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Financial Times

The Financial Times takes you into the corridors of power to unwrap, analyse and debate British politics with a regular lineup of FT correspondents and informed commentators. New episodes available every Friday.
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Political Fix

It’s been another turbulent year in politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced down rebellions from within his own party, overseen scandals and sackings, and delivered a constant barrage of bad news from health and housing to small boats and the Budget. He’s fared a little better on the world stage – with successful state visits, securing a comparatively competitive trade deal with Trump, as well as a tentative rapprochement with Europe. But with every international success, Starmer’s standing domestically seems to diminish: he ends the year, on some measures, as the most unpopular PM ever. 

In this special live episode of Political Fix, host George Parker is joined by Anna Gross, Stephen Bush and Chris Giles to analyse how the Labour party got here – and where it goes next. 

Follow George on @georgewparker.bsky.social; Stephen on @stephenkb.bsky.social; and Chris on @chrisgiles.ft.com 

Political Fix has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award at the Political Podcast Awards. Vote for us here.

Want more? Free links: 

 

Return to EU customs union would ‘unravel’ UK trade deals, Starmer warns 

Inside Politics: Neither Keir Starmer nor Kemi Badenoch wants to reverse Brexit

Nigel Farage rejects allegations of teenage racist abuse 

Wes Streeting calls for better ‘storytelling’ from Starmer’s ‘technocratic’ government

Chris Giles: Why UK borrowing costs are so high 

George and Anna’s FT scoop on Labour’s tax U-turn

Sign up to Stephen's morning newsletter Inside Politics here, and to Chris’ newsletter on Central Banks here. 

Presented by George Parker, and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. Our broadcast engineers this week were Bianca Wakeman, Petros Gioumpasis and Andrew Georgiades. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa. 

What did you think of this episode? Let us know at politicalfix@ft.com 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Political Fix Live: Labour’s year in review

Sir Keir Starmer started the week with not one but two speeches defending his party’s Budget decisions in the wake of claims that chancellor Rachel Reeves had misled the public and fellow MPs about the state of the nation’s finances. Was his sell convincing? The prime minister also brought up Brexit, but as panellist Robert Shrimsley points out, Starmer was characteristically unclear as to whether the Labour party was ultimately leaning into or out of the EU.

Plus, host George Parker and the rest of the panel, Miranda Green and Jim Pickard, discuss the FT report that Nigel Farage told Reform UK donors he expects his party to do some sort of deal with the Tories in the run-up to the next general election — potentially helped by the single biggest donation any UK political party has had from a living donor. 

Follow on Bluesky: George, Miranda, Jim, Robert

Want more? Free links:

Farage tells donors he expects Reform UK will do an election deal with the Tories

Head of UK fiscal watchdog quits after Budget leak 

UK government orders review into rising diagnoses of mental health conditions

Janan Ganesh: The rise of unpopular populism 

UK envoy to Moscow enters race to be next ambassador 

Political Fix will go live next week on 10 December at 1.15pm. If you don’t want to wait for it to drop in this feed on Friday, register here.

Sign up to Stephen Bush's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter. Get 30 days free at https://www.ft.com/InsidePoliticsOffer. For details about the FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign, read more about it here or click here and to donate, click here.

Presented by George Parker, and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.

What did you think of this episode? Let us know at politicalfix@ft.com

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deals, donations and damage limitation

It’s been a rollercoaster week for both UK politics and our personal finances, with chancellor Rachel Reeves setting out tens of billions of pounds of tax rises in the Budget. But how will these new taxes be applied and what could they cost you? In a Money Clinic podcast recorded live at the FT, host and consumer editor Claer Barrett is joined by Dan Neidle, the founder of Tax Policy Associates; Stuart Kirk, the FT’s investment columnist; and Tej Parikh, the FT’s economics leader writer, to field questions from readers and listeners. They cover everything from what the Budget means for people investing in UK markets, the new rules on pensions and salary sacrifice, how to stay under the £100,000 threshold for childcare support and much more.

To find out how much the five-year freeze to tax thresholds could cost you, find a free link to the FT’s Budget stealth tax calculator here

Claer’s Budget column: A horrid Budget for ‘Henrys’

Salary sacrifice shake-up: what it means for staff and employers

Follow Claer on social media @Claerb 

This episode was made available with thanks to FLIC, the FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign.

For details about the campaign, read more about it here or click here and to donate, click here.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus: What does the 2025 Budget mean for your money?

After months of speculation, predictions and U-turns, Rachel Reeves finally announced her Budget this week. And, symptomatic of the chaos this Budget has wrought, there was one final twist: the entire Budget appeared on the Office for Budget Responsibility's website 45 minutes before the chancellor was set to give her speech. It sent the media and the markets into a spin…the key takeaway: a historic tax rise achieved without officially breaking the government’s manifesto promise. So what are the crucial implications of this Budget? Who are the winners and losers? And what is the political fallout for Labour?

Host George Parker is joined by economics editor Sam Fleming, markets columnist Katie Martin and politics columnist Stephen Bush to break down this long-awaited Budget. 

Follow George on Bluesky or X: @georgewparker.bsky.social, @GeorgeWParker; Stephen @stephenkb.bsky.social‬, @stephenkb; and Katie @katie0martin.ft.com

What did you think of this episode? Let us know at politicalfix@ft.com 

Want more? Free links: 

Rachel Reeves’ Budget raises UK taxes to all-time high

‘Spend now, pay later’: Rachel Reeves’ Budget delays the fiscal pain 

Reeves’ Budget fails her own 3 claims

Rachel Reeves’ gambit

The four audiences Reeves’ ‘high-wire’ Budget must satisfy

If you want to find out what the budget means for your personal finance, check out a special episode of the FT's Money Clinic podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.

Sign up here for 30 days free of Stephen ‘Inside Politics’ newsletter. You can listen to Katie on Unhedged here, or search ‘Unhedged’ wherever you listen.

To sign up for free to the new FT Alphaville newsletter on Substack, go to ftav.substack.com

Political Fix is presented by George Parker, and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Budget bonanza: tax highs and growth lows

Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing efforts have moved from the super rich to a mass market consumer industry. In this series, we’re covering the past, present and future of the longevity movement. We’ll be looking at where the fixation on longevity is coming from, and trying to understand the practical and ethical issues at the heart of this cutting-edge field of research. 

From Silicon Valley fantasies, to Singaporean health spas, to Colombian genetic clinics and beyond, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel ask whether breakthroughs in science and technology can really help us live longer, and even stop us aging altogether.

Free to read: 

US ‘wellness’ industry scents opportunity to go mainstream

The quest to make young blood into a drug

This season of Tech Tonic was produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Fact checking by Simon Greaves, Lucy Baldwin and Tara Cromie. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Defying death

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a tough set of measures overhauling immigration policy this week, in a bid to deter illegal boat crossings and tackle the thorny issue of asylum seekers that dominates the news agenda. But how did the announcement go down with a divided Labour party?

And, just days away from the Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves is under huge pressure after a series of U-turns and leaks on taxation policy. 

Host George Parker discusses whether anything can be done to reverse the fortunes of the government with the FT’s deputy opinion editor Miranda Green, political columnist and writer of the Inside Politics newsletter Stephen Bush, and Whitehall correspondent David Sheppard. 

Follow George on Bluesky @georgewparker.bsky.social; Stephen @stephenkb.bsky.social; Miranda @greenmirandahere.bsky.social; David @oilsheppard.bsky.social 

What did you think of this episode? Let us know at politicalfix@ft.com 

Want more? Free links: 

Labour needs a way out of the infernal circle of immigration policy 

Why the small boats won’t stop

High earners to be eligible for UK settlement within 3 years of arrival

UK asylum seekers face seizure of jewellery to pay for accommodation

Rachel Reeves’ gambit 

Covid response of ‘toxic’ UK government was ‘too little, too late’, inquiry finds

To sign up for free to the new FT Alphaville newsletter on Substack, go to ftav.substack.com

The FT is hosting a live webinar on November 28 on what the UK Budget will mean for your money. You can put questions to FT journalists Claer Barrett, Stuart Kirk, Tej Parikh and special guest, tax expert Dan Neidle. Get your pass now at ft.com/budgetwebinar.

Sign up to Stephen's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek. Get 30 days free at https://www.ft.com/InsidePoliticsOffer.

To sign up for free to the new FT Alphaville newsletter on substack, go to ftav.substack.com

Presented by George Parker, and produced by Lulu Smyth and Clare Williamson. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music by Breen Turner, mix by Odinn Inigbergsson. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa. 

Clips from BBC

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boats and the Budget: the battlelines are drawn

It has been a whirlwind week in Westminster with the BBC in crisis and a supposed challenge to the prime minister’s leadership. So, was there a putative coup from within Keir Starmer’s own cabinet? Is there a “toxic culture” in Downing Street? Plus: the panel’s take on the runners and riders for the top job at the national broadcaster. Host George Parker is joined by Anna Gross, Stephen Bush and Jim Pickard to discuss. 

This episode was recorded before the FT broke the story about the chancellor scrapping proposals to raise income tax. Read the article here: 

Starmer and Reeves drop proposal to increase income tax rates in Budget 

Plus, stay tuned for our panel discussion next week ahead of the Budget on November 26. 

Follow George @georgewparker.bsky.social; Jim @pickardje.bsky.social and Stephen @stephenkb.bsky.social

Want more? 

Self-inflicted leadership crisis unites factions against Starmer 

‘He’s played a blinder’: How Wes Streeting won the week

Brain-dead Labour retreats to its comfort zone: campaigning

Who will be the next director-general of the BBC?

And sign up here for Stephen Bush's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek analysis. Get 30 days free.

Plus, the FT is hosting a live webinar on November 28 on what the UK Budget will mean for your money. You can put questions to FT journalists Claer Barrett, Stuart Kirk, Tej Parikh and special guest, tax expert Dan Neidle. Get your pass now at ft.com/budgetwebinar. 

Our email address is politicalfix@ft.com

Political Fix was presented by George Parker and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music by Breen Turner, mix by Odinn Ingibergsson. The video engineers are Petros Gioumpasis and Andrew Georgiades. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.

Clip from BBC

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Starmer’s leadership on the line?

With just three weeks to go until the Budget, Rachel Reeves gave a surprise speech to reset expectations on who she’s planning to hit with more taxes on November 26. This has fuelled further speculation about whether the government's central manifesto pledge to not raise income tax rates is now doomed. 

Host Miranda Green is joined by FT colleagues Jim Pickard, Sam Fleming and Katie Martin to discuss the chancellor’s options: a pick’n’mix of tax rises or breaking a central pledge to the electorate. What then happens to the Labour government’s credibility, and how are the markets likely to react? Plus: can Reform become fiscally respectable?

Follow Miranda @greenmirandahere.bsky.social; Jim @pickardje.bsky.social; and Katie @katie0martin.ft.com

Want more? 

What are Rachel Reeves’ tax options in the Budget? 

Bond markets are winning the Budget stand-off 

Robert Shrimsley: The inescapable logic of Labour’s choices 

Inside Politics: Why Rachel Reeves won’t raise income tax

Paywalled: End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled 

Sign up here for Stephen Bush's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek analysis. Get 30 days free.

Plus, the FT is hosting a live webinar on November 28 on what the UK Budget will mean for your money. You can put questions to FT journalists Claer Barrett, Stuart Kirk, Tej Parikh and special guest, tax expert Dan Neidle. Get your free pass now at ft.com/budgetwebinar. 

Our email address is politicalfix@ft.com

Political Fix was presented by Miranda Green and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The video engineers are Bianca Wakeman and Andrew Georgiades. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.

Clip from ITV

﻿Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To tax, but who to tax, that is the question

With a month to go until the Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves needs to find a projected £30bn to balance the books. And the forecasts are not in her favour, with the OBR’s bigger than expected productivity downgrade dealing another blow to the Treasury this week. So where will the chancellor find the money – and if Labour have no choice but to break their manifesto tax pledge, where will that leave them with the electorate? 

Host George Parker is joined by associate editor and columnist Stephen Bush, chief UK commentator Robert Shrimsley and the FT’s economics editor Sam Fleming.

Follow George: @georgewparker.bsky.social, @GeorgeWParker; Stephen at @stephenkb and Robert @robertshrimsley.bsky.social 

Want more? 

Reeves faces £20bn hit to public finances from productivity downgrade 

Keir Starmer puts Labour MPs on notice for Budget tax rises 

Starmer refuses to stand by manifesto tax pledge 

Letting agent admits mistake in Reeves’ rental tax row

Sign up here for Stephen Bush's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek analysis. Get 30 days free.

Plus, the FT is hosting a live webinar on November 28 on what the UK Budget will mean for your money. You can put questions to FT journalists Claer Barrett, Stuart Kirk, Tej Parikh and special guest, tax expert Dan Neidle. Get your free pass now at ft.com/budgetwebinar. 

Our email address is politicalfix@ft.com

Political Fix was presented by George Parker and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music and mix by Breen Turner. The video engineers are Bianca Wakeman and Petros Gioumpasis. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.

Clip from BBC

﻿Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reeves’ £30bn treasure hunt

Chancellor Rachel Reeves received a rare bit of good news from lower inflation statistics this week, which could reduce government borrowing ahead of the November Budget. But the uphill struggle to improve Labour’s standing in the polls continues after a drubbing in Caerphilly, the embarrassing failure of the one-in-one-out migrant policy and the chaotic start to the grooming gang inquiry. Host George Parker is on hand to dissect the week along with deputy political editor Jim Pickard, UK chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley and the FT’s northern England correspondent Jennifer Williams. Plus, is the King getting poor advice from the PM over Prince Andrew in the wake of further damaging revelations about the prince’s links to Jeffrey Epstein?

Follow George on Bluesky or X: @georgewparker.bsky.social, @GeorgeWParker; Robert: @robertshrimsley or @robertshrimsley.bsky.social; Jen on X @JenWilliamsMEN and Jim on X @PickardJE

Want more? 

Labour suffers seismic by-election defeat to Plaid Cymru in Caerphilly

UK borrowing costs fall in boost for Rachel Reeves

Reeves vows to clear way for BoE rate cuts with cost of living pledge

Grooming gang victims call for minister to resign

A defining crisis for Britain’s royals

Britain’s flawed support for Jaguar Land Rover

Clips from: Sky & Parliament Live TV

Sign up here for Stephen Bush's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek. Get 30 days free.

Our email address is politicalfix@ft.com

Presented by George Parker. Produced by Clare Williamson. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting head of audio is Manuela Saragosa. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Budget, boats and a by-election

With Robert Shrimsley, James Blitz, Philip Stephens and Jim Pickard of the FT, Iain Martin, author and political commentator, and Marcus Roberts, former political Labour strategist and now a pollster at YouGov.
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brexit Britain - the political storm

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