Sidd and Tom analyse Parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland, and local elections in England.

Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) have become the largest party in Wales, followed by Reform in second place and Welsh Labour a distant third.

The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) have won a 5th straight parliamentary election but are well short of a majority.

Reform have made big gains in Scotland and have also stormed across English councils winning 14 in total and gaining close to 1,500 councillors.

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To get connected with Tom, Lily or Sidd, please find them on Instagram: @sparetom, @lilymott3, and @siddkurapati.

For more information about the show, please find Be the Change. Media Network on Instagram: @bethechangemedianetwork.

Opinions shared by the guests and hosts of this show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change. Media Network.

Over a million children in England have an Education, Health and Care Plan. Councils are projected to hold £6 billion in SEND deficits by the end of this year. And a system designed to protect the most vulnerable children has become, for many families, an exhausting legal battle just to access basic support.

In this episode, Tom sits down with Caitlin Webb, chief reporter at the Local Government Chronicle, to examine the UK's SEND crisis and whether the government's long-awaited reforms can fix a system that has been breaking for over a decade.

They explore the legal weight of Education, Health and Care Plans and why so many families have come to rely on them not as a support tool but as a last resort. Caitlin unpacks the financial pressures bearing down on local authorities, the rise of private equity in specialist education, and the difficult question of whether proposed reforms will genuinely improve outcomes for children or simply remove the protections parents depend on most.

The episode closes with two voices that bring the statistics to life. Troy Njenje-Mbanga, who has lived experience of SEND, reflects on what it means to be neurodivergent in a system not designed for you. Eden Byrne speaks about her experience of caring for her brother with SEND, and what society still gets wrong about disability.

Further reading from Caitlin Webb at the Local Government Chronicle:

SEND reforms — key issues for the Schools White Paper: https://www.lgcplus.com/services/children/send-reforms-key-issues-for-schools-white-paper-19-02-2026/

Will SEND finally be sent in the right direction?: https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/lgc-briefing/will-send-finally-been-sent-in-the-right-direction-23-02-2026/

No guarantee SEND reforms will reduce EHCPs: https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/empowering-communities/no-guarantee-send-reforms-will-reduce-ehcps-15-04-2026/

Listen to related episodes:

The Forgotten Generation with Troy Njenje-Mbanga: https://theforgottengenerationpodcast.podbean.com/

Sports For All with Eden Byrne: https://sportsforallpodcast.podbean.com/

Please leave a rating, share a comment, and subscribe!

To get connected with Tom, Lily or Sidd, please find them on Instagram: @sparetom, @lilymott3, and @siddkurapati.

For more information about the show, please find Be the Change. Media Network on Instagram: @bethechangemedianetwork.

Opinions shared by the guests and hosts of this show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change. Media Network.

A war in the Middle East. A closed shipping lane. And a chain of consequences that stretches from Irish petrol stations to South Korean chip makers, and from British supermarket shelves to the price of your next laptop.

In this episode, Tom, Sidd and Lily trace the true cost of the war with Iran — for the Iranian people, for the world economy, and your everday life.

The episode starts with mass protests brutally suppressed by the Iranian regime, Trump's promise that "help is on its way," the coordinated US-Israeli strikes on 28 February, the assassination of Supreme Leader Khamenei, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the single most important shipping lane in the world. They examine why, despite weeks of bombardment and repeated claims of victory, the regime remains intact and the Strait remains shut.

From there the team maps the ripple effects: fuel protests that have brought Ireland to the edge of political crisis, a fertiliser shortage threatening the spring planting season across the northern hemisphere, a semiconductor supply crunch that could outlast the war itself, and a UK government quietly planning for food shortages by summer.

Running beneath all of it, China, quietly filling every vacuum the war creates.

Listen to related episodes:

The origins of the Iranian war: https://thepoliticaldispatch.podbean.com/e/irans-reckoning-counter-revolution/

The unravelling of the world order: https://thepoliticaldispatch.podbean.com/e/if-we-are-not-at-the-table/

Please leave a rating, share a comment, and subscribe!

To get connected with Tom, Lily or Sidd, please find them on Instagram: @sparetom, @lilymott3, and @siddkurapati.

For more information about the show, please find Be the Change. Media Network on Instagram: @bethechangemedianetwork.

Opinions shared by the guests and hosts of this show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Be the Change. Media Network.