Read Allison ‘Suella Braverman has been vilified for telling the truth’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/27/suella-braverman-has-been-vilified-for-telling-the-truth/ |

Read Allison ‘Never again’ feels like an increasingly hollow promise’: 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/28/holocaust-survivors-anti-semitism/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘Peace may be coming but Ukraine has changed the world forever’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/25/peace-may-be-coming-but-ukraine-changed-the-world-forever/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ | 

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Starmer’s Shameful Soldier Witch Hunt

You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mwWiWA21r1U

The rocket of right thinking is back with a blast and a very special defector is aboard.

Robert Jenrick is strapped in to tell our intrepid co-pilots why he has joined Reform UK and why he thinks the Conservatives didn’t deserve ‘a second chance’.

Your co-pilots return to the cockpit to navigate a world that has grown increasingly volatile in just the first few weeks of 2026.

They discuss whether this is a ‘survival of the wettest’ moment for Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party and if Robert Jenrick is the ‘first olive out of the jar’ that will lead to a cascade of further defections.

Alison returns from her time in the Australian Outback. She shares her reflections on why Australia feels like a ‘livable, optimistic society’ compared to the UK

As Donald Trump takes the stage at Davos, the world is reeling from his demand that the US should run Greenland. Liam breaks down the ‘method in the madness’, explaining the critical importance of Greenland’s rare earth minerals for the global semiconductor industry and the strategic value of the melting Northwest Passage.

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/fromtheeditor |

Read Allison ‘Forget just under-16s, we all desperately need a social media ban’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/21/we-desperately-need-social-media-ban/ |

Read Allison ‘If the Tories can’t admit Britain is broken, they really are finished’: 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/20/britain-is-broken-reform-tories-kemi-badenoch/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘The war on the horizon that global economies haven’t priced in’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/18/china-america-taiwan-clash-global-economies-not-priced-in/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ | 

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Jenrick's Reform defection and the Greenland rift

The winter break continues on Planet Normal! In this, the third and final part of the three part best of the rocket series, our co-pilots take a look back at some of their most explosive voyages on the rocket of right thinking from 2025, before our intrepid co-pilots return next week!

Back in November Liam spoke to Scottish born Rosie Kay who enjoyed a highly successful international career as a performer and choreographer, and in 2004 established the Rosie Kay dance company. Rosie tells the co-pilots how she was ousted from her own company following controversy of her ‘gender critical views’.

We also feature a special report not from Planet Normal, but Planet Earth, when back in October, Co-Pilot Pearson joined the Pink Ladies Protest in Westminster. The Pink Ladies formed a network to take a stand against the impact of illegal migrant hotels on the safety of women and girls and communities up and down the country. 

And finally we hear from Tory heavyweight Suela Braverman who tells out co-pilots what she thinks Conservative party policy should be towards the ECHR.

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Allison 'Twitter makes Two-Tier Keir look ridiculous, so of course he wants to ban it' : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/14/two-tier-keir-ban-twitter/ |

Read Allison 'The West Midlands police chief represents everything that’s wrong with Britain': https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/13/west-midlands-police-chief/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 3

In our second episode of the Best of the Rocket 2025, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan dive deep into the past year’s archives and bring you some of their most intriguing and provocative voyages on the rocket of right thinking, from this past year.

This week the Rocket has made a stop at Westminster with Conservative MP Helen Whately, coming on board to discuss her having one of the toughest briefs in politics - identifying welfare savings. 

Helen's former party colleague and high-profile defector to Reform UK Danny Kruger, is asked by Allison if he felt a bit guilty jumping ship at a time when his defection would do serious damage to a struggling Tory party.

And Tory Grandee Lord Peter Lilley, gives his thoughts on why Britain should leave the European Convention on Human Rights

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/l... |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a... |

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/pod... |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 2

In this, the first of the Best of the Rocket 2025, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan dig into the data files for some of their most explosive voyages on the rocket of right thinking from this year.

There’s been no shortage of madness on the rocket over the past few months, the peak of which was definitely when Chancellor Rachel Reeves cried in the Commons and the leader of the RMT said ‘stuff it’ to the markets.

There’s also been an abundance of politicians and political agitators that have graced the rocket this year, and we begin with discussions surrounding the bias of the BBC with Jake Wallis Simons, and Epping Reform deputy leader, Orla Minihane.

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/l... |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a... |

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/pod... |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 1

It’s a Merry Christmas from the Rocket of right thinking at Planet Normal to everyone stuck on Planet Earth

Your intrepid co-pilots reflect on a year of political thrills and economic spills, honouring the "citizens of Planet Normal" while handing out awards to the figures in public life who impressed - and those who most certainly did not. 

Amidst the Christmas cheer, your hosts offer a heartfelt thank you to their "intelligent and inspired" listeners for their tireless contributions throughout a tough year, before signing off with a promise of more wit, reason, and levity when the podcast returns in mid-January.

The festive spirit is bolstered by a special interview with British tennis star and Wimbledon doubles champion Henry Patten who straps in to tell us what a Wimbledon champion has for Christmas Dinner and shares his journey from the grass courts to the top of the sporting world. 

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/fromtheeditor |

Read Allison 'Non-crime hate incidents may be gone, but don’t expect the police to stop censoring you': https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/23/good-riddance-to-non-crime-hate-incidents/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘Why I’m not cheering the pre-Christmas rate cut’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/21/why-im-not-cheering-the-pre-christmas-rate-cut/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ | 

Read Tim Sigsworth ‘Father Christmas is ‘too white’’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/21/santas-naughty-list-too-colonial-museum/ | 

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rocket around the Christmas Tree!

Your Co-pilots reflect on a sombre week as the festive season is overshadowed by the beach massacre in Sydney earlier this week. 

Co-pilot Pearson delivers a blistering critique of Western leaders whom she accuses of failing to confront the root of Islamist extremism.

Liam connects the tragedy to the rising sense of fear among the Jewish community in the UK, arguing that the ‘aggressive’ weekly protests should not be allowed to continue in the Capital.

On the economic front, Liam warns of rising youth unemployment and Ed Miliband’s growing European isolation on Net Zero following the EU's retreat from petrol car bans. 

And the Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Couthino, straps in to tell your co-pilots why Labour’s Net Zero drive won’t encourage economic growth.

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/fromtheeditor |

Read Allison ‘It’s time to end the cowardly appeasement of radical Islamism’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/16/bondi-beach-jewish-massacre-allison-pearson/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘Labour’s nutty EV policies are pushing us towards economic catastrophe’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/14/labour-ev-policies-pushing-towards-economic-catastrophe/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Festive flu and the West’s cowardly silence after the Bondi massacre

Co-Pilots Pearson and Halligan tackle a week of political and economic madness. Starmer is dismissed as a "caretaker Prime Minister" with a weak mandate, having been supported by only 20% of the electorate.

Your hosts dissect Chancellor Rachel Reeves' job tax hike and her "benefits street Budget" which funds the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap by ‘punishing 340,000 working people’ with frozen tax thresholds. 

They confront the escalating migration crisis, discussing the rise of illegal arrivals and the national emergency posed by migrants linked to attacks on women.

Meanwhile Reform stowaway Zia Yusuf tells the co-pilots why the smear campaign against Party leader, Nigel Farage, is one of the most ‘ coordinated smear campaigns. I can remember in my lifetime’...

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/fromtheeditor |

Read Allison ‘A comeback? What planet is vile Huw Edwards living on?’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/09/huw-edwards-allison-pearson-comeback/ |

Read Allison ‘Is this the scandal that will finally kill Strictly?’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2025/12/10/scandal-finally-kill-strictly-allison-pearson/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘The ghost of economic meltdown hangs over this festive season’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/07/the-ghost-of-economic-meltdown-hangs-over-festive-season/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reform and Farage smears only make the Party stronger

With reaction to the autumn Budget still on the lips of news outlets everywhere, your co-pilots are here to make sense of the chaos.

Allison doesn’t hold back and thinks Reeves has ‘lied’ to the electorate and inflated her own words in order to try and sneak her Budget past everyone.

Meanwhile Liam thinks the fighting between Number 10 and 11 is harming the economy on a fundamental scale.

Meanwhile stowaway Lord Nigel Biggar tells the co-pilots why history should recognise the UK fought against slavery across the British Empire.

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/fromtheeditor

Read Allison ‘A jury took 17 minutes to find Jamie ‘not guilty’. I hate to think what a Left-wing judge would’ve done’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/02/jury-trials-lammy-left-wing-judiciary/ |

Read Allison ‘Joyless and fake, what a strange person Meghan is’: 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/03/id-pay-not-to-spend-a-christmas-with-meghan-and-harry/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘If Labour sticks two fingers up to the bond market, Britain will pay the price’: 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/11/30/labour-two-fingers-bond-market-britain-pay-price/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liar, liar, Reeves’ pants are on fire

The rocket of right thinking is back for a crucial Budget Special as Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her second major fiscal statement. Her new £30 billion tax rise means a staggering £70 billion increase in just two years, the most "punitive tax raising budget in more than three decades".

Joining the co-pilots to dissect the numbers is the brilliant Telegraph columnist, Roger Bootle. Roger reveals why he thinks the budget will land "very badly with business" and discusses the "scandalous" leak of the Statement beforehand.

Co-Pilot Pearson calls it a "death knell budget for Labour" and argues that by funnelling huge amounts of money into the welfare bill, Reeves has confirmed it is now the party of the "Shirking class". 

Whilst Co-Pilot Halligan identifies the "ghost" of the Employment Rights Bill looming over the budget, dubbed by some as the "Unemployment Rights Bill," warns that this "back to the seventies" extension of rights will be disastrous for hiring.

You can watch today's episode, which we filmed in the studios at Telegraph towers: https://youtu.be/ZrIXGoJGkBU

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/fromtheeditor

Read Allison ‘Dear Rachel, do you have any clue how much hard-working people are struggling?’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/26/allison-pearson-on-rachel-reeves-budget/ |

Read Allison ‘I asked people if my Reform badge made me look like a Nazi and they howled with laughter’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/25/allison-pearson-reform-badge-nazis/ |

Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | 

Read Liam ‘Reeves’s endless tax scaremongering is killing off animal spirits’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/11/23/rachel-reeves-scaremongering-taxes-killed-off-spirits/ |

Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

 

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 2

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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