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Political Currency

EMQs Books Special: Do politicians make good writers?

Political Currency

Persephonica

Politics, News, Economy, Westminster, Business, George Osborne, Ed Balls, Money

4.11.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why haven’t Ed Balls or George Osborne written political memoirs? Broadcaster Iain Dale puts the question to them, asking what’s stopping them, what they’d reveal if they did, and whether political history is incomplete without their accounts.

And another listener digs into a moment of political tension between Ed and Tony Blair over the Euro. Did Steve Richards’s book Turning Points get it right, and what was really said in that meeting?

Plus - the political fiction and non-fiction worth reading this summer, and whether George or Ed would ever dare to write a political thriller of their own.


To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

👉 patreon.com/politicalcurrency

👉 Apple Podcasts

Please note: Kitchen Cabinet is only available via Patreon.


Credits:

Producer: Miriam Hall

Senior Producer: Silvia Maresca

Video Editors: Maha Albadrawi

Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford


Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:38.3

Hi, I'm Joe Wiley. And I'm Soie Ball. And we're here to tell you about a brand new podcast, Digit.

0:44.8

Digit is all about the things that Joe and I love. From the kids to the parents and all the stuff in

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0:59.7

Dig it.

1:00.3

Every week.

1:01.5

Every week.

1:02.1

For the rest of time.

1:03.3

Yes.

1:03.6

Okay, good.

1:09.9

The Chancellor of the Exchequer.

1:12.1

Getting a lesson from the Shadow Chancellor in how to balance the books,

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it's like getting a lesson from Dracula and how to look after a blood back.

...

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