<p>Why did Prime Minister Keir Starmer decide to defend himself and the Chancellor over last week’s budget? Rightwing activist and regular GB News contributor Lucy White claimed Commons deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani should not be allowed in the house because she was born in Pakistan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon in his corruption cases.</p><br><p>Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Whitehall editor, Cat Neilan, senior researcher, Serena Cesareo, and producer Poppy Bullard, as they battle it out to pitch the top stories of the day. </p><br><p>Find the team’s Must Reads:</p><ul><li><a href="https://observer.co.uk/data/global-ai" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Observer’s Global AI Index</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: </strong><a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>[email protected]</strong></a><strong> </strong></p><br><p>Follow us on Social Media: </p><ul><li>@ObserverUK on X </li><li>@theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok</li><li>@theobserveruk.bsky.social on bluesky </li></ul><p><br></p><p>Host: Giles Whittell</p><br><p>Producer: Amalie Sortland</p><br><p>Executive Producers: Rebecca Moore & Gary Marshall</p><br><p><strong>To find out more about The Observer:</strong></p><br><p>Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content</p><p>Head to our website <a href="http://observer.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">observer.co.uk</a> </p><p>Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
