The Briefing Room

This month retired people saw their state pensions rise by 4.8 per cent. That’s comfortably above the current inflation rate and means that some pensioners have increases this year of as much as £575. That’s because of the Triple Lock guarantee which is a formula set 15 years ago and which some economists say is costing the government too much and should be scrapped. But it’s meant that the state pension has risen over recent years, pensioner poverty is far less of a problem and not surprisingly it’s popular with voters. David Aaronovitch asks what exactly is the triple lock, can we still afford it and is there an alternative?
Guests
Carl Emmerson, Partner at London Economics
Sophie Hale, Research Director, Resolution Foundation
Steve Webb, Partner at LCP and former Pensions Minister in Coalition Government
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight, Sally Abrahams
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar and Dave O'Neill
Editor: Richard Vadon

If you sail 90 miles from Key West in Florida you’ll make landfall on the island of Cuba, run by a regime that America has never liked. And since this is the year of bombs, drones and talk of regime change, the island has not escaped close attention.
Donald Trump has talked about taking Cuba but could he? Would he? And And what would that even mean for Cubans and Americans?
Step into the Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill

The world’s attention is currently fixed on the US-Israel war with Iran and the effect it’s having on the Gulf region and global energy prices. But it was only six months ago that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was agreed and President Trump launched his 20-point peace plan. Since then we’ve heard little about progress beyond the return of Israeli hostages - the first phase of the plan. David Aaronovitch and his guests discuss what's happening to the citizens of Gaza and what has to happen next if the peace plan is to be followed through.
Guests:
Rushdi Abu Alouf, BBC Gaza Correspondent
Anshel Pfeffer, Israel Correspondent, The Economist
Tahani Mustafa, Lecturer in International Relations, Deptartment of War Studies, King's College, London
Aaron David Miller, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineers: James Beard and Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon

It's a tough time for any young person looking for a job at the moment. While overall unemployment is running at just over 5 percent, there’s particular concern about a large group of 16 to 24 year olds - almost a million of them (12.8%) who are not in employment, education or training. And that includes recent graduates in that age bracket. They’re known as NEETS. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss why they're in this situation - is it down to the state of the economy, their own ability to work or that ever present fear - AI?
Guests:
Jack Kennedy, Senior Economist, Indeed Hiring Lab
Lindsay Judge, Research Director, The Resolution Foundation
Xiaowei Xu, Senior Research Economist, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
John Burn-Murdoch, Chief Data Reporter, The Financial Times
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon

As contemporary hi-tech wars rage - Russia and Ukraine and the US-Israel war with Iran - The Briefing Room takes a hard look at the UK's armed forces. After telling his allies - including the UK - that he didn’t need them, President Trump called for them to help him open up the Strait of Hormuz, which has raised not just the question of should we, but could the UK do this? David Aaronovitch asks when it comes to big military operations what have we got? In this dangerous 21st century what do we need? Can we get it? And what about closer co-operation with other European countries?
Guests:
General Sir Richard Barrons, Senior Consulting fellow with the International Security Programme, Chatham House.
Dr Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow, Royal United Services Institute
Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor, The Economist
Ruth Harris, Executive Director for National Security and Data Science, RAND Europe
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill and James Beard
Editor Richard Vadon