Share

cover art for How workers‘ pay tripped up Liz Truss and Keir Starmer

Daily Politics from the New Statesman

How workers‘ pay tripped up Liz Truss and Keir Starmer

The Bank of England has raised interest rates by 0.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent, the highest increase in 27 years, and predicts that the UK will enter a deep recession within months. As the cost-of-living crisis worsens and with strikes planned throughout the summer, Labour remains split over frontbenchers joining picketing workers.

 

Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth, Freddie Hayward and Rachel Cunliffe discuss Labour leader Keir Starmer’s softening stance on picketing – after shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy joined striking telecoms workers and union leaders claimed that Labour was “irrelevant” to working people – and ask whether the party’s ambiguity can be sustained through a summer of strikes.

 

Then In You Ask Us, a listener enquires about the communication issues and presentation style of Liz Truss’s Conservative leadership campaign.


If you have a question for You Ask Us, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.uk


Podcast listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.

SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:

⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2


LISTEN AD-FREE:

📱Download the New Statesman app


MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:

Ask a question – we answer them every Friday

Get our daily politics newsletter every morning

✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday

More episodes

View all episodes

  • The UK must crawl back to Europe

    24:49|
    With Donald Trump threatening tariffs on the UK and eviscerating Keir Starmer on Truth Social, does the PM have no choice but run back into the arms of the EU? Many Labour MPs think yes.Tom McTague joins Rachel Cunliffe.
  • Student loans have screwed over a generation

    32:12|
    Cast your mind back to 2010…  Apple launched the ipad, a volcano erupted in Iceland and David Cameron and Nick Clegg passed a bill that would screw over a generation of young people.This was, of course, the decision to triple university tuition fees in England to £9,000 per yearOli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to discuss how this has radicalised graduates.
  • Trump escalates Greenland threats

    45:55|
    “Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.” This is what Donald Trump wrote in a letter to Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre this weekend.And true to his word, peace is not on the US President’s mind.Oli Dugmore speaks to the New Statesman's editor Tom McTague about Starmer's options, and in the second half of the episode, senior editor Katie Stallard interviews Rasmus Jarlov, chair of the Danish defence committee.
  • Is London a crime-ridden cesspit?

    36:18|
    Claims from politicians both at home and abroad paint an increasingly decrepit picture of the nation's capital. But just how much crime and chaos is there really in London? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Dunn to discuss her reporting on the issue, as well as a rundown of the big and brazen ongoings in political Britain this week.
  • Should breaking manifesto pledges be illegal?

    28:13|
    A frustrated listener calls for consequences over broken Labour promises. Anoosh Chakelian and Rachel Cunliffe answer listener questions about UK politics. In the mailbag this week:Should parliament impose legislation to force governments to honour manifesto pledges?Is it time to reform council tax?The Scottish independence referendum settled the question for "a generation". But what counts as a generation?How would politics be different if the House of Commons was a different physical shape?Send in your questions at newstatesman.com/youaskusListen next: Why Starmer u-turned on Digital ID
  • Jenrick defects to Reform

    29:32|
    Robert Jenrick has become the latest Tory to defect to Reform. This morning he was fired by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, after she discovered his plan.The announcement followed former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defecting to Reform earlier this week.Tories broke Britain, say Tories.What does it mean? How did it happen?Oli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe and Ethan Croft.
  • Why Keir Starmer U-turned on digital ID

    28:58|
    How many U-turns before you admit you don’t know where you’re going?As little as four months ago, Keir Starmer said: "You will not be able to work in the UK if you don't have a digital ID, it's as simple as that." Now, he’s done yet another 180. Oli Dugmore is joined by Anoosh Chakelian and Ailbhe Rea.
  • Keir Starmer: Grok imagery “disgraceful”

    33:50|
    Keir Starmer is challenging Elon Musk and x.com over AI generated non-consensual intimate images.A proliferation of these images, generated by x.com’s AI chatbot Grok, has flooded the platform. Users have been instructing Grok to create these images of high profile figures and even of children.The British government have announced they will introduce legislation to prevent these images. This debate has raised issues of free speech, big tech, power and transatlantic relations.Oli Dugmore unpacks it all with Tom McTague and Ailbhe Rea.📚 READ: Why Keir Starmer has gone to war with Elon Musk - George Eatonhttps://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2026/01/why-keir-starmer-has-gone-to-war-with-elon-musk
  • Nadhim Zahawi defects from the Tories to Reform

    14:30|
    "Britain needs Nigel Farage as prime minister” said the former chancellor.Oli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe and Ailbhe Rea.