{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/9a03fe9e-1ff0-4dcc-b3f6-50bd1f016ea4/61d612ba1d51f10012c0430e?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Two Topics for 2022","description":"<p>To kick off the new year David and Helen are joined by historian Robert Saunders to talk about two possible trends for the next twelve months.&nbsp;Could Labour and the Lib Dem’s really find electoral common ground to defeat the Tories? And is Netzero scepticism about to become a serious force on the British right?&nbsp;A conversation about history, coalitions, energy prices, populism and the return of Nigel Farage. Coming up on Talking Politics: Biden one year on.</p><p><br></p><p>Talking Points:</p><p><br></p><p>By-elections and opinion polls suggest that the Conservative Party might be in trouble.</p><ul><li>Labour did badly in the by-elections but it is doing better in the polls.&nbsp;</li><li>Is there a way of getting the Tories out without some combination of Lib Dem and Labour opposition?&nbsp;</li><li>The Lib Dems can win in seats where Labour is not competitive.</li><li>There are no prospects for the Labour Party becoming the largest party, given the situation in Scotland, without the Lib Dems taking seats from the Conservatives.</li><li>The Lib Dems struggle when Labour is perceived as being too far to the left.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>What complicates things now is the Scottish question.&nbsp;</p><ul><li>The prospect of a Labour-SNP coalition presents a different type of problem.</li><li>Should the parties stand down candidates? Can you compel tactical voting? Should you?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Is there potential for serious opposition to climate-centric politics in the coming years?</p><ul><li>There is a growing, although still constrained, opposition to net zero politics on the right. Farage wants to stoke this.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>It’s not exactly climate skepticism, but rather skepticism over the policies put forward to tackle it.&nbsp;</li><li>This is already happening in Australia and the United States, but these are countries where fossil fuel producers have a lot of power.&nbsp;</li><li>This is emerging now because of what is happening with energy prices.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Is there an unoccupied political space between techno-utopianism and net zero skepticism?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Johnson is keen on the green-growth strategy, but so far, the evidence on green jobs is not that convincing.</li><li>Covid showed us that the public can take more realism than politicians often assume.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Mentioned in this Episode:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llq-WvonlL0\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Keir Starmer’s new year speech</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/One-Party-After-Another/Michael-Crick/9781471192296\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Crick’s forthcoming biography of Nigel Farage</a></li><li><a href=\"https://twitter.com/redhistorian?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Robert’s Twitter account</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p>Further Learning:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.politico.eu/article/climate-change-skeptics-united-kingdom-science-deniers-rebrand/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">More on Conservative opposition to Net Zero</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2021/07/why-britain-s-timid-green-politics-shows-it-not-taking-energy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Helen on the timid political debate over green energy</a></li><li><a href=\"https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-newsletter-17\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Adam Tooze on realism, progressivism, and Net Zero</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: </strong><a href=\"http://lrb.co.uk/talking\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>lrb.co.uk/talking</strong></a></p>","author_name":"David Runciman and Catherine Carr"}