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  • The Bigger Picture: Trump, Venezuela & Greenland and Starmer's New Year reset

    The Bigger Picture: Trump, Venezuela & Greenland and Starmer's New Year reset
    2026/01/08
    Political commentator Mike Indian says that President Trump's abduction of Nicolás Maduro sets a new and dangerous precedent in international relations. It's a spectacular gesture but a "gesture" is all that it is and it could further destabilise an already unstable country. Trump's stated aims for Greenland risk undermining NATO and relations between the US and Europe. Mike believes he is acting to create a legacy, exerting power in the most direct way he can. However, even the US could overextend itself and then find that it does, after all, need other countries. In the meantime, Trump's actions will simply embolden the world's autocrats. 2026 could be a very volatile year. In the UK, Keir Starmer looks to be in a stronger position than he was before Christmas. There does not seem to be a credible challenge to his leadership. To some extent, his unpopularity is now almost a boon, as it is out of the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    26 分
  • The Bigger Picture: Tim’s Top Ten in 2025

    The Bigger Picture: Tim’s Top Ten in 2025
    2025/12/30
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University rounds off 2025 with his countdown of the 10 most significant issues. 10: Trade frictions and international relations are moving away from blockification and becoming messier. 9: Net Zero is on the wane and nuclear power is on the rise. Hydrocarbons could be around for longer than expected. 8: Productivity problems in Britain continue to bedevil the economy. 7: The lack of success in welfare reform, with inflation continuing to exacerbate poverty. 6: The housing crisis and the rise in homelessness. Red tape and bureaucracy continue to hold housebuilding back. 5: Fiscal strategy and stealth taxes. The policy of borrowing now and paying later is very dicey. 4: The NHS. It still in crisis, despite tens of billions of pounds poured in. 3: The cost of living crisis. Inflation is a hidden tax and most people have not seen their wages increase significantly for 20 years. 2: Immigration, which is fuelling anxiety and division, not just in Britain but throughout Europe. 1: Stagnating economic growth. We could now be in a recession. People are down and depressed and expect things to get worse. The Government is injecting misery and pessimism without understanding the consequence of their actions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    28 分
  • The Bigger Picture: The Three Unwise Men

    The Bigger Picture: The Three Unwise Men
    2025/12/18
    In seasonal spirit after what has felt like an exhausting political year, Mike Indian looks at the Three Unwise Men: Starmer; Trump; and Farage. Not since Attlee has a Labour PM had such internal difficulties and such a short honeymoon. His achievements have been drowned out by U-turns, defeats and gaffes. Labour are expected to do poorly in the May elections. Starmer is resilient and ruthless, but can he recover his authority? The unwisest man is surely Donald Trump. Eccentric and sometimes delusional, there has rarely been a more chaotic period in recent American history. His actions have a massive effect around the world. His health is now in question and it’s unlikely that he will go gracefully when is term is up. Of the three, Farage has had the best year. With just 5 MPs, Reform is polling above 30%. But the Russian links are insidious and it is still too early to predict the next election. We need to see real policies, not empty slogans. The next election will be the most pluralistic since 1923. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    26 分
  • The Bigger Picture: Abolishing trial by jury & Labour pleasing the libertarian right

    The Bigger Picture: Abolishing trial by jury & Labour pleasing the libertarian right
    2025/12/15
    Professor Tim Evans adds his voice to those opposing the restriction to trial by jury. It is an ancient right to be judged by one's peers, a democratic safeguard of liberty against an overbearing state. He feels it will lead to a loss of public confidence and democratic illegitimacy of the legal system. Without the rule of law, you don't have trust and without trust you don't have an economy. The government need to find other ways to reduce the legal backlog. While the Chancellor and her advisers appear not to have worked out exactly how EV users will be charged per mile they drive, Tim wonders if she realises that the idea is a darling of the libertarian right, proposed by Milton Friedman back in the early 1950s. It is, in essence, returning to the Georgian era of turnpikes. He feels, though, that it will create an incentive to keep roads in a good state. The era of all roads being "The King's Highway" can no longer be afforded. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    28 分
  • The Bigger Picture: Reeves' Budget, Calamity Lammy's latest & the Farage racism claims

    The Bigger Picture: Reeves' Budget, Calamity Lammy's latest & the Farage racism claims
    2025/12/08
    Political commentator Mike Indian says that Reeves had to satisfy both Labour MPs and the bond markets and, in doing so, has proven herself a better political operator than given credit for. But the tussle with the OBR is unfortunate. Mike feels its forecast horizon is too distant, though it must offer a robust challenge to government. "Calamity" Lammy's move to Justice has been nothing short of a disaster, topped by changing Levinson's recommendations on trial by jury. Mike doesn't think he will survive the year. And he finds the timing of the racist accusations against the schoolboy Farage suspect, smacking of cynical media opportunism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    24 分
  • The Bigger Picture: What will be the outcome of Reeves' political Budget?

    The Bigger Picture: What will be the outcome of Reeves' political Budget?
    2025/11/27
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University thinks that Rachel Reeves' highly-political Budget could have bought her and the Prime Minister some time, calmed the markets and even reunited the Labour Party. But what will be the unintended consequences? There will be a lot of deferred pain through tax rises. It could create weaker productivity, risk a two-speed economy, dampen consumer spending and investment, persuade more wealthy and talented people to emigrate, depressing tax revenue and it may yet prove inflationary. It will take some time before we get a clearer idea what the consequences will be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    28 分
  • The Bigger Picture: Asylum reforms, the forthcoming Budget & leadership challenges

    The Bigger Picture: Asylum reforms, the forthcoming Budget & leadership challenges
    2025/11/20
    Political commentator Mike Indian says that Shabana Mahmood gave a very punchy performance announcing her asylum reforms, modelled on Denmark's policy. It's a bold attempt to win back votes from Reform: it will please some, yet alienate others. Mike is aghast at the degree of pitch-rolling ahead of the Budget, with a manifesto-busting increase in income tax floated, then abandoned. Reeves would have been better to have taken the unpopular decision, rather than proceed piecemeal, as seems likely. He considers if the pair will survive past the May local elections. They may be unpopular, but he doesn't feel there is a credible alternative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    25 分
  • The Bigger Picture: Labour turmoil, crisis at the ONS & could finance leave New York?

    The Bigger Picture: Labour turmoil, crisis at the ONS & could finance leave New York?
    2025/11/13
    Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that Labour is now seeing as much rancour as the last Tory administration. The briefings against Wes Streeting appear to have increased the focus on the party's leadership. But could a more capable, charismatic leader fix the systemic crisis in a Britain where nothing seems to work when no politician is even discussing it? The crisis at the Office for National Statistics is crucial, as the Bank of England and OBR rely on it to base their decisions. Poor data undermines the fabric of our society. Tim notes that US financial services in several places are growing faster than New York, particularly in Dallas. Could New York be about to kill the golden goose? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    24 分