Burnham’s Britain & Cabinet Pic ‘n’ Mix w/ Anoosh Chakelian
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hi, this is Pod Save the UK.
I'm Nish Kumar.
And I'm Coco Kahn.
Did you miss me? I'm back. And I'm back just in time to get acquainted with the fact that we've got a new prime minister, our seventh in 10 years. I can scarcely believe I'm saying this. Our seventh prime minister in 10 years. And the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has liquidated the old cabinet. He's promised people some breathing space on the cost of living. He's keeping bus fares down and he's got rid of the podium. So a lot going on.
Yeah, the announcements are coming in thick and fast since Monday. So we'll be digging into who's in, who's out, who's shaking it all about. Maybe not that last one. But look, this is a deep dive episode on everything we know about Andy Burnham so far. Bearing in mind, of course, that he's only been a prime minister for a few days. And he's talking about it being a cost of living government. The stakes have really never been higher. So we'll try and work out what we can expect.
So he took to the stage on Monday with no notes. He hugged his mother. But just as a side note, as somebody who professionally speaks for between 78 to 85 minutes without notes, I have to tell you, and I think I've said this on this show before, that is not a qualification for anything, okay? Stand-up comedians do that all the time. And we are literally some of society's most useless members. Like that is, that is, these should not be taken as a barometer of anything.
You know what, I'm so glad you said that Nish, because there is an obsession in Westminster with no notes speeches and how amazing they are. And I completely agree. It's an incredibly low bar, isn't it? Not to say that stand-up comedians set the low bar.
No, I think it's fine for you to say low bar, Anoush.
Thank you.
Our guest today, who you've just heard, is the New Statesman's Britain editor, Anoush Chakalian. Yeah, listen, stand-up comedy is the lowest bar in human history. Also, given some of the other people that have spoken with no-no's, maybe they should have had no's. Maybe David Cameron should have had some fucking notes. It's a real specific bugbear of mine. So he spoke with no notes. He hugged his mum and he promised to bring forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years. Andy Burnham's Britain is here. Anoush is joining us today to get into what we can actually expect, apart from the end of the career of the hot guy who puts out the podiums, who's outlasted five prime ministers and got a full black and white homage on Sky News.
Like he died. He's not died.
As far as I know, he's not died.
He was even in the New York Times. He's an international breakout star of UK politics, is the hot podium guy.
Anoush, thank you so much for joining us. There's been all sorts of signals of change, promising to be a prime minister for all parts of the country, taking the country in a distinctively Labour direction. There's a lot that's been said. Not a huge amount of it is concrete, but...
Who is Andy Burnham and why is his premiership significant?
We're always happy to see you, Manoush, but we're especially happy to see you today because you've interviewed Andy Burnham a few times over the years, dating back to 2014 when he was Shadow Health Secretary. So, you know, you're a uniquely qualified Burnhamologist, if that's not, again, too low a bar to tie you with. What's your impressions of him and how much have you seen him change over the years? Just as an indication of what we might expect from the man who is our, I believe, seventh prime minister in 10 years.
Yeah, I mean, the received Westminster wisdom is that he blows with the wind. He's someone who was an advisor to Tessa Jowell, was in the Blair government, was seen as a good sort of Blairite boy kind of thing.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:58
2
Who is Andy Burnham and why is his premiership significant?
3:58–38:33
3
What are Burnham’s first policy pledges on rough sleeping, energy bills and bus fares?
38:33–42:48
4
How was John Healey chosen as Chancellor and what does it signal about devolution?
42:48–1:06:05
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from Pod Save the UK
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