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  • The Bigger Picture: Labour MPs suspended, the Afghan data leak & lowering the voting age to 16

    The Bigger Picture: Labour MPs suspended, the Afghan data leak & lowering the voting age to 16
    2025/07/17
    Political commentator Mike indian discusses the removal of the whip of the four MPs who led the welfare rebellion. Despite Labour's massive majority, it is proving hard to maintain party discipline. Rachel Reeves has emerged as Starmer's co-Prime Minister with market reaction to her tears in the Commons strengthening her position, as there seems no possible alternative Chancellor. The Afghan data breach, and the superinjunction covering it up, is a spectacular blunder by the British state. It heightens the impression of incompetence at the top and the belief that civil servants are never held to account. Lastly, Mike turns to the lowering of the voting age to 16, wondering if Reform might not be the party that benefits most from it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    24 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The welfare state is unsustainable, Tim's manifesto & public opinion on healthcare

    The Bigger Picture: The welfare state is unsustainable, Tim's manifesto & public opinion on healthcare
    2025/07/10
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that it is now obvious that the welfare state begun by Lloyd George and Churchill in 1909 is on an unsustainable path and that the political cowardice of MPs has to end. The OBR has warned how vulnerable the UK's position is, yet not even Labour can get a grip on it. Tim discusses his own recently published "manifesto" as to how a failing state where nothing works can be rescued by private enterprise, pointing out the growing trend for people turning to private providers. And he highlights the massive sea change in the public's attitude towards private healthcare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    24 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The crumbling of Britain's welfare state & Trump's extraordinary first 6 months

    The Bigger Picture: The crumbling of Britain's welfare state & Trump's extraordinary first 6 months
    2025/06/27
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that the wheels are coming off the welfare project that began in the early 20th century. The state can no longer do it all and either massive changes are made proactively or it will happen reactively through a money market crisis. Sadly, few politicians show the necessary pragmatism and we may already be seeing the early signs of a legitimation crisis. He also looks at Donald Trump. The domestic picture is mixed but, internationally, he cannot remember a US President moving so many dials so rapidly and in such significant ways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    27 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The G7 meeting, the grooming gang inquiry & the decriminalisation of abortion

    The Bigger Picture: The G7 meeting, the grooming gang inquiry & the decriminalisation of abortion
    2025/06/19
    Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the G7 meeting with Donald Trump to the fore. He doesn't believe the vaunted UK trade deal with the US is the full thing but, more important, were the discussions on Ukraine and the Middle East. Mike also ponders whether the G7 is becoming less relevant as a body. He turns to the grooming gang inquiry, the latest in a long-running, disappointing saga. The terms of the inquiry and the timescale will be vital. As with the decriminalisation of abortion, Mike laments the toxicity of these and many other current issues. Political discourse is getting angrier and consensus ever harder to find: this is not helpful for democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    24 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The UK's Doom Loop, "Return To Growth" & Starmer's backing of nuclear power

    The Bigger Picture: The UK's Doom Loop, "Return To Growth" & Starmer's backing of nuclear power
    2025/06/12
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University believes that the UK is now in a doom loop. With no coherent strategy, Rachel Reeves is digging us ever deeper into a hole, borrowing massively with no attempt to improve productivity or encourage growth. No wonder capital and talent is fleeing. For anyone wondering how we might do things differently in a politically viable way, reducing the state and improving state services, Tim recommends Lord Moynihan's very readable work, Return to Growth. And he finds fascinating the 180-degree ideological shift by many in Labour when it comes to our civil nuclear programme. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    27 分
  • The Bigger Picture: Winter fuel U-turn, the Spending Review and the Tories disowning the Truss Budget

    The Bigger Picture: Winter fuel U-turn, the Spending Review and the Tories disowning the Truss Budget
    2025/06/05
    Political commentator Mike Indian says that the Winter Fuel U-turn has undermined the position of the Prime Minister and Chancellor, with Labour MPs getting increasingly rebellious. But there is no obvious successor to Keir Starmer and Mike predicts that the PM will not only last till the end of this Parliament but stand again. In some ways, he feels, the forthcoming Spending Review is the biggest decision Labour will take in this Parliament. He approves of the money earmarked for improving transport in the north and the equipment detailed in the Defence Review. But it's clear personnel levels in the armed forces need to be raised. All this at a time when jittery markets no longer want to sustain growing government debt while growth is low. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    27 分
  • The Bigger Picture: Will Reform face a new Project Fear, Are Western economies doomed & Railway renationalisation

    The Bigger Picture: Will Reform face a new Project Fear, Are Western economies doomed & Railway renationalisation
    2025/05/29
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that Reform's rise in the opinion polls could see "The Blob" mounting a new "Project Fear". But it could backfire, particularly as some people like rebelling against the establishment. Will Labour fracture as the Conservatives did? With populations declining and welfare and pension liabilities mushrooming, the financial situation of western democracies is becoming increasingly unstable. With no incentive for politicians to explain how serious the situation is, are our societies doomed? And with the railways being renationaised, Tim considers the oscillation between state and private control over 200 years and wonders why we can't emulate the railway success of that other island state, Japan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    27 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The winter fuel U-turn, the UK-EU reset deal & Angela Rayner's tax rise memo

    The Bigger Picture: The winter fuel U-turn, the UK-EU reset deal & Angela Rayner's tax rise memo
    2025/05/22
    Political commentator Mike Indian discusses Labour's U-turn on the winter fuel payment, which would have been far less damaging if it had happened earlier. The party's communications, particularly on the domestic front, need to be considerably more savvy. The UK-EU reset deal should improve our relationship with Europe but it is inevitable we would become a rule taker after leaving. The biggest losers, yet again, are Britain's fishermen. He also comments on the leaked memo about Angela Rayne's suggested tax rises, exposing differences between her and the Chancellor. If rumours of a reshuffle soon are true, it could be a mistake and should happen later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    24 分