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Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: The Grenfell Tower inquiry, Labour and worker rights and UK arms to Israel

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: The Grenfell Tower inquiry, Labour and worker rights and UK arms to Israel
Political commentator Mike Indian looks at the Grenfell Tower inquiry report which damns governments and the private sector and discusses what has to happen next. Labour's push on workers' rights is, he says, the biggest change in employment law for 40 years. Its ambition is radical but it is a ragbag of measures with no unity of thought behind it. He also considers the part suspension of arms sales of Israel and the complexity of such decisions.
Guest:

Mike Indian


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: Starmer's downbeat tone, the Tory leadership & the de-growth movement

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: Starmer's downbeat tone, the Tory leadership & the de-growth movement
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University considers the pessimistic tone adopted by Keir Starmer in his Downing Street garden speech. Will things get better after they get worse or is there something fundamentally wrong with the UK economy? With the right disunited and the Conservatives badly bruised, Tim considers the Tory leadership race and who is supporting each candidate. And he looks at the ideas behind the de-growth movement which suggests that we should abandon GDP as a measure of society's wellbeing.
Guest:

Professor Tim Evans


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: Can Kamala Harris win, UK riots and Labour's public sector pay deals

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: Can Kamala Harris win, UK riots and Labour's public sector pay deals
Political commentator Mike Indian looks at the Democratic nomination of Kamala Harris for US President and how the likely outcome of the election has changed since Biden stood aside. Back in the UK, he discusses the recent riots, asks where it might lead and ponders whether we currently have a justice system we can be proud of. He also looks at Labour's pay deals with the likes of the train drivers and whether it will embolden other public sector workers.
Guest:

Mike Indian


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: The university crisis, China's economy is in trouble & demand for EVs is faltering

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: The university crisis, China's economy is in trouble & demand for EVs is faltering
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University explains why the UK's world-class universities sector is in crisis and that it ought to be no surprise to economists, given that it has effectively a politically-imposed price control system. There are solutions, though, if the will is there. In China there is a huge glut in industrial production, with 30% of industrial firms operating at a loss. China's GDP could be at least 40% smaller than we're being told. And, he says, it is now clear that EV demand is not behaving as the politicians would wish, with some companies now developing new types of petrol engines.
Guest:

Professor Tim Evans


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: Investing in an uncertain political & economic environment

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: Investing in an uncertain political & economic environment
Tim Price of Price Value Partners offers a guide to investing in uncertain times and why it is important not to judge your performance against others but in absolute terms. He explains why his fund avoids bonds but instead invests in: trend-following funds (all TFF funds made money in the dreadful markets of 2008); profitable, debt-free value stocks following the strategies of Benjamin Graham; and tangible, real, non-financial assets. He discusses the under-reporting of inflation and the problems caused by the US national debt of $35 trillion, increasing by $1 trillion every 100 days, pointing out that the UK situation is comparable. Tim's weekly commentary is available at https://www.pricevaluepartners.com/
Guest:

Tim Price


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: How is Labour doing, Who will be Tory leader & Can Reform be a professional party?

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: How is Labour doing, Who will be Tory leader & Can Reform be a professional party?
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that Keir Starmer feels more like a Prime Minister than Rishi Sunak. The big themes emerging from the new government are wealth creation and growth, reducing debt and building homes. Labour's competence could pose problems for the Conservatives. Tim runs through the candidates for the Leadership, with Badenoch and Jenrick the frontrunners. But the new leader may need to purge its left wing, as Labour has, if it is to see off Reform. Reform, for its part, has huge opportunities and challenges and must modernise and professionalise if it is to become a proper, grown-up party.
Guest:

Professor Tim Evans


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: How are Labour doing and what does Biden's exit mean for the Presidential election?

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: How are Labour doing and what does Biden's exit mean for the Presidential election?
Political commentator Mike Indian is surprised that so little attention has been paid to one of the more radical things in the King's Speech, the boosting of employment rights. He discusses the rebellion of 7 Labour MPs over the child benefit cap. While insignificant now with such a large majority, he feels that things could get trickier with such a broadly-based range of MPs from the second year onwards. He explains how much the American electoral landscape has changed with the exit of Joe Biden from the Presidential race. Harris, he feels, could be a serious contender against Donald Trump but that her choice of Vice President will be key.
Guest:

Mike Indian


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: Can Labour and Reform squeeze the Conservative Party into oblivion?

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: Can Labour and Reform squeeze the Conservative Party into oblivion?
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University found the King's Speech fascinating. He feels that if Labour can deliver 1.5m homes, reform the NHS and grow the UK economy, then it will cement its healthy electoral position. He wonders if the Conservatives can find the unity and clarity of strategy to survive, feeling that the party does not understand the hatred many of its former voters have for them. If Reform can capitalise on this, the Conservative Party may be in a much more precarious position than they realise.
Guest:

Professor Tim Evans


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: The General Election, Starmer at NATO & the future of Biden and the Tories

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: The General Election, Starmer at NATO & the future of Biden and the Tories
Political commentator Mike Indian analyses the General Election result, astonishing for its massive majority on a tiny vote share and the way it exposed the oddities of the UK election system, particularly with Reform getting more votes than the Libdems but just a fraction of their seats. With Sir Kier Starmer probably only having a brief honeymoon period, Mike hopes they will underpromise and overdeliver. With Starmer at the NATO summit, will Labour deliver the promised defence increase in this dangerous period? He explains why Joe Biden should step aside and looks at the future for the Tories, currently facing electoral irrelevance.
Guest:

Mike Indian


Published:
Simon Rose

The Bigger Picture: A history of the UK’s political parties — The Labour Party

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: A history of the UK’s political parties — The Labour Party
With the Labour Party taking the reins of power after a absence of 14 years, it's important to understand their journey. Here's a replay of Simon Rose joined by political commentator and author of The Groucho Tendency blog, Mike Indian, discussing how UK politics has got to the modern era. In this replay of an episode first broadcast in October 2019 when Jeremy Corbyn was its leader and just over two months before the December 2019 election, Simon and Mike discuss the history of the Labour Party.
Guest:

Mike Indian


Published: