Broadcast timeline
BBC Two — Newsnight, followed by Weather
Wednesday 29 July 2026 · 22:30 BST · 30m · 3 stories · 15 annotated moments · 27 of 30 min on news stories (89%)
Broadcast overview
An AI-generated overview based on this broadcast's transcript.
The programme led with an interview with Green Party leader Zak Polanski, who faced police scrutiny after Reform UK reported a social media post he shared on Instagram. The post included an image of a man wearing a T-shirt depicting a guillotine with the lyrics 'We're only making plans for Nigel.' Polanski said the post was an inadvertent mistake, that he condemned political violence, and that he had removed it as soon as he noticed. He declined to apologise to Nigel Farage, arguing the post was not his own and that Farage had amplified it. A Reform UK source later said Polanski was not fit to lead a national party. The discussion also covered Polanski's previous social media errors and recent polling for the Greens.
The second segment reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham had invited Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey to a meeting on reforming social care. Badenoch declined, citing short notice, while Davey joined via Zoom. The programme also covered a protest by victims of crime against the government's early release of prisoners, with Conservative MP Kieran Mullen calling for emergency legislation to exclude sex offenders from the scheme. The broadcast concluded with a review of newspaper front pages on social care and other topics.
- 0:00 ~3 min without annotations
- 3:09
- 3:09
Claim Reform UK reports Green Party leader Zak Polanski to police over guillotine post
The Metropolitan Police is making inquiries into the report.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 3:09-3:20
- 4:40
Claim Reform UK reports Green Party leader Zak Polanski to police over guillotine post
Polanski said the police had not contacted him as of the time of the interview.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 4:40-4:42
- 4:50
Claim Reform UK reports Green Party leader Zak Polanski to police over guillotine post
The Green Party said Polanski immediately unshared the post and does not support dangerous messages.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 4:50-4:58
- 4:50
Claim Reform UK reports Green Party leader Zak Polanski to police over guillotine post
Zak Polanski said he condemns all political violence and that he did not look carefully at the post before accepting it.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 4:50-4:58
- 5:52
Claim Reform UK reports Green Party leader Zak Polanski to police over guillotine post
Zak Polanski said he condemns all political violence and that he did not look carefully at the post before accepting it.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 5:52-5:58
- 21:51
- 22:09
Claim PM returns from break with renewed cost of living focus
Kemi Badenoch declined a meeting invitation due to short notice and a pre-planned minor operation.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 22:09-22:14
- 22:09
Claim PM returns from break with renewed cost of living focus
Kemi Badenoch declined a meeting invitation due to short notice and a pre-planned minor operation.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 22:09-22:14
- 22:49
Claim PM returns from break with renewed cost of living focus
Ed Davey will join the meeting via Zoom because he is in France caring for his disabled son.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 22:49-22:51
- 23:44
Claim PM returns from break with renewed cost of living focus
22 reviews have been commissioned into social care funding but none has resulted in a definitive solution.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 23:44-23:47
- 25:51
Charged quote PM returns from break with renewed cost of living focus
hasn't invited Nigel Farage. If he had, Nigel would have told him he'd fight this tax rise all the way because of these reports that there'd be the so-called death tax on property. Obviously that was Andy Burnham yesterday not ruling something out rather than ruling something in. And then he says, Robert Jenrick, that Ed Davey and Kemi Badenoch
BBC TWO, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 25:51-25:54
- 26:10
Claim PM returns from break with renewed cost of living focus
Robert Jenrick said Burnham has no mandate to tax the life savings of families.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 26:10-26:18
- 26:11
Charged quote PM returns from break with renewed cost of living focus
So Kemi Badenoch not attending, but obviously he would say going along and he's saying Robert Jenrick, Andy Burnham has no mandate to tax the life savings of hundreds of thousands of families. I think the public expect people to make good faith efforts to work together on not just social care, but any political issue.
BBC TWO, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 26:11-26:18
- 29:12
- 29:16
Claim Government revises early release scheme after probation warning
A victim of rape by her father said the review must exclude men who rape children for her to be reassured.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 29:16-29:22
- 30:08
Claim Government revises early release scheme after probation warning
A victim of rape by her father said the review must exclude men who rape children for her to be reassured.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 30:08-30:15
- 30:17
Claim Government revises early release scheme after probation warning
Government sources stated that any pause will be operational only and will not delay the September changes.
BBC TWO HD, Newsnight, followed by Weather, 29 July 2026, 30:17-30:22
Source: BBC TWO, "Newsnight, followed by Weather", Wednesday 29 July 2026. Transcript excerpts and stills are shown only to support the analysis annotated alongside them. Search-result excerpts are distinct from the editorial annotations — see our copyright basis. The full broadcast is not reproduced.