A week is a long time in politics. After a crushing by-election defeat last week, the Prime Minister was hoping for a quiet week to recalibrate. Instead, he got a new war. The US and Israel’s joint attack on Iran has set in motion a whole new set of pressures on his government; navigating the ‘Special Relationship’ with the US, confronting the long shadow of Iraq hanging over the Labour Party and keeping the domestic ship afloat.
In this episode, former Deputy Cabinet Secretary Helen MacNamara and Cleo Watson, former Special Advisor to Boris Johnson, reveal the reality of Number 10 on a war footing. What’s it like inside COBR meetings? Does the ‘boys club’ mentality take over? And how the hell do you keep the country running?
Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
01:28 Iran War: recap of the week’s events
04:41 Domestic backdrop: Spring statement
07:01 The strange geography of 10 Downing Street this week
09:45 How to spot the signs of war in Number 10
12:45 History lesson: Gordon Brown’s COBR meetings
16:51 Why Boris Johnson didn’t like COBR meetings
19:40 The ‘Boys Club’ mindset at a time of war
24:03 Party politics during war
26:30 Why the Conservatives haven’t backed Labour
30:15 The importance of a US ambassador
31:50 Bizarre phone calls with POTUS
33:10 Theresa May holding hands with Trump
35:28 What should Starmer do next?
Cover image: PA
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