The Labour government is talking about Europe, attacking the opposition, and putting forward some positive ideas. Could the new school year be better for them?
Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and special guest, Labour MP Andrew Lewin discuss the mechanics of a closer relationship to the EU, the half-baked proposal to leave the ECHR, political strategy on whether to attack or ignore Reform - and Andrew's very exciting proposal for a Citizens Advance, to give young people, with no access to parental wealth, a leg-up, when they actually need it.
Plus regular features 'Wokey Dokey' and 'Grin And Share It'.
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“The technocratic approach is sensible, in normal times, but these aren’t normal times… and I think people, both here and in Brussels, need to realise that there are no longer guarantees on what comes next, here or in member states - everyone is butting up against the rise of the far right. They need to act quickly and lock in as much sensible change as possible.”
“Most people’s position on Europe is practical. Farage is in a minority, because he is ideological about it, as is Badenoch. Both came to Parliament the week of the UK-EU summit and said they would rip the agreement - before they had seen it. Which is an extraordinary position for the leader - and wannabe leader - of the opposition and out of line with mainstream thinking. So, I do think there is an opportunity for us to be braver.”
“The reason reopening the whole question of EU membership would be impossible to reopen in this parliament is that it would dominate everything else. And we were elected to fix a lot of things - public services, cost of living, that would be drowned out. Also, the EU27 are not ready, in my view, to talk about rejoin. So, my view as a backbench MP and a pro-European is that this parliament is the time to build bridges.”
“We often debate inheritance tax and it is an unpopular tax. I wanted to approach it from a different perspective. This is about giving individuals agency, over something that is going to be their money anyway. That’s why it’s called a Citizens Advance. It’s an advance on your pension, at a time it can do the most good.”
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CALLS TO ACTION:
Plant a tree for Europe and help Best for Britain here.
Buy Eliza Philby's "Inheritocracy" here.
Find out more about Citizens Advance (the Lewin Loan) here.
GRIN AND SHARE IT:
Read about extraordinary TIME Girl of The Year, Rebecca Young, here.
Buy something from our bookshop here.
Email us at
[email protected].
Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com.
With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global.
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