Ken Clarke is perhaps the archetypal political Big Beast. Elected to parliament 55 years ago, he held cabinet roles under Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron - tipped many times for No 10, and yet never quite hardline enough on Europe to convince his Tory peers that he should be their leader.

Ahead of what looks certain to be an existential Budget for Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer, Lewis went to Lord Clarke's Nottingham home - to discuss the hard choices ahead, the future of this Government, Brexit, populism, and much else besides

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal -> https://nordvpn.com/thenewsagents Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Only three days after launching, Sky had to take down its TikTok channel for female sports fans. Branded as the "lil-sis" of Sky Sports, it was complete with pink hearts and Barbies.

But were they on to something? How do we get more young women hooked on sport? The person who figures that out has hit a goldmine.

To try to strike gold, Gabby chats to Chris Paouros, Vice-Chair of the Football Supporters Association, and Ceylon Andi Hickman, Deputy Chief Executive of Football Beyond Borders.

Plus we look back at this week on The Sports Agents, from illegal streaming wars to The Ashes.

📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7

💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod

📱Follow us on socials:

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/

X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod

📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill

Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".

👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

The Prime Minister has called on Nigel Farage to explain the reports of racist comments the reform leader allegedly made as a school boy. Farage has denied making the comments and called the allegations “without foundation“.

The Guardian reported this week that he had picked on Jewish boys at Dulwich college when he was there at school and had sung offensive racist songs.

Much of their reporting had been aired a decade earlier by Michael Crick - broadcaster and Farage biographer. We invited him onto the Newsagents studio to ask if he thought Farage was racist then, and now?

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal -> https://nordvpn.com/thenewsagents Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Backbench Labour MP Clive Lewis took to a TV studio to offer up his own Norwich seat to allow Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham a path back into Parliament and m ake a bid for No 10. He said his party felt "in checkmate" and that it was time to put "country before party, party before personal ambition".

Is a change of leadership now a “when not if “question? Is Lewis a lone wolf? Or are the vultures now circling? Has the Labour Party started to imagine life beyond Starmer?

Later, what is the corruption scandal now engulfing Ukraine - and can Zelenskyy survive it? His moves to curb the powers of the anti-corruption agency have worried EU powers. Where does the hundred million dollar scandal leave the war effort against Russia?

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal -> https://nordvpn.com/thenewsagents Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Parliament is not usually the place where you hear racist language. But yesterday, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood repeated a racist slur that she has often been subjected to. Was she right to use this language to illustrate her point? And was she using it to justify her latest asylum policies?

Later, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi joins us to talk about the Epstein files and the mounting pressure on President Trump.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal -> https://nordvpn.com/thenewsagents Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

The Home Secretary is putting her new hardline immigration plans before parliament - saying if Labour doesn’t do something drastic then worse will come. The new policy includes returning asylum seekers to their home country once it’s deemed safe. And quadrupling the amount of time they will have to spend in the UK before earning indefinite leave to remain.

Some Labour MPs are already queuing up to call it "performative cruelty" and unworkable - but she’s found a fan in one Tommy Robinson who hailed the shifting of the Overton window in an unlikely weekend Tweet. Will that cheering send shivers down the spines of Labour MPs? And is the policy workable? Jon and Emily speak to the senior backbencher Stella Creasy about her concerns.

Later, Trump has had a change of heart on releasing those potentially incriminating Epstein files - why?!

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal -> https://nordvpn.com/thenewsagents Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

It’s been a chaotic week for Labour, with rumours of internal plots, Downing Street briefing wars, and Budget u-turns.

As questions swirl around Keir Starmer’s leadership, and with Rachel Reeves facing mounting pressure to steady the party’s economic footing, Labour’s internal tensions are threatening to boil over.

This Friday, Lord Blunkett joins Jon in the studio to dissect what is going on inside Labour, how Starmer might get a handle on the situation, and save his premiership.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal -> https://nordvpn.com/thenewsagents Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee

Never write off a born racer: Sir Mark Cavendish had won 30 stages of the world's biggest cycling race, The Tour de France (even winning one makes a riders career) but he'd been out of the game for 5 years - so no one would give him a job. What happened next was one of the biggest comebacks of all time to put him among the sporting greats.

Sir Mark Cavendish joins us on today's show - how did it feel to be written off? Was it fair to call him a “dickhead” as a racer? And after childhood success in ballroom dancing - is Strictly next?

Plus the best bits from The Sports Agents this week - is ChatGPT running your team? And why risk staging Eubank v Benn 2?

📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7

💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod

📱Follow us on socials:

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/

X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod

📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill

Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".

👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents