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BBC Radio 4

Reactive features from Radio 4, exploring what's really happening behind the headlines and unearthing untold stories, both at home and abroad.

  1. 22 FEB

    Someone Else's Problem: Exporting the Housing Crisis

    In cities across the country, councils are grappling with unprecedented numbers of people presenting as homeless. In London, mounting pressure on temporary accommodation has led some boroughs to place families far beyond the capital — in some cases more than 250 miles away, in County Durham. Charlotte McDonald travels to the North East to uncover why these long‑distance relocations are happening, and what impact they are having on the communities receiving them. She speaks to people about lives uprooted, often with little notice, and explores the realities they face as they try to rebuild their lives in unfamiliar towns and villages. The picture on the ground is complex. Local services, charities, churches and schools have rallied to support the newcomers, despite already operating in areas marked by deprivation and limited opportunities. Yet many relocated families encounter fresh challenges: anti‑social behaviour, culture shock, and the struggle to settle into communities facing their own hardships. County Durham had a Labour council for nearly a century, but it is now controlled by Reform. Many residents feel the area has been overlooked for years: traditional industries have faded, and little new investment has taken their place. Unemployment is high in parts of the county, as well as rates of long-term sick. With low‑cost housing and pockets of empty properties, the region has become increasingly attractive to councils which are struggling to find accommodation. But is it the right thing for old and new residents? Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Producers: Charlotte McDonald and Tom Burgess Studio manager: James Beard Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Richard Vadon

    29 min
  2. 25 JAN

    The Price of Meat

    Buy a pack of beef in the supermarket and you’ll find it’s increased in price by 52% in five years. Try and trade down to some chicken and you’ll find it’s nearly doubled in just two years. Make a product unaffordable- whether that’s cigarettes, brandy or steak- and you inevitably open up the door to smugglers. Evidence isn’t hard to find with Dover Port Authority offering up just one snapshot. In September 2025 they seized 20 tonnes of illegal meat, compared with just 1.3 tonnes in September 2022. Extrapolate the numbers with unchecked cargoes and the UK’s other ports and it’s clear that hundreds of tonnes of illegal meat are reaching our shores every month. This isn’t just a tax issue with cheeky smugglers making a few quid as they sell a roasting joint in a local pub. It’s a major risk to the UK economy. Some of the meat is coming from areas suffering from African Swine Fever or Foot and Mouth disease. There’s no way that this meat could enter Britain legally because of the fear of these diseases reaching the UK. The last major Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in the UK in 2001 led to the slaughter of 6 million cattle and sheep and nauseating pyres of animals burning beside the M6. Charlotte Smith travels to Romania to trace some of the many routes that meat can take to enter the UK and talks to customs and food standards officials in search of a solution to this significant risk to public health and to the UK's food and farming economy. Producer: Beatrice Fenton

    28 min

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Reactive features from Radio 4, exploring what's really happening behind the headlines and unearthing untold stories, both at home and abroad.

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