The News Agents

Imagine a loan where the Government sets the terms. It can change the terms at any time, and you have no recourse to alter them yourself.
A loan designed so most people never clear it, but pay for it anyway. Not because they failed, but because that’s how it was built.
This is the system successive British governments have built. In this episode of The News Agents, we examine the relations of our student loan system and ask how can it be that the UK government has built a system that you might say would make a loan shark blush?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

The Winter Olympics are here! What sport are we all going to pretend to be an expert at? Curling maybe? Today Gabby and Mark are joined by one of Great Britain’s biggest medal hopes, freestyle skier Kirsty Muir.
She started skiing at 3 years old on the dry slopes of Scotland - imagine the carpet burn doing flips on that surface! Her nan can’t even watch when she does the huge tricks. This year she’s already won gold at the X Games and her third World Cup title. So can she win gold in Italy?
Plus, we catch you up on the best bits from The Sports Agents this week, from Carlos Alcaraz's historic victory in Australia, to Gabby being pranked by Roger Federer at Wimbledon, and a big look at the Super Bowl this weekend.
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Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Producer: Sophie Penney
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Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
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Keir Starmer apologised this morning for appointing Peter Mandelson as Britain's ambassador to the US. He said he should never have believed "the lies" of Mandelson.
He says he understands the "anger and frustration" of Labour MPs. But is he in a position to win back the support of his own party? How close is he to the brink? And - if Mandelson's relationship with Epstein was widely known at the time of his appointment - what is the PM actually apologising for?
One of those concerned Labour MPs, Brian Leishman, tells us that Starmer's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney needs to leave Downing Street, and serious changes need to take place if Starmer is to stay on as Prime Minister.
Later, Emily discusses the infamous Andrew Mountbatten Windsor photo with Virginia Giuffre. It was real after all and the former Prince lied to her when he said he'd never seen it. So what next for Andrew?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Keir Starmer says Peter Mandelson "lied repeatedly" about the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and said that he regrets appointing the Labour Peer as US ambassador in 2024. But with the relationship between the men well known, questions about the Prime Minister's political judgement are looming. Could this be the moment that brings down the Prime Minister?
Later, Sir Brian Leveson on why the courts system faces potential collapse without major reform - and the calls to resurrect his investigations into phone hacking and the media.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Things are moving at quite a pace these days, but at the time of writing Peter Mandelson has relinquished his peerage and the Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Office to hand over Mandelson's emails to the police. The Republican campaign group has also called on the police to investigate Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Will any of this lead anywhere? Or is it all just noise? And why have the Clinton’s now decided to testify before Congress on what they knew about Jefrey Epstein?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/