The Spectator Podcast: the pains of Brexit and the joys of gaming

It was Harold Wilson who said that a week is a long time in politics. How true that is for the times we are living in now. This time last week, The Spectator spoke to Gavin Shuker MP, the ringleader of the newly-formed Independent Group, about the plotting that happened behind the scenes and the ambitions of the independent MPs for their new project (you can listen to it here). A few days after recording, Jeremy Corbyn finally – though reluctantly – embraced a second referendum, to prevent more Labour MPs jumping ship. On the same day, Theresa May was forced into a new Brexit position of her own – to allow MPs a vote on extending Article 50. Knowing parliamentary arithmetic as we do, this is essentially a green light to extend Article 50 if the next meaningful vote does not pass. James Forsyth writes about the leaders’ new positions in this week’s cover piece, and explains how both have been dragged into them by their parties.