#101 - Guy Opperman - The Real Reason Our Towns Are Dying

Mr Obnoxious

Peter McCormack

Technology, News, Politics, Money, Investing, Finance, Bitcoin

4.8 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2025

⏱️ 99 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former Conservative MP Guy Opperman joins me to discuss rebuilding Britain from the ground up. We explore local banking, Bitcoin’s potential role in pensions, infrastructure challenges, and how community action can revitalise struggling towns.

Drawing on his 14 years in Parliament and time as Pensions Minister, Guy explains why grassroots civic leadership and decentralisation are key to fixing Britain’s broken economy. We also discuss the failures of centralised politics, the importance of community banks, and how financial innovation – including Bitcoin – could help restore savings, trust, and economic resilience.

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CONNECT WITH GUY OPPERMAN
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TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) – Introduction
(2:58) – Labour's empty promises & voter regret
(8:36) – What’s really broken in local government
(13:01) – Why good people avoid politics
(18:03) – Are we living in managed decline?
(23:58) – Why the UK can’t build anything
(28:43) – If you want to change the world… look in the mirror
(35:56) – 14 years in office
(37:54) – The real fixes to local government
(40:34) – Building a community bank from scratch
(44:07) – Solving poverty through savings
(48:36) – Teaching kids about money in schools
(52:28) – Why big banks abandoned the working class
(1:00:26) – Crime, capital and community
(1:02:44) – Is there a role for Bitcoin in pensions?
(1:07:34) – MPs can do more than just make laws
(1:11:40) – Creating a civic wave
(1:13:52) – Regulation vs common sense in local action
(1:17:24) – Building local pride
(1:21:04) – Can Bitcoin solve pensions in broken nations?
(1:29:27) – Final thoughts: build something that lasts

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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
https://x.com/curttayloruk/

EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK

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Transcript

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0:00.0	and people feel misled and frankly lied to have two consequences of the next election.
0:05.6	First of all, people just won't vote. They'll go a plague on all your houses, I'm not going to bother.
0:10.0	Well, secondly, they'll vote for extremist populist parties who haven't got any solutions.
0:14.7	There aren't many people who want to stick their hand up, who are super competent,
0:19.5	really bright, could make lots more money in the private sector.
0:22.5	If I put certain people in charge of a business, they will turn that business around.
0:26.2	Our public services are getting bigger, not smaller.
0:28.9	We are getting on the back of basically three major shocks.
0:31.9	The 2008 financial crisis, which hit everybody.
0:35.6	Brexit, which was a shock in many shapes and forms. And thirdly, this sort of
0:40.9	COVID-slash-Ukraine war. Those three things have really affected this country and our capability
0:46.1	to punch above our weight. We're ruled by rule of law that makes it incredibly expensive and
0:53.6	difficult for government to act quickly.
0:56.2	If people have got no money and no access to finance, inevitably they drift into crime.
1:01.0	The great Edmund Burke said, you know, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.
1:07.6	If you want to change the world, look in a mirror.
1:10.2	This episode is brought to you by our least sponsor, a massive legends iron, the largest
1:15.7	NASDAQ listed Bitcoin miner using 100% renewable energy. Now, they're not just powering the
1:21.2	Bitcoin network. They're also providing cutting edge computer resources for AI, all backed by renewable energy. Now, my boy Danny and I have
1:30.4	been working with their founders, Dan and Will, for quite some time now, and we've always been
1:34.7	super impressed with their values, especially their commitment to local communities and sustainable
1:39.9	computing power. So if you're interested in mining Bitcoin or harnessing AI compute power,
	...

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