Dispatches - Season 41 / Year 2026

The Government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation has been met with waves of controversy, and thousands have taken to the streets to protest. Over 2,000 people who expressed public support for the group have been arrested, threatening to overwhelm the police and the justice system. Reporter Matt Shea investigates the truth about Palestine Action and why the Government felt the need to proscribe them alongside ISIS and neo-Nazis.

Political journalist Lewis Goodall assesses the origins of the downfall in popularity of the Labour government, from party infighting to policy U-turns, courting Donald Trump, the Mandelson-Epstein scandal, high-profile ministerial resignations and a by-election battleground. Lewis speaks to MPs, advisors and pollsters, as well as celebrity critics and journalists, and follows the unfolding story as the police make arrests, opposition closes in, and the clamour for information intensifies over what Keir Starmer and his top team knew about Mandelson and Epstein.

With unique access in Ukraine, with the US army, and from within Israel, Dispatches charts the new technological arms race and asks whether these tools will make warfare more precise and reduce civilian casualties; or will they lead to more wars that are ever more brutal?

Matt Shea sets out on the trail of wanted criminals evading justice in an attempt to reveal the shocking scale of this country's hidden fugitive crisis. His journey leads him from safehouses in London to an underground network in Thailand, as he uncovers a shocking new mentality among criminals, where justice is optional. What does this mean for victims of crime and for confidence in the criminal justice system?

Kate Quilton investigates the uncertainty over summer holidays, ever since the Iran War sent jet fuel prices soaring and caused thousands of flights to be cancelled. She finds out whether foreign holidays are now out of the question or if the opposite is true, with bargains to be had. She also explores whether holidaying in the UK could be a smarter alternative.

With the cost of living leaving many people struggling to stay afloat, Dispatches meets the everyday people pushed into exploitative and dangerous situations. Last year, almost two million people in Britain turned to illegal money lenders for help. And some are resorting to taking out unregulated loans offered on social media. Reporter Ellie Flynn goes undercover to meet the men exploiting cash-strapped and vulnerable people, uncovering sexual predators who prey on women who are struggling to make ends meet and organised criminals recruiting unknowing victims. She also hears from the people forced into tough choices to pay the bills - from a nurse who has become a 'full-service escort' to a police officer who is postponing thoughts of retirement to work two jobs.