# The private companies running Britain Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-politics-show-1084705/the-private-companies-running-britain Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-politics-show-1084705/the-private-companies-running-britain.md Podcast: [The Politics Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-politics-show-1084705) Published: 2026-06-11T16:34:22+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/newstatesman/episodes/the-private-companies-running-britain Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/newstatesman/e/6a2ada170fb1c04b6dafeb94/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-politics-show-1084705/episodes/the-private-companies-running-britain Duration seconds: 2829 ## Resource From prisons to speed cameras and welfare to nuclear warning systems, the British government has outsourced a huge number of state operations to private companies – including the housing of asylum seekers. This week, riots erupted on the streets of Belfast following the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvy. The suspect is an ex asylum seeker. It’s the third summer in a row that the asylum accommodation system has been the focus of violent protests. Has Britain lost control? READ: How Britain lost control https://www.newstatesman.com/cover-story/2026/06/how-britain-lost-control LISTEN AD-FREE: πŸ“± Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-politics-show-1084705/episodes/the-private-companies-running-britain/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-politics-show-1084705/the-private-companies-running-britain.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.