The News Agents: Queen Camilla's son on The News Agents

This is a global player original podcast. Today on The News Agents, we are going to

speak to a man whose mum is about to become Queen, the Queen, and whose stepdad, he calls

him his stepdad, is in fact the King. So that's quite a shift of family dynamic. It's Tom

Parker Bowles. And we also talked to him about some of the big issues around the coronation,

who's attending. Will Harry be there? No, not that Harry. This one. I did ask if Harry

Kane was going as Captain of England. What's the answer? My mum didn't know. No, that's

not what I was saying, but Harry, with Harry Kane, I don't know if he's coming. And Tom

is a food critic and a food writer, so we wanted to find out a little bit more about

the coronation do's and don'ts. What will be on the menu? What definitely won't. I think

that garlic can make your breath smell somewhat, so I think just for purely social reasons

you wouldn't have garlic. She doesn't like chilli. She doesn't like massive spice. We

think that is going to spark a national debate on whether the royals are or aren't allowed

to eat garlic. And we also talked to him about some of the big serious issues about whether

there are going to be protests and what his attitude would be towards those, about his

stepdad, the King, and the way farmers are being treated in this country and the King's

own views on that. It's a fascinating listen. Welcome to the news agents.

It's John. It's Emily. And it's Lewis. And in a moment, the world exclusive coming up

with Tom Parker Bowles on all matters coronation, all matters to do with his mum, the future

queen, and his stepdad, the King. But first we're going to be talking about something

that hasn't quite happened. And it's 10 to 2. It's a hostage to fortune. This is it

by any chance. For us, we're recording something about Dominic Rod that we don't quite know

the ending of now. It would be fine. That's what we're going to talk about anyway, because

we are waiting for Rishi Sunak to finish reading or maybe finish deciding what to do with this

report that has landed on his desk by Adam Tolly, who is King's counsel, a very prominent

employment lawyer who is trying to tackle whether Dominic Raab, Justice Secretary,

PM, has breached the ministerial code over questions of bullying behavior.

Yeah. And we knew this was coming. And we are in this slightly odd position where we're playing

the waiting game for Rishi Sunak, as you say, Emily, to either read it or make his conclusions.

I think the general feeling in Westminster and people who've been familiar with it and the

rumor mill is that this is going to be a pretty bad report for Dominic Raab. And then the question

simply becomes whether or not what is this weight about? Is it Sunak trying to get his ducks in a

row and trying to find a way of formulating a response where he can say, yes, perhaps some

behavior was not all that it should have been. I've had a word, you know, the Deputy Prime

Minister has accepted that, but he's going to stay in government. Or is he simply saying to

Dominic Raab, look, this is it. He's trying to square him off. He's trying to say that a line

has been breached. And that's it and get his political ducks in a row. We should just bear

in mind something though, which is in the one way that Sunak could try and get out of it if he

were so minded is that because this isn't a report from his advisor on ministerial interests,

who at the moment is Laurie Magnus, because at the time that this inquiry was set up,

he wasn't in place because of course Boris Johnson had famously lost to the understanding has been

that Tolly will not adjudicate whether or not he has broken the code because that's not his job.

He's simply made an inquiry. Now, if Laurie Magnus had been doing this report and said,

yes, he's broken the code, he's broken it comprehensively, that would kind of be game

over. But isn't there a different point here that Rishi Sunak does not have the same degree of

maneuver that Boris Johnson had when he was Prime Minister and he got a report saying that

Pretty Patel had been bullying to her civil servants because Rishi Sunak made it clear

a couple of months ago, if I'm presented with conclusive independent findings

that show my government has not acted with the integrity or standards I would expect of them,

I won't hesitate to take swift and decisive action. He is going to be measured against that.

Whatever the report says. Swift and decisive can mean very different things to different people,

though. And I think it's worth just to go back to Lewis's point, because Tolly is looking at,

I think, eight formal complaints by officials, right? And this now lands on Sunak's desk as the

ultimate arbiter. So he doesn't get something saying you have to do this or you have to do that.

He has already fired Gavin Williamson. He has already got rid of Nadim Zahawi. He's lost those

two. He's accepted Suella Brotherman, though, even though she was sacked, re-appointed within a few

days. So I mean, it's kind of, but exactly, but that's the point is that Sunak, he can be swift,

but he can also decide what is in his political advantage and what he decides to ride out.

So we can't forget, and we've talked about this before, how close Rob has been to Sunak.

He is one of his key left-handers, by definition. He's the deputy prime minister, right? But he

came out for him twice in the leadership campaigns. He was one of his key media performers. He was

out day after day batting for Sunak. There is no way that Sunak wants to lose Rob if he doesn't have

to. Not least because, and again, we've talked about this before, Rob has got some significant

support on the Tory benches. There is a constituency of Conservative MPs who basically believe

that Rob is, to use his two words, an exacting boss, someone who has high standards, who goes

into civil service departments, you know, ruffle some feathers, get stuff done, and there's a

school of thought that some of these civil servants are out to get him, or they're being, to use a

horrible word, a bit snowflaking about these things. Well, I think that's, I think that is really

important because if you look at who is saying what on this one, it was Jacob Rees-Mogg, who's

accused the complainants of being snowflakes. So if you, as Rishi Sunak, were hearing that, you'd think

I really don't want to end up on the same side as Jacob Rees-Mogg. Of course, you know, famously,

no longer anywhere near his cabinet. And it's Simon McDonald, who was the permanent

undersecretary at the Foreign Office, who's saying that there are civil servants scared to go into

Rob's office. So if you judge a man, and I'm not saying this is how Rishi Sunak will take the

inquiry, but if you judge a man based on the comments of the people in positions of leadership

around you, I think he'd be more inclined not to drop the ball when a senior civil servant is

speaking on that level than on somebody like Jacob Rees-Mogg, who he clearly demonstrably

doesn't value enough to even bring back inside the fold. In these situations, aren't there two

levels of calculation that a prime minister makes? The first one is, is the evidence incontrovertible

and therefore not to act will look weird, unforgivable, feeble? And then the second

part of the calculation is, how important is this person to me? Do I want to take the hit

because actually he's a vital part of the government machine, he's an important ally

in cabinet when I've got other people who are trying to distract, or do I think that he is

chaff and frankly, I can let him go and I don't care and, you know, and it will make me look

good to fire him? Completely. It's all about the balance of calculation and all basically depends

on how categorical he is and how often he's categorical. If he's categorical, often, it just

becomes very, very difficult for Soonak to find a way out with it without looking like a complete

hypocrite. It all comes back to that balance of calculation, as you say, John. And the other thing

is, is that, you know, Soonak has scored a real achievement since he's been prime minister. And

that has been to A, stabilize things and B, make his premiership seem much more permanent, much more

enduring than we might have thought the vote very beginning, to take out the endless cascade of

chaos. It's also part of the calculation is whether more resignations, more dismissal,

starts to undermine that sense, which has taken hold and has been an achievement.

You see, I think the big difference is that if this report was landing on Boris Johnson's desk,

we know famously that loyalty was the thing that he put above everything else as prime minister

and talk about Boris Johnson. Nobody ever lost their job. Oh, in Patterson, he wanted to bring

back Pretty Patel, who was found to have bullied her staff, stayed in her job, and the ethics advisor

himself ended up quitting. Boris Johnson made a pattern of never firing anyone who was politically

loyal to him. I think Rishi Soonak has got more breathing space at this point, because we have

seen him unafraid to act before. But I also think there's been so much sound and fury around Dominic

Robb. It would take a man of absolute steel to say you can stay in your job, nothing happens.

We're moving on from here. I was speaking to a cabinet minister yesterday who put it in a very

business sort of way. He said Rishi Soonak is now more or less six months in. He's got 18 months to go

probably until the general election. So we are at the end of Q1 in Rishi Soonak's period.

And at the end of Q1, we've stabilized things. We've settled things down. We have dealt with a lot

of the negatives. The economy is going to be getting better. And actually, I think there is a feeling

not of bullishness, because that would be ridiculous given the state of the polls, but that actually

things have gone so much better than they could have done. But you get something like this wrong,

and it can really set you back. If I were him now, probably, and obviously we haven't seen the

report so we don't know where it's going, but I wonder whether there won't be a taking Dominic

Robb aside and putting him in charge of your election campaign. He's probably exactly the person

you want to run your election campaign in 18 months time. Well, he can say to him, I mean,

this is maybe what this interregnum is about. He's just saying, look, you go now,

there's something for you in six months time. You go quickly, you accept the results, which

there's a thick of it clip for all of these. Go now and I'll bring you back in a year.

It's possible to have a good resignation, you know, a good resignation. Oh, I'm looking forward

to how you're going to sell this to me. Look, people really like it when you go just a bit early.

You know, Steely George, far away, looking your eyes before they're getting to the point where

they sit running the pub saying, oh, that fuck has got to go. Are you surprised them? Blimey,

he's gone. I didn't expect that resigned. You don't see that much anymore. Old school respect.

I'd rather like the guy. He was handed out by the fucking press. How about that? But I think

the other part of the calculation will be this. And again, it goes back to that sense of will

it be more chaos to come? Is it more chaotic to get rid of him and have that sense of instability?

Or if you're Rishi Sunak, are you worried about you try and keep him? Who else comes out of the

woodwork? We all know, and this has been an ongoing story whispers in Whitehall for a long time

about Dominic Robb. There are plenty of people and civil servants who are suggesting, you know,

people like Dave Penman, the head of the FDA has talked about this as well, who may resign,

who will refuse to work with him if this is considered to be some sort of whitewash or

if Sunak doesn't take appropriate action and it's not a whitewash and doesn't respond to it

properly. Who else comes out? Are there further complaints? And so that is another sort of

calculation to think, well, if I don't respond to this, what happens next?

Yeah. And then there's the question, I guess, of who takes over. I heard the name Alex Chalk,

who's procurement minister, I think, at the MOD at the moment, legal background who could

become justice secretary. The other great name in the frame is Victoria Atkins' name and

Nicky Akin as well, I've heard. Michelle Donnellan's about to go on maternity leave,

unlikely Lucy Fraser, who took over from her at culture, also possibly in the mix. But again,

this is sort of speculation because there is no vacancy, as they would tell us right now.

I think one way or another, if it does happen, it'll be a very limited reshuffle.

One in one out, you keep it as clean as possible. And that is the argument for

acting quickly, right? As you cauterize the wound, you look strong, and you just make this story

into a non-story. If you don't act, it becomes a much bigger story, and it goes on, it has a day

two and a day three. If he acts this afternoon or tomorrow morning, and he's just gone,

kind of hard to see what the next bit of the story is, sort of kills it.

That is our hostage to fortune bit of the episode.

That's what, two o'clock, as we're recording this.

Zero one. And we are going to find out whether nothing or everything happens in the next 24 hours.

But in the meantime, we're going to take a break, and we're going to be back with Tom Parker Bowles.

This is The News Agents.

Welcome back. I'm trying to gauge how excited Britain is about the forthcoming coronation.

I've got to say, in London, I'm not seeing much evidence of bunting and flags and all the rest of it.

We have very different commutes. You come from north to south, and I come from west to east.

And the west route, everything is about the coronation. All the railings, all the bike cycle routes

have been sort of thrown out in the parks, all the pedestrian crossings have sort of gone.

There's a lot of things being got ready.

It's always journalistically lazy to talk about what your taxi driver has said to you.

But I spoke to a cab... It's journalistically lazy to get a cab to work.

Yeah, true. But I had a big bag because I'm getting on a plane.

And he was saying, he's amazed at how little there is around London.

I mean, maybe it's different in different parts of the country.

And I'm going after the coronation to the palace.

Well, I'm going to Tottenham versus Crystal Palace, which is not quite the same thing.

But, you know, normal life is continuing. No, I think it is the same thing.

Normal life is continuing on the day itself. And people have said to me,

you can't be going to football in the same day as the coronation.

I also think there's something very weird, isn't there, about having had these two

extraordinary events in the same year. And obviously, it is the ying to the yang.

The death of the queen was always going to be followed by the coronation of the king.

And yet we're just trying to gauge the difference in mood.

Because I think with the queen's funeral, there was a sense that any kind of protest

would be really undignified, would be really out of step, out of place.

And counterproductive.

Maybe counterproductive as well. This time around, there is a sort of an air,

I think, of anything goes, really. It's quite a jolly occasion.

It's a formal occasion, but it's a celebratory occasion. And all views are welcome.

And that is very much the attitude of our next guest. And if you've been listening from the

beginning, you know we have a world exclusive with Tom Parker Bowles, son of the future queen,

stepson of our king.

What Johnny is now is Tom Parker Bowles, who is a food, I'm going to say,

critic, but you're really a food writer?

Both really. Critic for the men on Sunday and right for anyone who have me.

And your mum is about to be queen. So we're going to particularly look at food in relation to

the coronation. Do you get to choose the menu? Do you get to?

Absolutely not. No. I mean, if you think of coronation food, of contemporary coronation food,

it goes back to the fifties and constant spry and rosemary, human coronation chicken, which

in its original incarnation wasn't that bad. I don't think it was sort of roasted chicken with

a little bit of curry powder, fresh curry powder. But what happened over the years,

it became this awful, turgid, sad, gloopy mess, yellow, horrid. I mean,

coronation chicken done bad is appalling. And I think what started off as something quite nice

and probably quite exotic for the fifties has now become something really horrible.

What is the idea? Because last year we had that weird trifle, which took about four hours to make.

I mean, did you make the trifle? Did I? No.

Would you make the quiche? There is a coronation quiche now, I think.

There is a coronation quiche. And I respect quiche hugely. A really good...

That's so great. I want that as a bumper sticker. I respect quiche hugely.

I think it's a very good coronation dish. And quiche is done well, beautiful. But again,

you have the supermarket versions. And again, not very nice. Do you remember that book in the

80s called Real Men Don't Eat Quiche? Obviously, that wouldn't be published now. And it's not

entirely tried though. I'm sure real men do eat quiche and enjoy it. But it has to be done properly.

And that is a good quiche. It's a good quiche recipe. But apparently, isn't there something

issue over the spinach leaves? Then if you don't dry the spinach leaves out properly,

you just get a soggy egg soup. I think you get a bit of a soggy bottom, as they say,

on Bake Off. If you don't... Because spinach retains a lot of water, so you really got to squeeze it.

Hard. I'm not really a great quiche expert, to be honest.

But Tom, do they not get you involved in this, in the menu planning and in the

sort of what works and what doesn't? Do they? No, because Mark Flanagan, who's the executive

chef for Buckingham Palace, is an incredibly talented, experienced chef. And the last thing

he needs is some upstart food critic, you know, coming to someone and saying,

well, what about this or what about that? You know, he's dealt with hundreds of state banquets.

He's dealt with jubilees and he's a really, really good chef. So I wouldn't dare start telling

what to do. But wouldn't your mum or your stepdad have a view and kind of want to know what you think?

I think they probably have views. Well, that would come from the king. You know,

he would have to approve that for it to be. My mother has strong views on many things, but

she keeps him quiet. Other things that she would definitely not want to have. Oh, chili, garlic.

I think that garlic can make your breath smell somewhat. So I think just for social reasons,

you wouldn't have garlic. She doesn't like chili. She doesn't like massive spice. And I think if

you're walking around, and I do not speak from experience on this, but you're walking around

meeting lots of people, you want to be sure that the food, you know, if you I love chili and spice

and every single kind, but I think you have to be a little bit careful not to get the tummy too

excited. Perhaps. And is there anything she definitely want when she said, God, this is our big day?

She just loves fresh fish and fresh vegetables. She has a really nice vegetable garden at home.

So when this just getting now, the sparrows are coming up, broad beans start coming in, peas,

her peaches that she grows. She really loves gardening and she always has done way before.

She is, well, the queen as she will be, but we grew up and she was a good cook.

You pause then. Is that weird? You call King Charles your stepdad? And you had to pause before

you said the queen. I mean, what do you become? I become nothing. No title. No. What do you think?

That would be revolution if they start handing out to people like me. No. Why would I expect

you know, my mother? To be honest, Tom, we do live in a place where

private titles get handed out. Well, true that. Does it feel weird for you to start

having to refer to her as the queen? Not really, because she's still, you know,

our mother. I say, ah, speaking, not the royal weasel, speaking to my sister of me,

but she is our, yeah, she's our mother and change happens. But I don't care what anyone says. This

wasn't any sort of end game. She married the person she loved and this is what happened.

Anyway, you're not going to find us with sort of great estates and being called the Duke of

whatever. No, that would be important. The Duke of Tom. Duke of Tom, Duke of whatever.

Talk to us about the coronation day. Your son is a page boy. Is he excited?

I don't think he knows quite how big it's going to be. I don't think he has a sense of the occasion.

He's a 13 year old boy who loves football, Spurs supporter. Oh, fantastic. Oh, my God.

So, so obviously we're having a rough ride at the moment. His worry is about Spurs manager and

losing when we're up and, you know, that sort of stuff, classic Spursy stuff.

So he's going to be there all day. You have to be there all day. We're just there to

support our mother. Yeah, just, yeah, it must be quite, quite an occasion. It's going to be

quite an occasion. Tom, I just, it must be quite an occasion. I'm no expert on this.

Tom, you have made the point that it would be preposterous for you to be given any title or

whatever. And that would be a revolution and all the rest of it. What you're saying is you don't

come from, you know, that sort of background. Your mum is going to have holy oil put on her.

That must seem a little bit weird. I just think as time goes on, you never take them for granted

because it's not, they are extraordinary. This is an extraordinary occasion and it doesn't happen

very much. But you just, you know, on it goes, life goes on. You worry about the day to day things of,

you know, the children okay and blah, blah, blah. And that's everything else just rolls along.

I really would love the idea that underneath the clothes that your son is wearing as pageboy,

he's got a spur shirt on with cane on the back or something like that. It would be son, but,

but yeah. Although he loves cane as well. But yes, I don't think he would, but if you saw him,

because we've always kept our children, but there's no reason for them to be in the press,

our children at all. And so we've purposely kept them well away from anything to do with that.

But obviously when they're around them. Do you think he feels any anxiety about

the cameras of the world are on him that, you know, if any yawn, any scratching of the head,

any, I mean, he won't be listening since he's at school, but we're trying to sort of, you know,

I think there are a lot of rehearsals that are going to happen before and he's doing it with his

cousins, his two best mates, and another, another sort of second cousin, my first cousin's son.

So they all know each other. That's really nice. So Tom, talking of rehearsals, we heard

that there is a miniature Westminster Abbey that has been put in Buckingham Palace to help

the King rehearse. Is that right? I have no idea about that. When it moves into these occasions

of stage, you know, we're, there's a team of people who spent their lives perfecting these

things, you know, all the, the, I suppose, courtiers at Buckingham Palace who are brilliant at what

they do. This is what they're absolutely brilliant. So, you know, obviously we're just guests. We just

get there early, smile. Well, you know, I'm worried about my mother, obviously my stepfather

being okay. Will you be on the balcony? No. No. I don't know. No, I don't think so. No, I can't

see why. Who's on the balcony? No idea. I know what time we've got to be there. Well, I haven't

actually looked yet, but early. And that's it. And what I've got to wear. Okay. Do you think your

mum would have, no one knows her better than you do, would she be feeling anxious about

some of these things? She will be very well aware of just how many cameras there are and what it's

going to feel like and all the rest of it. I think anyone would be anxious in an occasion of this,

of this sort of importance, you know, in terms of historical and yes, I think that any of us,

I'd be terrified if I had to sort of walk up wearing ancient robes and, you know. I mean,

apparently the crown weighs, you know, a huge amount. I mean, kind of that's really uncomfortable

on the ordinary. Yeah, it's, she's, you know, she's tough my mother, but she's 74, 4 or 5.

74 or 5 should come if you're not knowing, but anyway, one of those, 75.

Do you prefer you not to know actually? Yeah, exactly. But you know, it's tough to do it,

but she's never complained. She's just do it, get on with it.

Was there a panic about whether Harry would come or not?

Sounds like get away from me. Nothing to do with me that at all. I did ask if Harry

came as going as Captain of England. What's the answer? My mother didn't know. No, that's

not what I'm saying, but Harry, Harry Kane, I don't know if he's coming, but I haven't seen the

list, but my son and I were very concerned that we should have the Captain of England come to

the coronation, but that's just us. And Tom, we've talked about the food. What about the drink?

Would you be really careful on a day like that? Does everyone like not touch a drop,

or do people quite happily drink the way through the day? I'm not going to drink at eight o'clock,

you know, as it is, you know, in the morning. I don't think anyone is going to drink during the

ceremony unless unless they're little hip flasks. No, I mean, like the you've got the banquet and

the lunch and the thing is a banquet. Oh, isn't that I mean, I brought this book along by by raw

chef and with the seventh, when he was a great eater, great sort of trenchman, and he'd have

15 courses. Now they had a 14 course banquet, which of course he was ill for his first coronation.

So it all had to be given to the poor houses, you know, all these sort of quail stuff of

foie gras and, you know, so it was a huge, huge occasion. I don't think there's an official

banquet. There isn't a sit down sort of long, not as far as I know. And, you know, no, I don't

think so. There always have been. But what the British always did during coronations and duties

was they'd have an ox roast. So up and down the country, oxes would be shoved onto steaks and

they'd be roasted lots of beer. And that would be the celebration through food of the coronation.

Do you worry about protests? Do you worry about republic coming and shouting things?

Everyone has a right to think what they want. Yeah, you just say get on with it. You know,

going back to extinction rebellion and animal rebellion and republic and whatever it is,

everyone has a right to say, you know, we live in a thankfully, you know, a free country.

And you don't sort of hold your breath and think, oh, please don't, you know,

don't get in the way of my mum's day. No, but I'd say that the police are pretty good at that

side of things on things like this. I'd say, look up and you'll see, you know, it's, again,

I do not know. But it's a fairly big police operation, I'd say. And, you know, if people

protest, that's their right to do so, I think. And please, if you're going to throw an egg,

make sure it's a free range one. Well, it would have to be a hell of a throw, I think, to be

honest. I'm not tempting fate. I'm not touching. I say there's a ring of steel around and I'm not

giving any secrets away here because obviously the police don't bring me up saying, you know,

how do we run this? I know you're a food critic. What do you suggest? You know, undercover, I'm

actually MI5. But yes, but if people protest, people protest. You're allowed to protest. We're

all allowed to have different views. And I think that makes that makes for interesting and civilised

country. Are you excited about it? Yeah, yeah, I think it's... Well, I'm sounding kind of...

Yes, of course I am. I'm very excited about it. Yeah, I mean, just, you know, everything to go

smoothly. Yeah. And my mother and the king and everyone, everyone to just, you know, get through

it and do it well and do it proud. And yeah, and of course you worry about your son and your mother.

Is there a nervousness? Inflation's at 10%. There's food inflation's massive. Do you think, I hope,

I hope we stay in step with what the public want and need right now? I hope that this doesn't seem

to be striking the wrong note. I think that if we have, and again, you know, I'm really not your

constitutional expert here, if you have a constitutional monarchy that is, I'm totally,

obviously a believer in it and a supporter of it, that is and always has been very closely

attached to the state. And obviously there's a divide between church, state and monarchy,

which is essential. But that's part of the deal, I think, that, you know, the monarchy represents

Britain. British Isles wasn't against some awful sort of constitutional thing. British Isles,

Great Britain, whatever it is. And the government, whatever the government is, whether it's

Labour, Conservative, for the time being, I think that they pay what it is. But of course,

it matters what the people think. You know, if suddenly the people will decide, we don't like

it, well, there's a problem. You know, the people are, this is what this democracy is about. You

know, even though it's a monarchy, it's a head of state. It's not like it was under Victoria,

that's what I'm saying. It's a different thing. Of course. And there was a worry and anxiety

that after the Queen died, that there might be a lot of friction that people wouldn't accept

King Charles and your mother as Queen Consort. And yet, in these intervening six, seven, eight

months, whenever it was since then, there seems to be very little. Again, it's coming from a vested

interest, but I think, I'm asking you how you think they're doing. I think they're doing amazingly.

I think I can on this speak for a person. I think he's a good, kind, intelligent man who cares

deeply about his roles, whatever they may be, Prince of Wales, the King. He's been way before,

ahead of his time on issues like sustainability, food security, farming, pollution, all these

things where people were calling him, you know, sort of mad and eccentric 20 years ago. Everything

that he's talked about are now things that have hit the mainstream and now we're really worrying

about. Does that give him huge satisfaction? I mean, the fact that everyone is now talking about,

not everyone, but a lot of people are talking about climate change, a lot of people are talking

about organic farming and food and sustainability. I mean, does he sort of...? I think he's always

just working and thinking, you know, what can I do more? He uses, as far as I'm concerned, his

position to do good. And you look at the state, I mean, I'm not going to get into a rant about the

government now, but you look at the state of the people who are supposed to be looking after our

rivers or supposed to be looking after farming, the arrogance that trees, coffee, treats farmers,

you know, like at conferences and jetting off around the world to have a nice time. And then

that ridiculous water plan that came out yesterday, those are the sort of things that

should make you angry. And I'm not talking about politics and richly because I know nothing about

that side. What I do know about is the farming side of it and the food side of it. And I think

farmers are being treated appalling. Farmers are on their knees at the moment. And they need a

government that is behind them. And as usual, government, not labor, not conservative, are not

backing the farmers. And I was talking to a guy who does a milk farm, 250 years. Hook and Son,

they've just opened a raw milk place in Borough Market, you know, and it's very, very difficult

to make a living in farming. And farming is the backbone of this country. And the government should

be not just, you know, waving them off and saying, you know, farmers, oh, they're really well paid,

they're not, you know, they work incredibly hard. And that's what annoys me, this sort of

disdain and arrogance they have for the country.

And those are issues that your stepdad has championed?

Always championed, yes. And they can be divisive issues. They're, you know,

they're issues that intensive farming, for me, is not the answer. I don't think you should,

you know, intensive farming of, you know, depleting the soil of nutrients and stuff and using endless

fertilizers. But you have to have a balance. You can't say, you know, you can't just suddenly

say, right, everything's banned, and we're going to rewilding that. We mad as well. You need this,

you need a long-term plan for a sustainable, long-term agricultural program that sees the soil

as a living entity, but doesn't just, you know, rewilding again, that's crazy. We can't rewild

the whole country. Otherwise, we won't have any agriculture. So it's a balance, but it needs somebody,

unlike the people who are in there at the moment, who actually understand it's very,

very complex. I don't begin to understand it, but it's, there's no black or white, it's just

endless shades of grey, but the country is important, and he's always championed the country,

and that's what I feel comfortable talking about, food production and farmers, and he's

spot on on those, always has been. Tom Parker-Balls, thank you so much. Thanks for joining us, Tom.

This is The News Agents.

I know there is a lot to consider in that interview, but you know what they should have called the

coronation dish that has been served up this time round?

Quiche Camilla.

Quiche La Reine.

I was nearly there.

You were nearly there. I know how your mind works.

But Quiche La Reine would be good.

If Harry comes, it will be called Quiche Cain. Ah.

Harry Cain. Yeah.

I'd just check in with you, because obviously I'm a big Spurs fan, and you probably don't

have anything to do with them. No, you're not. You're a full of them.

We know what you are. You're on the wrong side of London.

That's all from us. Shall we go?

We're going now. Bye. Bye.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.