2008, Alistair Darling, and the day the world changed forever
The News Agents
Global
4.1 • 5.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 November 2023
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On 15 September 2008 the world changed forever. The collapse of Lehman Brothers Bank heralded the financial crash and the worst recession in 60 years.
It would change our politics - perhaps forever. One man predicted the scale and depth of what was to come - the chancellor who fought to stabilise the UK economy on the brink of collapse.
That was Alistair Darling, whose death was announced this afternoon. Today we look at the impact that extraordinary time and his critical interventions had on this country - and we talk to his mentee - the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves about the man he was.
Later we reflect on the death of a statesman and foreign affairs titan - Henry Kissinger - at the age of 100 and ask if the man who witnessed an entire century will be better remembered for good or ill.
Editor: Tom Hughes
Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus
Producer: Laura FitzPatrick
Planning Producer: Alex Barnett
Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell
Video Production: Rory Symon
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a Global Player original podcast. |
| 0:05.8 | I just say this, that we are going through a period of extraordinary turbulence in every part of the world. |
| 0:12.8 | Every single country is being affected. |
| 0:15.3 | The words of Alastair Darling, the former Labour Chancellor, who died today age 70. But that moment that he is reflecting |
| 0:24.6 | on was the moment the world changed forever, the September of 2008, with the collapse of Lehman's |
| 0:31.1 | Bank, the beginning of the financial crash. And what he will be most remembered for is those acute, urgent steps he took to literally |
| 0:40.3 | save the UK economy from collapse, save the banks from running out of money. |
| 0:47.3 | You probably have heard plenty of obituaries already and warm words about Alistair Darling. |
| 0:51.3 | That is not what today's show is about. |
| 0:53.3 | Today's show is about us |
| 0:54.7 | showing you how in so many different ways we are all still living in Alistair Darling's shadow, |
| 1:01.6 | in the shadow of those crucial months while he was Chancellor in 2008. Welcome to the Newsagents. |
| 1:10.9 | The Newsagents. It's Emily. It's Lewis in Newsagents. The Newsagents. |
| 1:12.9 | It's Emily. |
| 1:14.0 | It's Lewis in Newsagents HQ. |
| 1:15.8 | And it's John. |
| 1:16.6 | Not exactly in Newsagents HQ. |
| 1:19.2 | But more of that later. |
| 1:20.2 | We're going to start by talking about the death of somebody who was fundamental to what this country went through nearly two decades ago. |
| 1:30.1 | The former Labour Chancellor, Alistair Darling, died today, age 70. |
| 1:34.9 | And I think it's fair to say that his death really came out the blue for many of us. |
| 1:39.3 | It was a real shock. |
... |
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