Andrew Mackinlay joins me to discuss the news of the past few days.

Andrew Mackinlay joins me for our 10th edition of A Hard Place to look at where volatile politics, globally and at home is leading us.

Andrew Mackinlay joins me to talk about the shock impact of the Minnesota ICE incident, the Tory haemorrhage to Reform and where Gibraltar sits in all this with its own political landscape.

*Transcript is computer generated

Andrew Mackinlay joins me for the first Hard place podcast for 2026 discussing global and local issues.

* more info Kennedy Center reference to https://www.thecookersmusic.com/

**ref to The Skibbereen Eagle - one story that explains this https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/28/local-newspaper-tsar-of-russia-19th-century

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After skipping the last General Election when their then leader Marlene Hassan stood down, socialist Nick Calamaro and the party’s leader tells Dominique Searle this is more than a pressure group and he will lead the party into the next General Election. What if he wins enough seats to make a difference?

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Dominique is joined by Andrew Mackinlay as we discuss the challenges Europe faces as Trump sets the agenda and UK’s Labour falling into the leadership challenge trap.

I speak with William Chislett Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Elcano Royal Institute. William covered Spain’s transition to democracy for The Times of London between 1975 and 1978. He was then based in Mexico City for the Financial Times between 1978 and 1984. He returned to Madrid on a permanent basis in 1986 and since then, among other things, has written more than 20 books on various countries.

The Elcano Royal Institute published between 2002 and 2016 four books of his on Spain. He wrote a monthly review of Spain (Inside Spain) for the Institute between April 2004 and September 2021, and since November 2021 writes a monthly post on Spain. He has been a visiting scholar at Bilkent University, Ankara, and at New York University and has spoken at the universities of Oxford, Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Georgetown and the London School of Economics.

See the report: ‘Fifty years after Franco: Spain’s profound transformation, 1975-2025’

Selected Publications: Spain. What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, second edition, 2025), Microhistoria de España (Espasa, 2020), A New Course for Spain: Beyond the Crisis (Elcano Royal Institute, 2016), Spain and the United States. The Quest for Mutual Rediscovery (Elcano Royal Institute, 2005), Spanish Direct Investment in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities (Elcano Royal Institute, 2003) and The Internationalization of the Spanish Economy (Elcano Royal Institute, 2002).

I am joined by Andrew Mackinlay who gives us an insight into just how far Harold Wilson feared the UK security services were after him, Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s premier welcomes Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo’s GSLP socialists into Socialist International.. and the gaming industry hit by a cash hungry Chancellor

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