The Rest Is Politics is powered by Fuse Energy, a green electricity supplier powering homes across England, Scotland & Wales. Use referral code POLITICS after signing up to win a TRIP merch bundle. Learn more at getfuse.com/politics ⚡
Alastair- I can’t believe you said the ‘Dutch narrative’ is that the Israelis provoked the violence. The Dutch people had nothing to do with what those islamists did and they denounce it. The words of the Dutch king condemning the violence were stronger than those if the Israeli leadership!
Evening! I have been really enjoying your podcasts and commentary on the US Election..thank you & keep up the good work! Could Rory do a summary of the Russian/Ukraine conflict like his Israeli/Palestinian one?
Regardless of the current or next US president it’s become very clear that Europe can’t depend on the US any longer. I wish our politicians would wake up and start investing properly in our collective defence.
I think they are scared of the hit to living standards that might create. This can then be exploited by the far right (and far left in Germany) to ensure that this expenditure never happens and Putin wins.
I don't think any young voter is skeptical of climate change. What they are is past the point of caring about the climate if they can't buy a house and groceries.
Those two things are not connected. You either care about the future of the planet or not. Trump and Musk who are billionaires ( no worries about groceries) NOT.
@@daydays12musk literally popularised the electric car industry beyond what anyone thought was possible. I don’t much like the guy but he’s (maybe accidentally?) done more for the environment than almost anyone else on earth 😂
Can't afford groceries? If they've been in that position for any amount of time it means they've learned how to survive on a low income. Their minds should then be free to focus on climate change. WTF owns a house and can afford to waltz off for a takeaway when they please? 🙄
@@edelgyn2699You know what living on low income looks like? You're constantly stressed because you're doing math in your head or on your phone. If I buy this overpriced coffee because I'm freezing right now, my sister won't be able to afford tea for the next week. Which winter shoes to buy, so that they last two seasons and there's still enough money left for Christmas gifts? Stuff like that. So, definitely not more space for thinking about climate.
I can see Poland developing nuclear weapons if the US splits from Europe. They have the intellectual capacity to do it and the industrial base. There is no way in hell they are going to rely on Britain and France to cover their backs again.
I just can't get around this notion that it's kind of impossible for europe to outproduce Russia. We have like 8-10times the gdp, 3-4 times the population, a way bigger industial capacity. I think it's just a matter of motivation and I feel rather ashamed of being part of this unambitious block that can't get it's head out of it's a**. Sorry if I wrote it too bluntly.
Western Europe doesn't have the size of military that Russia has: for example, Britain's Army is just over 74 thousand whereas Russia's is 1.5 million wit a reserve army of two million. Western Europe has nothing like those numbers.
@@nicholasarrow2443Indeed and, although Russia has a population twice the size but an economy only half the size of the major Western Europe countries, it just puts such a high percentage of it's GDP into defence that it has a massive armed forces and one of the biggest nuclear weapons arsenal anywhere in the world.
@@martydav9475Battle plans for facing against Russia have been made in assumption of us having quality in terms of equipment and training as the counter to Russia’s sheer numbers since the Cold War started. That assumption hasn’t changed in the last 30-odd years. Now, I do think our numbers are still too low, but I don’t think the situation is insurmountable.
Too often "establishment" politics is formed as explicitly top-down "we know better than the people" politics. Any populist politician does the very same thing, but only implicitly and tries to portray policies rooted in the will of the people. Its an illusion, but a poverful illusion at that.
@historyrepeat402 The con man likes to stimulate the archaic brain which impedes the rational long term thought. The victim realises what has happened after the fact. By which time the damage has been done, the moneys gone, or the fascists are in power, or people are part of a conspiracy cult. As you say, it's an old story, about human nature.
Yep, unfortunately you've got people like Alister Campbell saying part of the reason Kamala Harris lost was because she didn't talk about Climate Change enough during her campaign. There's just no helping some people understand.
Guys, for heavens sake get into this millennium. The liberal world order of UN interventions etc has gone since 9/11. It died with the Bush Jn / Blair unsanctioned intervention into Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump isn't the "tipping point" of world order but rather the next iteration of a direction of travel of the last 25 years. You need to think about how you keep your podcast current / relevant for the next four years rather than endlessly ranting on your desire for a world order last seen a quarter of a century ago.
COP is over not even Germany showed up. We should do our part but not kill ourselves over 0 carbon. The UK needs to go full steam on securing it's future in terms of energy independence and food security and stop pushing its population into hardship over this. International cooperation may return but by then it will be too late (spoiler it is already)
they keep overlooking the fact that global population has increased by 2.3 Billion (40%) since the first COP meeting - That's the same as adding a second Africa & Europe to the world, within 30 years; no wonder temps are rising compared to 1800, when world population was 1 billion
Food security! The UK needs to import food. When the population was 41.7 million (excluding Ireland) at the outbreak of WWI, it couldn't produce enough food internally to feed the population. Nothing has changed, except the size of the population. Food security means building Warships to protect the sea lanes.
Thanks for your informed opinions and sharing. With all the aggression and indecency of the likes of Trump et al, it's so nice to hear you both sharing and interacting.
A disengaging Trump will make Europe only stronger because countries are realizing that further cooperation is an absolute necessity for their own survival.
If the EU can agree on migration, which will probably have to include revising international treaties. Otherwise the migration issue will tear apart the EU politically.
Yeah that's the important thing about these podcasts. I don't have to agree with them, I'm not listening to be told my opinion I listen to hear a view of the issues and then work out my opinion
Yeah that's the important thing about these podcasts. I don't have to agree with them, I'm not listening to be told my opinion I listen to hear a view of the issues and then work out my opinion
A lot, but not a majority. He improved on his 2020 ratings, but more young women still voted for Harris - enough to mean that overall she still got way more young people voting for her
Yes, a lot of young people voted for Trump because they are easier to manipulate. Murdoch media has been spoon feeding hatred for so many years and young men seem to be susceptible to that type of manipulation.
Would you point me towards where he says that *no* young people voted for Trump? The statistics are a matter of record and are available in a fraction of a second with a cursory web search: 54% of under 29s voted against Trump, 43% voted for him. In this context I hardly believe citation is needed mid-cast. Even if we cut it 18-44, 51% voted in favour of Harris whilst 46% voted in favour of Trump. Source: BBC, NBC, PBS, Fox, CBS, etc all via official exit polls.
Be honest, say the YOU don't want that, but leave other people out of it unless you have the surveys to prove you statement. You probably believe that to be true, but really you have NO idea.
@ you ask a million homes in the UK what their priority is, I guarantee you, funding Ukraine even more will not be top of the list. Most people under 30 can’t even dream of moving out and starting a family, most can’t afford rent, most elder workers haven’t seen their salary rise at all in 15-20 years. Housing, Energy, education and NHS all in turmoil. Don’t be naive to think the majority put a foreign war at the top of their list
and people say "oh it's going to be very difficult because there are costs attached to it". Err if energy costs are twice those of our competitors the jobs are going elsewhere. It will most definitely be difficult.
I totally agree with you. Too much traditional transatlantic reasoning from the "Rest of Politics". I really doubt if these 2 have enough insights in what is happening within the EU. My feeling is they have not and they do not understand the recent dynamics like the spectacular rise of Eastern Europe for example.
@@qeitkas594It’s a fair comment although Alistair does have Macron hitting up his DMs so he is fairly well positioned to comment on EU goings on. (This mentioned later in the episode.)
Have always watched, engaged and been educated by the two of you - I was a big admirer. However you two supporting an individual who was forced to step down due to his inaction or unwillingness to shine a light on systemic abuse (Church of England), is utterly disugsting.
Quite honestly, I’ve given up on any hope of serious climate change action. Who are we kidding? The biggest emitters are increasing their emissions, the most influential player is about to become climate sceptic, and young people, who will be most affected by this issue, are swinging right toward climate sceptic parties. What’s the sodding point in trying when it’s going to be absolutely no difference whatsoever. I know that it’s defeatist, and I know that it’s exactly what the right want to hear, but the idea that I’m diligently separating my recycling each week, and the soon-to-be leader of the US is saying “Drill baby, drill”? And Gen Z can play in traffic as well - even the Boomers made some effort to thwart Trump. What a shitshow.
Thank you both for giving me a clearer insight into the background to all these political situations, I do enjoy the "explainers" that Rory does for those of us who are pretty ignorant about European politics.
Another really good episode. But - don't let your editor take us out of the conversation with pictures of people like Putin. For one thing, I'd hope your audience knows what Putin looks like - and, secondly, it's distracting to see his mug shot. Also to note: when the photos dropped away, you lost lip sync on Alistair for about 20 seconds. Don't mess with the format. You've got it just right, interiors and all.
In 1989 Britain spent 4.1% of their GDP on defense. Today it’s 2.3. If they just spent 4.1 again and gave the 1.8% to Ukraine it would crush Russia. However, the UK has become too soft and weak to save in the long term by stepping up today
Adjusted for inflation, the UK's GDP has risen from £1.6tn to £2.2tn between 1989 and 2024. That's a relative defense budget of ~£65.6bn to ~£52.9bn for those interested in comparative figures. Uplifting to 4.1% would raise that to £94.3bn (a whopping and completely unrealistic increase of 78.3%!), and should that money be siphoned to Ukraine and assuming the US withdraws support as expected, this would still leave Ukraine with a deficit of ~£10bn compared to what they're receiving *right now*, which is presently insuffucient to "crush" Russia - though they're putting up a valiant and just fight. It's worth noting: In 1984 the UK spent 5.5% of it's GDP on defense, and consecutive Conservative governments cut this down to 2.7% by 1996. Under New Labour this fell to 2.3%, before the Conservative governments following it pulled it down to 2.1% by 2020, when a commitment was made to spend a further £4bn/year up until 2025, bringing it back to 2.3% If you hadn't guessed I continually fail to understand why anyone, from any political alignment, would vote for that rotten party.
@ I don’t see inflation adjustment in those numbers. I’m sure the UK has some inflation. The UK alone may not do it, but if Germany, France, and the majority of Europe doe it, Ukraine will be freed and Europe will avoid having to hike spending for decades
@@robertnovak5457 As stated in my first sentence, those numbers were all adjusted for inflation; I used the Bank of England calculator. Before inflation the UK GDP in 1989 was £729 billion I know it's a hard pill to swallow, but Europe alone isn't going to be able to save Ukraine; We *need* our American friends to stay on board if Putin's expansionist zealotry is to be quashed.
@ Russia has the GDP of Italy. If Europe wants to crush them, they can….easily. However, Trump is a transactional man; if Europe and Ukraine offer him a deal that gives him a return on investment, I believe he’ll be all in
@@robertnovak5457 I do believe Trump a transactional man; I can easily accept that he would cut a deal to sell out Ukraine, just as I could easily see him extort Europe to return to the decades where we were all in debt to the US. I also believe Putin to be a paranoid man; I can well believe that should a single European nation with nuclear capabalities declare war on them, regardless of the circumstance, that he would be capable of launching a pre-emptive strike - and if I'm right, what happens next? In a conventional war the combined forces of NATO likely could defeat the Russian army, even without the US involved - but it wouldn't be a conventional war for long. As for return on investment? The US accounts for 40% of the world's arms trade; They're already making bank from their 50bn investment, and I suspect that those who voted for Trump might find themselves let down once Trump actually learns how much growth this already has brought to the US economy, and how much of a pinch to the-line-that-must-ever-go-up that the withdrawl of those funds will cause his own country.
Europe's militaries already have a lot of depth and equipment, but Europe doesn't seem interested in cooperating enough to achieve geopolitical goals in Ukraine, Taiwan, or anywhere else. I think it's less about "where will the extra money come from?" and more about a lack of comprehension that if even the biggest 5 western European powers cooperated they could achieve positive geopolitical outcomes. I guess they lost this conceptualisation after decades of following what Daddy America tells them to do.
It doesn't help that every time the EU tried to bring suggestions on military cohesiveness to the table, there was always enough euroskeptics to shut it down...
Regarding COP, a lot of climate activists and people who have been environmentally focused in the past have given up. As sad as it is, a lot of data shows that we've gone over the cliff edge already and that it would be impossible unless we completely stopped all fossil fuel usage globally and unified as a planet to reverse all the damage we've already done. This also ties into the disillusionment of young people in politics, who not only feel hard done by on other matters, but that the people before them have destroyed their future by destroying the planet. Why should young people care about anything when they can't afford a house, can't afford to raise a family, and have to deal with the planet dying due to the negligence / corruption of the generations before them. I don't mean to be so depressing, but honestly many people just do not care about the environment anymore because they know it's over.
As a boomer, I despair that younger generations consider resources as infinite. The waste that they create way outstrips my generations. The majority of mine learnt our lessons and did the best to change our habits. So no I don't agree with your comment that the young have given uo, from what I observe, they never started in the first place.
As a Gen X'er I'd just like to remind you both that whilst it amounts to little in the grand scheme of things, we're all making it worse by having this very discussion, given the amount of digital infrastructure required to enable it. The tipping point was predicted to be between 2030 and 2050 back in the 80s, and that's probably not far from the truth; There's still some time left, even if it won't let any of us afford our own homes. Now excuse me: I need to find out where my local food bank is.
The problem with conservation has been the apocalyptic narrative and doomsday perspective that has been fuelling destructive behaviours and a self-defeating mentality within conservation. This approach can also lead to a vilification of those who hold contrary opinions or interests, framing complex policy issues in a binary "us-versus-them" mindset. This polarising stance is often marked by a paradox: while advocating for environmental purity, some adherents' lifestyles continue to contribute to the problems they decry, thereby incurring accusations of hypocrisy. Also, this brand of environmentalism imbues a sense of anxiety and depression. The catastrophic tone of the discourse doesn't adequately address the deeper psychological and existential queries nor fulfil the spiritual yearnings of the individuals it touches. Despite the secular façade of the green movement, there exists a pursuit for meaning and purpose - needs that are not satisfactorily met by the sheer focus on ecological campaigns and policies...imo
On free speech. I don’t know what anyone means anymore, almost specifically in the media (which I include UA-cam podcasts) So it would be great if politicians and of those connected to politics. Would please come out and define what free speech is? Could Rory or Alistair please give us a helping hand by kick starting the conversation or debate? Would also like to hear it form everyone else including Trump and Elon.
I'll ask you the same as I asked your mates. Deportation i.e. Deportees What do you think will happen? The deportees will they be just dropped off at their country's airport? Should this work will Europe follow suit? What are your views? I have heard it said "Trump wants the piece prise"
If the US, China, India and Russia ignore climate change, no matter what rest of the world want or actually do, will mean A/ it fails and B/ the cost of trying cripples these countries just for trying and US, China, India and Russia all prosper on this, no matter how good and well intentioned the ROW are. And with the balance of population and consumption is with these 4 countries by a massive margin, its as unfair and crippling as much as climate change would be on these ROW. Again the poor will pay the most.
Alastair - I applaud the fact that you keep returning to the incredulity of someone like Donald Trump becoming president. I share your feeling that it is amazing that he gets one single vote. The challenge for guys like you and me is to realize that his followers see anyone on the left as being equivalent to what we see in Trump. I heard one interesting point of view recently… Think of the world as being made up of the poor, the very rich, and the middlemen. The poor report to the middlemen and are frustrated by them. If you want the poor to vote for your party, get a leader who is very rich who laughs at the middleman.
8:00 I've seen some very worrying content from American political shows about how realism is so great. Blokes in basements who've read an article on the Franco-Prussian war and now think the Ukrainians deserve to be invaded. Definitely been a serious upsurge in callousness in the past 3 or so years.
I had to comment when I heard Campbell dismiss climate protests on motorways. I would like to see his reaction when a protest prevents his own appearance at a TV studio.
Agreed, saying its a minor inconvenience is a big mistake. A lot of people suffer from real anxiety in meeting bills, job security and putting food on the table. To say, no big deal in stopping someone getting to work and adding to life's general pressures, is pretty blind to people's concerns. There a real cognitive issue when you vouch for common law and fair rules, but allow crimes as long as it's for a cause you agree with. Its a freebie for far right populists and it just sounds like fygm from elitists who don't have any of these issues. Big fan of the show, but a bit of introspection on some things wouldn't be amiss
As an early-30s Brit, one thing I've started to ponder more and more over recent years is how attitudes of people that grew up and benefitted from massive industrial booms and a complete disregard for the environmental impacts, are now the same people that are championing and in charge of very expensive de-carbonisation and renewable initiatives. It's becoming much more difficult for a relatively young person to see climate change as a top priority, when there are so many other glaring problems in the world. "Yes, we know your standard of living has dropped and won't match that of your parents', you can't get on the housing ladder, public services are in shambles but look, we've shut down all the coal plants at the expense of thousands of jobs and subsidised international manufacturers to build wind turbines! Let's give ourselves a big pat on the back."
It's true. For me the biggest problem is a generation of people who enjoyed all the benefits of that, all the benefits of Britain being in the EU, low property prices and an ability to move freely between careers...deciding they don't like the world they have created and trying to take it back to what they remember. Leaving the EU was a complete disaster and that generation of people, who, let's be honest, are less educated than millennials or Gen Z, love the rhetoric of people like Bojo and Farage, and don't like to be told they don't know what they are talking about. We have promoted and social media perpetuates it, quite a self centered society that doesn't want to think about the big picture but instead focuses on small wins that will make us all feel better for 6 months. I just have no real hope for society 😂
The pressure is on everybody but in particular and fundamentally on the world community expecting more wars, and transfer of wealth to the rich without restrain in the midst of an engineered chaos. Just dystopian unhinged wealthy class are emboldened and insane.
To any americans of goodwill and compassion. Have you considered coming over to England for four years? You would be very welcome and can help us build our economy, green future and cultural life. This country looks uniquely stable in a troubled world. Why not come and contribute and duck out of Trumps America. We would certainly welcome you.
Unless Britain joins a United States of Europe, what's the point? You've isolated yourselves from your neighbors and sided with an increasingly unreliable transoceanic ally currently entering a psychotic breakdown.
Only problem is that most of the policy promised for America in 2025 is "cut and paste" from the recent Tory playbook. If Labour don't do more to protect vulnerable people in the UK, you'll have some version of the Tories/Reform within 5 years and we'll all be trying to relocate again.
@@kernowchris I think you should repent. Maybe you made an unfortunate mistake, so please take this opportunity to apologise to the victims of child sexual abuse in the church of England.
I am 58 years old what a mess we have made our generation all of us! Sad for our parents grandparents and our children and grand children ? If they get to see this beautiful world . 😢
The only people I've heard Homan talk about aggressively are the gang members and good on him. He's actually talked over and over about the deaths, pain and suffering people go through on the trip and how for that reason this needs to stop and again good on him. Glad not everyone is willing to turn a blind eye for political ideological reasons.
When someone is under attack with no substantial argument being made, you know that person is saying something that someone would rather went unsaid. This isn't new around here though, the -football hooligans- right of British politics have been all over this since it came to their attention that the franchise "The Rest is [Blank]" is part owned by Gary Lineker, amongst other things.
The disinformation machine is running flat out - and winning, I'm afraid. Democracy is complicated, and demands informed thinking. Lack of this is clear all over, as is compromise - a dirty word here.
When these two talk mournfully about the collapse of the collapse of the 'rules based order', they would do well to rember to who fatally holed it below the waterline. When you invade a country without, as Robin Cook said, support from any of the international bodies of which you are a member, YOU are ignoring the rules based order. In other words, the only rule was that these institutions comply with US policy or they are expendable.
To be fair, you mean Alastair Campbell rather than "these two": Rory Stewart wasn't elected to Westminster until 2010. Only one of them was capable of voting in contradiction to international law. Stewart was part of the "cleanup" operation though, being a member of the UK's diplomatic corp at the time, and being assigned to Iraq following the invasion in an administrative position. He's since come out and openly said that the war was a mistake. There's a reason why one of them seems markedly more mournful than the other.
Building on your discussion around Climate Action, I would be really interested to hear you both talk to Dieter Helm about the his ideas around using markets to drive decarbonisation and how this can avoid being a regressive approach.
How is it Orwellian to scrap a "misinformation unit"? Words mean things, Orwellian has an actual meaning and you would have thought that Alistair Campbell would know that. Opinions that you disagree with are not "misinformation", you lot don't get to decide who gets to speak and who doesn't.
All opinions are equal in an environment of alternative facts, but what a pity we've got to the post-truth era. What we're talking about is the deliberate repetition of things known to be untrue in order to divide and rule.
Have you actually read 1984? Eric Arthut Blair's argument in the book when describing Newspeak and it's relationship to propaganda was in favour of retaining the descriptive nature of English; In a descriptive language words don't mean things in a proscriptive sense, they mean whatever we use them to mean and are in a constant state of evolutionary flux. Meaning's are not cast in stone: To do so is ironically most Orwellian!
It's absurd the two otherwise smart guys can sit here and talk about Trump's worldview. He doesn't have one at all. We know this from watching him govern for 4 years. The only two things that help predict his decisions are who talked to him last and how did they frame the issue is either flattery or betrayal of him.
Disagree, he has a protectionist and isolationist view. He really doesnt care much of who does what to whom outside of US borders unless it harms US economic interests. He has no moral interest in other squabbles. He will immediately pull funding from Ukraine for instance.
@@2011hwalker If I was forced to offer an opinion I'd agree with all you've said, but talking about Trump's views, especially his worldview, reinforces the incorrect ideas that he thinks rather than reacts and that ideas rather than narcissism drive his thought process.
The Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931. Far-right politics took hold the world over following the American great depression. Hitler became chancellor in 1933. We had war in Europe (the Spanish civil war) by 1936. We had WW2 by 1940. The parallels of the pre-WW2 era to today's world situation go on and on and on. I don't know if the bookies have a bet on when WW3 will break out, but I'm going to put £10 on the 1st of April 2030. :-P
I love tennis and I’ve been following it closely since i was a teen. Every so often there’s a generation change where the game changes. Listening to these guys I just wonder if they’ve noticed just how much the game of politics has changed since their heyday? I’m not sure they still get it!
One thing about Ally in his pomp as Bliar's attack dog, unlike the MAGA lot, he was never aggressive and he never ever said nasty things about people. Just kidding!!
I don't agree that Trump "sees the weakening of the EU as a strategic goal." Partly because it clearly isn't advantageous to the US but mostly because Trump just doesn't think in these terms. He doesn't do "strategic".
Rory and Alistair, please would you do an in-depth programme on climate change to help with understanding - what is real, what is not real, what is scientific, what is un-scientific, what is man-made, what is not man-made (ie inevitable) what do climate deniers say, are the right in any way, how wrong are they, if at all - an in-depth analysis from every angle would be enormously educational and useful - it’s not politics but actually it is and I’m asking you to do it because I know that you would do it thoroughly and well and honestly. Thank you.
What would happen if the top 4 EU27 countries all exited union and formed a new union with UK. With their own army. The conditions don’t seem right any more to try and drag up the economies and societies across Europe. If you combine GER UK FRA NETH and parts of Scandinavia- could that bloc rise to the top of global power?
The discussion on the UAE/Saudi/ Israel/ US relations to with the young people/social media is an extremely interesting topic. I agree with the point Alister made which is the young males voted for populism. Voted for Trump. It is interesting how the youth in the Middle East is also willing to back an Iranian approach to the aggression in Gaza/Palestine and how the governments of UAE/ Saudi are weakening due to the youth backing Iran’s position. The US election in my view is only going to act as an accelerant to this dissension. Well done lads. Well done indeed. More of the world should be informed of these circumstances.
US money didn't end up anywhere, it largely remained in the US. It paid for US arms and US jobs in 'the machine' behind the war effort. The lobbyists will be after the profits from the repayments when it comes back.
@@damiantowYep, it certainly doesn't harm the US, despite many from there believing they're bankrolling it. They clear out a load of old gear, give their economy a boost, weaken Russia, then will want it'll be repaid if not as cash then as favours. Then MORE on top of that to any US contractors helping in the rebuild, who'll be involved on very favourable terms.
It is surely the responsibility of those who benefited from cheap Russian oil and gas and deliberately underspent on defence to now cover the gap? I can see why the US is frustrated.
Yet it is not those who underspent who will pay the price: It is the people of Ukraine. European spending on defense has been falling since before the end of the Soviet Union, and has in fact been increasing since 2020: To take the UK as an example it has increased it's spending on defense by £4bn/year from 2020 to 2024, which just about beats inflation. If it were to try and match it's spending as a % of GDP from even just 1989, it would need to increase it's spending by more than 75%. This isn't possible. Accepting the argument that spending must increase, it will take *decades* to reach the levels of the 1990s, let alone the 1980s. In the meantime, the US would be choosing to abandon decades of investment in exchange for short term political goals. I fully believe they're capable of this, but it would be in error.
@@rossstewart9475 True, it is the people of Ukraine who are paying but the people of Europe also pay a price in that they are now at the whims of Trump. The decision of so many European countries to spend so little was always reckless and they knew it (every US President told them but they thought they knew better). There was nothing in the arsenals when Putin attacked and there's still almost nothing been done. It's crazy. We didn't act like this in 1914 or 1939. Europe simply isn;t serious about winning. The UK, mind, is still comfortably the highest spender in Europe. Tbh, aside from France all the rest of them have been utterly irresponsible. It's not only that they left Europe defenceless but they also made themselves dependent on Russian energy (that was totally insane to anyone with even a hint of common sense and history - fund your enemy indeed!) Btw, since the end of the Cold Wart the UK spent an average of 1% more on defence than the European average. That doesn't sound a lot but 1% of gdp is £32 billion and year and over 30 odd years that's nearly an extra trillion! If only we could have spent that money at home! If Putin wins in Ukraine (and he is winning) then that 75% increase in defence spending would be reached very quickly indeed. It's all about political choices - nothing is impossible just difficult.
@@Lawrence4000-s3k A minor correct/addendum to your comment, which I largely agree with: Whilst the UK has been amongst the top spenders and remains so in absolute terms, Poland has routinely outstripped them in terms of spending as a % of GDP and is the only nation who has committed to spending 5% of GDP by next year. This is a lofty goal by a nation most threatened by Russia, and that they only plan to increase to this level stands as evidence to my mind at the realistic rate at which we will see *any* increase in defense spending from any European nation under any circumstances; 75% in anything less than a couple of decades just isn't realistic, I'm sorry - no matter how strong the political will. As for the policy of buying Russian oil and gas, there was sense behind it: Close trading ties create mutual dependance and tools other than weapons with which to try and manouvre in the diplomatic arena, and through the 1990s this was good diplomacy. Post 2000, this definitely became a more questionable strategy as Putin's tendencies become apparent.
@@rossstewart9475 Well, Poland is on the front-line, so to speak, so I'm not surprised you've increased spending so much. In your position I'd spend even more. Sadly not many other countries will match your spending and fully intend to use Poland as a shield. 8 EU NATO countries still haven't hit the minimum 2% target and I believe Italy is now talking about reducing spending. And the Germans are pleading poverty at the moment so they may miss the target, too. They simply aren't serious about winning. I disagree with you slightly about countries being unable to raise spending: it's a political choice not to raise spending . If Ukraine collapses tomorrow (and they are losing) and Trump pulls out of NATO then the money will be found immediately! We saw in 1914 and then 1939 that when threatened financial issues completely disappeared and countries massively increased their weapon and munitions production (in WW1 the UK raised artillery shell production 144x to 75 million by 1918 - France and Germany would have been similar). The whole of the EU now can't produce the million they promised Ukraine. Rather, they aren't willing to invest the money and are quite content to see Ukrainians die. And Covid as a more recent example shows that finances are no bar to doing what is needed. The EU Covid Recovery Fund was 750 billion euros. The total paid to Ukraine has been around $130 billion. We could triple spending to Ukraine and wouldn't even notice it (Germany can easily borrow) (PS. I know we don't like talking about these things but that $130 billion provided to Ukraine is dwarfed by the 150 billion paid to Russia in 2022 and the 50-odd billion paid again in 2023. Gas imports from Russia continue and will do so until the late 2020s. We might also ask about the recent deals to import gas from Azerbaijan and Turkey (they import from Russia), and the record oil imports from India (guess where that actually comes from! It's a strange form of support when more is paid to the other side.). We have to accept that European countries simply aren't serious when it comes to security. If I were Polish I wouldn't trust them a mm. And the policy of becoming reliant on Russian Energy and funding your only possible adversary was always insane! There's a very funny video on here of Trump asking the Germans in 2018 why the US was paying for the defence of Germany from Russia while Germany was increasing trade with Russia, meaning the Russians were buying more weapons, against which the US had to spend more in order to defend Germany against Russia! The UK refused a deal for Russian oil & gas for security concerns. One of the few decent decision we made, tbh.
@@Lawrence4000-s3k I'll respond properly soon, but just to clear up another misconception: I'm a Scot in the UK, not Polish. I'm not sure what gave you any other impression, given that most of our conversation has pertained to the UK and I've used Commonwealth English spelling throughout.
He is a Princeton and Harvard grad, with magnificent credentials I don't want to hear a peep from the left. Rachel Levine. That's all that needs to be said.
@@timburr4453 Don't know about that. Head of the VA? Yeah. I think he'd be good at that. Watching the Sean Ryan podcast seems like he's got real conviction behind his support for that. Defense secretary? Head administrator over one the largest, most complicated agencies in the US? Not so much. He has no experience running an organization like that or much less being familiar with navigating a government agency through the politics of Washington. It's an unrealistic pick. I wouldn't be surprised if his confirmation wasn't smooth sailing. Never know but the hawks in the Senate still out number the non-hawks. In his first administration the military was one of the few things Republicans were willing to bush back on Trump. Never know so we'll see.
In terms of opposing Trumpism, the key thing - which is lacking from almost all responses to Trump's victory - is first and foremost an acknowledgement and examination of all the many ways in which the Democratic Party - especially its ‘progressive’ wing - has helped to feed the MAGA cult. Otherwise, keeping on with the same old same old will lead the same result: a Republican win in 2028.
The Maga cult is a Republican phenomenon, fed by Republican-friendly operators and media. No doubt Democrats have made mistakes. And progressives have made many more. But the trends behind this election are far bigger and broader. And ultimately anti-incumbent sentiment driven by inflation has been a global phenomenon. The Maga cult is only Trump's base. He won by mobilising voters worried about inflation (even though his policies would make it worse).
People talk about absolutely nothing else, and that's also a problem. What they don't talk enough about is that Trump and Musk both have private social media companies that spew out lies and propaganda. The hefty propaganda has been normalised.
2:47 to 6:52 A long, startlingly incoherent ramble by Alastair Campbell providing a chop suey of stream-of-consciousness ideas that don't belong in the same dish, e.g. "Orwellian" and "jiu-jitsu" and being generally unclear about where his argument is going. At 6:56 - finally - Rory injects the conversation with some intelligent thought and spares us from being led down the garden path by Campbell. How long will it take before Rory realises that it is he who makes this podcast so interesting and compulsively watchable? If only he could lose his crumpled, cumbersome appendage who rushes from blunder to blunder and from hearsay to speculation 17:20 !!! He is "too horrified" to fact-check! 🥴 Sounds a bit flimsy for someone who loves being cited as being Macron's francophile texting pal.
What Alistair calls the “response” as regards the events in Amsterdam was a planned hunt of Israelis/Jews, and it was planned before Maccabi fans were even there and chanted their anti-Arab songs. I also would like to underline that there is a slight difference between chanting disgusting songs against a group on one hand and hunting and beating up individuals because they belong to a group on the other.
Great for France, who learned the lesson to maintain their defence industry, but outside of small arms, most countries sold their defence industries to foreign interests, like bloody fools.
It's quite a contrast to see Rory and Alastair all suited-up, made-up and somewhat stuck-up for the getfuse ad and to immediately switch to the two men in their comfort starting their conversation. It really cracks me up. It is actually like seeing our current President (in Argentina) speak to friendly media vs. his crude Tiktoks seeking recognition and praise by foreign far-right leaders.
Absolutely priceless. Alistair Campbell - the king of spin - accuses Musk and Trump of using misinformation and calls it Orwellian. Is he just trolling us?
I was so dissappointed when Trump got in for a 2nd time, BUT what you now need to acknowledge that when you are talking about Trump it's also the view of the American people, you are still ignoring that he won!
Im in my twenties, not interested in handicapping ourselves as a country for climate change if countries who have 10x the effect on it are neglecting to do anything
Don't believe the propaganda of oil.executives. it's good for the economy as well as being necessary. The people who run oil don't want to lose their profits that's all.
A question Rory will love - do you think as I do that US politics is descending into the politics of medieval Scotland? And, what do you think about this idea - the whole Trump house of cards are going to focussed upon being the successor (as he can't stand again). The individuals and their areas of influence; points of power etc. are going to be places where they establish public faces or political influence. If Trump tries to nominate a successor there will be lots of pissed of former political supporters. If he doesn't, it will be like a medieval Scottish court, and this will start soon as alternatives have to be clear before the primaries. . The internecine politics are going to be phenomenal, and I suggest, will dominate the 4 years
Please push this comment as of this release on UA-cam the vote count in the us is only 7.5 million away from 2020 totals and has millions to go. Let's at least wait till it's over before Alistair and Rory start sounding like the conspiracy theorists as an aside does Rory not see that his idealism is why he didn't become leader or mayor? It's a sad truth but a realist beats an idealist every time.
Unfortunately both Alistair and Rory got no clue about the life and aspirations of anyone under 40's who are not part of the upper class or up middle class.
The Rest Is Politics is powered by Fuse Energy, a green electricity supplier powering homes across England, Scotland & Wales. Use referral code POLITICS after signing up to win a TRIP merch bundle. Learn more at getfuse.com/politics ⚡
Alastair- I can’t believe you said the ‘Dutch narrative’ is that the Israelis provoked the violence. The Dutch people had nothing to do with what those islamists did and they denounce it. The words of the Dutch king condemning the violence were stronger than those if the Israeli leadership!
Evening! I have been really enjoying your podcasts and commentary on the US Election..thank you & keep up the good work!
Could Rory do a summary of the Russian/Ukraine conflict like his Israeli/Palestinian one?
Where is fuse getting its 100% green electricity this week? No wind for 10days now less than 30$ renewables peak..
Regardless of the current or next US president it’s become very clear that Europe can’t depend on the US any longer. I wish our politicians would wake up and start investing properly in our collective defence.
I think they are scared of the hit to living standards that might create. This can then be exploited by the far right (and far left in Germany) to ensure that this expenditure never happens and Putin wins.
You mean European counties holding up their end of the bargain instead of freeloading off American taxpayers? What a novel idea
Where’s your money to do that?
Europe's security problem is radical islam - just look at the pogroms in the netherlands. The US military isn't going to help them much in that matter
Yes we need to invest in more pointless wars that we have no hope of winning.
I don't think any young voter is skeptical of climate change. What they are is past the point of caring about the climate if they can't buy a house and groceries.
Those two things are not connected.
You either care about the future of the planet or not.
Trump and Musk who are billionaires ( no worries about groceries) NOT.
@@daydays12musk literally popularised the electric car industry beyond what anyone thought was possible. I don’t much like the guy but he’s (maybe accidentally?) done more for the environment than almost anyone else on earth 😂
Can't afford groceries? If they've been in that position for any amount of time it means they've learned how to survive on a low income. Their minds should then be free to focus on climate change. WTF owns a house and can afford to waltz off for a takeaway when they please? 🙄
Not all of US 😢 we sadly don’t get a Chance Now
@@edelgyn2699You know what living on low income looks like? You're constantly stressed because you're doing math in your head or on your phone. If I buy this overpriced coffee because I'm freezing right now, my sister won't be able to afford tea for the next week. Which winter shoes to buy, so that they last two seasons and there's still enough money left for Christmas gifts? Stuff like that. So, definitely not more space for thinking about climate.
Trump's victory has killed rory stewart's budding career in the betting industry.
Good. He deserves to lose the shirt on his back! 🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤓
Sshh! Betting against him could make the working class lower middle class within two generations!
Why does he think he knows anything about politics????
Rory no longer has a career
I can see Poland developing nuclear weapons if the US splits from Europe. They have the intellectual capacity to do it and the industrial base. There is no way in hell they are going to rely on Britain and France to cover their backs again.
True, both the British and French need to wake up and understand they are bygone powers, less relevant as the decades go by.
On their own I don't see this happening but if Poland formed a strategic alliance with Ukraine it would be on the cards.
Not sure Poland can get the uranium
@@StephD-001 nuclear weapons loaned and controlled by the US…
Spot on! ..
I just can't get around this notion that it's kind of impossible for europe to outproduce Russia. We have like 8-10times the gdp, 3-4 times the population, a way bigger industial capacity. I think it's just a matter of motivation and I feel rather ashamed of being part of this unambitious block that can't get it's head out of it's a**.
Sorry if I wrote it too bluntly.
Western Europe doesn't have the size of military that Russia has: for example, Britain's Army is just over 74 thousand whereas Russia's is 1.5 million wit a reserve army of two million. Western Europe has nothing like those numbers.
Russia can put 40% of its budget into the military. Hard to match that in a democracy.
@@nicholasarrow2443Indeed and, although Russia has a population twice the size but an economy only half the size of the major Western Europe countries, it just puts such a high percentage of it's GDP into defence that it has a massive armed forces and one of the biggest nuclear weapons arsenal anywhere in the world.
@@nicholasarrow2443 Not when you have 8-10 times the GDP. 4% of Europe’s GDP = 40% of Russia’s.
@@martydav9475Battle plans for facing against Russia have been made in assumption of us having quality in terms of equipment and training as the counter to Russia’s sheer numbers since the Cold War started. That assumption hasn’t changed in the last 30-odd years. Now, I do think our numbers are still too low, but I don’t think the situation is insurmountable.
The irony of Alistair calling the scrapping of a ‘misinformation unit’ at 5:03 as ‘Orwellian’ 😂😂😂
The misinformation unit routinely went out of it's way to misinform
“we get our nationalism when we lose our living memory of the war. The horror of the world wars is now just a memory’”
WWI was very much within living memory when WWII started. There are other reasons for these developments. Mostly the economy.
Sounds good but not sure how true it is.
@@bladdnun3016WW2 was the continuation of WW1 with a truce in between
nationalist trump: 0 wars
globalist biden: ukraine and palestine
WWII is the single most popular subject on any US streaming service and UA-cam. I would venture it isn't much different in Britain.
Too often "establishment" politics is formed as explicitly top-down "we know better than the people" politics. Any populist politician does the very same thing, but only implicitly and tries to portray policies rooted in the will of the people. Its an illusion, but a poverful illusion at that.
Spot on.
It’s the one of oldest stories in our history book, it’s just too bad most people don’t care about history.
@historyrepeat402 The con man likes to stimulate the archaic brain which impedes the rational long term thought. The victim realises what has happened after the fact. By which time the damage has been done, the moneys gone, or the fascists are in power, or people are part of a conspiracy cult. As you say, it's an old story, about human nature.
Establishment politics is an experiment in the failed art of 'Saving the People from themselves'
Yep, unfortunately you've got people like Alister Campbell saying part of the reason Kamala Harris lost was because she didn't talk about Climate Change enough during her campaign. There's just no helping some people understand.
Guys, for heavens sake get into this millennium. The liberal world order of UN interventions etc has gone since 9/11. It died with the Bush Jn / Blair unsanctioned intervention into Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump isn't the "tipping point" of world order but rather the next iteration of a direction of travel of the last 25 years. You need to think about how you keep your podcast current / relevant for the next four years rather than endlessly ranting on your desire for a world order last seen a quarter of a century ago.
You could always not watch it and not offer such unconstructive comments
@@CuzthatwouldbeweirdAgree
Brilliant post. They're rewriting post world war 2 history to attack Trump. Pretty intellectually dishonest.
@@Cuzthatwouldbeweird what ? He should exit your bubble ?
Indeed. it was just imperialism under a different name.
COP is over not even Germany showed up. We should do our part but not kill ourselves over 0 carbon. The UK needs to go full steam on securing it's future in terms of energy independence and food security and stop pushing its population into hardship over this. International cooperation may return but by then it will be too late (spoiler it is already)
Correct
they keep overlooking the fact that global population has increased by 2.3 Billion (40%) since the first COP meeting - That's the same as adding a second Africa & Europe to the world, within 30 years; no wonder temps are rising compared to 1800, when world population was 1 billion
With *50k* new *foreign* benefit awards, *EVERY* month, our open door immigration will kill this country, long before Net Zero will.
Correct correct and correct ✅
Food security! The UK needs to import food. When the population was 41.7 million (excluding Ireland) at the outbreak of WWI, it couldn't produce enough food internally to feed the population. Nothing has changed, except the size of the population. Food security means building Warships to protect the sea lanes.
Thanks for your informed opinions and sharing. With all the aggression and indecency of the likes of Trump et al, it's so nice to hear you both sharing and interacting.
Why have none of the major media outlets not talked about the North Korean soldiers being on the front line of the Russia / Ukraine war?
A disengaging Trump will make Europe only stronger because countries are realizing that further cooperation is an absolute necessity for their own survival.
Hahaha
Destablising world balance of power is not ok anyone
Not until Macron drops the implicit 'made in France' requirement
If the EU can agree on migration, which will probably have to include revising international treaties. Otherwise the migration issue will tear apart the EU politically.
I hope that's true, but they may have left it too late.
This is such a fantastic channel. Thanks for the great work.
I enjoy listening to these podcasts, thank you both. I do not always agree with you but I find your observations interesting, refreshing at times.
Yeah that's the important thing about these podcasts. I don't have to agree with them, I'm not listening to be told my opinion I listen to hear a view of the issues and then work out my opinion
Yeah that's the important thing about these podcasts. I don't have to agree with them, I'm not listening to be told my opinion I listen to hear a view of the issues and then work out my opinion
Rory, your analysis is deluded. A lot of young people voted for Trump!
💯He hasn’t overcome his shell shock yet😂
ye I was wondering that too, he was just ranting without any data
A lot, but not a majority. He improved on his 2020 ratings, but more young women still voted for Harris - enough to mean that overall she still got way more young people voting for her
Yes, a lot of young people voted for Trump because they are easier to manipulate. Murdoch media has been spoon feeding hatred for so many years and young men seem to be susceptible to that type of manipulation.
Would you point me towards where he says that *no* young people voted for Trump? The statistics are a matter of record and are available in a fraction of a second with a cursory web search: 54% of under 29s voted against Trump, 43% voted for him. In this context I hardly believe citation is needed mid-cast.
Even if we cut it 18-44, 51% voted in favour of Harris whilst 46% voted in favour of Trump.
Source: BBC, NBC, PBS, Fox, CBS, etc all via official exit polls.
UN is an important part of security but we must honestly say we failed terribly in Balkan in 90s. Still suffer
Normal people in Britain don’t want us to fill the gap that America leaves either. I sincerely hope we don’t
Be honest, say the YOU don't want that, but leave other people out of it unless you have the surveys to prove you statement. You probably believe that to be true, but really you have NO idea.
@ you ask a million homes in the UK what their priority is, I guarantee you, funding Ukraine even more will not be top of the list.
Most people under 30 can’t even dream of moving out and starting a family, most can’t afford rent, most elder workers haven’t seen their salary rise at all in 15-20 years.
Housing, Energy, education and NHS all in turmoil. Don’t be naive to think the majority put a foreign war at the top of their list
@@bengreen980 Your original post didn’t say ‘top of the list’. It probably isn’t, but that doesn’t mean it’s absent altogether.
They should start learning Russian then.
and people say "oh it's going to be very difficult because there are costs attached to it". Err if energy costs are twice those of our competitors the jobs are going elsewhere. It will most definitely be difficult.
You guys underestimate continental Europe - Trump is not King of Europe regardless of the very special relationship with the UK.
I totally agree with you. Too much traditional transatlantic reasoning from the "Rest of Politics". I really doubt if these 2 have enough insights in what is happening within the EU. My feeling is they have not and they do not understand the recent dynamics like the spectacular rise of Eastern Europe for example.
@@qeitkas594It’s a fair comment although Alistair does have Macron hitting up his DMs so he is fairly well positioned to comment on EU goings on. (This mentioned later in the episode.)
Europe is lacking in resources
When the US lift the RUS sanctions, Europe resp. Ukraine is done. That is the sad truth 😥
@@samuelculper4231which resources?
Have always watched, engaged and been educated by the two of you - I was a big admirer. However you two supporting an individual who was forced to step down due to his inaction or unwillingness to shine a light on systemic abuse (Church of England), is utterly disugsting.
@@SeriousNonsense0121 shows their true colours perhaps?
'What a guy' comments made me think Alastair was about to go into a 'Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul' skit.
Where's the Sellotape?
Ain’t she pretty! Whadda a guy! Whadda guy! Ain’t she pretty!
Quite honestly, I’ve given up on any hope of serious climate change action. Who are we kidding? The biggest emitters are increasing their emissions, the most influential player is about to become climate sceptic, and young people, who will be most affected by this issue, are swinging right toward climate sceptic parties. What’s the sodding point in trying when it’s going to be absolutely no difference whatsoever.
I know that it’s defeatist, and I know that it’s exactly what the right want to hear, but the idea that I’m diligently separating my recycling each week, and the soon-to-be leader of the US is saying “Drill baby, drill”? And Gen Z can play in traffic as well - even the Boomers made some effort to thwart Trump. What a shitshow.
Thank you both for giving me a clearer insight into the background to all these political situations, I do enjoy the "explainers" that Rory does for those of us who are pretty ignorant about European politics.
How can you rely on his political judgements about Europe when he was so catastrophically wrong about America?
Another really good episode. But - don't let your editor take us out of the conversation with pictures of people like Putin. For one thing, I'd hope your audience knows what Putin looks like - and, secondly, it's distracting to see his mug shot. Also to note: when the photos dropped away, you lost lip sync on Alistair for about 20 seconds. Don't mess with the format. You've got it just right, interiors and all.
In 1989 Britain spent 4.1% of their GDP on defense. Today it’s 2.3. If they just spent 4.1 again and gave the 1.8% to Ukraine it would crush Russia. However, the UK has become too soft and weak to save in the long term by stepping up today
Adjusted for inflation, the UK's GDP has risen from £1.6tn to £2.2tn between 1989 and 2024. That's a relative defense budget of ~£65.6bn to ~£52.9bn for those interested in comparative figures.
Uplifting to 4.1% would raise that to £94.3bn (a whopping and completely unrealistic increase of 78.3%!), and should that money be siphoned to Ukraine and assuming the US withdraws support as expected, this would still leave Ukraine with a deficit of ~£10bn compared to what they're receiving *right now*, which is presently insuffucient to "crush" Russia - though they're putting up a valiant and just fight.
It's worth noting: In 1984 the UK spent 5.5% of it's GDP on defense, and consecutive Conservative governments cut this down to 2.7% by 1996. Under New Labour this fell to 2.3%, before the Conservative governments following it pulled it down to 2.1% by 2020, when a commitment was made to spend a further £4bn/year up until 2025, bringing it back to 2.3%
If you hadn't guessed I continually fail to understand why anyone, from any political alignment, would vote for that rotten party.
@ I don’t see inflation adjustment in those numbers. I’m sure the UK has some inflation. The UK alone may not do it, but if Germany, France, and the majority of Europe doe it, Ukraine will be freed and Europe will avoid having to hike spending for decades
@@robertnovak5457 As stated in my first sentence, those numbers were all adjusted for inflation; I used the Bank of England calculator.
Before inflation the UK GDP in 1989 was £729 billion
I know it's a hard pill to swallow, but Europe alone isn't going to be able to save Ukraine; We *need* our American friends to stay on board if Putin's expansionist zealotry is to be quashed.
@ Russia has the GDP of Italy. If Europe wants to crush them, they can….easily. However, Trump is a transactional man; if Europe and Ukraine offer him a deal that gives him a return on investment, I believe he’ll be all in
@@robertnovak5457 I do believe Trump a transactional man; I can easily accept that he would cut a deal to sell out Ukraine, just as I could easily see him extort Europe to return to the decades where we were all in debt to the US.
I also believe Putin to be a paranoid man; I can well believe that should a single European nation with nuclear capabalities declare war on them, regardless of the circumstance, that he would be capable of launching a pre-emptive strike - and if I'm right, what happens next? In a conventional war the combined forces of NATO likely could defeat the Russian army, even without the US involved - but it wouldn't be a conventional war for long.
As for return on investment? The US accounts for 40% of the world's arms trade; They're already making bank from their 50bn investment, and I suspect that those who voted for Trump might find themselves let down once Trump actually learns how much growth this already has brought to the US economy, and how much of a pinch to the-line-that-must-ever-go-up that the withdrawl of those funds will cause his own country.
Europe's militaries already have a lot of depth and equipment, but Europe doesn't seem interested in cooperating enough to achieve geopolitical goals in Ukraine, Taiwan, or anywhere else. I think it's less about "where will the extra money come from?" and more about a lack of comprehension that if even the biggest 5 western European powers cooperated they could achieve positive geopolitical outcomes. I guess they lost this conceptualisation after decades of following what Daddy America tells them to do.
It doesn't help that every time the EU tried to bring suggestions on military cohesiveness to the table, there was always enough euroskeptics to shut it down...
That's what a nation state primarily is supposed to do. Look after it's own interest.
Regarding COP, a lot of climate activists and people who have been environmentally focused in the past have given up. As sad as it is, a lot of data shows that we've gone over the cliff edge already and that it would be impossible unless we completely stopped all fossil fuel usage globally and unified as a planet to reverse all the damage we've already done.
This also ties into the disillusionment of young people in politics, who not only feel hard done by on other matters, but that the people before them have destroyed their future by destroying the planet. Why should young people care about anything when they can't afford a house, can't afford to raise a family, and have to deal with the planet dying due to the negligence / corruption of the generations before them.
I don't mean to be so depressing, but honestly many people just do not care about the environment anymore because they know it's over.
As a boomer, I despair that younger generations consider resources as infinite. The waste that they create way outstrips my generations.
The majority of mine learnt our lessons and did the best to change our habits.
So no I don't agree with your comment that the young have given uo, from what I observe, they never started in the first place.
As a Gen X'er I'd just like to remind you both that whilst it amounts to little in the grand scheme of things, we're all making it worse by having this very discussion, given the amount of digital infrastructure required to enable it.
The tipping point was predicted to be between 2030 and 2050 back in the 80s, and that's probably not far from the truth; There's still some time left, even if it won't let any of us afford our own homes.
Now excuse me: I need to find out where my local food bank is.
The problem with conservation has been the apocalyptic narrative and doomsday perspective that has been fuelling destructive behaviours and a self-defeating mentality within conservation.
This approach can also lead to a vilification of those who hold contrary opinions or interests, framing complex policy issues in a binary "us-versus-them" mindset.
This polarising stance is often marked by a paradox: while advocating for environmental purity, some adherents' lifestyles continue to contribute to the problems they decry, thereby incurring accusations of hypocrisy.
Also, this brand of environmentalism imbues a sense of anxiety and depression. The catastrophic tone of the discourse doesn't adequately address the deeper psychological and existential queries nor fulfil the spiritual yearnings of the individuals it touches.
Despite the secular façade of the green movement, there exists a pursuit for meaning and purpose - needs that are not satisfactorily met by the sheer focus on ecological campaigns and policies...imo
Loved Rory’s US election prediction. He was spot on
I wanted to know what to think, so I am tuning in, listening to the whole podcast then deciding to think the complete opposite.
Just go and listen to something you already agree with then.
@James-x9g8n that's what lefties do
@@ruaraidhmorrison5879Ah - now we know how seriously you think then.
@@peterwilton9047 far more than these 2 cretins
Nobody asked dude
On free speech. I don’t know what anyone means anymore, almost specifically in the media (which I include UA-cam podcasts) So it would be great if politicians and of those connected to politics. Would please come out and define what free speech is?
Could Rory or Alistair please give us a helping hand by kick starting the conversation or debate? Would also like to hear it form everyone else including Trump and Elon.
I'll ask you the same as I asked your mates.
Deportation i.e. Deportees
What do you think will happen?
The deportees will they be just dropped off at their country's airport?
Should this work will Europe follow suit?
What are your views?
I have heard it said "Trump wants the piece prise"
Assumption that the poorest would make sacrifices for the environment - thanks again for your politics guys
If the US, China, India and Russia ignore climate change, no matter what rest of the world want or actually do, will mean A/ it fails and B/ the cost of trying cripples these countries just for trying and US, China, India and Russia all prosper on this, no matter how good and well intentioned the ROW are. And with the balance of population and consumption is with these 4 countries by a massive margin, its as unfair and crippling as much as climate change would be on these ROW. Again the poor will pay the most.
Alastair - I applaud the fact that you keep returning to the incredulity of someone like Donald Trump becoming president. I share your feeling that it is amazing that he gets one single vote. The challenge for guys like you and me is to realize that his followers see anyone on the left as being equivalent to what we see in Trump.
I heard one interesting point of view recently… Think of the world as being made up of the poor, the very rich, and the middlemen. The poor report to the middlemen and are frustrated by them. If you want the poor to vote for your party, get a leader who is very rich who laughs at the middleman.
8:00 I've seen some very worrying content from American political shows about how realism is so great. Blokes in basements who've read an article on the Franco-Prussian war and now think the Ukrainians deserve to be invaded. Definitely been a serious upsurge in callousness in the past 3 or so years.
Realism is the future. Cry about it. America can’t act like it’s unipolar hegemon if it wants to thrive
@@BellBeakerBloke Realism means America is the unipolar hegemon whenever it wants to be.
@@ronald3836 Sure but unpredictability and inconsistency will only create a more chaotic world that will hurt america
Love you guys. Came to watch you in Manchester. Politics should be a subject in Primary and Secondary school.
I had to comment when I heard Campbell dismiss climate protests on motorways. I would like to see his reaction when a protest prevents his own appearance at a TV studio.
Agreed, saying its a minor inconvenience is a big mistake. A lot of people suffer from real anxiety in meeting bills, job security and putting food on the table. To say, no big deal in stopping someone getting to work and adding to life's general pressures, is pretty blind to people's concerns. There a real cognitive issue when you vouch for common law and fair rules, but allow crimes as long as it's for a cause you agree with. Its a freebie for far right populists and it just sounds like fygm from elitists who don't have any of these issues. Big fan of the show, but a bit of introspection on some things wouldn't be amiss
lol
As an early-30s Brit, one thing I've started to ponder more and more over recent years is how attitudes of people that grew up and benefitted from massive industrial booms and a complete disregard for the environmental impacts, are now the same people that are championing and in charge of very expensive de-carbonisation and renewable initiatives.
It's becoming much more difficult for a relatively young person to see climate change as a top priority, when there are so many other glaring problems in the world.
"Yes, we know your standard of living has dropped and won't match that of your parents', you can't get on the housing ladder, public services are in shambles but look, we've shut down all the coal plants at the expense of thousands of jobs and subsidised international manufacturers to build wind turbines! Let's give ourselves a big pat on the back."
It's true.
For me the biggest problem is a generation of people who enjoyed all the benefits of that, all the benefits of Britain being in the EU, low property prices and an ability to move freely between careers...deciding they don't like the world they have created and trying to take it back to what they remember.
Leaving the EU was a complete disaster and that generation of people, who, let's be honest, are less educated than millennials or Gen Z, love the rhetoric of people like Bojo and Farage, and don't like to be told they don't know what they are talking about.
We have promoted and social media perpetuates it, quite a self centered society that doesn't want to think about the big picture but instead focuses on small wins that will make us all feel better for 6 months.
I just have no real hope for society 😂
Like it or not, you have also benefited from the industrial booms. I doubt if you'd like the 1970's British standard of living.
The pressure is on everybody but in particular and fundamentally on the world community expecting more wars, and transfer of wealth to the rich without restrain in the midst of an engineered chaos. Just dystopian unhinged wealthy class are emboldened and insane.
What platform do they record these epsiodes on?
Kings Cross 9 3/4
To any americans of goodwill and compassion. Have you considered coming over to England for four years? You would be very welcome and can help us build our economy, green future and cultural life. This country looks uniquely stable in a troubled world. Why not come and contribute and duck out of Trumps America. We would certainly welcome you.
Unless Britain joins a United States of Europe, what's the point? You've isolated yourselves from your neighbors and sided with an increasingly unreliable transoceanic ally currently entering a psychotic breakdown.
No we wouldn't and England is a dump anyway. They should go Ireland and bother them seeing as that is where all their ancestors are apparently from.
Only problem is that most of the policy promised for America in 2025 is "cut and paste" from the recent Tory playbook. If Labour don't do more to protect vulnerable people in the UK, you'll have some version of the Tories/Reform within 5 years and we'll all be trying to relocate again.
@@michaelsargeaunt no. They can go some place else. And why would they even bother coming to England?
They’re mostly going to the Philippines or Thailand and a few to Vietnam of all places.
I was surprised to learn that Justin Welby was Rory's favourite non reporter of child abuse.
They just interviewed him. Get over it
@FireflyOnTheMoon a disgraceful way to respond to child sexual abuse "Get over it". What is wrong with you!
@@FireflyOnTheMoon Check out Rory’s tweets in support of him.
I suppose you're trying to be funny when really you're rather hateful.
@@kernowchris I think you should repent. Maybe you made an unfortunate mistake, so please take this opportunity to apologise to the victims of child sexual abuse in the church of England.
Rory Stewart referring to himself as a conservative is like Katie Hopkins calling herself a just stop oil activist
Rory just talks rubbish
I am 58 years old what a mess we have made our generation all of us! Sad for our parents grandparents and our children and grand children ? If they get to see this beautiful world . 😢
The only people I've heard Homan talk about aggressively are the gang members and good on him. He's actually talked over and over about the deaths, pain and suffering people go through on the trip and how for that reason this needs to stop and again good on him. Glad not everyone is willing to turn a blind eye for political ideological reasons.
Unfortunately since coming back from the US, Rory and Alistair seem to be hounded/trolled by Trumpets or is that muppets,
When someone is under attack with no substantial argument being made, you know that person is saying something that someone would rather went unsaid.
This isn't new around here though, the -football hooligans- right of British politics have been all over this since it came to their attention that the franchise "The Rest is [Blank]" is part owned by Gary Lineker, amongst other things.
The disinformation machine is running flat out - and winning, I'm afraid.
Democracy is complicated, and demands informed thinking.
Lack of this is clear all over, as is compromise - a dirty word here.
@@rossstewart9475 totally …
Rose tinted spectacles about 80s and 90s world politics I think.
Alistair not being able to comprehend why people don’t support needless wars abroad, is a sight to see
When these two talk mournfully about the collapse of the collapse of the 'rules based order', they would do well to rember to who fatally holed it below the waterline. When you invade a country without, as Robin Cook said, support from any of the international bodies of which you are a member, YOU are ignoring the rules based order. In other words, the only rule was that these institutions comply with US policy or they are expendable.
To be fair, you mean Alastair Campbell rather than "these two": Rory Stewart wasn't elected to Westminster until 2010. Only one of them was capable of voting in contradiction to international law.
Stewart was part of the "cleanup" operation though, being a member of the UK's diplomatic corp at the time, and being assigned to Iraq following the invasion in an administrative position. He's since come out and openly said that the war was a mistake.
There's a reason why one of them seems markedly more mournful than the other.
Alistair Campbells idea of Trumps worldview is the sort of thing my 7 year son would come up with. No offence to my son.
He’s making a list. He’s checking it twice. He knows who’s been naughty or nice. It’s going to be like Sulla’s list of proscriptions.
at least Sulla retired 🤧 Donald's ancient with no sign of stopping
@@billder2655 JD will keep the seat warm after him until Baron is old enough to take the throne.
When I see my country from the point of view of those from the outside, it’s even more terrifying than I thought!
Battle of the narratives ? I would tend to believe accounts by young Dutch people over sky news
Building on your discussion around Climate Action, I would be really interested to hear you both talk to Dieter Helm about the his ideas around using markets to drive decarbonisation and how this can avoid being a regressive approach.
How is it Orwellian to scrap a "misinformation unit"? Words mean things, Orwellian has an actual meaning and you would have thought that Alistair Campbell would know that.
Opinions that you disagree with are not "misinformation", you lot don't get to decide who gets to speak and who doesn't.
All opinions are equal in an environment of alternative facts, but what a pity we've got to the post-truth era. What we're talking about is the deliberate repetition of things known to be untrue in order to divide and rule.
Have you actually read 1984?
Eric Arthut Blair's argument in the book when describing Newspeak and it's relationship to propaganda was in favour of retaining the descriptive nature of English; In a descriptive language words don't mean things in a proscriptive sense, they mean whatever we use them to mean and are in a constant state of evolutionary flux.
Meaning's are not cast in stone: To do so is ironically most Orwellian!
I agree, let America go on their own and Europe invest in their own interests...such a shame it's getting to this state
Save lots of US taxpayers money 👍
@@billshun3963 Like building a wall that Mexico would pay for? hmmmm interesting
@@HugoDaSilva-ti6jk maybe those illegals will wake up find a way get into other welcome countries like Canada or 🇬🇧.
I'm getting the impression that half the audience here turns up just to have a good laugh at these two guys!
Really?
Absolutely a pair of delusional nut jobs.
Definitely
Maybe you should stick to funny cat videos. Anything more intellectual for people like you is like trying to teach string theory to a snail.
It’s the same across the internet at the moment. Let them have this one as they’ll be crying soon
I don’t hear any discussion on any of his policies when he was last President. I hear Americans say judge him by his actions not his words.
It's absurd the two otherwise smart guys can sit here and talk about Trump's worldview. He doesn't have one at all. We know this from watching him govern for 4 years. The only two things that help predict his decisions are who talked to him last and how did they frame the issue is either flattery or betrayal of him.
Disagree, he has a protectionist and isolationist view. He really doesnt care much of who does what to whom outside of US borders unless it harms US economic interests. He has no moral interest in other squabbles. He will immediately pull funding from Ukraine for instance.
@@2011hwalker If I was forced to offer an opinion I'd agree with all you've said, but talking about Trump's views, especially his worldview, reinforces the incorrect ideas that he thinks rather than reacts and that ideas rather than narcissism drive his thought process.
The Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931. Far-right politics took hold the world over following the American great depression. Hitler became chancellor in 1933. We had war in Europe (the Spanish civil war) by 1936. We had WW2 by 1940. The parallels of the pre-WW2 era to today's world situation go on and on and on. I don't know if the bookies have a bet on when WW3 will break out, but I'm going to put £10 on the 1st of April 2030. :-P
They still counting votes. Estimates are around 10 million left nationwide
Wait what? .
@bankafouf different states have methods of counting and more ballots to count. California is only at 79%
@bankafouf they said she was at 65 million, she at 71 now. Trump was at 71 million. He's at 75 now.
@@butala1776 now I get the mane reason to why maybe this trump won the elections .
I love tennis and I’ve been following it closely since i was a teen. Every so often there’s a generation change where the game changes. Listening to these guys I just wonder if they’ve noticed just how much the game of politics has changed since their heyday? I’m not sure they still get it!
One thing about Ally in his pomp as Bliar's attack dog, unlike the MAGA lot, he was never aggressive and he never ever said nasty things about people. Just kidding!!
I don't agree that Trump "sees the weakening of the EU as a strategic goal." Partly because it clearly isn't advantageous to the US but mostly because Trump just doesn't think in these terms. He doesn't do "strategic".
Rory and Alistair, please would you do an in-depth programme on climate change to help with understanding - what is real, what is not real, what is scientific, what is un-scientific, what is man-made, what is not man-made (ie inevitable) what do climate deniers say, are the right in any way, how wrong are they, if at all - an in-depth analysis from every angle would be enormously educational and useful - it’s not politics but actually it is and I’m asking you to do it because I know that you would do it thoroughly and well and honestly. Thank you.
They should invite UA-camr, Pot Holer 54 on. He's a right wing science journalist and an excellent communicator on climate change.
@@ytsm Brilliant!
@@kayess2634 He's definitely worth checking out on here. 👍
Alistair, such a beacon of morality and decency. You’d almost forget his past and his lies to justify the Iraq war
What would happen if the top 4 EU27 countries all exited union and formed a new union with UK. With their own army. The conditions don’t seem right any more to try and drag up the economies and societies across Europe. If you combine GER UK FRA NETH and parts of Scandinavia- could that bloc rise to the top of global power?
We have no army to give. First wave over the top , all gone.
@@richardmeredith7420if we tell folk it’s a football match we’d get a whole bunch of footy hooligans for a second wave of cannon fodder.
That bloc is already the largest economy in the world, it's called the EU and we voted to leave it because of bendy bananas
@ he’s talking about a more robust but smaller team of countries. We could design our own bananas with little balls at one end
Will not happen and evenif, it takes years to exit and form a new 'group'
The discussion on the UAE/Saudi/ Israel/ US relations to with the young people/social media is an extremely interesting topic. I agree with the point Alister made which is the young males voted for populism. Voted for Trump. It is interesting how the youth in the Middle East is also willing to back an Iranian approach to the aggression in Gaza/Palestine and how the governments of UAE/ Saudi are weakening due to the youth backing Iran’s position. The US election in my view is only going to act as an accelerant to this dissension. Well done lads. Well done indeed. More of the world should be informed of these circumstances.
Don't be too sure on Ukraine the people who make the arms where all that aid money ends up will have their lobbyists working overtime!
Western arms paid for on the promise of Ukrainian agricultural land. Pushing Russia out of that land is a necessity for western disaster capitalists
US money didn't end up anywhere, it largely remained in the US. It paid for US arms and US jobs in 'the machine' behind the war effort.
The lobbyists will be after the profits from the repayments when it comes back.
True - peace is less business for the arms industry
@@MeMyselfAndEyez Thank you for that truth.
@@damiantowYep, it certainly doesn't harm the US, despite many from there believing they're bankrolling it. They clear out a load of old gear, give their economy a boost, weaken Russia, then will want it'll be repaid if not as cash then as favours. Then MORE on top of that to any US contractors helping in the rebuild, who'll be involved on very favourable terms.
What's missing from this discussion is the damage done by the Iraq war to public support for US being World policeman
Efff - Fuse (; Love the rest of the content fellas 🙏🏼
Still always think your plug for fuse sounds like a plug for an energy drink.
It is surely the responsibility of those who benefited from cheap Russian oil and gas and deliberately underspent on defence to now cover the gap? I can see why the US is frustrated.
Yet it is not those who underspent who will pay the price: It is the people of Ukraine.
European spending on defense has been falling since before the end of the Soviet Union, and has in fact been increasing since 2020: To take the UK as an example it has increased it's spending on defense by £4bn/year from 2020 to 2024, which just about beats inflation.
If it were to try and match it's spending as a % of GDP from even just 1989, it would need to increase it's spending by more than 75%. This isn't possible. Accepting the argument that spending must increase, it will take *decades* to reach the levels of the 1990s, let alone the 1980s.
In the meantime, the US would be choosing to abandon decades of investment in exchange for short term political goals. I fully believe they're capable of this, but it would be in error.
@@rossstewart9475 True, it is the people of Ukraine who are paying but the people of Europe also pay a price in that they are now at the whims of Trump.
The decision of so many European countries to spend so little was always reckless and they knew it (every US President told them but they thought they knew better). There was nothing in the arsenals when Putin attacked and there's still almost nothing been done. It's crazy. We didn't act like this in 1914 or 1939. Europe simply isn;t serious about winning.
The UK, mind, is still comfortably the highest spender in Europe. Tbh, aside from France all the rest of them have been utterly irresponsible. It's not only that they left Europe defenceless but they also made themselves dependent on Russian energy (that was totally insane to anyone with even a hint of common sense and history - fund your enemy indeed!)
Btw, since the end of the Cold Wart the UK spent an average of 1% more on defence than the European average. That doesn't sound a lot but 1% of gdp is £32 billion and year and over 30 odd years that's nearly an extra trillion! If only we could have spent that money at home!
If Putin wins in Ukraine (and he is winning) then that 75% increase in defence spending would be reached very quickly indeed. It's all about political choices - nothing is impossible just difficult.
@@Lawrence4000-s3k A minor correct/addendum to your comment, which I largely agree with: Whilst the UK has been amongst the top spenders and remains so in absolute terms, Poland has routinely outstripped them in terms of spending as a % of GDP and is the only nation who has committed to spending 5% of GDP by next year.
This is a lofty goal by a nation most threatened by Russia, and that they only plan to increase to this level stands as evidence to my mind at the realistic rate at which we will see *any* increase in defense spending from any European nation under any circumstances; 75% in anything less than a couple of decades just isn't realistic, I'm sorry - no matter how strong the political will.
As for the policy of buying Russian oil and gas, there was sense behind it: Close trading ties create mutual dependance and tools other than weapons with which to try and manouvre in the diplomatic arena, and through the 1990s this was good diplomacy. Post 2000, this definitely became a more questionable strategy as Putin's tendencies become apparent.
@@rossstewart9475 Well, Poland is on the front-line, so to speak, so I'm not surprised you've increased spending so much. In your position I'd spend even more.
Sadly not many other countries will match your spending and fully intend to use Poland as a shield. 8 EU NATO countries still haven't hit the minimum 2% target and I believe Italy is now talking about reducing spending. And the Germans are pleading poverty at the moment so they may miss the target, too.
They simply aren't serious about winning.
I disagree with you slightly about countries being unable to raise spending: it's a political choice not to raise spending . If Ukraine collapses tomorrow (and they are losing) and Trump pulls out of NATO then the money will be found immediately!
We saw in 1914 and then 1939 that when threatened financial issues completely disappeared and countries massively increased their weapon and munitions production (in WW1 the UK raised artillery shell production 144x to 75 million by 1918 - France and Germany would have been similar). The whole of the EU now can't produce the million they promised Ukraine. Rather, they aren't willing to invest the money and are quite content to see Ukrainians die.
And Covid as a more recent example shows that finances are no bar to doing what is needed. The EU Covid Recovery Fund was 750 billion euros. The total paid to Ukraine has been around $130 billion. We could triple spending to Ukraine and wouldn't even notice it (Germany can easily borrow)
(PS. I know we don't like talking about these things but that $130 billion provided to Ukraine is dwarfed by the 150 billion paid to Russia in 2022 and the 50-odd billion paid again in 2023. Gas imports from Russia continue and will do so until the late 2020s. We might also ask about the recent deals to import gas from Azerbaijan and Turkey (they import from Russia), and the record oil imports from India (guess where that actually comes from! It's a strange form of support when more is paid to the other side.).
We have to accept that European countries simply aren't serious when it comes to security. If I were Polish I wouldn't trust them a mm.
And the policy of becoming reliant on Russian Energy and funding your only possible adversary was always insane!
There's a very funny video on here of Trump asking the Germans in 2018 why the US was paying for the defence of Germany from Russia while Germany was increasing trade with Russia, meaning the Russians were buying more weapons, against which the US had to spend more in order to defend Germany against Russia!
The UK refused a deal for Russian oil & gas for security concerns. One of the few decent decision we made, tbh.
@@Lawrence4000-s3k I'll respond properly soon, but just to clear up another misconception: I'm a Scot in the UK, not Polish. I'm not sure what gave you any other impression, given that most of our conversation has pertained to the UK and I've used Commonwealth English spelling throughout.
His pick for Defence Secretary!!! 😱 A Fox News host. Is this real????
not only a Fox host also a alt-right, white supremacist #Hegseth is
He is a Princeton and Harvard grad, with magnificent credentials
I don't want to hear a peep from the left. Rachel Levine. That's all that needs to be said.
@@timburr4453 Don't know about that. Head of the VA? Yeah. I think he'd be good at that. Watching the Sean Ryan podcast seems like he's got real conviction behind his support for that. Defense secretary? Head administrator over one the largest, most complicated agencies in the US? Not so much. He has no experience running an organization like that or much less being familiar with navigating a government agency through the politics of Washington. It's an unrealistic pick. I wouldn't be surprised if his confirmation wasn't smooth sailing. Never know but the hawks in the Senate still out number the non-hawks. In his first administration the military was one of the few things Republicans were willing to bush back on Trump. Never know so we'll see.
If you think that SCRAPPING the 'disinformation unit' is an Orwellian thing to do, then it's time for you to read the actual book.
In terms of opposing Trumpism, the key thing - which is lacking from almost all responses to Trump's victory - is first and foremost an acknowledgement and examination of all the many ways in which the Democratic Party - especially its ‘progressive’ wing - has helped to feed the MAGA cult. Otherwise, keeping on with the same old same old will lead the same result: a Republican win in 2028.
The Maga cult is a Republican phenomenon, fed by Republican-friendly operators and media.
No doubt Democrats have made mistakes. And progressives have made many more. But the trends behind this election are far bigger and broader.
And ultimately anti-incumbent sentiment driven by inflation has been a global phenomenon. The Maga cult is only Trump's base. He won by mobilising voters worried about inflation (even though his policies would make it worse).
divide et impera
A Republican govermnet in the US is not a disaster. It is the MAGA-part that is bad...
People talk about absolutely nothing else, and that's also a problem.
What they don't talk enough about is that Trump and Musk both have private social media companies that spew out lies and propaganda. The hefty propaganda has been normalised.
Hundred percent agreed
2:47 to 6:52 A long, startlingly incoherent ramble by Alastair Campbell providing a chop suey of stream-of-consciousness ideas that don't belong in the same dish, e.g. "Orwellian" and "jiu-jitsu" and being generally unclear about where his argument is going. At 6:56 - finally - Rory injects the conversation with some intelligent thought and spares us from being led down the garden path by Campbell. How long will it take before Rory realises that it is he who makes this podcast so interesting and compulsively watchable? If only he could lose his crumpled, cumbersome appendage who rushes from blunder to blunder and from hearsay to speculation 17:20 !!! He is "too horrified" to fact-check! 🥴 Sounds a bit flimsy for someone who loves being cited as being Macron's francophile texting pal.
What Alistair calls the “response” as regards the events in Amsterdam was a planned hunt of Israelis/Jews, and it was planned before Maccabi fans were even there and chanted their anti-Arab songs. I also would like to underline that there is a slight difference between chanting disgusting songs against a group on one hand and hunting and beating up individuals because they belong to a group on the other.
There’s a big opportunity for Europe to grow its arms industry. There will be plenty of buyers as well as increasing our domestic defence capability.
Great for France, who learned the lesson to maintain their defence industry, but outside of small arms, most countries sold their defence industries to foreign interests, like bloody fools.
So gross Alister is talking here and not from the Hague
yup totally agree Bush and Blair are war criminals
"Remember that trip you took to Moscow for the Miss Universe Pageant? You saw, uh, certain women. We know because we have a video."
We need a whole.episode on Justin welby
They had one a month ago. How quickly times change.
It's quite a contrast to see Rory and Alastair all suited-up, made-up and somewhat stuck-up for the getfuse ad and to immediately switch to the two men in their comfort starting their conversation. It really cracks me up. It is actually like seeing our current President (in Argentina) speak to friendly media vs. his crude Tiktoks seeking recognition and praise by foreign far-right leaders.
Absolutely priceless. Alistair Campbell - the king of spin - accuses Musk and Trump of using misinformation and calls it Orwellian. Is he just trolling us?
I was so dissappointed when Trump got in for a 2nd time, BUT what you now need to acknowledge that when you are talking about Trump it's also the view of the American people, you are still ignoring that he won!
Im in my twenties, not interested in handicapping ourselves as a country for climate change if countries who have 10x the effect on it are neglecting to do anything
Don't believe the propaganda of oil.executives. it's good for the economy as well as being necessary. The people who run oil don't want to lose their profits that's all.
Exactly
Very sensible!
It's obvious yet both our parties refuse to see it.
Exporting all our industry to china to meet climate hoax commitments
he had more votes than 8 years ago right ?
By god Rory is out of touch
Disinformation? We voted against Disinformation by electing Trump.
Dumb and Dumber.
Rich and richer.
@@hughoxford8735 Who cares?
@@lee4171 lots of people care that people who have produced literally nothing of value are yet still capable of blowing £40k on a bet.
@@hughoxford8735 Well they shouldn't. We all know how detached this lot are. It's not their money. Let cretins do what cretins do.
The Rest is a Limited Hangout
These two guys are basically the personification of "Old man yells at clouds".
A question Rory will love - do you think as I do that US politics is descending into the politics of medieval Scotland? And, what do you think about this idea - the whole Trump house of cards are going to focussed upon being the successor (as he can't stand again). The individuals and their areas of influence; points of power etc. are going to be places where they establish public faces or political influence. If Trump tries to nominate a successor there will be lots of pissed of former political supporters. If he doesn't, it will be like a medieval Scottish court, and this will start soon as alternatives have to be clear before the primaries. . The internecine politics are going to be phenomenal, and I suggest, will dominate the 4 years
its just a doomer podcast, waste of time.
Please push this comment as of this release on UA-cam the vote count in the us is only 7.5 million away from 2020 totals and has millions to go. Let's at least wait till it's over before Alistair and Rory start sounding like the conspiracy theorists as an aside does Rory not see that his idealism is why he didn't become leader or mayor? It's a sad truth but a realist beats an idealist every time.
Unfortunately both Alistair and Rory got no clue about the life and aspirations of anyone under 40's who are not part of the upper class or up middle class.
16:32 the weapons would come from America. They would happily sell arms to help in the Ukraine war if Europe were paying for it.
After being so wrong, I guess I'll just believe the reverse of what you say.
Don't be angry