Between the 12th March and the 16th March, the government advice to the public about Coronavirus changed swiftly and dramatically. What happened during those 4 days to prompt that change? This week, Tom speaks to Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of war studies at Kings College London, who has been looking at the minutes of the government advisory groups during those crucial days. You can read his article in the New Statesman here https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/04/real-reason-uk-government-pursued-herd-immunity-and-why-it-was-abandoned

Rule Britannia

The 4 Days That Changed Britain

The divide in responses to and the extent of the damage wrought by covid 19 is becoming much starker. As we know, direct country to country comparisons do not take into account demography, geography or the original scale of the outbreak. One thing though that is clear is that it is the nation state, not many global multilateral fora that are deciding responses. Arguably, coronavirus hastens the challenge already posed to those institutions, like the UN. Challenges of democratic consent and of efficacy. The United Nations hasn’t yet been able to even declare coronavirus a threat to global peace and security. This week, Tom talks to Samantha Power, who served as US ambassador to the UN and led the global response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

What is the United Nations responsibility during the Coronavirus crisis?

Can the UK find solutions by looking abroad? Was Britain too slow compared to how others responded to the developing Coronavirus crisis? Much of the world is now looking at one small island, Taiwan, with a population of 24 million, they have only had 427 cases so far, and 6 deaths due to Covid-19. They acted very early to the developing crisis. This week, Tom speaks to Taiwan's representative in the UK, David Yung-Lo Lin.

How did Taiwan get their Covid-19 response so right?

If the facts around coronavirus and the way it’s affecting all of us were bad enough... wait to you hear the conspiracy theory nonsense. Over the past few weeks, misinformation and conspiracy has gained traction in the mainstream, with real-world consequences. This week, Tom speaks to Professor Karen Douglas, Professor of social psychology at the university of Kent who studies the psychology of conspiracy theories, and Josh Rogin, columnist for the Washington Post who has investigated the truth behind the conspiracy that Covid-19 didn't originate in the wet markets but escaped out of the Wuhan institute of Virology... Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

The conspiracy theory gaining momentum

Polling shows attitudes towards China are hardening, the Japanese are shifting production out of China, and the US are flirting with cutting funding to the World Health Organisation. Equipment sent from China for testing has been sent back as faulty. Is the relationship between nations breaking down? Was Britain prepared? Were we prepared in the right way? How do we make ourselves more resilient in the future? This week, Tom speaks to Elizabeth Braw, Head of modern deterrence at the Royal United Services institute. Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

Is this a China crisis?

The Foreign Office launches the biggest repatriation of Brits in peacetime. 3/4s of a million stranded and told to get home. What’s it like trying to coordinate an effort like that inside Govenrment and is the foreign office, the longest arm of the British state, up to the job? Joining Tom this week is Alistair Burt, former foreign office minister responsible for the Middle East when the Arab spring broke out. Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

How do you bring everyone home?

We are living through a generation-defining event - a moment of national emergency. How Britain responds to the coronavirus is critical to its future: economic, political, social, well-being. But this outbreak isn’t the first pandemic, and won’t be the last. What seems clear from the history of pandemics, is that nowhere is the same again after one of these. Economies, societies, reel from the shock and then change forever afterwards. What can the history of pandemics tell us about how Britain should react and how it’s going to change? How might our society, economy, politics, priorities, values, change? How alive was the U.K. to the probability of a catastrophic event like this? How ready, or not, were we? And how will Briton’s relationship and understanding of the role of the State change too? Joining Tom this week; Dr Liam Fox, former Defence Secretary, International Trade Secretary and GP who is writing a book on the history of pandemics. Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

Has Coronavirus changed Britain forever?

Join LBC's Tom Swarbrick as he interviews leading experts, politicians and industry influencers to gather a weekly round up of the most important world news and hidden topics that you won't have heard about. Find out just what goes on behind closed doors and how today's decisions will affect Britain's future. Subscribe on Global player or wherever you get your podcasts, now!

Global Pandemic: the impact on the UK of coronavirus

As tens of thousands of displaced people make their way to the Greek border, is Europe experiencing the beginnings of the “Migrant Crisis” 2.0? Erdogan and Putin meet in an attempt to resolve the seemingly intractable problems in Syria which have resulted in the mass movement of at least a million people from Idlib Province. Tom also discusses the Afghanistan Peace deal which looks like it’s over before it started and the British troop deployment in Mali. This week, Tom is joined by the chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times, Gideon Rachman. Tom is also joined by the UN World Food Programme’s Chief Economist Dr Arif Hussein who shows not only that chronic hunger across the world is rising but that food insecurity is driving population movements and contributing to conflicts across the world. What should the world, and Britain, be doing to reach the UN goal of eliminating hunger by 2030? Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

The new 'Migrant crisis' heading towards Europe

Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

China's decade: Is the emerging-superpower a force for good, or a World menace?

This week Tom has an exclusive interview with one of the founders of the Gilets Jaunes protest movement, Priscillia Ludosky. The story of the “Yellow Vests” is one of violence and protest, police brutality and a restlessness, among some, with democratic processes. Priscillia tells Tom about how the movement started, whether she takes responsibility for the violence, injuries and death and how the “Giles Jaunes” inspire other groups around the world. We talk about Brexit, Frexit and the future of western liberal democracy. Tom is also joined by James Rogers, Director of the Global Britain programme at the Henry Jackson Society. They discuss Chinese interference in British universities, the recent reshuffle, the foreign-policy review, Idlib and the latest technology wizzing around in the skies above us.

Under the Gilets Jaunes: How an online petition started a civil movement.

As the Prime Minister reshuffles his Cabinet team, what effect will this have on the UK's foreign and defence aims? The billions-strong swarms of locusts now threatening a humanitarian catastrophe in Africa. And as leaders gather for the Munich Security Conference, Tom discusses an emerging threat to Europe - the reliance on Russia for much of the continent's supply of gas. Why Should the UK be opposing Germany in forming this alliance? Tom is joined by the Defence Editor of the Times, Lucy Fisher and by the newly-elected chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Tom Tugendhat. Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

How Russia is using a pipeline to divide Europe and influence the World

Another terror attack on the streets of London. Another knife-wielding terrorist, recently released from prison, shot dead in broad daylight by armed police. The Government making changes to the law to stop the automatic early release of terror convicts from prison. But that is only half the story. How to change the views of those motivated to carry out these terrorist atrocities? Is it a hopeless task? This week, Tom speaks to an imam who believed so much in the Islamist ideology, that he fought across the world, funded terror groups and was at the forefront of recruiting new extremists in the UK. How was he able to disengage and deradicalise? And what more needs to be done in the UK to counter this ideology? Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

Terror on the streets of London; what can be done?

This week: As the U.K. leaves the European Union, Tom interviews Jeremy Hunt who could have been the Prime Minister to have taken the U.K. out and, as Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary, spent many years around the Cabinet table debating the best way forward for Britain. What will post-Brexit Britain do on the world stage? Will Britain’s ability to influence others diminish once outside of the EU? And what was Donald Trump really like in private? Tom also speaks to CNN anchor Bianca Nobilo who discusses the Coronavirus outbreak, the UK’s decision on Huawei and Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan” Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now to Rule Britannia on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

Global Health Emergency: As Coronavirus spreads, Jeremy Hunt gives Britain's response.

This week: - With the world's countries poised to defend themselves against a threatening pandemic, what can be done to control the coronavirus, and what is China's role in controlling the situation. - In a bizarre turn, the Saudi Arabian crown prince is accused of being behind the recent hack of billionaire Jeff Bezo's iPhone. - And spies and spin, how a failed attempt to kill two former Russian spies let to the death of an innocent women and a campaign of misinformation. Join LBC's Tom Swarbrick for this episode of Rule Britannia, an in depth exploration of week's events and the news that didn't make the headlines. Tom interviews Elisabeth Braw, Senior Research Fellow of the Modern Deterrence Project at the Royal United Services Institute to find out, among other things, what can be done about the recent coronavirus pandemic, and the role China and the world play in controlling the disease. And in an exclusive interview with Tom McTague, Staff Writer for The Atlantic, Tom discovers what happened in Salisbury in March 2018, how connects to a massive Russian campaign of disinformation and just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Rule Britannia discovers Britains place in a fast changing world. Listen and subscribe now on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/tom-swarbrick/ Twitter @TomSwarbrick1

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Rule Britannia

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