A major moment in British politics as Peter Mandelson is arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. 

It relates to his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein. 

The former UK ambassador to the US and Labour minister has been accused of passing on information to the sex offender when he was business secretary. 

UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Mike Hosking while this might deflect heat off Keir Starmer in the short term, it’ll likely come back around to him in the end. 

He says that Mandelson was a Labour appointment, and it wouldn’t surprise him if he himself was almost directly responsible for appointing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as Trade Envoy in 2001.  

LISTEN ABOVE 

A major moment in British politics as Peter Mandelson is arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.&nbsp;
It relates to his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.&nbsp;
The former UK ambassador to the US and Labour minister has been accused of passing on information to the sex offender when he was business secretary.&nbsp;
UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Mike Hosking while this might deflect heat off Keir Starmer in the short term, it’ll likely come back around to him in the end.&nbsp;
He says that Mandelson was a Labour appointment, and it wouldn’t surprise him if he himself was almost directly responsible for appointing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as Trade Envoy in 2001. &nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE&nbsp;

Open your mind to the world with New Zealand’s number one breakfast radio show.

Without question, as New Zealand’s number one talk host, Mike Hosking sets the day’s agenda.

The sharpest voice and mind in the business, Mike drives strong opinion, delivers the best talent, and always leaves you wanting more.

The Mike Hosking Breakfast always cuts through and delivers the best daily on Newstalk ZB.

Open your mind to the world with New Zealand’s number one breakfast radio show. Without question, as New Zealand’s number one talk host, Mike Hosking sets the day’s agenda. The sharpest voice and mind in the business, Mike drives strong opinion, delivers the best talent, and always leaves you wanting more. The Mike Hosking Breakfast always cuts through and delivers the best daily on Newstalk ZB.

Open your mind to the world with New Zealand’s number one breakfast radio show.

Without question, as New Zealand’s number one talk host, Mike Hosking sets the day’s agenda.

The sharpest voice and mind in the business, Mike drives strong opinion,...

The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Rod Liddle: UK Correspondent on the arrest of Peter Mandelson

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/2735fe5e-7458-472b-bf9f-b3fa015f8516/transcript

What's in the numbers? 

Well-known economist Shamubeel Eaqub has crunched a few figures. It turns out if you want to see it, being a student at university is a miserable experience. 

And boy does the media love a story of misery. Being a student is pricier than ever, they tell us. "Does it pay off?" was your headline. 

The answer, and this isn't from the story, it's from me, is yes. 

Yes, if you have a plan. Yes, if you are careful. Yes, if you are driven in a specific direction professionally. 

Our most recent graduate at our house is fully immersed in her first job and loving it. She owes a shed load of dough, but wouldn’t for a minute have it any other way. 

But back to the numbers. All we really learn, when you compare the cost of stuff from Shamubeel 20 years ago versus the cost of stuff now, is the cost of stuff has gone up. That's got little to do with university and a lot to do with life because all our bills have gone up. 

Student support has gone up 86% but essentials have gone up 220%. In 2005 the allowance was $160 while essentials were $140 and you had $20 left over. 

These days you're in the red to the tune of eight bucks, which I wouldn’t actually have thought was that bad. 

University fees have gone up 113%. You might want to ask why. 

But here is a reality check: the story tells us 35,000 students received some form of assistance. That number on the last quarter is up 5%. 

But the amount they get is down 3%. So more get money, but not as much. Surely that’s good? 

But here is the real number: how many students are there? ChatGPT tells me almost 400,000, so less than 10% get any assistance at all. 90% don’t need help. Isn't that the real story? 

Too many stories and too many headlines are about what's wrong, not what's right, who is doing badly, not who is doing fine. 

You can play with numbers forever. Palmerston North rents have gone up more than Auckland rents, so it's not as cheap to be at Massey as it once was, and so it goes. 

But the big picture, the real story, surely is what you got out of university. What did the qualification do for you? 

If it changed your life, set you on a path, set you up, got you a career and opened the doors then the bill is immaterial. 

Like life, university is how you see it. Like life, the choices are yours. 

So does it pay off? Guess what, if you want it to, you are already there. 

What's in the numbers?&nbsp;
Well-known economist Shamubeel Eaqub has crunched a few figures. It turns out if you want to see it, being a student at university is a miserable experience.&nbsp;
And boy does the media love a story of misery. Being a student is pricier than ever, they tell us. "Does it pay off?" was your headline.&nbsp;
The answer, and this isn't from the story, it's from me, is yes.&nbsp;
Yes, if you have a plan. Yes, if you are careful. Yes, if you are driven in a specific direction professionally.&nbsp;
Our most recent graduate at our house is fully immersed in her first job and loving it. She owes a shed load of dough, but wouldn’t for a minute have it any other way.&nbsp;
But back to the numbers. All we really learn, when you compare the cost of stuff from Shamubeel 20 years ago versus the cost of stuff now, is the cost of stuff has gone up. That's got little to do with university and a lot to do with life because all our bills have gone up.&nbsp;
Student support has gone up 86% but essentials have gone up 220%. In 2005 the allowance was $160 while essentials were $140 and you had $20 left over.&nbsp;
These days you're in the red to the tune of eight bucks, which I wouldn’t actually have thought was that bad.&nbsp;
University fees have gone up 113%. You might want to ask why.&nbsp;
But here is a reality check: the story tells us 35,000 students received some form of assistance. That number on the last quarter is up 5%.&nbsp;
But the amount they get is down 3%. So more get money, but not as much. Surely that’s good?&nbsp;
But here is the real number: how many students are there? ChatGPT tells me almost 400,000, so less than 10% get any assistance at all. 90% don’t need help. Isn't that the real story?&nbsp;
Too many stories and too many headlines are about what's wrong, not what's right, who is doing badly, not who is doing fine.&nbsp;
You can play with numbers forever. Palmerston North rents have gone up more than Auckland rents, so it's not as cheap to be at Massey as it once was, and so it goes.&nbsp;
But the big picture, the real story, surely is what you got out of university. What did the qualification do for you?&nbsp;
If it changed your life, set you on a path, set you up, got you a career and opened the doors then the bill is immaterial.&nbsp;
Like life, university is how you see it. Like life, the choices are yours.&nbsp;
So does it pay off? Guess what, if you want it to, you are already there.&nbsp;

Mike's Minute: Good or bad story at university?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/0a0ac8ab-9bfd-4cc3-b3cf-b3fa01627f46/transcript

Though he was never seen, Andy Wilman was an inextricable part of the success of Top Gear. 

He’s the co-creator and executive producer of the show, which has been seen by over 350 million people around the world.  

And when Top Gear came to a close, he was in charge of The Grand Tour, the show that picked up right where its predecessor left off, and now Wilman is running Amazon’s record-breaking show Clarkson’s Farm.  

More than two decades later, he’s written a book about how it all came to be, looking behind the scenes in ‘Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure’. 

While it may have started out as an ordinary TV show, Top Gear quickly became a phenomenon, and Wilman told Mike Hosking there were dozens of tiny moments that made them realise it. 

“Richard [Hammond’s] crash, obviously, we were, I think we were already big by then, but Richard’s crash stunned us at how we were part of the nation’s TV watching fabric.” 

“I think the, the things, the elements that were inevitable were because we were making things up as we went along, because we had no plan,” he explained. 

“So you surprise yourself ... those moments in turn generate new material, which keeps you fresh.”  

But as the viewership grew, so did the pressure, and the combination of a smaller crew size, ideological differences within the BBC, and the team getting “too big for their boots” started to cause problems. 

“Those three elements were the perfect storm that led to our demise.” 

A little further down the line is Clarkson’s Farm, which despite being a smaller production, Wilman says is more rewarding. 

“[It’s] a far more challenging and rewarding show to make, simply because they shoot all the time.” 

Since Clarkson is at work from the moment he steps out his front door, the filming has to cover everything. 

“We just shoot and shoot and shoot and then we’ll see what sticks to the wall.” 

And a large part of the show’s appeal is its supporting cast, which Wilman says was like catching lightning in a bottle for the second time.  

“A bit like Jeremy, Richard, and James – you couldn’t plan that.” 

“Magic happened.” 

LISTEN ABOVE 

Though he was never seen, Andy Wilman was an inextricable part of the success of Top Gear.&nbsp;
He’s the co-creator and executive producer of the show, which has been seen by over 350 million people around the world. &nbsp;
And when Top Gear came to a close, he was in charge of The Grand Tour, the show that picked up right where its predecessor left off, and now Wilman is running Amazon’s record-breaking show Clarkson’s Farm. &nbsp;
More than two decades later, he’s written a book about how it all came to be, looking behind the scenes in ‘Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure’.&nbsp;
While it may have started out as an ordinary TV show, Top Gear quickly became a phenomenon, and Wilman told Mike Hosking there were dozens of tiny moments that made them realise it.&nbsp;
“Richard [Hammond’s] crash, obviously, we were, I think we were already big by then, but Richard’s crash stunned us at how we were part of the nation’s TV watching fabric.”&nbsp;
“I think the, the things, the elements that were inevitable were because we were making things up as we went along, because we had no plan,” he explained.&nbsp;
“So you surprise yourself ... those moments in turn generate new material, which keeps you fresh.” &nbsp;
But as the viewership grew, so did the pressure, and the combination of a smaller crew size, ideological differences within the BBC, and the team getting “too big for their boots” started to cause problems.&nbsp;
“Those three elements were the perfect storm that led to our demise.”&nbsp;
A little further down the line is Clarkson’s Farm, which despite being a smaller production, Wilman says is more rewarding.&nbsp;
“[It’s] a far more challenging and rewarding show to make, simply because they shoot all the time.”&nbsp;
Since Clarkson is at work from the moment he steps out his front door, the filming has to cover everything.&nbsp;
“We just shoot and shoot and shoot and then we’ll see what sticks to the wall.”&nbsp;
And a large part of the show’s appeal is its supporting cast, which Wilman says was like catching lightning in a bottle for the second time. &nbsp;
“A bit like Jeremy, Richard, and James – you couldn’t plan that.”&nbsp;
“Magic happened.”&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE&nbsp;

Andy Wilman: Co-creator and EP of Top Gear, The Grand Tour, and Clarkson's Farm

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/3c114968-190e-445c-a35e-b3fa01590fa5/transcript

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 24th of February, Finance Minister Nicola Willis explains why the Government has bought $200 million in Genesis shares.  

The EU Ambassador to NZ Lawrence Meredith speaks on the 4th anniversary of the Ukraine war and what it will take for it to end. 

Andy Wilman, the creator of Top Gear, Grand Tour, and Clarkson's Farm, joined to discuss the decades he’s spent behind the scenes and what it’s like to be the right hand man of his best friend, Jeremy Clarkson.  

Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 24th of February, <a href="https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/nicola-willis-finance-minister-on-the-government-buying-200-million-in-new-genesis-shares/">Finance Minister Nicola Willis</a> explains why the Government has bought $200 million in Genesis shares. &nbsp;
The <a href="https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/lawrence-meredith-eu-ambassador-to-new-zealand-on-the-fourth-anniversary-of-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/">EU Ambassador to NZ Lawrence Meredith</a> speaks on the 4th anniversary of the Ukraine war and what it will take for it to end.&nbsp;
Andy Wilman, the creator of Top Gear, Grand Tour, and Clarkson's Farm, joined to discuss the decades he’s spent behind the scenes and what it’s like to be the right hand man of his best friend, Jeremy Clarkson. &nbsp;
Get the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE&nbsp;

Full Show Podcast: 24 February 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/e1111c01-39b7-43c7-9c2d-b3fa014c8e46/transcript

Rod Liddle: UK Correspondent on the arrest of Peter Mandelson

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