World at One - 08/08/2025 - BBC Sounds News, analysis and comment from BBC Radio 4

My thoughts here (15 mins in) on the latest Israeli escalation It’s a disaster, which will bring further deaths and misery. It shows Bibi has no plan to end the war. The idea he can at some point just decide to hand the running of Gaza to an Arab state is a fantasy. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Spent day at #chartwell Incredible history and everyone at National Trust at the top of their game handling constant flow of visitors UK at it’s best

During a gaggle on Air Force One tonight, I asked Donald Trump about British PM Keir Starmer. He said he was “a very good person” and he’d done “a very good job so far.” Adds that they are going to have a phone conversation in the next 24 hours.

Hungary wobbles on sanctions threat after Trump calls out Putin Viktor Orbán has flirted with killing the EU’s Russia sanctions. But he didn’t get the ally he might have expected in Donald Trump.

You never know where trying to be Trump’s best friend will lead you.

So #PMQs and Badenoch will almost certainly go on knife crime

Voted down narrowly Big decision as Saga man Roger De Haan has poured millions into transforming Folkestone

Compare Keir Starmer addressing the nation this morning respecting the rule of law and what’s going on elsewhere

Southern Water to be rightly grilled by MPs today re unacceptable price rises and performance

Journalist, "How confident are you that you can keep the ceasefire in Gaza?"

Donald Trump, "I'm not confident. It's not our war it's their war"

"Gaza is like a massive demolition site"

"Gaza is a phenomenal location, on the sea, the best weather, everything's good"

Donald Trump assumes office with promise to be the very bestest best God spared him to make America great again. Rejoice oilmen and climate change deniers, but immigrants watch out

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Brilliant ….

One distressing part of the sudden change of plea was the bereaved families were not present The judge apologised They were expected to attend start of trial tomorrow

Nothing like a newsroom when someone expected to plead not guilty changes plea and all those background pieces you’ve hopefully prepared for later can be brought forward! #southport

One twist on this is that Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney is married to Imogen Walker the PPS for Reeves at the Treasury

Our latest for @nytimes.com … Americans support a lot of the policies Trump will announce tomorrow …but are pretty mixed on whether he will help with cost of living (they may be right…. )

After America, France has the highest share of women on active duty in the armed forces. I found this chart in a recent piece by my colleague @shashj.bsky.social fascinating. Each time I travel with the 🇫🇷 armed forces, I am struck by how many women there are in uniform

Quite agree. Civil servants will only speak truth to power if power keeps confidences private.

UK Treasury’s cost-saving unit is ‘poorly defined with a vague remit’, say MPs Committee demands transparency on costs and delivery of the new Office for Value for Money

a Treasury select committee report has questioned whether the UK government’s new Office for Value for Money represents good value for money for taxpayers

www.ft.com/content/577e...

BREAKING Axel Rudakubana has pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court to all the charges he faced - murdering three girls in the Southport knife attack, ten attempted murders, possession of a weapon, production of ricin and a terrorism document.

Labour's tax plans trigger exodus of millionaires Huge rise in rich quitting UK since election Get back to the office or you're fired! Alan Sugar on WFH Weekend INSIDE TODAY Fake tan, bare legs and heels Team Trump style is back Magazine Cool Canaries 25 best places to book foi January sun Denis Law 1940-2025 Sport Andrew Elson Consumer Altairs Correspondent general election was called. Since that moment one milbionaire has left Britain Tom Saunders A recond number of millionaires sour's tax plans are culing the coonomy The Treasury is facing calls to reven cradulown non-Comicked residents as the scale of the exodus becomes dear Tax advisers also report that growing beading for the exit after the tax rises announoed in the auturn budest. In total, Beitain lost a net 10800 milionaires last year, a 157 per cont ncrease on 2023 more wealthy resi Jents than any other country except *TH 2021 Fil Revenue & Customs said there were 74,000 non-doms in the witho £30000 annual fee to leep offshore income and gains Labour will abolish this centuries-old regime, replacing it with a less ger residence-based system that will also subect current non-doms overseus assets to UK inheritance tax (IHT) for the first time, A survey of more than 700 non doms or their tax advisers Oxford Economics nearly teamere forning tokened Kor considering doing so because of the changes. Most said the principal motivation was the introduction of IHT on Chit the cuat buniter that moncu out is even higher because the net egure takes into account the million. aires who arnwed in the OX mainly Emirates, was especially large among the UKy richest E100 million es thore that least leaving last year. talbonaire • figures, compded ty New Workd Wealth a cloce analytics tirm. thow that the evodus accelerated after the with any other jurisdictions not levying the tax at all or having more generous reliefs bilty (OBR) estimates that between 12 and 25 per cent of son-doms will go. If icant impact on the cconomy but…

you have to ask - again - whether they understand that 10,000 is a barely significant rounding error in a country with 3 million millionaires

UK should seek new customs union with EU, Lib Dems to say Leader Ed Davey to call for talks to begin immediately, urging ministers to be ‘far more positive, far more ambitious’

At last someone said it out loud www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

So #PMQs Inflation down Minister who didn’t break ministerial code gone Over to you Kemi

Funny how Farage - and indeed most of the Brexiteers - don’t want to talk about Brexit any more

Hundreds of Mexican firefighters have arrived in Southern California to help combat the wildfires.

Thank you, Mexico🇺🇸🇲🇽

New Permanent Under-Secretary Appointed at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Sir Oliver (Olly) Robbins has been appointed as the new Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Olly Robbins is one of the most talented civil servants of his generation, with a wide experience across Whitehall. He’s not a career diplomat, but has worked closely with the Foreign Office incl as my Deputy National Security Adviser. He’s got strong credentials and I’m sure will do a great job!

Festive surprise Patrick Stewart as Dickens Scrooge An ultimate festive message classily done Yes know it’s over 25 years old #5HD

You put up with endless podcasts but when #5live newsreader says at 5 am it’s 5 past 11 No a recorded step too far!

in France, companies are not allowed to donate to parties or candidates, while individuals are allowed to give a maximum of €7,500 per year

in Finland, no single donor can give more than €30,000 per year, according to Transparency International

www.ft.com/content/e668...

Even now desperate searches going on re what Badenoch has said re #waspi Her views hampered Tories on #winterfuel #pmqs

NEW Sir Brian Leveson says he’ll look at ways to divert cases from the criminal courts as part of “radical” steps to tackle the backlog “crisis” which he says is “unsustainable”.

He was speaking on the Today programme in his first interview since his courts review was launched…