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The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook, with Robert Peston

Politics &
Economics

What should policymakers do now to restore confidence, encourage investment and navigate a more volatile international landscape?

Robert Peston is one of Britain’s most trusted journalists. A fixture in British politics and business coverage, he came to national prominence as Business Editor and then Economics Editor at the BBC, where he revealed the crises at Northern Rock and RBS, the emergency rescue of HBOS, and the tumult around the credit crunch, bailouts, and austerity. 

Today he hosts his namesake flagship politics and current affairs show, Peston, as ITV’s Political Editor, and co-hosts The Rest is Money with Steph McGovern where he continues to help audiences make sense of the fast-evolving worlds of business and finance.

In July 2026 Peston joined us for the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook. In conversation with BBC broadcaster Jonny Dymond, he explored the key challenges and opportunities facing today’s domestic, European, and global economies. 

Peston answered questions on our most pressing issues today. Has Keir Starmer successfully seen off a Labour Party coup, and will his government finally be able to deliver growth? In the face of war in the Middle East, how exposed is Britain to renewed instability in energy markets and the wider global economy? And what should policymakers do now to restore confidence, encourage investment and navigate a more volatile international landscape?

He also discussed The Kill Switch, the new novel in his bestselling crime thriller series, set at the intersection of media, money and political power.

Speaker

  • Robert Peston

    Political Editor at ITV, Presenter of Peston, and Co-Host of The Rest is Money podcast

Host

  • Jonny Dymond

    BBC journalist

Speakers

Speaker

Robert Peston

Political Editor at ITV, Presenter of Peston, and Co-Host of The Rest is Money podcast

ITV's political editor, presenter of the politics show Peston, and co-presenter of The Rest is Money podcast. He has written four critically acclaimed non-fiction books, How Do We Fix This Mess?, Who Runs Britain?, Brown's Britain and WTF?. For a decade until the end of 2015, he was at the BBC, as economics editor and business editor, and in the 1990s he was at the Financial Times, as political editor, financial editor and head of investigations. At the BBC he played a prominent role in exposing the causes and consequences of the credit crunch, banking crisis and Great Recession. He has won more than 30 awards for his journalism, including Journalist of the Year and Scoop of the Year from the Royal Television Society. Alongside his journalism, he is the founder of the education charity, Speakers for Schools and vice president of Hospice UK. His crime fiction novels include The Whistleblower, The Crash and the forthcoming The Kill Switch.
Host

Jonny Dymond

BBC journalist

BBC journalist who presents shows across Radio 4 and the World Service radio, including Today and the World at One.