As someone who has suffered so much with "long COVID" (post-viral extreme fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, anxiety ect...) over the last year and a half, I just want to say a massive thank you for simply just talking about this on your podcast. This is a very real illness which, as you mentioned, is being increasingly confirmed by the medical research of the underlying physiology. It has taken such a deep toll on my life (I was previously a fit socially/physically active young man studying for a PhD) but it helps me and millions of others enormously to know we aren't alone in this and society hasn't forgotten us. It's just such a shame it has taken so long for those who have suffered from similar illnesses (such ME/CFS and MS) to be taken seriously by the medical profession and not classed as having a "psycho-somatic" illness.
What is a shame is that its only Covid still. I got mono and nearly 2 years on I'm still suffering.. Good luck getting help with that issue, they are only interested in treating the associated symptoms.
Rory's outburst 'Why doesn't anybody do any work? I don't have the time to go to all these free events' was hilarious, and that is one of the main questions us normie people have on our minds when we hear stories like this.
I was the Secretary of the Labour Group on STRATHCLYDE REGION from 1974-1990, responsible for its Social Strategy and am totally disgusted with the way Starmer, Reeves, Streeting and Cooper are behaving - not just with their glorification of freebies but with their unwillingness to restrain Israel. They are a betrayal of everything I stood for. Have been out of the country for 34 years but would never vote Labour now
So Labour's corruption is acceptable because the Tories are worse? For me, it's not so much the numbers as the identity of those who are gratefully giving freebies to Labour politicians. It blows the gaffe as to whose side Labour is on. I'm a pensioner and a part-time bus driving union member. It's certainly not on my side.
It's not corruption it's within the rules. The problem is the rules need changing and labour need to learn quickly that perception is more important than reality.
@@PaulStargasm When did corruption have to be outside the rules? If they're giving Labour money because it's serving their interests, that's corrupting it's purpose.
I have to disagree! All gifts were declared by Labour, and no rules were broken. Corruption does not come into it as no one was giving a peerage or giving a Government contract in return! Corruption was widespread and proven throughout the 14 years of Tory rule!
As a 75 year old socialist it is a constant complaint that the press in the UK is right leaning. Although it has been said many times I cannot understand why media ownership should not be that they should be domiciled and pay taxes here. This would mean any destructive tendencies may be moderated as they would be living in the society that they contribute to.
Politicians accepting large personal donations (freebies) has been a constant in British politics for many years. However, as a staunch Labour supporter I feel terribly let down that Starmer has behaved in such a cheap manner. This was a golden opportunity to reform British politics that has been missed and it is detracting from all the serious work being done by members of this government. Starmer has let the labour movement and his party colleagues down - we expected and deserved better, much better.
I'm sick of the argument that the winter fuel allowance has only been taken away from wealthy pensioners like Rorys mum and Alistair Campbell, there's a huge gap above eligibility for pension credits and being well off.
Exactly. The winter fuel allowance has been taken away from many relatively poor pensioners. There is also a vast number who don't claim pension credits who would qualify for the winter fuel allowance, but will now not receive it. That underlines how many poor pensioners have been stiffed by Labour.
I hope you complained when the Tories introduced a 2-tier State Pension in 2016, where older, more vulnerable pensioners receive £2000 less per year than younger ones. Did you complain when, in 2021/22, the Tories defaulted on delivering the Triple Lock to pensioners? This shortfall is compounding to be more than £200! Did you complain when the Tories froze the Tax Free Allowance at £12500? If they had increased it by the cost of living index, it would now be approximately £15000. Taking many low paid workers and pensioners out of paying tax altogether and giving other taxpayers £500 per year.
@@JAYFD2929 No point going on about the failed Tory government. Labour is in power now. Is this what we elected them to do: Remove the winter fuel allowance from many poor pensioners? You happy?
@t5kcannon1 As a pensioner myself, I do find it hypocritical when in the past the Tory media, right and left wingers have not said a word about pensioners shortfalls! I would have liked to keep the £200 allowance but in the grand scheme of things keeping the Triple Lock is far more important me. I am also fully aware that the only two groups with a higher standard of living, in real terms, compared to 15/20 years ago are the very rich and pensioners!
I agree Rory, as a normal guy in the street, so far the Labour vibe seems pretty negative and I have no idea about the strategic goals. I also think Keir and other Labour member are wrong to accept any gifts. In my view politicians where in power or not should not be allowed to accept any gifts they should be beyond bias and influence. It is not good enough to say they acted within the rules. As a former local government officer there is an act of parliament that forbids the acceptance of any gifts and it should be the same for politicians especially in a government that says it is here to serve. The rules should be changed if you wish to get people to believe in politicians.
The evidence leads me to doubt that Starmer and many of his colleagues lack moral anchors or the crucial compassionate attitudes the must underpin wise leadership.
Labour's behaviour is absolutely indefensible. Freebies for all, and spending £9bn on pay rises while simultaneously complaining there is a financial hole, clawing back pensioner winter payments. Is this what people voted for?
Better living standards, better QoL, job security, is exactly what people voted for, and that comes from better wages to match/beat inflation among other things - They just know there's clearly a better way to do that than put pensioners at risk Why are some regular people so keen to have regular people so poor, work for pittance, and have no support from the government?? Answer that question and we know why people were willing to agree to Austerity.
@@victaflyer They have the largest public support in the country, whoever it is that you support (probably reform) has much, much less public support than labour.
Roy - you have to challenge Alastair when he defends the indefensible regarding Labor. You can't argue that Labor is the squeaky clean party of decency - and then let it slid when they get caught taking gifts less than 3 months into their 5 years! This is why Reform and the Greens are growing - for different reasons. . . both the major parties have to be held to account. Roy is a reformed Tory. . . Alastair needs to become more critical of labor - restore the balance that was The Rest is Politics!
Sorry but his name is RORY not Roy! Agree though that Alistair is too blinkered with regard to how wonderful Labour is, no party is wonderful nowadays, including Liberals, Greens and Reform.
It's very typical that 2 of the 3 replies to this comment so far are using immediate whataboutism. Labour are now in government therefore are the ones we should be most concerned about.
The tories can literally give £38m to a company owned by their mates in return for literally nothing but Kier Starmer's glasses are the real problem...
Because Labour are held to higher standards and people don't like hypocrites Starmer has been elected on a platform claiming he will clean up politics, put the country first and end Tory sleaze. Whereas everyone knows characters like Johnson are largely in it for themselves.
I have disabling long covid symptoms and i feel let down by the government. I have been discharged from the long covid clinic ( east midlands) I was told because their funding has been decreased to %50 ! Most of the clinicians who used to support me have moved to other jobs. I am in bed most of the time and i feel increasingly hopeless.
The fact is it doesn't matter how bad the Tories were. What matters is how ethical the Gov't looks and right now it doesn't. How did MPs get to the point of accepting gifts as personal as clothing? Who accepts clothing for themselves or their family sounds dodgy and that's putting it kindly. That Alistair thinks that the reason clothing shouldn't be accepted in the future because of 'how it looks if caught' speaks volumes.The only way they can sort out the blunt pension credit issue is to raise the level to which it can be claimed.
It is unfortunate that AC remains blinded by loyalty to the Labour Party for him to be anywhere close to objective in these discussions. This is unfortunate for these podcasts as it detracts from their integrity. His very personal struggle to be impartial to anything that Labour are doing or saying is very clear. Unfortunate as this podcast is otherwise a very high quality broadcast.
Just seen spitting image of Starmer leaving a food bank with suitcases full of tinned foodstuffs and heading towards the Salvation Army Clothes Bank. 😮
We have all been told for years if not decades that our country is in dire straits, in need of major reforms, massive challenges, etc. ... and yet the new Labour government hasn't made Earth-shattering-changes? Either things were not as dire as they were claiming, or they're not making the changes required. We are all expecting short-term economic pain to right the ship - every day that goes by either seems like we were lied to, or Labour are avoiding the necessary changes.
Well done for talking about Long Covid. I have fibromyalgia ME and get overwhelmed with symptoms on the occasions I have had COVID. It took over 7 years to get diagnosed. The answer always came back - your “bloods” are fine, as if that answered the issue. So I can fully understand the frustration of those with Long Covid as the symptoms of utter exhaustion, pain in the body, chronic headaches, depression and bowel issues are so familiar to me. It has taken acupuncture, Candesartan for migraine headaches, massage, a cocktail of vitamins, pro biotics and a psychologist to keep me going. In other words, some Western medicine and Eastern medicine. I think the stigma of there being no conclusive test is the worst for me. You cannot pull yourself together if you are having an attack, you just stop. Your life is smaller and you balance every bit of energy to get you through the day. Difficult to get over how limiting that feels. I hope that the economic costs and mental/ physical suffering of so many with long covid bring forward more medical research and help.
I feel there’s a massive point you’re missing with the winter fuel allowence. -On one hand, Labour point to money pensioners have that they may not need. -On the other hand you have a man with so much wealth that he able to give expensive gifts to people who can afford those gifts themselves. The unreasonable cost of concert tickets has been something discussed a lot over the past year, hence why these tickets are seen as such a Luxury. That’s the point you’re missing, two kinds of excess, one that benefits certain pensioners (and whose removal will harm pensioners) and another that results in expensive gifts for rich politicians. The wealth and corporation tax are the obvious way to raise funds, but the solutions for labour is instead..pensioners? Do you see the issue?
My wife have been suffering from "long COVID" and it's been a battle for the NHS to only recognized her condition. There is a lot of stigma in society regarding those peoples as lazy, making it up, depress and been left on the side of road of the post Covid world - they are just ignored. Massive thank you fro talking about it and it's about time politicians & society took notice. Covid was only four years ago ....
I'm not convinced that trying to balance tough decisions with optimism is working for this government: "we're going to cut fuel allowance for pensioners"..."we're giving unions' members like train drivers unconditional pay rises". Just doesn't wash. And doesn't seem consistent with their growth message.
These donations have been given a nice name for people who think they are sober. They are called Undue Benefits, And if you receive them, you can be Blackmailed!
Then pay politicians more. Keir is currently working 7 days/week. Likely 10+hrs a day for £166k. Perhaps unpopular opinion but that's kind of low for a role of that magnitude.
@@HeirToTheScarletSky When you got hired, you knew very clearly what the work you had to do entailed, you are not satisfied, quit your job and let another one who is satisfied... Otherwise it is just a cheap, pathetic excuse!
And there he goes again. How many times was Campell asked about big picture and how many times did he dodge it. It’s actually embarrassing. The trivia is just filling a vacuum.
Tough choices to fill black hole: Fuel Allowance. Easier choice: Reversal of Brexit to increase trade Bad Messanging: windfall tax on rich tax-avoiding companies should have been dropped at same time.
Britain does not need an external, foreign model to base its own productivity on!! It has 500 years + of its own magnificent history to know its capability. Rory doesn't appreciate how little the British need to thrive because he'd have to admit how much they've been deprived off in the last 40 years by his own ideology, not to mention his colleagues.
I'm pretty fed up of hearing about "freebies" and the conflation with corruption. If we want to prevent donations (of all types) to avoid concerns, then we need to adopt public funding of political parties. I dont think people want this.
I don think you can compare Keir's position with Maggie T and Blair, because the last tory government (especially Johnson) has so poisoned politics and trust that there simple is none left. That is why there is no love for labour, Keir is going to have to work really hard to make politics trusted and frankly boring again.
Alistair is delusional. Nobody really wanted a Labour govt, they just didn't want the Tories. Nobody thought Starmer was gonna be some great PM. The only two things Labour bleated about for 14 years in opposition was austerity and incompetent management and at this point it's clear that Labour intend to keep delivering both.
This is just lunacy to say labour have to hold their nerve, for what? The country & its people are running out of time & are watching the money drain away in front of their eyes! By the way for info I have voted for both major parties in the past ! I know starmer will run out of time thats just how it will be. I think the back benchers & hard left also know the public are not impressed
Does anybody seriously expect things to be "turned around" within weeks of taking power ... even before the first spending review and budget are in place? Do they beleive in Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny too?
Does the free gifts saga hide something even worse? It’s clearly acceptable for Labour to accept gifts from lobbyists, including those from Israeli apartheid supporters. It would now be impossible for Starmer to criticise his mp’s who take the backhanders. Did he do it deliberately or was he set up?
What I think they should have done, re; Keir's declarations, is be like "This is the point. We want to outlaw this." and abuse it, frivolously. Make the media their own enemy there.
Just want to say as a long term sufferer from nervous system & musculoskeletal conditions, i really related to the segment on pain of long covid sufferers & your sentiments Rory, i spent most of my life in the gym bodybuilding & playing sports like golf, basketball, rugby (no stranger to pain) when i was struck with severe upper body pain & fatigue at 22 years old. I'm 32 now so not covid caused but still suffering and all i get is stigma, suspicion and comments along the lines of "take a paracetamol, go for a walk" etc.
I have to disagree with Rory this week, i do see an end vision, the sunny uplands they are talking about, for to long the average working people of this country have gone unheard, ignored and have felt like there leaders/goverment doesnt hear them, all the while the rich stuff their pockets with our money, at our and our communities expense. The vunerable disabled and new arrivals to this country have been the scapegoats for everything the tories needed somone to blame, which has led to mental health issues and many losses of life, do they care no, if they had we would have had safe legal routes to the Uk and we wouldnt have had the absolute hateful rhetoric against the most vunerable in society. Dont even get me started on child poverty, foodbanks, warm hubs and baby banks BABY BANKS 😮 😓. The uplands i see is one of fairness, of equal oppurtunities for everyone, for everyone to have the chance to aspire to be anything they want, no matter were they started, the opportunity of spmething that's being long gone in this country, a properly paid job,no zero hours, a warm comfy safe home, were you grow and build your own family if you choose, were you have money left in the bank at the end of the month, a foundation were you grow, not just proffesionally but personally, a society that helps & supports you and the decisions you make, ie life, buisness, children etc and a society that says we are here if you need us, a stromg nhs to take care of us, good schools to educate our children, so they to add to society, a place were you can fufil your dreams, if we work together, build our country together and together when old age comes, we will thank you for your contribution by taking care of you. For to long this country has been them verses us, the working class and the wealthy, trickle down politics that never arrived. The message i hear is, if we give people the support and chance to make something of themselves, you might just be surprised at what they achieve and the contribution they make, which may possibly change society for the better, all they needed was a chance, a little respect, even a thought, a chance so many goverments have failed to give to the majority of this country. I really do hope they achieve it because in all honesty this is the basics, the fiundations of a great country and who knows were the Uk will be if they pull this off, at better place at the very least!
The reason for why Labour's line about the black hole rings so hollow to me is because they refuse to actually take some of the most obvious steps to alleviate it. They aren't speaking of closer alignment and cooperation with the eu to make trade easier and to facilitate a return down the line. They are tying themselves to the same broken economics of the tories and doing cuts instead of raising taxes on the rich. They aren't helping with the high cost of living by doing things like price controls on horribly inflated things like heating. Labour has the majority to do more or less whatever it wants, so it not working on it makes their message fall flat (even if there being a black hole is true)
It was a Labour chancellor, Gordon Brown, who nailed down the Defined Benefit Pension coffin. Had he left well alone, there's a good chance DC pensions wouldn't have replaced DB pensions for new members and the lucky ones who have a DB pension would have been better off in retirement.
I voted for Free-gear-Keir but am under no illision that he is going to fix all of our problems. He is an embeded part of our outdated class structured society and the upper class are never going to raise us out of the gutter that we find ourselves in
Rory's summary of the Hezbollah escalation leaves out the Oct 8, 2023 attack by Hezbollah, which would have made the politics in Israel turn towards dealing with Hezbollah using more force. I don't want to justify war because peace is what we all want, but I don't think you can leave out Oct 8, 2023.
Have the free gifts tarnished Labour's reputation ? Yes absolutely. Any argument that points at the Tories to make a 'they are worse' claim is flawed. I wanted Labour to get in to give the country a political 'reset' and had hoped we would see better behaviours. Nothing is truly free, everything comes with strings attached and expectations, politicians should not accept any free gifts or paid for holidays.
This podcast has degenerated into the ridiculous/ludicrous Campbell defending Labour in every single circumstance, and barely ever being pulled up by his `wet', hopeless, dithering, establishment/elite personified mate - Rory.
Of course it is! Top 3 selling newspapers in the country are all right-wing or right-leaning, and the broadcasters create story based on what the papers are reporting...
There's definitely more scrutiny on labour government's than tory. This version of labour is so establishment that actually I think they're getting a better treatment from the press than they usually would. But if you go back to corbyn and the blatant hysteria and lies they spread during his time You can see a real deep fear of the left
Because people wanted the Tories out they he held their noses and voted Labour, They were unsure of Starmer, and now they are certain, he's funanced by the wealthy, and is more interested in foreign affairs than us. Fir some reason he hates pensioners, he has as much insight into ordinary folk as Sunak. When elderly folk are known to be going to die, he said so in opposition, how can he justify cutting the fuel allowance. As for the triple lock, it's ineffective when the rise is wiped out by increased increased tax. This video is BS. 27% of pensioners may be wealthy, what about the other 73%. Both these presenters are out of touch, because part of the Westminster bubble. I unsubscribed a while ago.
Post code as suggested by Martin Lewis,would have been less problematic for this year,while next year getting pension credit sorted by raising it to include people on the edge who are finding it difficult 😞
is it the case that his payments in kind get taxed at 45% so he has to pay £7,425 for clothes he might otherwise not have chosen let alone spent that much on being a socialist? Just asking.Probably more logical to give 55 tortured pensioners £300 each and get the tax benefit and accolades as decent, honest, non-bribeable bloke who is not murdering old people who have paid taxes all their life and get no timely help from the NHS either?
I can't believe that neither of them mentioned they should just make it law they can't accept gifts. Why can I lose my job , career and legal registration as a clinician for accepting a bottle of wine like those Singaporeans, but Angela can get an all-expenses trip to New York for free? It's an absolute joke regardless of the party. Alistair jokes about that Singaporean accepting wine, but any public sector job outside of government is the same.
Rory - comes out with that old BS excuse for inaction of 'show me where x makes a difference' In many cases if the only outcome is the world becomes a better place and people have better lives isn't that enough?
I wonder if there will be a leadership contest within a year? Question is whether it's from the radical right of the Labour Party e.g. anyone that could be considered to be someone like Lee Anderson; or whether it's from the remaining Democratic Socialist wing?
These are brilliant days. Two tier, free gear, no sausage kier has imploded. His regime is totally out of its depth. Teething problems?!!!!! Ha, ha, ha.
Um . . . . . . politics reflected through a [corrupt] media lens doesn't work very well does it?! And second guessing it is even worse . . . . Nb. cutting the 'Winter Fuel Allowance' for pensioners is neither brave nor necessary. Taxing wealth and corporations is. Not going to get intellectual honesty or moral courage from you two are we? Enjoy your money.
Although for a "big black hole", a sum which is less than 0.1% of Britain's GDP is probably more of an excuse than a genuine problem. It's a miniscule figure, relatively.
@@tomwright9904 Arg! You're right, Tom (no pun intended). I retract my statement, although even then it's still not an exorbitant amount worthy of all the hot air being expended. But I take your point.
Rory Stewart was rather quiet during the Tory governments to be critical of expenses, aside from bashing Boris, but here he is 15 mins into a Labour government having a go at everything they do
Pager attack. Very clever on Israel's part but not very intelligent, in fact completely STUPID. I believe a jewish philosopher some 2000 years ago said one should treat one's neighbours as one's self. A failure to do so has contributed to the cause of pogroms historically, and a failure to do so now will only lead to peace in Palestine/Lebanon/Israel being put off for another couple of generations. Will people never learn???
Sorry these videos are too long for me at 1 hour. I know I can come back but then I have to remember where I got to as YT often resumes from the start.
In my day job we are not allowed to accept anything more than a token thank you gift of a value not more than £5 Surely Politicians should be the last of us to accept even the smallest gift if we are to live in a trustworthy democracy where corruption and bribery have no place. Speaking of Democracy, surely we should also join the rest of Europe and move to Proportional Representation so that everyone’s votes have some impact?
As someone who has suffered so much with "long COVID" (post-viral extreme fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, anxiety ect...) over the last year and a half, I just want to say a massive thank you for simply just talking about this on your podcast.
This is a very real illness which, as you mentioned, is being increasingly confirmed by the medical research of the underlying physiology. It has taken such a deep toll on my life (I was previously a fit socially/physically active young man studying for a PhD) but it helps me and millions of others enormously to know we aren't alone in this and society hasn't forgotten us.
It's just such a shame it has taken so long for those who have suffered from similar illnesses (such ME/CFS and MS) to be taken seriously by the medical profession and not classed as having a "psycho-somatic" illness.
What is a shame is that its only Covid still.
I got mono and nearly 2 years on I'm still suffering..
Good luck getting help with that issue, they are only interested in treating the associated symptoms.
Rory's outburst 'Why doesn't anybody do any work? I don't have the time to go to all these free events' was hilarious, and that is one of the main questions us normie people have on our minds when we hear stories like this.
I was the Secretary of the Labour Group on STRATHCLYDE REGION from 1974-1990, responsible for its Social Strategy and am totally disgusted with the way Starmer, Reeves, Streeting and Cooper are behaving - not just with their glorification of freebies but with their unwillingness to restrain Israel. They are a betrayal of everything I stood for. Have been out of the country for 34 years but would never vote Labour now
So Labour's corruption is acceptable because the Tories are worse? For me, it's not so much the numbers as the identity of those who are gratefully giving freebies to Labour politicians. It blows the gaffe as to whose side Labour is on. I'm a pensioner and a part-time bus driving union member. It's certainly not on my side.
It's not corruption it's within the rules. The problem is the rules need changing and labour need to learn quickly that perception is more important than reality.
@@PaulStargasm When did corruption have to be outside the rules? If they're giving Labour money because it's serving their interests, that's corrupting it's purpose.
I have to disagree! All gifts were declared by Labour, and no rules were broken. Corruption does not come into it as no one was giving a peerage or giving a Government contract in return! Corruption was widespread and proven throughout the 14 years of Tory rule!
No way to spin a reason why you would accept - £20,000 in donations for accommodation for his 16-year-old son to study "peacefully" for his GCSE exams
he didn't, all he did was let his son study at his flat, more blatant anti-labour propaganda from the media
A good friend offered his flat. For goodness sake, get a grip!
As a 75 year old socialist it is a constant complaint that the press in the UK is right leaning. Although it has been said many times I cannot understand why media ownership should not be that they should be domiciled and pay taxes here. This would mean any destructive tendencies may be moderated as they would be living in the society that they contribute to.
The problem is a right leaning Labour .
Politicians accepting large personal donations (freebies) has been a constant in British politics for many years. However, as a staunch Labour supporter I feel terribly let down that Starmer has behaved in such a cheap manner. This was a golden opportunity to reform British politics that has been missed and it is detracting from all the serious work being done by members of this government. Starmer has let the labour movement and his party colleagues down - we expected and deserved better, much better.
Agree. And Starmer is now using his children as political meat-shields, to deflect from his morally dubious freebie grasping.
I agree as a fellow Labour member. Its made going out campaigning for Labour a lot harder.
I'm sick of the argument that the winter fuel allowance has only been taken away from wealthy pensioners like Rorys mum and Alistair Campbell, there's a huge gap above eligibility for pension credits and being well off.
Exactly. The winter fuel allowance has been taken away from many relatively poor pensioners. There is also a vast number who don't claim pension credits who would qualify for the winter fuel allowance, but will now not receive it. That underlines how many poor pensioners have been stiffed by Labour.
I hope you complained when the Tories introduced a 2-tier State Pension in 2016, where older, more vulnerable pensioners receive £2000 less per year than younger ones.
Did you complain when, in 2021/22, the Tories defaulted on delivering the Triple Lock to pensioners? This shortfall is compounding to be more than £200!
Did you complain when the Tories froze the Tax Free Allowance at £12500? If they had increased it by the cost of living index, it would now be approximately £15000. Taking many low paid workers and pensioners out of paying tax altogether and giving other taxpayers £500 per year.
@@JAYFD2929 No point going on about the failed Tory government. Labour is in power now. Is this what we elected them to do: Remove the winter fuel allowance from many poor pensioners? You happy?
@JAYFD2929 the old are only crying now as they are the ones getting screwed,
@t5kcannon1 As a pensioner myself, I do find it hypocritical when in the past the Tory media, right and left wingers have not said a word about pensioners shortfalls! I would have liked to keep the £200 allowance but in the grand scheme of things keeping the Triple Lock is far more important me. I am also fully aware that the only two groups with a higher standard of living, in real terms, compared to 15/20 years ago are the very rich and pensioners!
Starmers tax free pension needs investigating from when he was a public prosecutor
I agree Rory, as a normal guy in the street, so far the Labour vibe seems pretty negative and I have no idea about the strategic goals. I also think Keir and other Labour member are wrong to accept any gifts. In my view politicians where in power or not should not be allowed to accept any gifts they should be beyond bias and influence. It is not good enough to say they acted within the rules. As a former local government officer there is an act of parliament that forbids the acceptance of any gifts and it should be the same for politicians especially in a government that says it is here to serve. The rules should be changed if you wish to get people to believe in politicians.
The evidence leads me to doubt that Starmer and many of his colleagues lack moral anchors or the crucial compassionate attitudes the must underpin wise leadership.
Labour's behaviour is absolutely indefensible. Freebies for all, and spending £9bn on pay rises while simultaneously complaining there is a financial hole, clawing back pensioner winter payments. Is this what people voted for?
You are against pay rises but for paying all pensioners winter fuel allowances ?
Better living standards, better QoL, job security, is exactly what people voted for, and that comes from better wages to match/beat inflation among other things - They just know there's clearly a better way to do that than put pensioners at risk
Why are some regular people so keen to have regular people so poor, work for pittance, and have no support from the government?? Answer that question and we know why people were willing to agree to Austerity.
Pay rises mean higher pensions...
Very few actually voted for Labour, they are mistaken that they have huge public support.
@@victaflyer They have the largest public support in the country, whoever it is that you support (probably reform) has much, much less public support than labour.
Roy - you have to challenge Alastair when he defends the indefensible regarding Labor.
You can't argue that Labor is the squeaky clean party of decency - and then let it slid when they get caught taking gifts less than 3 months into their 5 years!
This is why Reform and the Greens are growing - for different reasons. . . both the major parties have to be held to account.
Roy is a reformed Tory. . . Alastair needs to become more critical of labor - restore the balance that was The Rest is Politics!
Said like a true snowflake… get over it you lost and remember the millions your previous PMs were given.
Sorry but his name is RORY not Roy!
Agree though that Alistair is too blinkered with regard to how wonderful Labour is, no party is wonderful nowadays, including Liberals, Greens and Reform.
@@existentialvoid I suppose Farage is squeaky clean?
It's very typical that 2 of the 3 replies to this comment so far are using immediate whataboutism. Labour are now in government therefore are the ones we should be most concerned about.
Reform helmed by Farage who received £30k in plane tickets?
Or the Greens who protest against the electricity pylons needed to get to net zero?
Weird that gifts have been a constant in British politics and only in the past couple of weeks everyone thinks it’s a problem all of a sudden
It is the hypocrisy that annoys people - Labour has slammed the Torys for years for doing the same thing.
I expected more change?
The tories can literally give £38m to a company owned by their mates in return for literally nothing but Kier Starmer's glasses are the real problem...
@@richardbourn5896 You should be holding your own guy to a higher standard because he represents you most closely. That should be obvious.
Because Labour are held to higher standards and people don't like hypocrites Starmer has been elected on a platform claiming he will clean up politics, put the country first and end Tory sleaze. Whereas everyone knows characters like Johnson are largely in it for themselves.
I have disabling long covid symptoms and i feel let down by the government. I have been discharged from the long covid clinic ( east midlands) I was told because their funding has been decreased to %50 ! Most of the clinicians who used to support me have moved to other jobs. I am in bed most of the time and i feel increasingly hopeless.
"A government of service" but we'll take donations for ourselves as long as we think no one is watching. Stupid move by labour
Said like a true simpleton
@@Mchelsea2924 Typed like a naïve true believer dunce.
@@Mchelsea2924 I notice you're coping up and down these comments.
The fact is it doesn't matter how bad the Tories were. What matters is how ethical the Gov't looks and right now it doesn't. How did MPs get to the point of accepting gifts as personal as clothing? Who accepts clothing for themselves or their family sounds dodgy and that's putting it kindly. That Alistair thinks that the reason clothing shouldn't be accepted in the future because of 'how it looks if caught' speaks volumes.The only way they can sort out the blunt pension credit issue is to raise the level to which it can be claimed.
It is unfortunate that AC remains blinded by loyalty to the Labour Party for him to be anywhere close to objective in these discussions. This is unfortunate for these podcasts as it detracts from their integrity. His very personal struggle to be impartial to anything that Labour are doing or saying is very clear. Unfortunate as this podcast is otherwise a very high quality broadcast.
Just seen spitting image of Starmer leaving a food bank with suitcases full of tinned foodstuffs and heading towards the Salvation Army Clothes Bank. 😮
We have all been told for years if not decades that our country is in dire straits, in need of major reforms, massive challenges, etc. ... and yet the new Labour government hasn't made Earth-shattering-changes? Either things were not as dire as they were claiming, or they're not making the changes required.
We are all expecting short-term economic pain to right the ship - every day that goes by either seems like we were lied to, or Labour are avoiding the necessary changes.
Well done for talking about Long Covid. I have fibromyalgia ME and get overwhelmed with symptoms on the occasions I have had COVID. It took over 7 years to get diagnosed. The answer always came back - your “bloods” are fine, as if that answered the issue. So I can fully understand the frustration of those with Long Covid as the symptoms of utter exhaustion, pain in the body, chronic headaches, depression and bowel issues are so familiar to me. It has taken acupuncture, Candesartan for migraine headaches, massage, a cocktail of vitamins, pro biotics and a psychologist to keep me going. In other words, some Western medicine and Eastern medicine. I think the stigma of there being no conclusive test is the worst for me. You cannot pull yourself together if you are having an attack, you just stop. Your life is smaller and you balance every bit of energy to get you through the day. Difficult to get over how limiting that feels. I hope that the economic costs and mental/ physical suffering of so many with long covid bring forward more medical research and help.
I feel there’s a massive point you’re missing with the winter fuel allowence.
-On one hand, Labour point to money pensioners have that they may not need.
-On the other hand you have a man with so much wealth that he able to give expensive gifts to people who can afford those gifts themselves. The unreasonable cost of concert tickets has been something discussed a lot over the past year, hence why these tickets are seen as such a Luxury.
That’s the point you’re missing, two kinds of excess, one that benefits certain pensioners (and whose removal will harm pensioners) and another that results in expensive gifts for rich politicians. The wealth and corporation tax are the obvious way to raise funds, but the solutions for labour is instead..pensioners? Do you see the issue?
Hold their nerve or hold their nose?
Some polls are showing Starmer is now more unpopular than Rishi Sunak was.
Who cares? How has populist politics worked out in the UK and US over the last decade?
@@Will-ik1cb LOL you don't understand the terms you're using. Simp.
My wife have been suffering from "long COVID" and it's been a battle for the NHS to only recognized her condition. There is a lot of stigma in society regarding those peoples as lazy, making it up, depress and been left on the side of road of the post Covid world - they are just ignored. Massive thank you fro talking about it and it's about time politicians & society took notice. Covid was only four years ago ....
I'm not convinced that trying to balance tough decisions with optimism is working for this government: "we're going to cut fuel allowance for pensioners"..."we're giving unions' members like train drivers unconditional pay rises". Just doesn't wash. And doesn't seem consistent with their growth message.
These donations have been given a nice name for people who think they are sober. They are called Undue Benefits, And if you receive them, you can be Blackmailed!
Then pay politicians more.
Keir is currently working 7 days/week. Likely 10+hrs a day for £166k.
Perhaps unpopular opinion but that's kind of low for a role of that magnitude.
@@HeirToTheScarletSky When you got hired, you knew very clearly what the work you had to do entailed, you are not satisfied, quit your job and let another one who is satisfied... Otherwise it is just a cheap, pathetic excuse!
And there he goes again. How many times was Campell asked about big picture and how many times did he dodge it. It’s actually embarrassing. The trivia is just filling a vacuum.
Why debate with Campbell? He's never wrong and labour is always right!
Good lord. It's like Alistair will justify anything as long as the Labour skirts even 1% of criticism. Wait, where have I heard that one before?
Labour are dead, the younger generation can now see why they were out of power for so long. Bring on the next election
Don’t project your views on us mate.
411
No, you should be more concerned about the Tories.
Tough choices to fill black hole: Fuel Allowance. Easier choice: Reversal of Brexit to increase trade
Bad Messanging: windfall tax on rich tax-avoiding companies should have been dropped at same time.
Not sure you guys realise the genocidal nature of the Israeli state.
Britain does not need an external, foreign model to base its own productivity on!! It has 500 years + of its own magnificent history to know its capability. Rory doesn't appreciate how little the British need to thrive because he'd have to admit how much they've been deprived off in the last 40 years by his own ideology, not to mention his colleagues.
I'm pretty fed up of hearing about "freebies" and the conflation with corruption. If we want to prevent donations (of all types) to avoid concerns, then we need to adopt public funding of political parties. I dont think people want this.
Don't really care about the donations, it is the hypocrisy that annoys me.
I don think you can compare Keir's position with Maggie T and Blair, because the last tory government (especially Johnson) has so poisoned politics and trust that there simple is none left. That is why there is no love for labour, Keir is going to have to work really hard to make politics trusted and frankly boring again.
Alistair is delusional. Nobody really wanted a Labour govt, they just didn't want the Tories. Nobody thought Starmer was gonna be some great PM. The only two things Labour bleated about for 14 years in opposition was austerity and incompetent management and at this point it's clear that Labour intend to keep delivering both.
This is just lunacy to say labour have to hold their nerve, for what? The country & its people are running out of time & are watching the money drain away in front of their eyes! By the way for info I have voted for both major parties in the past ! I know starmer will run out of time thats just how it will be. I think the back benchers & hard left also know the public are not impressed
Does anybody seriously expect things to be "turned around" within weeks of taking power ... even before the first spending review and budget are in place? Do they beleive in Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny too?
Does the free gifts saga hide something even worse? It’s clearly acceptable for Labour to accept gifts from lobbyists, including those from Israeli apartheid supporters. It would now be impossible for Starmer to criticise his mp’s who take the backhanders. Did he do it deliberately or was he set up?
What I think they should have done, re; Keir's declarations, is be like "This is the point. We want to outlaw this." and abuse it, frivolously. Make the media their own enemy there.
What Rory is getting at is Vision, and Labour's complete lack of it.
Interesting he was gifted glasses when he has no vision… I will leave now
Just want to say as a long term sufferer from nervous system & musculoskeletal conditions, i really related to the segment on pain of long covid sufferers & your sentiments Rory, i spent most of my life in the gym bodybuilding & playing sports like golf, basketball, rugby (no stranger to pain) when i was struck with severe upper body pain & fatigue at 22 years old. I'm 32 now so not covid caused but still suffering and all i get is stigma, suspicion and comments along the lines of "take a paracetamol, go for a walk" etc.
I have to disagree with Rory this week, i do see an end vision, the sunny uplands they are talking about, for to long the average working people of this country have gone unheard, ignored and have felt like there leaders/goverment doesnt hear them, all the while the rich stuff their pockets with our money, at our and our communities expense.
The vunerable disabled and new arrivals to this country have been the scapegoats for everything the tories needed somone to blame, which has led to mental health issues and many losses of life, do they care no, if they had we would have had safe legal routes to the Uk and we wouldnt have had the absolute hateful rhetoric against the most vunerable in society.
Dont even get me started on child poverty, foodbanks, warm hubs and baby banks BABY BANKS 😮 😓.
The uplands i see is one of fairness, of equal oppurtunities for everyone, for everyone to have the chance to aspire to be anything they want, no matter were they started, the opportunity of spmething that's being long gone in this country, a properly paid job,no zero hours, a warm comfy safe home, were you grow and build your own family if you choose, were you have money left in the bank at the end of the month, a foundation were you grow, not just proffesionally but personally, a society that helps & supports you and the decisions you make, ie life, buisness, children etc and a society that says we are here if you need us, a stromg nhs to take care of us, good schools to educate our children, so they to add to society, a place were you can fufil your dreams, if we work together, build our country together and together when old age comes, we will thank you for your contribution by taking care of you.
For to long this country has been them verses us, the working class and the wealthy, trickle down politics that never arrived. The message i hear is, if we give people the support and chance to make something of themselves, you might just be surprised at what they achieve and the contribution they make, which may possibly change society for the better, all they needed was a chance, a little respect, even a thought, a chance so many goverments have failed to give to the majority of this country.
I really do hope they achieve it because in all honesty this is the basics, the fiundations of a great country and who knows were the Uk will be if they pull this off, at better place at the very least!
No Freebees for any MP and certainly not The PM.
"What Alastair would do differently" David Kelly knew.
The summer Tony Blair 'did Ireland' he allowed Mo Mowlam to do a real job.
Alistair is absolutely shameless. That fact that he can show his face after his political legacy in Iraq is beyond me.
The reason for why Labour's line about the black hole rings so hollow to me is because they refuse to actually take some of the most obvious steps to alleviate it. They aren't speaking of closer alignment and cooperation with the eu to make trade easier and to facilitate a return down the line. They are tying themselves to the same broken economics of the tories and doing cuts instead of raising taxes on the rich. They aren't helping with the high cost of living by doing things like price controls on horribly inflated things like heating. Labour has the majority to do more or less whatever it wants, so it not working on it makes their message fall flat (even if there being a black hole is true)
You would save more by asking pensioners to voluntarily hand back/opted out of the fuel payment. Most people are honest and decent.
They wouldn't give it back 😂
two thirds of pensioners voted for the Brexit disaster, they should be angry with the lying Brexiteers.
We want Rory to list all the freebies he received when he was an MP.
That's easy: publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/191021/stewart_rory.htm
It was a Labour chancellor, Gordon Brown, who nailed down the Defined Benefit Pension coffin. Had he left well alone, there's a good chance DC pensions wouldn't have replaced DB pensions for new members and the lucky ones who have a DB pension would have been better off in retirement.
25:59 now we are using officials under benevolent dictator to compare with Keir Starmer. What a standard!
I voted for Free-gear-Keir but am under no illision that he is going to fix all of our problems. He is an embeded part of our outdated class structured society and the upper class are never going to raise us out of the gutter that we find ourselves in
Jesus - what have I just come across - 2 escapees from secure accommodation.
Rory's summary of the Hezbollah escalation leaves out the Oct 8, 2023 attack by Hezbollah, which would have made the politics in Israel turn towards dealing with Hezbollah using more force. I don't want to justify war because peace is what we all want, but I don't think you can leave out Oct 8, 2023.
As they say money will always be the mother's milk of politics
Have the free gifts tarnished Labour's reputation ? Yes absolutely. Any argument that points at the Tories to make a 'they are worse' claim is flawed. I wanted Labour to get in to give the country a political 'reset' and had hoped we would see better behaviours. Nothing is truly free, everything comes with strings attached and expectations, politicians should not accept any free gifts or paid for holidays.
This podcast has degenerated into the ridiculous/ludicrous Campbell defending Labour in every single circumstance, and barely ever being pulled up by his `wet', hopeless, dithering, establishment/elite personified mate - Rory.
Did Alastair really just say the media is biased against Labour 😂
The media is predominantly right wing
Yes of course they are ! Look at Daily Mail, Express, Standard, Torygraph, GB News, BBC
Of course it is! Top 3 selling newspapers in the country are all right-wing or right-leaning, and the broadcasters create story based on what the papers are reporting...
Imagine saying the BBC are right wing 😂
There's definitely more scrutiny on labour government's than tory. This version of labour is so establishment that actually I think they're getting a better treatment from the press than they usually would. But if you go back to corbyn and the blatant hysteria and lies they spread during his time You can see a real deep fear of the left
Because people wanted the Tories out they he held their noses and voted Labour, They were unsure of Starmer, and now they are certain, he's funanced by the wealthy, and is more interested in foreign affairs than us. Fir some reason he hates pensioners, he has as much insight into ordinary folk as Sunak. When elderly folk are known to be going to die, he said so in opposition, how can he justify cutting the fuel allowance. As for the triple lock, it's ineffective when the rise is wiped out by increased increased tax. This video is BS. 27% of pensioners may be wealthy, what about the other 73%. Both these presenters are out of touch, because part of the Westminster bubble. I unsubscribed a while ago.
Post code as suggested by Martin Lewis,would have been less problematic for this year,while next year getting pension credit sorted by raising it to include people on the edge who are finding it difficult 😞
Campbell is the most vile person ever.
is it the case that his payments in kind get taxed at 45% so he has to pay £7,425 for clothes he might otherwise not have chosen let alone spent that much on being a socialist? Just asking.Probably more logical to give 55 tortured pensioners £300 each and get the tax benefit and accolades as decent, honest, non-bribeable bloke who is not murdering old people who have paid taxes all their life and get no timely help from the NHS either?
I can't believe that neither of them mentioned they should just make it law they can't accept gifts. Why can I lose my job , career and legal registration as a clinician for accepting a bottle of wine like those Singaporeans, but Angela can get an all-expenses trip to New York for free? It's an absolute joke regardless of the party. Alistair jokes about that Singaporean accepting wine, but any public sector job outside of government is the same.
FYI Angela said she paid for the NY trip but accepted accommodation in a friend’s flat - so not all expenses paid.
@@meggilmore2032 Yes fair, I was exaggerating out of anger. Still, the principle remains.
Very true Rory. It is weird...🤷
Rory - comes out with that old BS excuse for inaction of 'show me where x makes a difference'
In many cases if the only outcome is the world becomes a better place and people have better lives isn't that enough?
I wonder if there will be a leadership contest within a year?
Question is whether it's from the radical right of the Labour Party e.g. anyone that could be considered to be someone like Lee Anderson; or whether it's from the remaining Democratic Socialist wing?
Labour have to hold their bottles of tomato ketchup🫣
id rather the PM and co get freebies (not backhanders mind) rather than wasting tax payers money on decorating number 10 and the like
Says it all Kier says Leave Israel immediately but not to Isralies with (alone added to the sentence) we know which way his bread is buttered .
He has to pay his debts.
These are brilliant days. Two tier, free gear, no sausage kier has imploded. His regime is totally out of its depth. Teething problems?!!!!! Ha, ha, ha.
Rory the party prince? Finally a politically important issue :)
Um . . . . . . politics reflected through a [corrupt] media lens doesn't work very well does it?! And second guessing it is even worse . . . . Nb. cutting the 'Winter Fuel Allowance' for pensioners is neither brave nor necessary. Taxing wealth and corporations is. Not going to get intellectual honesty or moral courage from you two are we? Enjoy your money.
Comrade kier lies nearly as much as Campbell.
Let’s be honest apart from kiers tickets this is really disappointing.
Although for a "big black hole", a sum which is less than 0.1% of Britain's GDP is probably more of an excuse than a genuine problem. It's a miniscule figure, relatively.
Uks gdp is 2.2 trillion or 2200 billion or thereabouts.
20 / 2200 is about 1 percent. So 1 percent of gdp
@@tomwright9904 Arg! You're right, Tom (no pun intended). I retract my statement, although even then it's still not an exorbitant amount worthy of all the hot air being expended. But I take your point.
Should they not have had this vision/strategy before the election?
It’s so amusing that Rory spends so long saying he wants serious policy not spin, and yet….
Here for Lebanon and clubbing.
Seals?
Why is this episode live on UA-cam BEFORE I can access it is as a paid apple podcasts subscriber? And not the first time. Bit of a p*** take
Too much of strategy and the big picture consultantancy speak, how about honesty and transparency? What can anyone expect from people your background
Roy 24 hour party people!
Rory Stewart was rather quiet during the Tory governments to be critical of expenses, aside from bashing Boris, but here he is 15 mins into a Labour government having a go at everything they do
Pager attack. Very clever on Israel's part but not very intelligent, in fact completely STUPID. I believe a jewish philosopher some 2000 years ago said one should treat one's neighbours as one's self. A failure to do so has contributed to the cause of pogroms historically, and a failure to do so now will only lead to peace in Palestine/Lebanon/Israel being put off for another couple of generations.
Will people never learn???
I think you have got your wires crossed m8
Geez, Alistair, easier to be out of power eh, faux liberal,
Its not a good majority they have though, is it?
FPTP gives them a huge majority for five years. Enjoy.
This Labour Party frighten me to death! Rayner Cooper Lammy Reeves and free gear Keir. Another 5 years of this lot!
If 14 years of Conservative MP's recieving free stuff didn't kill you off why should a few free dresses be such a shock??
Because they are one of 3 things. A bot, a liar or an idiot.
10+ we hope
Better than the 14 years of the last lot that caused austerity, Brexit, mishandled Covid, crashed the economy
This is the worst government EVER , Blair was 50 times better than this shower
Sorry these videos are too long for me at 1 hour. I know I can come back but then I have to remember where I got to as YT often resumes from the start.
Alastair is one hot pensioner IMHO. Lucky Mrs.C
Have you been diagnosed autistic?
Are you serious!? I mean, you are not in reality. Alastair likes Katty! 😅🤣😂🫣
'Free gear Keir". That's it. That's how he'll be remembered from now on!
Yeah, whatever. That is nonsense.
Two tier? Free the sausage?
In my day job we are not allowed to accept anything more than a token thank you gift of a value not more than £5
Surely Politicians should be the last of us to accept even the smallest gift if we are to live in a trustworthy democracy where corruption and bribery have no place.
Speaking of Democracy, surely we should also join the rest of Europe and move to Proportional Representation so that everyone’s votes have some impact?