Claire Read introduces her special podcast series about the impact of one day of the British army’s war in Afghanistan on the troops who were there and the families they left behind. Download the Deadliest Day series from the Beyond Today podcast.

For a long time, Becky Milligan has been dining out with political figures and recording the conversations for us. Here is a brand new At Lunch With…The Labour MP Clive Lewis. Becky Milligan took him out in his constituency in Norwich where they discussed him being cleared of sexual harassment charges by the Labour party, how being labelled the next future leader of his party was “a kiss of death” and why he uses a Parliamentary WhatsApp group as “therapy”. (Photo: Table setting Credit: BBC)

Becky Milligan invited one of the longest serving MPs in the House of Commons Dame Margaret Beckett to have lunch with one of the youngest MPs Ben Bradley. Find out what kind of conversation a Labour veteran and a budding-new Conservative sounds like. (Image: Cutlery on a napkin, credit: BBC)

Award winning naturalist and adventurer Steve Backshall is best known for presenting Deadly 60 on the BBC, where he meets the most dangerous animals on the planet. While filming his latest TV programme about dinosaurs, he talks to Becky Milligan about his little black book of secret reefs and caves, how blue a blue whale really is, and how often he thinks about going into politics (Photo:Table setting Credit: BBC)

She has had a remarkable political ascent; elected an MP in 2015 Angela Rayner is now shadow education secretary. Becky Milligan went to her constituency in Ashton-under-Lyne for the latest installment of her ‘At Lunch With’ series. The Labour MP discusses life growing up on a council estate, how being a carer changed her from being a rebel to respecting those in authority and how being told she could be a possible leader of the Labour Party feels "ridiculous... for now, but maybe one day". (Photo: Table setting Credit: BBC)

Grant Shapps is a former Conservative cabinet minister and party chairman. In some circles, he was once tipped to be a contender for prime minister. He is currently the MP for Welwyn Hatfield. Over lunch, he talks to Becky Milligan about his relationship with Theresa May; his resignation from government over the bullying scandal surrounding the suicide of a young Conservative activist; and his love of rap music. (Photo: Table setting Credit: BBC)

Baroness Karen Brady is a Conservative peer, who is sometimes referred to as 'The First Lady of Football' having run Birmingham football club when she was 23. Currently Vice Chair of West Ham Football club, she invited Becky Milligan to lunch in their new grounds of the former Olympic Stadium in East London. They talked about her interest in politics and business, her "disappointed" face on The Apprentice, and about romance.

Lord Falconer, often known as Charlie Falconer, is a Labour peer. His long career in British politics includes stints as Lord Chancellor and Minister for the Millennium Dome. When he met Becky Milligan for lunch, which for him consisted of two apples and two cans of Diet Coke, he expressed his concerns about the Labour Party and the pleasure he takes in buying clothes now he's lost so much weight.

Becky meets Keith Craig, someone not usually in the public eye, but who is a businessman, a former banker and an ex-diplomat. He caused a bit of stir when he wrote a letter to the Financial Times complaining about the paper's "predictions of disaster" brought on by "the Brexit/Trump axis". He ended his letter by saying "face it, we FT readers have had our decades in charge and we blew it ". He tells Becky about his unusual life working for the Foreign Office, why he wrote the letter and why he's got it in for "the middle classes."

Arron Banks is a British businessman and former Conservative Party donor, who came to prominence in October 2014 when he donated £1 million to UKIP. He talks to Becky Milligan about being co-founder of the Leave EU campaign, visiting Trump Tower and his future political career.