Episodes
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Armando and Anoosh delve into the inner workings of British political reporting, exploring the complex world of the Lobby, the blurred relationships that many political journalists and politicians balance - trading access and trust, - and how this landscape has been evolving over the past few years with the rise of digital and alternative media.
To do this they are joined by Ash Sarkar, senior editor at Novara Media, and Ian Dunt, columnist at the I and former editor of Politics.co.uk.
This us the last episode of this series of Westminster Reimagined.
Listen to all previous episodes of Westminster Reimagined here: https://podfollow.com/westminster-reimagined-with-armando-iannucci-the-new-statesman
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Thurrock is suffering major cuts to all its council services after it went effectively bankrupt last December, after hundreds of millions of pounds were put into risky investments that didn’t pay off. One of the services to be gravely affected by the cuts is a place called “Thameside”, an arts complex, described locally as a “mini Barbican”, which houses a theatre, library, archive and museum.
Places like Thameside often serve as the heart and soul of our communities. They bring people together, foster a sense of belonging, and contribute to our overall well-being. But what happens when these vital services face budget cuts?
In this episode of Westminster Reimagined we discuss The Good Life - how much value do we put on happiness in Britain? How can government policy boost happiness? And is it possible to quantify personal wellbeing?
Listen to all previous episodes of Westminster Reimagined here: https://podfollow.com/westminster-reimagined-with-armando-iannucci-the-new-statesman
Download the app:
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressivemediagroup.newstatesman&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Subscribe to the New Statesman WhatsApp channel:
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Missing episodes?
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Is democracy slipping away from us? How protected are we by our constitution? And do governments have the power to swiftly change this? In June, in front of a live audience, Armando and Anoosh were joined by Simon Woolley, founder and director of Operation Black Vote and Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, and Graham Smith, CEO of the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic.
This episode was recorded shortly after the first data regarding voter ID impact in elections, and also after the arrest of Graham Smith at a pre-arranged Coronation protest.
Listen to all previous episodes of Westminster Reimagined here: https://podfollow.com/westminster-reimagined-with-armando-iannucci-the-new-statesman
Download the app:
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressivemediagroup.newstatesman&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Subscribe to the New Statesman WhatsApp channel:
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9latS0wajogms2z02c
Sign up to our daily politics email:
https://morningcall.substack.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our fourth series of Westminster Reimagined.
In this episode, which was recorded in the summer of 2023, Armando and Anoosh visit a group of sixth form students who will be voting for the first time in the upcoming general election. They want to know what how politics is taught in schools, how the students view the UK political party system, and whether the issues that matter to the students are represented by politicians today.
Download the app:
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressivemediagroup.newstatesman&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Subscribe to the New Statesman WhatsApp channel:
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Sign up to our daily politics email:
https://morningcall.substack.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our fourth series of Westminster Reimagined. Across this season he is joined by co-host Anoosh Chakelian, Britain editor at the New Statesman, to explores parts of British public life he believes to be broken, and is joined by guests from inside and outside Westminster to work out how to fix them.
In this first episode of the season our hosts are joined by Alex von Tunzelmann, historian, screenwriter and author, and Ivan Rogers, former permanent representative of the UK to the European Union. In their careers they've both reflected on how Britain is seen on the international stage and the way its role in the world has been changing, and Armando and Anoosh want to know - is Britain really great, anymore?
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Our democracy is parliamentary. Why do so many Prime Minsters want to be presidential?
Alistair Campbell and Catherine Haddon of the Institute for Government join Armando and Anoosh for the final episode of season three, to discuss whether presidential-style politics is a new thing, or if prime ministers have always wanted more power. They explore the impact of the Boris Johnson era and the underrated power of a strong cabinet.
Guests
Alistair Campbell was Tony Blair's director of communications and now co-hosts the hit podcast The Rest is Politics.
Catherine Haddon is resident historian at the Institute for Government.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on December 9, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
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Leave meant leave. Brexit meant Brexit. Brexit "got done". But can Brexit work?
Armando and Anoosh meet two brothers, both entrepreneurs, divided by Brexit. The family rift encapsulates the divisions between Leave and Remain camps that continue to impact British politics. Can the Baxter brothers, and the UK, come together and unite after years of division?
Guests
Ian Baxter is founder and chair of Baxter Freight, a logistics and supply chain solutions company with significant dealings in Europe. He voted to remain in the European Union.
Nigel Baxter is managing director of RH Commercial Vehicles, a supplier of Heavy Goods Vehicles. He voted to leave the European Union.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on December 2, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis.
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The truth is dead. Can politics survive?
Armando and Anoosh speak to journalist James Ball and political campaigner Mae Dobbs to explore the impact of misinformation and disinformation, and also meet a former BBC executive, Pat Younge, to discuss how the broadcaster could do more to tackle a culture of lying among politicians.
Guests
Mae Dobbs is a digital campaign strategist who worked on the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and Anas Sarwar's campaign for the Scottish Labour leadership.
James Ball is the author of Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World, and The Other Pandemic, exploring the impact of the Qanon conspiracy theory.
Pat Younge is a broadcast executive with over 30 years experience at the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, among others.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on Nov 25, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
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The Tories promised to fix "broken Britain" - but they've just made it worse.
Unions are striking, the NHS is buckling, and volunteers are increasingly stepping in to provide vital services after funding cuts. How can Britain carry on like this?
Armando and Anoosh meet two local activists providing volunteer community services to understand the view from the front line of community work, and explore what can be done to remedy the situation.
Guests
Michelle Dornelly is the founder of Children with Voices, which runs Hackney Community Food Hub.
Emilie De Bruijn launched and runs Hartlepool Baby Bank, providing support to parents of babies and young children.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on November 18, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis.
Get your first month free: www.newstatesman.com/30daytrial
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The US and the UK: divided by a common language, or united in chaos?
Armando and Anoosh speak to the American satirist and broadcaster Jon Stewart, and the journalist Sam Walker to compare US and UK politics. They discuss whether the chaos and division of US political life is a warning for the UK, and whether discourse in Britain is heading in a similar direction.
Guests
Jon Stewart is one of the United States' leading political satirists and broadcasters. He was the long-running host of The Daily Show from 1999-2015, and now hosts The Problem with Jon Stewart an Apple TV+
Sam Walker is a British journalist and broadcaster living in Arizona, Texas. She is the host of the podcast Sam Walker's Desert Diaries.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on Nov 11, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis.
Get your first month free: www.newstatesman.com/30daytrial
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Britain has one of the most unequal economies in Europe.
In the UK, the rich are richer and the poor are poorer than in other European countries. The income gap is the largest it has been in ten years, food-bank use has doubled since 2014 and nearly a third of low-income families are unable to heat their homes; meanwhile the richest 1 per cent of households in the UK are worth £3.6 million each.
Why? And what impact does this have on our politics?
Anoosh and Armando meet Dominic Watters, a social worker living on the breadline, and Adrienne Buller of the think tank Common Wealth, to explore the impact of inequality and whether the political system is geared against the "undeserving poor".
Guests
Dominic Watters is a single dad, social worker and campaigner against food insecurity. He's the author of Social Distance in Social Work: Covid Capsule One
Adrienne Buller is director of research at the Common Wealth think tank and author of The Value of a Whale.
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Underhand, "bullying", quid-pro-quo... are whips helping run the country, or turning politics into a game of political point-scoring?
Armando and Anoosh are joined by playwright James Graham and professor of politics Chris Hanretty to discuss the whipping operation in parliament - and whether blowing the whistle on whips' tactics will actually change anything for the better.
Guests
James Graham is the award-winning writer of political plays This House, Brexit: The Uncivil War and Labour of Love
Chris Hanretty is a professor at Royal Holloway University who studies pork barrel politics.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on May 11, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
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Get your first month free: www.newstatesman.com/30daytrial
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Do political "tribes" still matter, or do voters pick-and-mix their political preferences?
Armando and Ailbhe Rea are joined by the legendary polling expert, John Curtice, and former Labour defector Shaun Woodward, to explore the importance of demographics in understanding voting intention and whether identity politics really does sway voters.
Guests
John Curtice is professor of politics at Strathclyde University and the resident polling expert on the BBC's coverage of general elections from 2005-2017.
Shaun Woodward is a former Labour minister who defected to the Conservatives in 1999. He now chairs the Human Dignity Trust, an international LGBT charity.
Ailbhe Rea was political correspondent at the New Statesman until 2022, and was a regular co-host of the New Statesman podcast.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on May 4, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
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Britain doesn't have a written constitution. Is it time we did?
Armando and Anoosh are joined by former attorney general Dominic Grieve and the head of UCL's Constitution Unit, Meg Russell, to discuss Britain's "ramshackle" constitution - and whether democracy can continue to thrive in Westminster after Brexit without a codified system of government.
Guests
Dominic Grieve is a barrister and former Conservative MP who served as Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 - 2014.
Meg Russell is professor in British and comparative politics and director of the Constitution Unit at University College London.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on April 27, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
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Does change happen because of politicians, or despite them?
Armando and Anoosh speak to two campaigners addressing issues of inequality to discuss whether it's people or politicians who change public opinion - and whether activists are letting the government off the hook.
Guests
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah launched her grass roots campaign to improve London's air quality after her daughter became the first person in the world to officially die from air pollution. Find out more about the Ella Roberta foundation for clean air: https://www.ellaroberta.org/
Gary Stephenson is a former interest rate trader who made his fortune betting on the fallout of the 2008 market crash, before leaving the City to campaign against wealth inequality. See his YouTube channel, GarysEconomics, here: https://www.youtube.com/c/garyseconomics
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on April 20, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
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Archaic, exclusive and impenetrable - is there any way parliament can be dragged into the 21st century?
Anum Qaisar - at the time of recording the SNPs newest Westminster MP - and Emma Crewe, professor of anthropology at SOAS, join Armando and Ailbhe Rea to explore what’s prevented parliament from evolving into a modern, 21st-century legislature and why it’s still a tough place for MPs from non-traditional backgrounds.
Guests
Anum Qaisar is a female, muslim, Scottish Pakistani former school teacher elected as the SNP MP for Airdre and Shotts in 2021.
Emma Crewe is a professor of anthropology at SOAS who has studied the workings of the House of Commons and House of Lords.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on April 13, 2022.
Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
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Why do we find it so hard to disagree without hating each other?
Former Conservative minister Anna Soubry and self-proclaimed "radical social democrat" Paul Mason join Armando and Ailbhe Rea to explore whether there could ever be a pact between the centre and the left, and why it seems much harder to debate agreeably than ever before.
Guests
Anna Soubry is a former Conservative minister and vocal critic of Brexit who resigned to found the Independent Group, later Change UK, which she led until losing her seat in 2019.
Paul Mason is a journalist and political activist. He was the business editor of Newsnight and economics editor of Channel 4 News.
Ailbhe Rea was the political correspondent at the New Statesman and a regular co-host of the New Statesman podcast until 2022
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on August 2, 2021. Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis. Get your first month free: www.newstatesman.com/30daytrial
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Is Westminster's political power fading?
Anoosh and Armando are joined by actor and director Chris Addison and former independent parliamentary candidate Claire Wright to discuss the distribution of political influence in the parliamentary system, whether it's possible to influence politics at a local level without buying in to a central party line, and why so many MPs start out as SpAds.
Guests
Chris Addison is a comedian, writer, actor and director who, among other notable roles, played the special advisor Ollie Reeder in Armando Iannucci's hit political satire The Thick of It.
Claire Wright fought the constituency of East Devon as an independent candidate in three general elections, coming second each time.
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This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on August 9, 2021. Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis. Get your first month free: www.newstatesman.com/30daytrial
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Making lasting change - is it easier from inside Westminster, or through public protest and activism?
Armando Iannucci and Stephen Bush are joined by Louise Casey, the UK government's former homelessness tsar, and Paul Stephens of Extinction Rebellion to discuss how you make change happen within and without the British political system.
Guests
Louise Casey, Baroness Casey of Blackstock, DBE, has been head of the UK's Rough Sleepers Unit, Director of the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit and head of the Respect Task Force. She was the UK's first Victims' commissioner and Director General of the Troubled Families programme, before heading a review for David Cameron into community cohesion and extremism. During the pandemic she chaired the Covid-19 rough-sleeping task force.
Paul Stephens is a former Metropolitan Police Officer turned Extinction Rebellion activist, working as the environmental activist group's police liaison officer.
Stephen Bush was the New Statesman's political editor 2018-2022, and a founding host of the New Statesman podcast.
This episode was originally published in the New Statesman podcast feed on August 2, 2021. Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
Subscribe to the New Statesman for full access to all our reporting and analysis. Get your first month free: www.newstatesman.com/30daytrial
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The British government has no shame. How can we hold politicians to account?
Ian Hislop (Private Eye, Have I Got News For You) and Jill Rutter (former senior civil servant) join Armando Iannucci and Anoosh Chakelian to discuss political scandal, resignations, and accountability in politics.
This episode was originally published in the New Statesman Podcast on 26 July, 2021. Listen to the New Statesman podcast here: https://podfollow.com/new-statesman
Guests
Ian Hislop is the editor of Private Eye and regular on the long-running satirical panel show Have I Got News For You.
Jill Rutter is a former British civil servant. She is a senior research fellow of UK in a Changing Europe, and was previously the programme director at the Institute for Government directing the organisation's work on better policy making and Brexit.
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