Absolute Scenes in Labour HQ: It's Not Ideal Trawlers
5/13/202648 min
Marina and Jemma wade through the chaos engulfing Labour after the bruising local election results, cabinet resignations, media pile-ons and growing calls for Starmer to go. Is this sensible political pressure… or another self-destructive Westminster psychodrama?
They discuss:
- whether Labour is repeating the Tories’ revolving-door mistakes
- Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and possible leadership contenders
- why Reform’s rise is terrifying so many voters
- the role of the press in shaping public opinion
- whether Starmer has fundamentally misunderstood his own voter base
- and why Brexit continues to haunt literally everything
Plus: Alastair Campbell delivers the speech Starmer probably wishes he’d given, Marina nearly collapses from sniffing, and the pair remain - as ever - gloriously uncertain about absolutely everything.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGemma Forte· Host0:00
You want me to call all of the people who might be thinking of challenging you and telling them that you've got everything under control. It, it's just, I find that quite hard to believe, Keir, because you are crying quite a lot again.
Marina Purkiss· Host0:09
[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to The Trawl, the podcast powered by screenshots, memes, despair, and at times, when Gemma is on scripts duty, Cilla Black.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:30
Let's have a surprise, surprise, surprise. The unexpected hits you completely high.
Marina Purkiss· Host0:39
Oh, I'm Marina Purkiss.
Gemma Forte· Host0:41
[laughs] [laughs] And I'm Gemma Forte. And in today's episode, we are gonna have a look at what is happening with Labour. It's just sort of, I don't know, it's all kicking off, isn't it? It's all imploding.
Marina Purkiss· Host0:54
Yes.
Gemma Forte· Host0:54
And it does remind me of the years that we endured with the Tory party. And look, Trawlers, I need you to know that if you're coming over here for some concrete answers in terms of what should happen, you're gonna be taking off your headphones sorely disappointed. Let's start with that caveat.
Marina Purkiss· Host1:10
Gemma- We've got no bloody idea [laughs] I don't think, I don't think people ever come to The Trawl for concrete answers.
Gemma Forte· Host1:14
Oh, really? [laughs] Okay. It's good for me to find that out.
Marina Purkiss· Host1:18
[laughs] Do you?
Gemma Forte· Host1:19
Yeah.
Marina Purkiss· Host1:20
No.
Gemma Forte· Host1:20
No. Yeah, I just think it's mainly so frustrating, the political landscape at the moment, because I don't think there is an obvious way to