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  • The Bigger Picture: Tony Blair's essay, Peter Murrell's plea and Alan Milburn's "lost generation" report

    The Bigger Picture: Tony Blair's essay, Peter Murrell's plea and Alan Milburn's "lost generation" report
    2026/05/28
    Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the essay from the Ghost of Labour Past, Tony Blair, saying that Labour has lost its way. While he is right about some things, the essay has gone down like a lead balloon with many in the party, with Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting laying into him. Ahead of the Makerfield by-election, Labour is in a holding pattern. Whoever does succeed Keir Starmer will face a challenging landscape, to say the very least. Peter Murrell, who was at the heard of Scotland's governing party for 15 years or so, has admitted to embezzling £400,000. The estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, Murrell's case raises questions about her judgement and perhaps explains why she resigned so suddenly. Alan Milburn's "lost generation" report shows that today's young people face a perfect storm. Being detached from the labour market could harm them for the rest of their lives. But the report is not likely to find much sympathy within the Starmer government. Nor is there much in it to give young people hope. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    21 分
  • The Bigger Picture: A Government at war with itself & is the UK more productive than thought?

    The Bigger Picture: A Government at war with itself & is the UK more productive than thought?
    2026/05/21
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that Labour, in office for less than two years, is at war with itself, with the party deeply divided into several factions. Labour is entering very choppy waters and may not be able to retain a level of trust with each other to keep the party together. It wouldn't be surprising if the public compared them with the Tories and think "same difference". Where are the big political beasts of yore? The unintended consequences of fully professionalised policians is that they are hugely ambitious, don't have the breadth and depth of experience of yesterday and feel separate from the ordinary public. The Greens and Reform are rediscovering the amateur tradition. Tim also discusses the battle between those who believe in the Laffer Curve and a smaller state and those who cleave to Wagner's Law, explaining why the state keeps growing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    28 分
  • The Bigger Picture: UK local election results and Labour's leadership

    The Bigger Picture: UK local election results and Labour's leadership
    2026/05/14
    Political commentator Mike Indian summarises the UK's local election results which were a good night for Reform and the Greens but a rout for Labour, particularly in England and Wales. They don't tell us a lot, though, about where UK politics is going, except that voters are moving in different directions. It has caused panic in Labour ranks, with a steady drip of those calling for Starmer to give a timetable for his resignation. He is bloody-minded and may survive for longer, reshuffling his cabinet. Where, though, are the intellectuals and big thinkers of earlier years? Mike hopes that Ed Miliband moves to the Treasury, where his talents could make a big difference. Ultimately, popularity is less important than ideas; people want their lives to be materially better and easier and that is more important than who is in Number Ten. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    23 分
  • The Bigger Picture: UK's youth unemployment, the unaffordable state pension and council micro-aggressions

    The Bigger Picture: UK's youth unemployment, the unaffordable state pension and council micro-aggressions
    2026/05/07
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University is alarmed by the fact that 16% of Britain's 16-24 year olds are unemployed. This is worse than Spain and Greece, who used to be the outliers. Cost pressures, AI, bad health and a skills mismatch are all creating a perfect storm which will have a long-term detrimental effect for many. Tony Blair's thinktank is urging Labour to scrap the "unaffordable" state pension Triple Lock. This is among the most radical policy thinking for almost 100 years. Effectively Blair is saying that the welfare state is heading towards bankruptcy. And while we are most affected by local government, rather than national, there are few bodies focussing on it. Yet council overreach on fines, roads, bins, bollards and the like are creating a collapse in trust between people and those who have most effect on their lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    28 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The Civil Service vs. Keir Starmer and the King's US state visit

    The Bigger Picture: The Civil Service vs. Keir Starmer and the King's US state visit
    2026/04/30
    Political commentator Mike Indian analyses the recent political kerfuffle involving Olly Robbins, Morgan McSweeney & Keir Starmer. It has exposed qualities lacking in the PM, particularly his lack of curiosity, his failure to grasp the nettle and to give direction. But he appears to have 9 lives, particularly given the fact that there is no obvious successor. It may be that the economic response to events matters more than who is in Number Ten. Given the ropy relationship between the US government and Starmer, the King's visit to the United States and his address to the US Congress has shown the value of the Royal Family when it comes to soft diplomatic power. It was a considerable PR victory, reminding the Americans why we are an important diplomatic ally. But the UK needs a fundamental re-evaluation of our geo-political alliances and should work to be more independent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    25 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The impact of the Iran war, UK defence & the Hungarian election

    The Bigger Picture: The impact of the Iran war, UK defence & the Hungarian election
    2026/04/16
    Political commentator Mike Indian says that the Iran war will have a profound and lasting effect upon the UK government. In the short term, it has strengthened the Prime Minister's position, with his "Steady Eddie" persona. But the cost of living will come to the fore, with energy, food, CO2 and fertiliser costs all rising and the possibility of food shortages. The PM has come under attack for delays in defence spending. It is one thing to announce an increase in investment but it is important how the money will be spent. We don't appear to have learnt from the Ukraine invasion about the importance of shortening supply chains. Mike discusses the extraordinary intervention by J D Vance in the Hungarian election. Many European leaders will breathe a sigh of relief at Orban's outing but it is not clear what Magyar is for and how he will use his power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    25 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The biggest geopolitical upheaval since the 40s & solving the student loan crisis

    The Bigger Picture: The biggest geopolitical upheaval since the 40s & solving the student loan crisis
    2026/04/09
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University thinks that a huge political realignment is happening in the West. There's a new type of discourse which is less about economics, as it largely was for almost a century, and more about identitarian politics, about the shifting sands of statecraft and the nature of the nation state and borders. It's a big, historic inflexion point which Tim believes will be the biggest geopolitical upheaval since the last 1940s. The boom in higher education in the UK turned into a bubble and bubbles are prone to burst. The sector is in crisis, with culling of courses and institutions while student loans are now a hot political football. Clearly it is a bad idea for national targets to be set for higher education, but Tim wonders why there is no competition for student loans. Why can't institutions compete with the government and develop their own products? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    26 分
  • The Bigger Picture: Trump & Nato and Starmer pledging closer EU ties ahead of the local elections

    The Bigger Picture: Trump & Nato and Starmer pledging closer EU ties ahead of the local elections
    2026/04/02
    Political commentator Mike Indian discusses Trump's threat to leave NATO, saying that the closer the mid-term elections are, the more desperate Trump becomes. It is hard to see what has been achieved by the US action against Iran, other than entrenching the regime's hardliners and closing a vital trade route. Trump's threat is a frightening prospect, as NATO is the bedrock of European security. With the UK local elections just a few weeks away, Keir Starmer has opted to focus on the cost of living. One of his aims is to seek closer economic ties with the EU. Mike hopes that he will take the chance to talk up collective security for which – in the fact of Trump's threats – Europe needs a long-term strategy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    23 分