Planet Normal

Anti-semitism is clearly out of control in the UK

You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z53vu3azxZsIn this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, your co-pilots of sanity Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, address the rise of antisemitic attacks in Britain, including the chilling firebombing of Jewish charity ambulances in North London. Alison shares her continuing case against Essex’s police and crime commissioner, as well as the county’s police force over a post on X, which has since been deleted, which led officers to investigate her for a potential offence of ‘inciting racial hatred’.Liam is dismayed at the cognitive dissonance in government promising an ‘AI revolution’ while the national grid remains unfit for purpose, warning that the government’s green activists are threatening the very data centers needed for the technological future they claim to champion.Returning stowaway is former adviser to then-Chancellor George Osborne, Helen Thomas, CEO of Blonde Money who tells your co-pilots why Labour is signing its own death warrant…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 ‘If Nadiya Hussain thinks she’s suffered from BBC discrimination, she should try being a white man’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/18/nadiya-hussain-bbc-discrimination/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read ‘Allison Pearson sues police chief over social media investigation’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/24/allison-pearson-sues-essex-police-chief-social-media/ |Read Liam ‘Artificial intelligence won’t solve Britain’s looming fiscal crisis’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/22/artificial-intelligence-wont-solve-looming-fiscal-crisis/ | 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.

UK Meningitis outbreak and Starmer’s abortion policy shame

You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QVXFsa07RpoIn this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan examine a growing sense of national insecurity as Britain faces a perfect storm of energy, military, and financial fragility, and the unfolding meningitis outbreak.With oil climbing back above $100 a barrel and the Strait of Hormuz remaining shut, Liam argues that it is time for the government to junk the ‘Net Zero virtue signalling’ and urgently greenlight drilling in the North Sea. Allison discusses her recent column on a controversial clause in the Crime and Policing Bill that would effectively ‘decriminalise’ abortion up to birth. Labelling the move ‘legalised infantcide’ she and Liam explore the ethical implication of late-term viability, drawing on Allison’s moving personal experiences and her observations from a neonatal ICU. The duo are joined in the rocket by Linden Kemkaran, the Reform UK leader of Kent County Council. Representing the ‘border county’ at the forefront of the small boats crisis, she discusses her decision to declare an ‘illegal migration emergency’ and her demand for the government to provide full funding for the local impact of arrivals. 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 ‘Britain is about to make a sickening change to the abortion law’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/17/britain-sickening-change-to-abortion-law/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘Labour needs to be grown-up about the North Sea’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/15/labour-needs-to-be-grown-up-about-the-north-sea/ | 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.

The Iran war lays bare the betrayal of Britain’s energy security

You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uRceQCyRYIUIt’s markets this, oil prices that, and what will happen next, so your co-pilots are blasting in to make sense of the tsunami of news flooding across the globe from the Middle East and the war with Iran.Allison points to the shame of all governments for not protecting British interests and defence strategy has left us woefully unprepared for any disruption to energy supplies. And as the news is pointing away from the UK Allison has spied Labour still pressing ahead with a definition of Islamophobia and potentially curbing Free Speech in the process.Liam looks at the economic fallout as the Strait of Hormuz continues to be closed and Iran attacks cargo ships, and brings on board journalist and energy market expert Andrew Critchlow to discuss the UK’s energy security and strategy.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 BBC is not living up to the ‘British’ part of its name’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/11/bbc-boat-race-cancellation-crufts/ |Read Allison ‘Starmer is pandering to Islamist extremists to save his own skin https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/10/keir-starmer-islamism-concerns-hannah-spencer/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘Britain needs economic security – and a sovereign wealth fund’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/08/britain-needs-economic-security-sovereign-wealth-fund/ | 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.

Iran, Trump and running scared Starmer

You can watch this episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/KQ1dUe4FxZ0As conflict with Iran hots up across the Middle East, your co-pilot blast in to make sense of the madness.Strapping into the rocket is Dr Alan Mendoza, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Henry Jackson Society to give his expertise on the conflict and how the ‘special relationship’ is faring as the PM holds back on British intervention.Allison thinks delays to assisting US forces has left the UK as ‘billy no mates’ should we need military help in the future.Liam looks at the economic fallout as the Strait of Hormuz is closed and this could send the cost of living soaring again for the British people.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 ‘Rachel Reeves’s Freudian slip betrayed the truth about this Government’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/04/rachel-reeves-freudian-slip/ |Read Allison ‘Trump is right. Starmer has humiliated the land of Churchill’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/03/starmers-cowardice-over-iran-shames-britain/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘The tide is turning on ludicrous net zero policies’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/01/rumours-of-oils-demise-have-been-greatly-exaggerated/ |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.

Planet Normal: Live, with Lionel Shriver and Suella Braverman

You can watch this recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lFRwaTYK-mMYour co-pilots have braved the atmosphere of planet Earth as the rocket touches down at the Emmanuel Centre in London for a live recording of Planet Normal! To mark the occasion, your co-pilots are joined by two of the most fearless voices to navigate a country they fear is currently on an ‘economic cliff edge’. The first revered stowaway on the rocket today is Lionel Shriver: The celebrated satirical novelist discusses her provocative new book, A Better Life. She pulls no punches while exploring the naivete of the progressive left and the ruthlessness often overlooked in the immigration debate. Also strapping in for lift-off is Suella Braverman KC MP in her first appearance since her high-profile defection to Reform UK. She reveals the ‘list of great betrayals’ she witnessed at the heart of government and explains why she believes the Conservative Party has abandoned the principles of Margaret Thatcher. 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 ‘No ‘spares’, no climate preaching: My plan to save the monarchy’:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/24/my-plan-to-save-the-monarchy/ |Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘Reform needs to convince global markets it can govern’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/02/22/reform-needs-to-convince-global-markets-it-can-govern/ | 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.