Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards

I am hooked on the Number 10 daily press conferences even though they are dull and reveal little..perhaps my addiction is explained by the gap between the eerie, subdued mood at the conferences with the epic crisis being played out..it's a darkly compelling disjunction..and on other matters the former Cabinet minister Peter Hain reflects on Labour's decline and the need for radical Keynesian economic policies under Keir Starmer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode I look at how perceptions of B Johnson changed in terms of his role as a Prime Minister when he was moved to Intensive Care-he was viewed suddenly as more leadenly than he was; I interviewed T Blair for my Radio 4 programme on Labour's challenges 'Left out of Power'- here is the interview in full. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Not for the first time ministers are hoist by their own petard as they try to exert control over the NHS only to discover they gave away their powers to do so..and Keir Starmer wins by a landslide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

B Johnson has been famous for so long it is easy to forget how inexperienced he is as a PM facing the big challenge since 1945...and now he gets the virus along with other key players. Keir Starmer faces a different challenge..making his mark at a time of national emergency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

n this episode: The coronavirus means all fashionable assumptions are turned on their head. We turn to the state to come to our rescue after decades in the UK when big government and public spending were seen as a threat...but even so B Johnson's confused libertarianism allows many fools to be 'free' to get the virus and pass it on...not so many laughs this time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

n the latest episode of Rock N Roll Politics I conclude I was wrong a week ago in suggesting that the virus would not become political...and a Tory Chancellor contradicts his predecessors and media orthodoxy by arguing that higher spending boosts economic growth-quite a moment  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brexit not done, a virus spreading across the globe, a Labour leader soon to be elected-what is the most politically significant?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

B Johnson began his leadership acting as if was a Prime Minister with a landslide majority. Machismo and assertions of 'strong leadership' become problematic when he has no majority at all. Meanwhile I'm the only person in the UK who can see a case for J Corbyn's Brexit proposition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boris Johnson is Prime Ministers and forms his Brexit cabinet ready to plan for a 'no deal' Brexit. The juxtaposition of.a government with a crusading mission and a hung parliament sets the scene for a period of epic political drama...and I'm getting ready for the Edinburgh Festival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a new Prime Minister prepares to acquire the crown Steve Richards reflects on Boris, the fantasy of scrutiny in the Tory Leadership contest or any leadership contest, and the latest on internal Labour traumas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices