Whisper it quietly, peace in the Middle East?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of his Gaza peace plan. During an extraordinary round table on the Antifa organisation last night, the US President was interrupted by Marco Rubio and given a hand-written message. He told those assembled at the White House: ‘I was just given a note by the Secretary of State saying that we’re very close to a deal in the Middle East, and they’ll need me pretty quickly.’ Details of the deal, including the finalised list of prisoners Hamas wants freed as part of an exchange, remain unclear. But the first part of the deal could be set in motion as soon as today once the Israeli government approves the plan at around 2 p.m. local time. Is he heading for a Nobel Peace Prize?

Meanwhile, Starmer is in Mumbai, researching India’s digital ID system as a potential model for the UK. The Prime Minister said India’s scheme, which has been rolled out to almost all 1.4 billion citizens over the past 15 years, had been a ‘massive success’.

Lucy Dunn speaks to Tim Shipman and Michael Stephens, senior fellow at RUSI.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Isabel Hardman, and on the 16th of October at the Emanuel Centre in Westminster,
0:05.3	I'll be interviewing Charles Moore as part of the Spectator's speaker series.
0:09.5	Charles's new authorised biography of Margaret Thatcher marks the 100-year anniversary of her birth,
0:15.3	and he has been given incredible access to her private papers to construct a definitive portrait of Thatcher.
0:22.2	We will be discussing her enduring legacy and draw parallels between her premiership and today's
0:27.6	fractured conservatism. That's at 7pm on the 16th of October at the Emanuel Center in Westminster.
0:34.2	And for tickets, go to spectator.com.uk forward slash more. See you there.
0:44.3	Hello and welcome to Coffeehouse Shots. I'm Lousie Dunn and today I'm joined by Tim Shipman
0:52.5	and Michael Stevens, senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.
0:56.6	The news today is that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire deal in Gaza after two years of war.
1:02.4	The moment that Donald Trump was informed has been captured on camera after Secretary of State, Marco Rubio interrupted a roundtable to inform the president that he could post and truth social, we can listen to a clip
1:12.6	of that now.
1:15.6	I'm just given
1:16.6	a note by
1:20.6	the Secretary of State saying
1:22.6	that we're very close to a deal in the Middle East
1:24.5	and they'll get a need me
1:26.3	pretty quickly, so I will get a need me pretty quickly.
1:28.1	So I will take a couple of more questions.
1:33.9	Tim, what are the details of this deal and how did we get here?
1:37.4	Well, I think that image, for starters, is very reminiscent for those of us that are old
1:42.3	and half of the moment Andy Card whispered in George W.
	...

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