Dan Hannan, a Conservative peer and Brexit advocate, debates with Richard Johnson, a Labour Party historian, over Brexit's implications for British jobs. They discuss the notion of Labour's loyalty to Brexit and its economic impacts. Alice Loxton, a historian and author, dives into the appeal of bite-sized history, defending its accessibility amid a distracted audience. The conversation also humorously touches on the chaos of having 95 bridesmaids, exploring social dynamics and expectations. It's a lively mix of politics and history!
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insights INSIGHT
Brexit's Untapped Potential
Post-Brexit public dissatisfaction stems from underutilization of new UK tools, especially by leftist governments.
These tools include industrial policies, state aid, nationalisation, and immigration controls, not free trade agreements.
insights INSIGHT
Free Trade Favored Workers Historically
Free trade historically benefited the working class by lowering prices on essentials like food.
Protectionist policies often favored politically connected elites at the expense of ordinary people.
insights INSIGHT
Progress Beyond Traditional Industries
Economic progress means moving from old manufacturing jobs to new sectors like audiovisual media.
Nostalgia for past industries can blind people to improved living standards and opportunities.
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‘This week Starmer fell… into the embrace of Ursula von der Leyen’ writes Michael Gove in our cover article this week. He writes that this week’s agreement with the EU perpetuates the failure to understand Brexit’s opportunities, and that Labour ‘doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t exist to make the lives of the fortunate more favourable’.
Michael makes the argument that ‘the real Brexit betrayal’ is Labour’s failure to understand how Brexit can protect British jobs and industries and save our manufacturing sector. Historian of the Labour Party Dr Richard Johnson, a politics lecturer at Queen Mary University writes an accompanying piece arguing that Labour ‘needs to learn to love Brexit’.
Richard joined the podcast to discuss further, alongside Conservative peer Dan Hannan. Both Brexiteers, they disagree over the approach the government should take and what tools it should be using. (1:02)
Next: the big appeal of bite-sized history
Why are so many readers turning to short histories? The historian Alice Loxton writes in the magazine this week about the popularity of books with titles like ‘the shortest history of…’, ‘a brief history of…’ or ‘a little history of’. Some may argue these are designed to satisfy generations of distracted readers, but Alice defends them, saying ‘there is something liberating about how noncommittal they are’.
Should we embrace the ‘short history’? Alice, author of Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives, joined the podcast to discuss further alongside Professor Simon Heffer – himself the author of A Short History of Power. (24:40)
And finally: is being a bridesmaid ‘brutal’?
A Northern Irish bride chose to have 95 bridesmaids when she married earlier this month. While it might be understandable to not want to choose between friends, Sophia Money-Coutts writes in the magazine this week that, once chosen, the reality of being a bridesmaid is brutal. Sophia joined the podcast to discuss further, alongside the journalist Francesca Peacock. (36:22)
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