Changing Politics

Latest Episodes:

Summer Recap: The Far Right Aug 08, 2018

Show notes

Ever feel like politics could be different? Join comedian Gráinne Maguire and journalist Marie Le Conte as they work out how we can all get more involved. This isn't just a podcast, it's Changing Politics.

Over the summer we're re-releasing all our campaign features without the topical jokes at the top, so you don't have to go through old news to get to the stuff that's still really important. This is the feature from the fourth episode, which was recorded the day after two Nazis were found guilty of being member of a banned organisation; a third man had plead guilty to planning an act of terrorism in the same trial. We spoke to Joe Mulhall from Hope Not Hate, and Shabana Mahmood MP, about how you can stand up to the far right.

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Summer Recap: Brexit Aug 08, 2018

Show notes

Over the summer we're re-releasing all our campaign features without the topical jokes at the top, so you don't have to go through old news to get to the stuff that's still really important. This is the feature from the sixth and final episode of the first run, and in it we talk to comedian and member of Labour's NEC Eddie Izzard and TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes about what can be done to fight something that feels like a political inevitability: Brexit.

(Due to being impartial, Marie is not in the episode.)

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Summer Recap: Refugees Aug 08, 2018

Show notes

Over the summer we're re-releasing all our campaign features without the topical jokes at the top, so you don't have to go through old news to get to the stuff that's still really important. This is the feature from the third episode, and tells you what you can do to help refugees. We spoke to Lord Dubs - after whom the Dubs Amendment is named - and Hmada, a Syrian refugee, who had been in the country for just a few weeks at the time of recording. It's quite an upsetting listen in places, but there is hope and there is something you can do.

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Brexit Aug 02, 2018

Show notes

This week Marie excuses herself while Gráinne focuses on what we can do to fight Brexit. It seems like a political inevitability - as things stand, we're out in March - but that doesn't mean there aren't people campaigning to change that. We spoke to two of them - the general secretary of the TSSA Manuel Cortes, who is travelling the country campaigning to stop Brexit, and comedian Eddie Izzard, who is campaigning to be on Labour's NEC.

Marie and Gráinne's roundup of the week's news takes in the Tories' constant, unworkable plans for grammar schools; why the financial future of Britain depends on Theresa May's ability to plan a minibreak; and try to work out what it is about being Foreign Secretary that makes you so prone to making gaffes?

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Food Banks Jul 26, 2018

Show notes

This week we focus on food banks - which last year distributed over 1,300,000 packages of food for those in need. We spoke to Garry Lemon from the Trussell Trust and recent foodbank user Benjamin Moore, one of our listeners. Sorry for the sound quality on his phone call - a transcript of his comments are at the bottom of these show notes.

Marie and Gráinne's roundup of the week's news is mainly just glad that Parliament is in recess and that all MPs can go home and get some sleep. We check in with newly promoted and newly demoted Minister for Exiting The EU Dominic Raab; everyone's favourite blonde hot mess (sorry, Marie, it's Boris), who has now added "meeting with White Nationalists" to his list of lovable eccentricities; and explain why Priti Patel and Lucy Allan's support for people who've broken the law is, to quote Allan, "very odd conduct indeed".

BENJAMIN'S COMMENTS

"Because of my wife's disability we had a support worker from a local organisation who used to come to us every two weeks and check out what was going on, and check we were alright, and one of the things she said to us one week was, 'Would you like a food bank voucher?'. I hadn't really thought about it before, but things were very tight at the time. Basically we were at that stage in a flat where the roof had a major leak, and so our bedroom was incredibly damp all the time. And this was during the winter, so a lot of our money was going on electricity. We were at the point of spending what we had left on food, after we'd paid for rent and electricity."

"If it's donated, they'll pass it out. So what they give you is non-perishable items. So it's mainly things like tins of stuff, and they'll give you rice of pasta and they'll give you breakfast cereal, you know, things they can accrue and keep for a reasonable length of time. But it's not all functional, so they will give you bars of chocolate or crisps, things that you might like as opposed to stuff that just works. If you're going to donate to a food bank, just think about what you would want if you found yourself in that position."

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The Far Right Jul 20, 2018

Show notes

This week we focus on the rise of the Far Right. If it doesn't scare you, it should. We spoke to Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Ladywood, and Joe Mulhall from campaign group Hope Not Hate, about how big the problem is, and what we can do to help stop it. We also asked both of them about the implications for free speech of no-platforming these kinds of views.

Marie and Gráinne's roundup of the week's news includes the fallout from Boris Johnson's boring resignation speech; why we can't take Andrea Jenkyns seriously; and what the hell is going on with the infinite series of votes in Parliament that, Marie reveals, has even confused some MPs. And Gráinne makes a joke about small business that makes Marie spit out her drink.

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Refugees Jul 12, 2018

Show notes

This week we focus on Europe's refugee crisis. With over sixty million people in the world displaced, what can we do to help? To dispel some of the myths around refugees, we spoke to Hamada, who arrived from Syria a month ago, as well as former Chair of the Refugee Council and author of section 67 of the Immigration Act - also known as The Dubs Amendment - Lord Alf Dubs, who was himself a refugee, arriving in Britain from Czechoslovakia in 1939.

In Marie and Gráinne's roundup of the week's news we obviously focus on the strong and stable Chequers Brexit deal and Boris Johnson's resignation. Why is he so unpopular now? Marie, who has investigated his family in depth, has some theories (and some quotes from an anonymous Tory MP). We also briefly discuss Trump's visit to the UK, but then Gráinne mentions how much he got on with Macron and Marie gets understandably depressed.

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Changing Politics - Trailer Jul 06, 2018

Show notes

Ever feel like politics could be different?

Changing Politics is launching on June 28. Put simply, it's a new podcast about how we can change politics.

Every Thursday join comedian Grainne Maguire and journalist Marie Le Conte as they work out how we can all get more involved.

Every episode begins with an alternative take of the week, a report on the state of Brexit and an in-depth look at some of the major problems in politics today that need to be fixed. And in every episode we will tell you how we can take action on it together.

it's not just a podcast, it's Changing Politics.

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Abortion Rights Jul 05, 2018

Show notes

This week we focus on abortion rights in Northern Ireland, which is currently not available even in case of incest or rape, and explain what you can do to help. We speak to activist Mara Clarke of the Abortion Support Network and MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy. Before that though, there's a discussion of the week's news which includes the most surprising thing our "horny on main bae" (listen to last week's episode) Michael Gove's done with a hoover; how it's impossible to get sacked from the Cabinet even if, like Esther McVey, you keep misleading Parliament; and why everyone should leave Twitter and join Matt Hancock's app (the answer has to do with sausages).

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Seni's Law Jun 29, 2018

Show notes

This week, as well as looking at what Boris Johnson wants to do to business, what Liz Truss thinks about Michael Gove, and what students get offended by these days, they look at the issue of deaths in police custody, and what can be done to reduce the instances of it. they speak to the parents of Seni Lewis, Aji and Conrad, about what the tragic circumstances of Seni's death, as well as Steve Reed, MP for Croydon North, who is trying to get a Private Member's Bill called Seni's Law through parliament at the moment.

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