Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to the show. Wow, we have a big big show today. There's a lot going on. It's not cheery to be honest with you, but we are in the worst darkest timeline. So we can only discuss the material we have, which is generally speaking pretty bleak.

Now, later in the program, we're going to be talking about something which is exceptionally important, and it's exceptionally important for a number of reasons. It's a scandal involving the BBC. We're all tax license pairs, of course. It's our national broadcaster. It's supposed to be something as a nation we're proud of and it's journalism is supposed to be rigorous and impartial. There's big question marks over that full stop.

But they published an article which we picked up big issue against trans people and since there have been some shocking developments. Now, we're going to be talking about that later in the program. What it says about the continued escalating campaign against one of the most marginalized minorities in the country.

And what it says about the state of the BBC and its journalism, including some behind the scenes stuff, we have having spoken to people out the BBC. We're also talking of course about COP26. Is it a green wash or is it a step forward for a human civilization, which faces a pretty terrible and terrifying existential melis because of a climate emergency.

But first, we're talking about our government, our overtly corrupts government. And this is obviously in the aftermath of the Ohren Patterson lobbying row. Now, I'm going to bring it actually a clip shortly because I think this clip just sums up what what the scandal is about.

I suppose one of the dangerous things about this scandal is it has already for a long time that sense of does one rule for some powerful people, the people running the country and another set rules for everybody else.

I think people have generally accepted that as something they almost take as red a fact of life like rain on a bank holiday.

But it is so corrosive to democracy because it breeds a sense of cynicism and people disengaged from the political process as a result, which perverse enough actually helps destroy accountability for those politicians responsible for this behavior.

But it's also about the fact that a government tried to change the rules to protect one of their own the sort of behavior you might expect, frankly, in, for example, Hungary, a country which also rules by center right party which radicalized in power and use culture was to attack and undermine democracy, civil society and its opponents.

We're not hungry yet, but in darker moments, I worry that's the way we're going. Now, before I bring in our first guest, the brilliant investigative journalist Peter Gagan.

We've got a clip from me in his lot just for those who aren't maybe up to speed with this scandal and this was on having only seen it. It's just a good pricey, it's a good summary of the scandal. So let's see what he said.

Government to cover up the misdeeds of one of their own Tory MPs and to undermine democracy, transparency and accountability and they failed due to the fact that it was so bloody blatant that even they didn't get away with it.

So there's a man called Owen Passen who was paid 100,000 a year to lobby on behalf of two companies. He did the commissioner for standards looked into him, found he was guilty, said, you did it.

He said, I didn't do it. It wasn't me. I haven't had a chance to plead my case. He had. It's absolutely unbelievably clear cut. And then all his Tory mates started a campaign and the Prime Minister said, oh, right, we're changing the entire system now.

He was going to be suspended for 30 days. They said, no, he's not. And all the Tory MPs voted it through. I mean, they should all be ashamed of themselves. It's absolutely disgraceful. I mean, a few others, Peter Bottomley and a few other Tory MPs didn't.

But basically they say, if you criticize us, we're going to change the system. I mean, it was really quite shocking. I think because the Parliamentary Commissioners for Standards had looked into the Prime Minister's free holiday and mystique.

So I think it might have been an act of revenge. I can't prove that, but I'm going to say it anyway.

It's a good summary. It's a good succinct pithy summary of the scandal. Now we're going to talk about that in detail. Before I do usual housekeeping, please do click through on YouTube.

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You can also support the show and put questions, I guess, using super chat on YouTube. I will thank everybody individually at the end, as always.

And finally, our documentary, and I keep saying this, our documentary on the wall of property developers against working class communities is out next week. I'm finally finishing the script and it's all been put together. So that's very exciting.

I did that possible. The team on Union wages. That's on page into calm.

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