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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

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.

Reeves Budget snowstorm of discontent

This week the Rocket welcomes former Prime Minister Liz Truss to discuss next week’s Budget as well as the co-pilots diving into the latest political issues. From the dramatic U-turn on immigration by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to the creeping tax rises hidden in Rachel Reeves's upcoming budget, there’s more than enough madness to unpack.

They ask if the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's new rhetoric to crack down on immigration is real, and will her plans work? Alison dissects the proposals, arguing that a new 'work and study' route for migrants is a disaster and a perverse incentive to enter the UK illegally. Liam, while acknowledging the political risk for Mahmood, suggests the reforms are more rhetorical than real.

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 ‘Why Tesco Cancelled Christmas’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/19/why-tesco-cancelled-christmas/ |

Read Allison: ‘Why Shabana Mahmood’s asylum plans won’t make a blind bit of difference’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/18/shabana-mahmood-misguided-asylum-plans/ |

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

Read Liam ‘Milei’s ‘shock therapy’ makes Britain’s current reforms look utterly feeble’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/11/16/mileis-shock-therapy-britains-current-reforms-look-feeble/ |

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.

Reeves reverse ferret and Mahmood's immigration gamble

After a Telegraph bombshell, both the BBC Director-General and Head of BBC News are OUT as the corporation is exposed for its "FAR LEFT ideological capture".

Our co-pilots take a look at the shocking truth behind the billion-dollar lawsuit threat from President Donald Trump after a Panorama team edited his speech on January 6th 2021. Allison details the biased coverage of Israel and Gaza as well as gender issues, where "smug and arrogant" staffers tried to censor news and silence "normal women".

As Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget looms ever closer, Liam details the incoming fiscal madness as it now seems Labour will break its manifesto pledge and raise income tax.

Joining your co-pilots on the rocket this week is Jake Wallis Simons, award-winning journalist, foreign correspondent, and author of Israel Phobia and his latest, Never again: How the West Betrayed the Jews and itself. Jake joins us to detail the BBC's "damning" coverage of Israel and Gaza and why the Panorama scandal is just a smoke screen for their other mistakes.

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 ‘The Epping hotel ruling proves it is now the British people vs the state’:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/12/epping-hotel-ruling-british-people-vs-the-state/ | 

Read Allison: ‘I think it is inevitable a man I grant asylum to will rape or murder a young girl’

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/05/migrants-asylum-sex-offence-allegations-whistleblower/ |

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

Read Liam ‘Labour’s housing plans are not enough to rescue Reeves’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/11/09/labours-housing-plans-are-not-enough-to-rescue-reeves/ | 

Read Liam’s Post - https://www.facebook.com/liam.halligan.7/posts/pfbid0kaMDikPeWDVsV6P8pDuf1rAQeGRY5rUetohXkdNZ7cLXSh3sNXJDYB3Mq88xsNJKl |

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.

March of the BBC’s ‘tinfoil hat’ brigade

Following the speech from Chancellor Rachel Reeves acknowledging tax rises are coming round the mountain, your co-pilots are here to wade through the incoming madness.

Assisting co-pilot Halligan this week is returning guest Nick Timothy MP to give us some keen insight into the crumbling Home Office.

Liam thinks the Chancellor’s speech was a predictable move and has been warning since the election taxes would have to go up as spending rises and welfare cuts avoided.

Nick reveals the details surrounding a report he wrote about the Home Office and immigration, that was suppressed through legal arguments, in 2023.

Pirouetting on board this week is world renowned choreographer Rosie Kay who tells us how she rose from the cancellation ashes and launched ‘Freedom In The Arts’ to protect freedom of expression within the arts.

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 ‘I think it is inevitable a man I grant asylum to will rape or murder a young girl’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/05/migrants-asylum-sex-offence-allegations-whistleblower/ |

Read Allison ’The BBC has just signed its own death warrant‘: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/04/bbc-signs-its-own-death-warrant/ | 

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

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

Read Nick’s report: https://nicktimothy.com/report-by-nick-timothy-mp-on-the-home-office-exposes-a-culture-of-defeatism-and-poor-management/ |

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.

Home Office fails to secure its own ‘fit note’

Our co-pilots, energised from their trip down to earth for the live show at the Battle of Ideas festival last week, are back on the Rocket to try and make sense of a week of madness!

They address the growing discontent following a string of high-profile incidents involving illegal migrants, most recently in Uxbridge.

The discussion turns into a blistering attack on the Home Office and the entire Civil Service, who the co-pilots argue, are actively stifling political reform and preventing any government—regardless of party—from delivering functioning public services or stopping the boats.

Strapping into the rocket this week is Conservative MP Helen Whately, who joins to discuss the urgent need for benefits system reform to encourage young people into work and end their reliance on state support.

Meanwhile Allison addresses the historic collapse of Labour in its heartlands in the Caerphilly by-election last week, signalling what could be a death knell for Labour in Wales.

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 ‘The soaring cost of mince signals we’re in for a difficult winter’

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/29/rising-food-prices-difficult-winter/ |

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

Read Liam: ‘Britain’s national accounts now resemble a Ponzi scheme’

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/l/lf-lj/liam-halligan/ |

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

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!

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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