156. Defence Secretary, John Healey: Is Britain Ready For War?

The Rest Is Politics: Leading

Goalhanger

Politics, Government, News

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What tactic did Donald Trump steal from Gordon Brown? What can we learn from when Labour beat UKIP in the 2012 Rotherham by-election when it comes to taking on Farage? As a New Labour alumnus, why does John Healey think there was more patience for change in 1997 compared to 2024? Rory and Alastair are joined by John Healey, The Secretary of State for Defence, to discuss all this and more. For Leading listeners, there’s free access to the Wordsmith Academy - plus their report on the future of legal skills. Visit https://www.wordsmithai/politics To save your company time and money, open a Revolut Business account today via https://www.revolut.com/rb/leading, and add money to your account by 31st of December 2025 to get a £200 welcome bonus or equivalent in your local currency. Feature availability varies by plan. This offer’s available for New Business customers in the UK, US, Australia and Ireland. Fees and Terms & Conditions apply. For US customers, Revolut is not a bank. Banking services and card issuance are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. Visa® and Mastercard® cards issued under license. Funds are FDIC insured up to $250,000 through Lead Bank, in the event Lead Bank fails. Fees may apply. See full terms in description. For Irish customers, Revolut Bank UAB is authorised and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania in the Republic of Lithuania and by the European Central Bank and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules. For AU customers, consider PDS & TMD at revolut.com/en-AU. Revolut Payments Australia Pty Ltd (AFSL 517589). Join The Rest Is Politics Plus: Start your free trial at therestispolitics.com to unlock exclusive bonus content – including Rory and Alastair’s miniseries – plus ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, an exclusive members’ newsletter, discounted book prices, and a private chatroom on Discord. Instagram: @restispolitics Twitter: @RestIsPolitics Email: [email protected] Social Producer: Celine Charles Producer: Alice Horrell Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen Head of Politics: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for listening to The Restis Politics. Sign up to the Restis Politics Plus. To enjoy ad-free listening,
0:04.9	receive a weekly newsletter, join our members chat room and gain early access to live show tickets.
0:09.4	Just go to therestispolities.com. That's the restispolities.com.
0:13.1	This episode is brought to you by Wordsmith. A. I mean, increasingly, of course, in all the
0:17.4	organizations we work in, we can get massively slowed up by the paperwork, the processes,
0:23.7	the forms, the legal advice.
0:26.0	And that's why, in business today, it's all of us, legal teams, companies are facing a choice,
0:31.8	lead the AI shift or risk being left behind.
0:34.8	And companies like TrustPilot, Deliveroo, SkyScanner are already leading
0:39.4	the way, with Wordsmith AI alongside them. It's like giving every lawyer an invisible paralegal,
0:45.2	somebody who knows their history, drafts the first pass, and frees up hours for complex work.
0:51.3	Wordsmith handles the routine so that the lawyers can focus on the bigger issues.
0:56.1	Crucially, this isn't at the moment something that's replacing lawyers. It's something that's
1:00.6	taking out the more boring routine task so they can really use their expertise, their experience
1:06.3	and their human judgment in the law. And it wasn't built in Silicon Valley. It was built like so many
1:11.2	great things in history in Scotland, now benefiting companies worldwide. Shifts already happening.
1:17.4	Wordsmith is helping legal teams around the world with clarity and confidence. There's free access
1:22.7	to the Wordsmith Academy, plus their report on the future of legal skills, visit wordsmith.a.I. slash politics.
1:34.2	Welcome to the rest of politics leading with me, Rory Stewart.
1:41.3	And me, Alastair Campbell. And we have a member of His Majesty's Cabinet,
1:47.1	John Healy, Defence Secretary. John is one of a very small number, fewer than 40, who were there
1:54.1	from 1997 or before. I first knew John Healy when he was actually working for the TUC, Trade Union Congress.
	...

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