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Planet NormalAuthor: The Telegraph
The podcast that speaks your language. News and views from beyond the bubble with Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, every Thursday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Language: en Genres: News, News Commentary, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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UK Meningitis outbreak and Starmer’s abortion policy shame
Wednesday, 18 March, 2026
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 ‘descriminalise’ 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.
