Question Time: Should WhatsApp messages stay private?
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- čas přidán 9. 11. 2023
- Should MPs listen to their SpAds? Was the Freedom of Information Act a mistake?
Join Alastair and Rory as they answer all these questions and more on this week’s Question Time.
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Rory is one of the most articulate people I’ve heard.
Ask him who created Hamas
Unfortunately he's the exception that proves the rule. Not that long ago parliament was filled with people who were equally as articulate, now it's a house of fools.
Please Rory become prime minister - your country needs you 🎉
The best Prime Minister we never had 😭
If we want long term government planning we need to abandon First Past the Post, where successive governments undo the work of their predecessor. Proportional Representation would provide more continuity in government and make longer term projects achievable and more consensual.
PR brings its own issues. If the UK takes the Irish model, it decentralises voting so that there are a lot of single-issue candidates based on a local issue. Local is more important than national. The real issue is that the UK is a two-party state in a constant tit-for-tat battle. PR will provide for more coalitions where decision making is shared. However, one coalition can undo the work of the previous one.
What you say is true. Neither system is perfect, but 40 out of 43 European countries think PR is better and I don't think they're wrong.@@sauvignonblanc0
@@sauvignonblanc0sounds like no downsides!
No, as a person desperately wanting to get anything that's not FPTP, while PR is a massive step up it puts more power into the hands of party leadership as to who gets to run, rather than local membership. It also becomes difficult to hold politicians to account as there isn't a focus of constituents to whom they are accountable.
I'd much prefer an Aussie style STV personally, or Scottish MMP would do. We keep local representation while also removing the dreaded spoiler effect from the equation.
But with PR, if it does bring a more localised l, denationalised version of politics, all the better. I'd personally love to see the lord's chucked out in favour of a senate of representative's from region based devolved assemblies, but now I'm in my own fantasies.
You have multi member constituencies @@outofideas42
@@outofideas42 our system used for the EU elections works well for me. Bigger constituencies with several MPs elected in each. They're all tied to a specific group of people and, in general, the vast majority get at least one MP they can relate to
I'm neither English, nor do I care about politics, but I love this podcast
Wonder what the interest is then?
Politics needs you Rory Stewart!!
In former times, of course, there was no difficulty in long-term planning. I live in Denmark, and I remember talking to a priest who told me he had recently fulfilled his obligation to report back to the government that the oak trees which had been planted in the nineteenth century were now ready to be felled for use in the Danish naval ship building programme. No doubt there were similar schemes in the UK.
What a lovely story! ❤
Nice, also illustrates the intrinsic limitations of long term planning.
There's a great proverb (I think it's Greek) which says 'society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in'
British born Australian listener here. To give you some background on Scott Morrison. Our somewhat disgraced former PM is a pretty strict Pentacostalist, an evangelical Protestant denomination, many of who’s adherents believe we are living in the end times and that a war in the Middle East will herald the rapture. He has always been very pro-Israel. He officially recognised West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, stopped the governmental use of the term “Occupied Palestinian Territories” in reference to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and began moves to relocate the Australian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. All of these have been reversed by the federal Australian Labor government since they came into power 18 months ago. Morrison, whilst in Israel, also stated that the world should not be “suckered into” calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. What you need to know about Morrison is that he always loved the limelight but was very light on policy - the single thing he is most proud of in his political career is creating the slogan “stop the boats” and even had a statue of it on his desk as PM - and in his term as PM, his government spent most of its time trying to create culture war wedge issues. What he is doing is trying to appeal to his evangelical base who strongly support Israel, return to the limelight (his post-PM speaking career hasn’t taken off and he hasn’t been offered a lucrative industry/marketing/lobby group job that would allow him to quit as an MP) and to again create a wedge issue for the conservative Liberal Party opposition he used to lead to exploit. Labor have been fairly moderate in their support of Israel. Whilst they have certainly condemned Hamas and said Israel has a right to defend itself, it has also said that that has to be proportionate and our Foreign Minister has written a long piece for the Australian edition of the Guardian saying Israel must listen to its western partners calls for restraint or risk the conflict spreading much wider. Australia has a large population of people of Lebanese descent as well as smaller but sizeable descendant populations of Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi. About 800,000 Australian are Muslim out of a population of 27 million. The Jewish population is around 110,000.
goodmorning, always nice to have you two to listen to...
The problem with paying politicians more is that we'd need significantly more accountability for appointing ministers. If we were to be paying cabinet members £1,000,000 a year (would that include the expense account?), I feel like we'd need procedures in place to make sure the people who get those posts aren't... you know, Nadine Dorries.
I wouldn't pay them 1,000,000 pence!
Another way of looking at it... if we paid people more money we might have a higher level of expectation. It's possible that Nadine Dorries isnt quite worth £1m per year but that another alternative might be.
And with a £1m salary at stake, the likes of Dorries would have a lot more competition. She wouldn't even get a sniff of a cabinet job, possibly not even a job as an MP
@@bean_there_travelthat is sort of the point they make. If we pay politicians around 120k, which makes you a high earner but after tax and student loans and pension is actually a relatively modest living for a single income household. So are we then surprised when the cabinet is full of independently wealthy people who we then struggle to relate to?
I'm not sure I buy the higher pay argument in relation to Westminster.
I absolutely do think it is the issue in local government though. A county council can have a turnover in excess of many ftse 100 companies and a much wider range of activities to oversee. Is it a good idea that democratic accountability over that business sits with four dozen pensioners, most of whom take home £7k per year for their troubles?
Local government needs really radical reform. Reduce the layers. Introduce PR. Reduce the numbers of councillors. Increase the money. Massively strengthen accountability and recall mechanism.
I love you guys - Alastair you drive me bonkers with your love of New Labour and Tony etc (Im in NZ so no skin in the game!) but the interplay between two people who shouldn't be able to be in a room together is great. I am learning so much and it allows me to reflect and think without being furious and depressed. Have bought copies of your book Alastair and given to young people I know who could change the world but struggle with 'but what can I do' - you're welcome! I just feel this stuff is so damn important. In our recent election I couldn't even vote as I was so depressed by both parties misguided policies on health and education (Im a teacher) which they both have systematiclly destroyed in the name of change and increased productivity. Go well and thank you chaps
have you seen the series ‘Century of the self “ By Adam Curtis ?
Thanks for this - no I haven;'t but will look this up. Go well@@jacobjorgenson9285
they're basically the same. Alastair is right of the left and Rory is left of the right
Awesome “punditure” by two national treasures 😂👍👏👌
How about some criteria for being able to be selected? I'd like to see more mp's having worked in a proper, ordinary job (i.e not politics or some kind of post gained through nepotism) and having done some service to community projects or volunteering before being able to stand.
I think the Liz Truss story is very emblematic of a larger problem in democracies across the world. It seems to voters that the vast majority of politicians are in it to have power. To hold a high office for the sake of being able to say they’ve held high office and not, as is Rory’s case, for the purpose of making a real difference.
The most honest politiical show with the modest of ppliticians. Love watching both these men. Charming Funny and full of wisdom. X❤
The good folk of Dorset seem to enjoy tipping their hats and grovelling to the landed Gentry. Isnt it sad that everything seems to come down to how much money an individual can make for themselves now. Be it longterm planning in government or even wanting to be an MP. 😢
By my reckoning, Singapore is the only country to have had two speakers of the house resign, over the past twenty years, in disgrace because of affairs with junior members of their party. That implies a risk of nepotism and hence corruption. In Singapore, unlike the UK, speakers continue to serve the governing party and are paid the high MP salaries as well as Speaker perks.
If Singaporean house speakers are forced into resignation by affairs with junior party members, whilst our current government inexplicably survives scandal after scandal (most of which would have been serious enough individually to bring down an administration), your point more supports than counters the comment you replied to.
Way way down the other end of "government" at one time I was looking after 325 local bridges, and had a schedule for maintenance and replacement worked up for the rest of the century, based on their condition and design lifes, with some priority for importance and risk and unknowns etc etc.
Of course it was of less use than it might have been as I had to wait until each annual budget was set to find out how much money I had actually got, and then try and make it cover what was needed in some way.......
Government ministers & MPs are public servants. They are accountable and should follow the rules. Failure to do so is misconduct in public office and should result in a mandatory prison sentence. The electorate should believe MPs are honourable and not treasonable or criminals. Sadly the political ruling class has proved to have highly questionable ethics.
I've absolutely no problem with paying MP's more, provided that it is performance-related pay determined by a set multiple of the national average wage.
Everybody, and I do mean everybody, can benefit from therapy. We're all a little broken and being able to talk to a professional who knows how to ask the right questions and lead you in the right direction and that will listen without judgement is immensely useful.
Love the 'chat' between you two... feel like I'm in the room with you... and that's all the way from Australia! You're always welcome to drop in for tea'n'biccies. o7 PS Why aren't poli's and diplomats put thru Def Sch of Lang? And leadership trg at RMAS/Dartmouth/Cranwell?
The point about Singapore planning 50 years ahead, made me think just how bad our system is. In that we only plan for 4 years!
A friend of mine learnt Arabic, was selected and put forward by the army. He sailed it. Now works as a civilian instructor of it in a certain military establishment in Hereford. Us Welsh do tend to be good with languages.
"Us Welsh" good at languages ? LOL
The Chinese plan further ahead which has benefits, but it's also true to say many of their problems are self inflicted. The one child policy is a good example. It was a long term plan but they waited decades too long to end it. They also didn't factor in things like gender imbalances, falling birth rates and economic issues. They now have 50 million more men than women and one of the worst aging population bulges in history. Our system may appear like a chaotic talking shop, but it does allow for much greater policy scrutiny.
The policy’s deficiencies were not unforeseeable, and they made a deliberate trade off in that regard. On paper looking at the numbers and understanding Chinese patrilineal culture, it would have been obvious enough for people to not make the excuse of not knowing and so have no justification to not prepare for the problems (we assume they didn’t think about it, perhaps they did, however it’s most likely in the middle and chose to make sacrifices).
Ultimately, these men would be childless, which is the case for many men who choose to be bachelors for life even in countries without a one child policy. The whole goal was to have a manageable amount of mouths to feed.
The game plan seems to be that the industrial deficiencies would be remedied by automation which is already replacing workers around the world. A parliament would have this choice difficult to stomach even when a lower population meant a higher standard of living, especially since automation was at the time a far off forecast of future technology that is not guaranteed to be sufficient.
In any event, they made the choice and generally people and the world have stomached it. Deng Xiaoping mentioned the implications of no one child policy and free travel when Reagan asked Deng to stop it - Deng said the US would be flooded with Chinese immigrants - a clear fact that stopped Reagan from pushing the subject since he’s rational.
Chinatowns would be twice as large or more around the world than they are now since Chinese would be leaving a China that wouldn’t be able to provide for them or be reasonably expected to; if 2 billion of a population existed for a government to handle, a parliamentary or presidential democracy would struggle just the same or worse. What would the poorer working class gung ho population of Chinese say when they’re asked in a democracy if a one child policy is a good idea given these implications - I’d sense like anyone else they’d accept the idea of taking over the world through migration and population growth.
Where would any other country outside of China be then? Regardless of what China would be like if that happens, it was something leaders of other countries had to think about and the clear conclusion was a soft protest of the policy to virtue signal
In the case of Westminster, the poison comes from within and without. The whole system needs a complete re-boot, from candidate selection processes through funding of parties to the way parliament operates. We also need debating chambers fit for the 21st century and a whole new way of legislating. It is all no longer fit for purpose. Oh, and PR - FPTP is no longer valid in our diverse society. Ideally I’d like to see a much smaller national parliament and more regional government.
Pretty much. I’d like to see Parliament responsible for purely national and international affairs (such as defence and diplomacy), everything else should be decided and managed locally.
Interesting to see the politicians arguing for more pay. Doctors have been on strike for a year because £32,000 is apparently fine for a qualified doctor. Honestly, I’d cut their pay.
I'll accept that Parliament is *a* toxic place to work but not the most toxic. The "sole trader" mindset that Rory says some MPs have isn't uncommon out there in the world.
If you pay MPs more they should be liable to legally enforced rules of behaviour and competence.
Yes. Like civil servants are.
First thing in government? How about tackling corruption? Millions of pounds of taxpayers money going into the pockets of their friends and family. How about honours for donors?
Yes people are far too informal these days. It always comes down to respect. starts at the top and winds its way down to all
I would love to see a video on how one would develop a thicker skin, Mr Campbell.
I love both your takes on what's going on the world - as someone considered by the current political landscape as 'hard left' (not how I would categorise myself, by the by) I'm interested in what I can do to help, not hinder. I have both your books on Audible - enjoying both!
Keep it up, Gents! Very well done, indeed!
It would be so interesting to hear a conversation between Jeremy Corbyn and Rory.
Time for Corbyn to guest!….. but he never will
@@mediastudiesnetwork I bet he would if Alister took the week off! Did Rory say saint and Corbyn in the same breath?
I know of a partner of an MP did think they should be paid at least 250,000. My view was and is surely supply and demand, no need to pay more as lots want to do it for the salary offered.
Even before anyone is elected as an mp, there should be a screening process to weed out those selfish self-serving inappropriate candidates without a moral compass or social conscience who are unfit for public office. There must also be a very clear robust code of conduct and standards with proper repercussions, and a comprehensive induction training programme is also essential.
The fact this is even a question speaks volumes on the morals of these guys
Perhaps its a vicious circle... we don't want to pay politicians more so we don't, then we get low quality people who either are already wealthy or dont care about money, so we are more dissatisfied with our politicians, so we don't want them paid any more. If we started paying more we might get better applicants and be happier with what they give us in return.
Just discovered your superb channel. Thanks from the US. (Liked and Subscribed)
No, it serves them right for introducing the investigatory powers bill.
The challenge for government and politics is that really talented people know they can make things happen, change the world, get noticed and get paid more than politicians by doing something else. Politics is hardly selling itself at the moment as a career, because it looks like a total mess, you get loads of abuse, you have to answer to a stack of vested interests (and even occasionally the electorate) and the pay in return for all this is mediocre compared to what many of the people we would like to encourage to go into politics can earn elsewhere.
Thanks for posting.
Mishandling classified documents is always a good excuse.
Your podcast is the best ❤ thank you both!
Stop bringing 'Him' up Rory! 😂
"A whole new way of doing government" ...... Yes ! Starting from you two would one way to start!
Thank you
Life imitating art; I bet the majority of MPs and people in Westminster watched The Thick Of It and based their professional personas around Malcolm Tucker. Who, incidentally, was based on Alastair Campbell.
Why has LEADING disappeared from Google pod sets? Love.your podcasts BTW!
On the topics of MP salaries and of emotional support for politicians, e.g. counselling. The short answer should be "Yes' and 'Yes' Currently the only requirement to becoming a PM is winning 3 or 4 popularity contests. And world wide there are far too many national leaders with psychological problems carried forward into foreign policy with disastrous results for tens of millions of people. There needs to be a minimum set of standards for all members of parliament. These would include, demonstrating an adherence to truth and accuracy, demonstrating an ability to manage personal affairs with integrity, demonstrating an ability to manage financial affairs with integrity, demonstrating an understanding of safeguarding, and equality and diversity, and demonstrating being in mental health balance. On the latter point 20 hours of counselling before standing as MP and a further 20 hours before taking up a position in government should be the minimum. Once all these things are established then a wage commensurate with the responsibility would be appropriate.
I don’t understand why the government doesn’t have its own internal secure encrypted messaging app
With built in features that doesn’t allow messages to be deleted. And everything is sorted and catalogued.
And there should be hefty fines and consequences for messaging on other apps.
Why doesn’t the government have its own secure communication system?
It’s outrageous really.
Think MPs would treat it as work and not such a fabulous party
And they should have a work phone. And everything on that phone belongs to the country.
And difficult conversations should be done face to face or on a government secure zoom meeting
Did enjoy the typo (23 min) …..what’s the pint as oppose to what’s the point !
can't go more than 5 minutes without mentioning, johnson, blair or brexit
that story Rory tells at around 34:00 of an ancestor of Richard Drax is actually a well-known anecdote about Isaac Newton. from Wikipedia: "Newton was also a member of the Parliament of England for Cambridge University in 1689 and 1701, but according to some accounts his only comments were to complain about a cold draught in the chamber and request that the window be closed."
I have lived in Singapore for 18 years, does it have the best government? -Yes. it does.
Lived there for 20 years (1994-2014). Totally agree with you.
In terms of thinking in longer time frames, I would love to see the House of Lords reformed, with peers elected on a 15 year term and the elected majority mandated to make provision for the long term of the union, with a budget to match.
Im an absolute convert to ths production. Fantastic stuff.
Re the anecdote about the 19th century Tory MP, whose only speech in the House of Commons was "Please could someone open a window?". I was told exactly the same anecdote forty years ago, but in the 198os version, the person whose said that was Walter Harrison, Labour MP for Wakefield from 1964 to 1987. Is this an "Urban Myth"?
Wikipedia, page on Isaac Newton: "Newton was also a member of the Parliament of England for Cambridge University in 1689 and 1701, but according to some accounts his only comments were to complain about a cold draught in the chamber and request that the window be closed."
@@Bureaucrastinator and Isaac Newton was well known for his political GRAVITY!
I wouldn't be against an MP pay rise but only after accountability updates in legislation. The current Contempt of Parliament laws are not fit for purpose. There is no recourse to the public when they vote for someone, based upon a manifesto, which then is not upheld once in power.
I would happily pay for good MPs making thoughtful progress but absolutely would not pay for ones who put all their effort into getting elected, and little in after.
How to do that is hard, but I think it has to start with public backed accountability. This is where I'm a big big fan of Rory's idea of a Citizens Assembly.
Good stuff!
Love the video versions of question time
Superb
A point about becoming thick skinned and remaining sensitive. To me this is about removal of self. i.e. Abstracting oneself from the situation, not caring about personally insults, not caring if your ideas are shown to be wrong, not caring if someone thinks your ideas are poor / good. Looking with a calm removal at the pro and cons argument, looking to trace back, why / how has someone else come to such different conclusions than me. That doesn't mean you must agree with them but not attempting to understand the route difference weakens the foundations of your own idea.
Wasn't it Drax who was sent, slowly, to Russia in 1939 to try for an alliance but was beated by Ribbentrop ? Rory should know.
19:00 are you sure an independent bank of England was a secret? I was studying monetary economics at university in mid 90s, and was making a case for independence in my dissertation. I remember having several conversations with Labour politicians and also lord lawson where making the bank independent was the only way the city would trust labour
cont.....perhaps the WEF representative? Love the show!
Regarding your "who does long term thinking up to 50 years" discussion, most gov depts have a 'Futures' programme, or sometimes called Strategic Foresight, with teams ot analysts doing exactly this sort of 20-50year research and policy advice. The MoD and DoT do this very well
Given the state of UK armed forces "very well" seems like a stretch.
Rory's right, the way Johnson tried to enslave my kind, the weirdos and misfits - look at the job description. His intent was technocracy.
Not when you work in government
Shakespeare, Bell, Thessiger as well as Lawrence. A history of British Arabists. I was once told by an Arab friend that learning Arabic opens all sorts of doors. It's crucial that British Ambassadors speak Arabic. It's only polite.
Check out Rory’s parliamentary voting record. It’s utterly appalling.
its unfortunate that so many of Rory's interesting stories are almost entirely Boris related :)
He's got some funny ones about Liz Truss also... as shared in the above podcast.
And most a load of B--------T
@@colinwishbone4437 sounds like your a fan of Boris Johnson.
@@dellwright1407Have we spotted one of the bloviating blowhard's sock puppet accounts, perchance?
wow, he got to twenty minutes before saying overturn the vote on leaving Europe.
I think the long-term planning used to be done by the civil servants, so that they could inform and fill out policies more easily. Special advisors rather killed that off.
So far as MPs salaries are concerned, I'd increase the salary significantly for every consecutive term that they are elected up to a maximum of 4 terms
This way the salary would at least reflect Parliamentary experience and might help (experienced) backbench MPs focus on their constituency duties more than second jobs.
Such a scale might be: £50,000 (for a first term) up to £200,00 for a fourth and subsequent terms (in £50,000 increments).
£50k is nowhere near enough. You've got to make people enter politics in the first place. You are effectively a contractor on a 5-year deal, with no guarantee of another job after. You'll be lucky to attract anyone any good with that salary attached to that uncertainty
That might put people off who had a very successful career and earning higher salaries.
@@craigmorrow2939You could be correct. The progressive salary idea is only a suggestion. The problem is that there are no qualifications for becoming an MP. So it's difficult to set an initial starting salary.
Lol, ever checked how much Singapore Prime Minister and other Minsters are paid? They are better paid than the American President or UK PM. Like one of the SG Minister’s wife were insinuating; it’s peanuts. The simple fact is you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Enjoy your monkeys.
I get where you're going but that incentivizes them to get re-elected - doesn't mean they'll be attending to their constituents. So many get re-elected purely because they're of a party that the locals always vote for whatever is going on, or because right before an election they spout populist rhetoric. More important right now is to change to proportional representation.
Abuse? Look at the state this country is in.
There is at least one episode of YES, PRIME MINISTER, that featured the Arabists from the Foreign Office.The episode was not particularly Israel positive. I noticed it last time I re watched. Reflection of the times..
Looking at the change in ethics and morality as expressed in this last Conservative government (so a slow shift over the last ten years in particular), I think we might have been under attack from foreign interests.
When your seat of power and governance becomes solely obsessed with attacking the people it is meant to represent, it's a big red flag.
This is likely a much longer term attempt at maximising disfunction inside democratic systems. The USA has been the main focus of this attack, the reason it is the current tinderbox if political division, and it is looking clear to me that the UK has also been under the same kind of influence and manipulations.
I can see no other reason why we've shifted from a fairly stable and moderate system of governance to the current hateful and quasi-fascist talking points and concerns. I don't recognize my country currently, it's more than embarrassing, it's very worrying imho.
Rory didn't explain why he called Arnold "Governor", they moved on too quick. I see this quite a lot with this podcast, where they are sometimes too quick to move on. Particularly with question time.
Dear Mr Campbell
(a) kudos for the Burnley waistcoat - although not a Burnley fan, its smart
(b) Foreign Office "Arabism" - is it Arabism or is it the fact there's a Shia Arab world, there's a Sunni Arab world, there's been a broadly socialist Arab world, there was until 1979, a Persian world (which had to be looked at in the context of the Arab world), as well as the other small bits and bobs the UK was responsible for between 1917 and the final withdrawal e.g. the Trucial States (now of course the UAE) or Oman until the 1970s (on Remembrance Day who can forget Mirbat?) *but* there's only a single Jewish state, Israel plus Lebanon and to some degree, Turkey within NATO?
So, the result of that is that for every single Israel view there's many many more "Arabist views" but aside from the loose top level descriptor of "Arabist views" there's a huge swathe of differing views that might contradict one another say on Yemen whereby Person X uses the data to say Y but Person A uses the data to say B. They're both coming to an "Arabist" conclusion, neither of which the Israeli supporting person agrees with *but* aren't coming to an anti-Israel or anti-Jewish view?
"in the newsletter" audio edited in - hopefully this was a 'reminder to self' :D at 28.10
All countries including democracy have long term vision.
It is a myth to suggest that China's leader had only any long term plan and execute as planned.
The famous Deng Xiaoping had no long term other than being pragmatic. He simply tried an idea and if it worked he goes with that. If it didn't he switch. Remember his saying about black and white cats.
Case in point is he had a reformist minister who was prepared to accommodate the Tiannanman protestors. And he also had hardliners. He then went with hardliners.
This is the same with Singapore too. The founding father of Singapore initially thought Singapore could not survive had to merge with Malaysia. That didn't work out. Singapore is only about 60s. The founding father of Singapore could not have planned and executed so Singapore would be what it is today. No one could.
Don't go away with the idea that any government anywhere in the world is able to plan.
Remember no plan survives contact with reality.
Not knowing where Cameroon is - tut tut! And both of you able to laugh about Argentina - is that the right approach?
On the long term. I'd identified what we now know to be Russia's Achilles Heel in 1978, which earned me an MI5 Viva. My reply was to describe my methodology, how I'd sat on it for a week and checked it, but had to qualify that with the possibility of some form of John Nash's Chaos Theory Butterfly Cusp disrupting the possible long-term outcome a decade thence. Covid's a prime example. As regards 50 years? The only way is to have some desirable goals, and idea of paths to it.
I've just been rereading some of Asimov's Foundation works, set in a future where collapse has happened, but two think-tanks, Foundations, have done exactly this, on a thousand-year basis. Equally, one can consider the ancient Egyptian culture, which used religion to weather the inter-dynastic intervals, such as that triggered by Akhenaten, and the West at the end of the Roman Empire. Labour's Communist leanings has weakened that, as seen in this weekend's Commemoration contretemps, possibly justifiably given the Catholic Church is not alone in its amorality. But as a study in self-correcting mechanisms, Asimov's work is most interesting. The two Houses of Parliament are not dissimilar, in the shorter term, and the general nature of the Party system should steady the course. Boris as The Mule is an interesting thought, were it not for the very obvious riposte that Lebvedev's influence over him makes Boris the Mole far more realistic.
It makes no sense to use a title to someone who no longer has the position, he's not Governor Schwarzenegger, because California has a governor. The rule of US etiquette you keep a title that has more than one holder (senator, congressperson) but you don't get to keep a singular position (president, governor, secretary of state). So the proper way to introduce Donald Trump is Mr. Trump; Mike Pence is Representative Pence; Hillary Clinton is Senator Clinton. Unfortunately, it seems too many people in America ignore this and continue to refer to people by their highest title.
Aren’t they copying the military? When a Major retires, s/he is known as “Major” for the rest of their lives.
Why aren’t more people listening to this podcast? 😢
It is on other platforms. Number one politics podcast.
@@docastrov9013 glad to hear it !
I listen on Apple podcast as they are consistent in uploading (Wednesday for main and Thursday for QT) and provide whole show rather than segments as do occasionally on YT. Unfortunately you are unable to leave timely comment on the Apple platform. Listen hear too for clarity and to see the non verbals.
Well, quite simply go and work elsewhere with fewer perks.
Whoops? Raabsberry.
Our voting system should make it possible that we people vote NO MP to the House. Btw Arabic speaks very fast my neighbor speaks.
So you’d be happy with no representation? Bizarre.
A hundred grand is surely incentive for a social worker and disincentive for a successful banker. Which seems fine. For me, though, the issue is the revolving doors between private sector and politics. My preference would be that an MP receives a salary for life. And that when they leave parliament they be banned from ever receiving any other form of income or favour again in their lifetimes. It should then be a matter of honour (and journalistic attention) that former-MPs use the remainder of their working lives for the public good. So Tony Blair could still give speeches and go on peace-building missions. But could not get rich doing it. And Rory could teach at Harvard or anywhere else, or be involved in popular science podcasts, but would be doing it on his life-time MP salary. And no MPs could earn money working as paid advisors for accountancy firms, health insurance companies etc.
Who edit's these podcast episodes? It feels like you might be going back over the recording and adding adlibs and comments like "Hmm" and additional context, I'd prefer if you didnt add that to the audio, but to the visual instead, it can be a bit jarring...
But then again i may be wrong, and it could just be the audio mixing is having issues, might be something to check out :) Thanks guys
Lol donkey mick comings 😂😂
Dominic Sontaran
a few mental health nurses wud b gd too..but not that nazsti tory one!!!!!
Its been strange having Rory in the room recently.
He's usually out spying somewhere.
Is your profile picture meant to be testosterone?
@@Jay_Johnson yes. Its my favorite cholestorol derivative
Re the thumbnail - the CCP doesn’t plan 50 years ahead. They set GDP targets in advance that provincial governments MUST meet. The easiest way has always been for them to build giant infrastructure and construction projects. The consequences of this practice can include a lot of economic stimulus and growth but also a hell of a lot of debt. What’s worse, a large chunk of these projects have no forecasted method of ever making back the original investment, some on the extreme end even making a daily loss from operations, not including any of the debt repayments! This isn’t thinking 50 years ahead, even if it might seem as such to Brits who can’t remember the last successful infrastructure project in the UK.
Debt which they hide in what are effectively shell companies which means that local government debt is actually huge. In any case we’ve come to the point of seeing actual local governments requiring bailouts… (or at least one such government, though I can’t remember which province that was)
stop the eton pipeline and we might have better politicians!!!!
You are both very intelligent and very interesting but you are both rather reluctant to touch on the most fundamental problem afflicting our recent governments. That of the civil service. Civil servants are career functionaries whose job is to implement policies decided by the Government of the day. They are supposed to be apolitical and even handed and serve whichever government the people have elected with equal loyalty and diligence. However in recent years it has been manifestly obvious to us the general public that this is no longer the case. Many civil servants are heavily biased and try to sabotage the implementation of some policies which they disagree with which contravenes the rules. Once a Government has been voted in their job is to implement the policies decided upon to the best of their ability not sabotage them. How can this problem be solved?
The Scottish D'Houdt PR Proportional Representation Voting System (which is a fair enough voting system which is 50% first pass the post and 50% proportional system) is a must for both UK an USA with out this the young are totally turned off and the minority are completely left out of the political system.
Totally disagree. Scotland ends up with 7/8 MSPs being list fodder with no constituency connection, no accountability and very few votes being given extraordinary power in some cases. I'm pro PR BUT NOT THIS SYSTEM.
Would you really wish that some minority, would hold the balance of power ?
Do the Clink weed out poisoners?
“In the newsletter” - the disembodied voice of the Ghost of Alistair Campbell, speaking over the currently living Alistair Campbell
The editor surely was playing for laughs with that awful edit lmao
The idea of public service, seems to have gone out of the window.
If your decision to go into politics is based on the potential salary, I don't want you as an MP/Minister.