Why no one can 'land a glove' on Farage
4/30/20261 hr 3 min
A dramatic week in UK politics has seen the successful state visit to the US by King Charles and another hit on Keir Starmer in the ongoing Mandelson scandal. Ed Balls and George Osborne break down all the moving parts of these events. Is the special relationship saved? Did Kemi Badenoch move too early against Starmer? And what does this all mean going into a seismic set of local elections?
On said elections, the pair break down the vulnerable positions for both main parties. They argue Kemi Badenoch needs an ethical reset from the tumultuous Boris Johnson era if she hopes to fend off Reform and make serious gains for the Conservatives. On the Labour side, they believe Keir Starmer has not got a diagnosis for why Labour are unpopular, and this risks his position should any cabinet member decide to stick the knife in after the elections.
Finally, they return to assisted dying to analyse why the bill stalled out in the Lords and debate just how it can come back. Is it a slow process to such a big reform? Or is it best to strike when the iron is hot, or risk losing this debate for a generation? The pair disagree on what exactly is the best route forward…
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Credits:
Research: Sam Burton
Production: Caillin McDaid & Nasreen Arain
Video Editor: Carla Mercer & Ryan Finnigan
Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford & Henrietta Harrison
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsEd Balls· Host0:00
[upbeat music] This is Political Currency With Ed Balls and George Osborne [upbeat music] The Osborne has landed. George Osborne, um, 8:00 AM this morning, landing from San Francisco into Heathrow. We are in London, but remote because, you know, you had to go back and, um, shave and recover and shower and all those kind of things. But you're back.
George Osborne· Host0:43
I am back. I wasn't on the state visit. In a parallel universe I might have been, but [chuckles] I wasn't. I was at a company offsite. I don't know if you've ever done one of those, Ed, but do you know what swag is?
Ed Balls· Host0:55
Oh, well, I know what an offsite is, but I don't know what... Well, I, I thought swag is what you steal if you are like a global capitalist baron trying to steal from the people.
George Osborne· Host1:05
You, you're thinking of your old Marxist days. Swag is, uh, the stuff that the company gives you with all their brands on it. So I've got a rather nice kind of OpenAI jacket as a result of my, uh, trip.
Ed Balls· Host1:17
Well, it's a step up from the hoodie.
George Osborne· Host1:18
It is a bit of a step up. It's more like a kind of artist's apron, I would say.
Ed Balls· Host1:23
Why do they wanna give you a jacket?
George Osborne· Host1:25
It's all to do with, uh, company loyalty.
Ed Balls· Host1:27
Motivation.
George Osborne· Host1:28
And, uh, team building and all