i'm stephen sackur. and economic mood here in france has shifted dramatically in just a few months. last summer, president macron was pushing ahead with his reform agenda, crowing that france was back. well, now, he is besieged by critics, forced into a retreat by the yellow vest movement, facing huge challenges inside and outside the european union. today my guest, in an exclusive interview, is the french finance minister, bruno le maire. has the macron moment already passed? bruno le maire, welcome to hardtalk. minister, i think we have to start with brexit. right now, britain is in the deepest of political crises. there is no viable solution to the brexit problem. how worried is france by the uncertainty that you see in london? we are worried, of course, and we are waiting for clarification coming from the british government and the british majority, so that we can have a fair brexit. we are all waiting for a fair brexit, which would be both in the interests of the uk, the british people, and the eu,

i'm stephen sackur. tanzania is one of africa's fastest—growing nations economically and demographically as well. it is also governed by one of the continent's most controversial leaders, presidentjohn magafuli, otherwise known as the ‘bulldozer‘. my guest today is one of his leading domestic opponents, tundu lissu. at least he was until gunmen pumped more than 20 bullets into his body in 2017. tundu lissu survived and he has rejoined the fight against a ruler he describes as a petty dictator. tundu lissu, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much for having me. we are pleased to have you here, not least because 16 months ago it looked as though you were probably dying. somehow, miraculously, you survived an assassination attempt that saw 20 bullets pumped into your body. how are you today? i am very well. very well compared to what i was 1a months ago. as you say, i was shot multiple times. i was shot 16 times to be exact. i guess some bullets hit the car rather than you because they sprayed... those that

i'm stephen sackur.se you hadn't noticed, britain is in the grip of a protracted meltdown known as brexit. to leave or to remain? it has divided families, generations and communities. everyone seems to be shouting. no—one seems to be listening. well, that's not quite true. my guest today, jonathan coe, has been listening to — and writing compelling fiction about — contemporary britain for decades. so can this novelist help us understand ourselves and brexit, better than a parliament full of politicians? jonathan coe, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. your latest novel is called middle england. now, it's notjust about brexit, but brexit sits at the centre of the story. was that by design and intent, or was it simply that you couldn't avoid it, even if you wanted do? i think with the kind of novel i had already told myself i was going to write there was no avoiding brexit. it's a novel which features characters from two of my earlier looks, the rotters‘ club and the closed circle. the closed circle was publi

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.s, i've come face—to—face with many remarkable individuals. but my guest today, dr william frankland, is unique, both in terms of his longevity and his extraordinary experiences. he is a world—renowned expert on allergies. he is also one of the last remaining british survivors of the japanese prisoner of war camps in world war ii. his is a death—defying, life—affirming story. at the age of 106, what keeps him going? dr bill frankland, welcome to hardtalk. let me ask you first, what took you into the world of medicine? because you said something very interesting. you said that one reason you chose to be a doctor, even though your parents had no tradition in medicine, was because you've always taken a great interest in people. yes. is that still true today? that's very true. i was — when i would see ill patients, to me, that was a patient with an illness, which had to be helped in some way. but whether — like my most grateful patient, i said it doesn't matter whether your head is a slate

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.y guest today is an internationally acclaimed author whose prolific output of fiction is rooted deep in the soil and the shoreline of his native western australia, a land of harsh beauty, where life rarely comes easy. tim winton‘s latest novel, the shepherd's hut, focuses on a troubled young man wrestling with demons, and it comes at an opportune time, with the me too movement demanding an end to ingrained sexism, misogyny and toxic masculinity. is australia redefining what it means to be a good bloke? tim winton, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you have travelled the world, you have even lived in europe, but it seems when you write, your writing, and your stories, always take you back home to western australia. why is that? i'm not sure. i think it's notjust what i know, but it's what i live and breathe, it just seems endlessly... it's just — there's more stories. there's more to write about. the older i get, the more i see in it. it seems like you almost feel the landscapes, the soil

now on bbc news, it is hardtalk, with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.rexit is tearing at the fabric of british politics. prime minister theresa may's proposed deal is hated by many in her conservative party. it may well be rejected in a parliamentary vote next week. but the opposition labour party is riven by division too. a clear majority of labour members seem to want a second referendum as a pathway to reversing brexit. but party leaderjeremy corbyn says brexit can't be stopped. my guest is that the leader of unite, britain's biggest trade union and biggest donor to labour, len mccluskey. could brexit break the left apart? len mccluskey, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. i think nobody would argue that brexit is the defining issue in britain today, perhaps the biggest decision the country has had to make for a generation and more. would you agree it has proved to be extraordinarily difficult to find a coherent position in the left, the labour movement? well, i think the reality, stephen, is, of course, two and a half years ago your question was spot on

i'm stephen sackur.ittle more than two months now, britain is scheduled to leave the european union. that beguilingly simple statement is at the heart of a political crisis which deepens by the day. the ruling conservative party is riven with splits, so too is the labour opposition. if parliament's brexit paralysis persists then britain will leave with no deal in place, no orderly transition, and the prospect of economic disruption. my my guest is labour's shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell. my guest is labour's shadow chancellor john mcdonnell. what my guest is labour's shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell. what will they do in this moment of political truth? john mcdonnell, welcome to hardtalk. this is the endgame. whitsed it before but it's real now. so, will labour do whatever it takes to ensure that britain does not leave the european union was no deal in place on march 29? every week seems to be the endgame. we keep saying it. we can't say it for much longer because the clock doesn't stop the —— ticking. d

i'm stephen sackur.eds of billions of dollars are poured into cancer treatment and research every year. we understand it better and have more effective tools to combat it than ever before, and yet it kills close to ten million of us every year. my guest is one of america's leading cancer specialists, siddhartha mukherjee. his book, the emperor of maladies, a self—styled biography of cancer, painted a unique picture of the disease, mixing memoir, science, and a writer's sensibility. eight years on from publication, is cancer any less of a curse? theme music plays. siddhartha mukherjee, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you are a reknowned oncologist, you're also now a feted writer. now, do you regard those two activities as entirely separate, or is the writing a way of you following your calling as a doctor? for me, i mean, like many other people, i write to think. you know, in order to figure out the questions that we, that you might find interesting, where are we in cancer? the only way for me to answer t

now on bbc news, stephen sackur talks to the tanzanian opposition mp tundu lissu on hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. if the normal political rules applied to donald trump, he would be holed up in the white house in a state of despair. he's at war with democrats in congress, the federal government is partially shut down, is the trump presidency making america great, or greatly diminished? mica mosbacher in washington, dc, a very warm welcome to hardtalk. good morning. you have been a long time and a loyal supporter of president trump, but would you accept that his presidency has now entered a very dangerous phase, given that the democrats now control the house of representatives and are using their new power? i wouldn't call it dangerous. i think that we expected to have this issue with the hardline democrats, especially with the leadership, and nancy pelosi and chuck schumer have obviously dug in, and in this hyper charged environment, i would say that passing bipartisan legislation, including border security, will be as tough as putting socks on a rooster. however, trump will not back down, his bas

now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s stephen sackur speaks to writer

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. there is plenty of disturbing data pointing to a significant rise in overt anti—semitism in europe and the united states, why? how should the jewish community respond? and how much reassurance and protection is being offered tojews whose past has so often been written in blood? well, my guest is pinchas goldschmidt, chief rabbi of moscow, and president of the conference of european rabbis. is rising anti—semitism a symptom of a liberal democratic order that is starting to crumble? rabbi pinchas goldschmidt, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. there is a lot of evidence from surveys in opinion polls across europe suggesting thatjews feel much more insecure than they did 10—20 years ago. why? attacks against the jewish community come from different places. there's the attack from islamic radicals, islamic terrorism, as we have seen it in toulouse and paris and copenhagen, and brussels. and we also have attacks against religious practice, of jewish religious practice in the european parliame

in july, stephen sackur spoke to the acclaimed australian author

stephen sackur speaks to john mcdonnell, labour's

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.the normal political rules applied to donald trump, he would be holed up in the white house in a state of despair. he's at war with democrats in congress, the federal government is partially shut down, his relationship with putin's russia is under fierce scrutiny, and his standing at home and abroad continues to take a hit. and yet, every day, he comes out punching, raising the stakes, not retreating. my guest is mica mosbacher, republican strategist and member of the national advisory board of trump 2020. is the trump presidency making america great, or greatly diminished? good morning. you have been a long time and a loyal supporter of president trump, but would you accept that his presidency has now entered a very dangerous phase, given that the democrats now control the house of representatives and are using their new power? i wouldn't call it dangerous. i think that we expected to have this issue with the hardline democrats, especially with the leadership, and nancy pelosi and chu

now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s stephen sackur speaks to dr william frankland, allergist and wwii prisoner

now on bbc news: hardtalk‘s stephen sackur speaks to writer jonathan coe.

now on bbc news, hardtalk‘s stephen sackur speaks to writerjonathan coe.

he's been speaking to hardtalk presenter stephen sackur.nt to the finance bill to prevent a no deal, we supported that. i have been talking to yvette through that, so have the leaders of this. it is likely we will support it, but we have to go through our normal process. highly likely. so we can assume... you wouldn't say that lightly. we can assume the labour party will give official backing. my recommendation is that we do but we go through our normal process within the party, there will be consultation with the leader and the chief whip. but you think the party will end up whipping that a vote? i spoke to yvette, her analysis is the same as mine. if we reach a situation where the prime minister cannot bring forward a deal and has the overall agreement of parliament, we are then left with a matter of weeks and it is physically impossible to go out in any deal that will be brought forward at that time period, so therefore we're faced with a no deal situation. so the best thing to do is to put article 50 off, yvette has put forth the idea t