Rwanda, Rochdale and the Middle East - the Podcast of Ideas returns

Was the Rwanda Bill doomed to fail? Why has it taken 20 years for the Rochdale children to get justice? And why are they cheering the Houthis in New York?

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The Rwanda Bill passed comfortably despite promises of a Tory rebellion. But with or without amendments from hardliners, many people on both sides of the immigration debate have long seen Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme as a failure.

Blink and you’ll miss it - but a damning report on the handling of grooming gangs in Rochdale was released this week, to little media attention. The review into Operation Span revealed failures in Greater Manchester Police, who did not act on accusations of organised child sexual exploitation, and ‘local authority indifference to the plight of hundreds of youngsters identified as potential victims of Asian men’.

And in the Middle East, tensions continue to rise as pressure mounts on Israel to cease its attacks on Gaza - while Israeli hostages are still missing, 106 days after the 7 October pogrom. British military experts justify the strikes on the Houthis as nothing to do with the conflict in Israel and Gaza, and simply an exercise in protecting global shipping. But with Islamist sentiments gaining solidarity from Yemen to the streets of New York, are we facing a clash of civilisations?

The Academy of Ideas team came together to discuss all of this on the Podcast of Ideas, with a new promise to create monthly updates on all the big issues of our time. This week, we’re joined by: Alastair Donald, co-convenor of the battle of Ideas festival; Claire Fox, director of the Academy of Ideas; Geoff Kidder, director of membership and events; Mo Lovatt, national co-ordinator of Debating Matters; Rob Lyons, science and technology director at the Academy of Ideas; Jacob Reynolds, associate fellow and Ella Whelan, co-convenor of the battle of Ideas festival.

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