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The Crisis Room · Dec 1, 2025 · 21 min

Q&A: Mahmood's immigration reforms & why is Iraq such a mess?

In this Q&A episode, Amber gives her reaction for the first time to the new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's controversial immigration reforms - and the possibility of the UK leaving the ECHR. Are these reforms too harsh? Or is it exactly what the UK needs to stop the far-right from gaining traction? Marc P has his say on issues over in the US in light of a major row over military personnel ignoring potential unlawful orders. Plus, he explains why Iraq is still such a mess and what, if anything, the Trump administration is doing about it. Mark also gives his latest thoughts on the crisis at the BBC - and explains why he was mentioned multiple times by former BBC adviser Michael Prescott when he gave evidence to MPs last week. Later, he responds to a question about whether the MoD needed more funding in last week's Budget, and whether we should all be concerned by the state of Britain's drone and air defence systems. Have a question for a future Q&A episode? Send it to thecrisisroom@global.com Follow us on social media: @crisisroompod

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transcript

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show notes

In this Q&A episode, Amber gives her reaction for the first time to the new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's controversial immigration reforms - and the possibility of the UK leaving the ECHR. Are these reforms too harsh? Or is it exactly what the UK needs to stop the far-right from gaining traction?

Marc P has his say on issues over in the US in light of a major row over military personnel ignoring potential unlawful orders. Plus, he explains why Iraq is still such a mess and what, if anything, the Trump administration is doing about it.

Mark also gives his latest thoughts on the crisis at the BBC - and explains why he was mentioned multiple times by former BBC adviser Michael Prescott when he gave evidence to MPs last week. Later, he responds to a question about whether the MoD needed more funding in last week's Budget, and whether we should all be concerned by the state of Britain's drone and air defence systems.

Have a question for a future Q&A episode? Send it to thecrisisroom@global.com

Follow us on social media: @crisisroompod