The Daily T

The Kremlin has said it is “cautiously optimistic” about a ceasefire in Ukraine after a late-night meeting with the US envoy Steve Witkoff. But Putin will need a phone call with President Trump to settle any outstanding issues.Kamal and Cleo speak to ally of President Trump, Secretary Robert Wilkie, and Ukraine: The Latest presenter Dom Nicholls who was with the UK Defence Secretary John Healey when he travelled to Paris for the emergency security summit this week.And as an exclusive Telegraph poll reveals that Reform is likely to win big in the local elections, we assess the state of play in Westminster - with trouble brewing for the Government. The PM faces a rebellion on welfare cuts next week and there are more economic headwinds for Rachel Reeves with her spring statement fast approaching...Read: Reform would win local elections – but Angela Rayner cancelled themProducers: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Rachel DuffyVideo Editor: Andy MackenzieStudio Director: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla TomineyOriginal music by Goss Studio

The Prime Minister has pledged to tackle Britain’s “overcautious, flabby state”, admitting that record taxation and spending in recent years have not led to improvement in our front-line services. The first to go in his shake-up is NHS England, which will be abolished to “cut bureaucracy” and bring management of the health service back under the Government. But do the plans really go far enough? Kamal and Camilla are joined by The Telegraph’s resident waste watcher Dia Chakravarty to find out exactly how the government is squandering your hard-earned taxes. And after the family of murdered MP David Amess were denied an inquiry into his death earlier this week, we spoke to his daughter Katie and the family representative Radd Seiger outside Downing Street after a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, in which some tentative progress was made. Producers: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Rachel DuffyVideo Editor: Valerie BrownStudio Director: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla TomineyOriginal music by Goss Studio

The ball is in Vladimir Putin’s court today after the US and Ukraine reached a ceasefire proposal at a meeting in Saudi Arabia, in what marked a dramatic change of tone in Washington-Kyiv relations.Kyiv said it is ready to accept a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia.So what is Putin’s next move? Kamal and Camilla ask Kremlinologist Emily Ferris about the Russian president’s thinking and whether there is any kind of succession plan in Moscow.Elsewhere, in a remarkable development, it transpires that the captain of the Portuguese-flagged ship that crashed into an oil tanker transporting American fuel in the North Sea on Monday was Russian. We ask former Royal Navy Commander Tom Sharpe about this latest twist.Producer: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Rachel DuffyVideo Editor: Andy MackenzieStudio Director: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla TomineyOriginal music by Goss Studio

Fears have set in over a potential American recession thanks to Donald Trump’s on-again off-again trade wars. Just today the president doubled tariffs on Canadian metals to a whopping 50pc.Shares are dropping like flies amid the uncertainty, with Elon Musk’s Tesla one of the worst hit. Meanwhile Trump is saying the economy is just in “a period of transition”.Kamal and Camilla ask if the president’s strategy of short term pain for long term gain will pay off, and what impact it could have on the rest of the world. And as the Metropolitan Police launch a formal investigation into Reform MP Rupert Lowe over allegations of threats against Zia Yusuf, can the party survive this storm? And we unpack the curious political bromance between Lowe and the tech billionaire Elon Musk...Producer: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Rachel DuffyVideo Editor: Valerie BrowneStudio Director: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla TomineyOriginal music by Goss Studio

Despite their meteoric rise, all is not well inside Reform UK. Nigel Farage’s party has been engulfed in civil war over a string of bullying allegations against Rupert Lowe.The Great Yarmouth MP vigorously denies all the accusations - including that he threatened physical violence against party chairman Zia Yusuf - and claims he is the victim of a witch hunt over his criticisms of Farage’s leadership.Kamal and Camilla ask what airing the party’s dirty laundry in public will do for its hopes of forming the next Government - and whether Lowe’s ousting was motivated by personal grudges.Plus, after the Government rules out holding a public inquiry into the 2021 murder of MP David Ames, his daughter Katie tells The Daily T: “ they want me to go away, but I'm not going to”.Producer: Lilian Fawcett and Georgia CoanSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Rachel DuffyVideo Editor: Andy Mackenzie and James EnglandStudio Director: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla TomineyOriginal music by Goss Studio

A “sophisticated” UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years before they were prosecuted. It was revealed that the ring leader, a man named Orlin Roussev, had exchanged messages with a mysterious man code named ‘Rupert Ticz’. The prosecutors revealed that the man was in fact Jan Marsalek, the fugitive ex-Wirecard chief operating officer, who is wanted in connection with a €1.9bn (£1.57bn) banking fraud. For almost three years, he had gathered information on targets across Europe, planning kidnappings, murders and assaults alongside the spy ring.In the third instalment of The Daily T Investigates: The Tech Boss Who Was Russia's Secret Spy, Hayley Dixon reveals the messages that were sent by Marsalek and uncover what he has been up to since he went on the run since June 2020.Reporter: Hayley Dixon Producer: Georgia CoanExecutive Producers: Adélie Pojzman-Pontay and Louisa Wells Original music by John Cadigan

Former tech boss turned fugitive Jan Marsalek was living a double life as a Russian spy, having met his handler during a meeting on a yacht in Nice back in 2014. Throughout his time at the company, he is accused of running operations on behalf of the Kremlin, from assembling a Libyan militia and running surveillance on enemies of the state to an alleged audacious plot to hijack the Austrian spy service.In the second instalment of The Daily T Investigates: The Tech Boss who was Russia's Secret Spy, Hayley Dixon examines Marsalek’s relationship with the country and tracks down his closest friend to find out more about the man behind the headlines. Reporter: Hayley Dixon Producer: Georgia CoanExecutive Producers: Adélie Pojzman-Pontay and Louisa Wells Original music by John Cadigan

A UK-based spy ring of Bulgarian nationals has been found guilty of espionage at the Old Bailey after a three-month trial. For almost three years, they’d been spying for Russia. But the man believed to be behind it all is still on the run. Jan Marsalek was an Austrian tech boss, Chief Operating Officer of a successful payments processing company called Wirecard. Until it collapsed in 2020 amid a massive fraud scandal Marsalek is alleged to have been the mastermind behind. Just days later, he fled Austria, taking a flight to Belarus. Despite international efforts to locate him, Marsalek's precise whereabouts remain uncertain. In a new three-part series for The Daily T, hosted by Special Correspondent Hayley Dixon, we reveal his double life as a spy for the Kremlin and what he’s been up to since he disappeared.Reporter: Hayley Dixon Producer: Georgia CoanExecutive Producers: Adélie Pojzman-Pontay and Louisa Wells Original music by John Cadigan 

It's a toxic debate that has seen leading academics and feminists cancelled: how to treat children distressed about their gender.Retired psychiatrist Dr David Bell spent 25 years at the now-closed Tavistock and faced intense backlash for raising concerns about the trust’s GIDS clinic prescribing puberty blockers to children.The drugs have since been banned for under-18s and the Cass Review concluded that the Tavistock was implementing "changes in care without a well considered evidence base".But now the NHS has announced plans to trial puberty blockers on children, something Dr Bell says would be unethical and risks causing major harm.In an exclusive interview with the Daily T, Dr Bell talks about how the now-closed Tavistock was “invaded” by gender ideology; the fear amongst colleagues who wanted to speak out; and why he is “frightened” at NHS puberty blocker trial being approved.Read: Why I’m sounding the alarm on the next puberty blockers scandalProducer: Lilian FawcettSenior Producer: John CadiganPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Rachel DuffyVideo Editor: Andy MackenzieStudio Director: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla TomineyOriginal music by Goss Studio