EU or US? UK plays piggy in the middle
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 15 November 2024
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As Donald Trump makes his first appointments, speculation in Whitehall grows: will the UK move closer to the US or cosy back up with the EU?
The FT’s Lucy Fisher is joined by Political Fix regulars George Parker and Robert Shrimsley, as well as Peter Foster, the FT’s public policy editor, to discuss how Britain might successfully balance its two most important relationships. Plus the panel also discusses Rachel Reeves’s pension megafund reform, and assesses the damage Labour’s employment reforms are doing to the relationship with British business.
Follow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher, George @GeorgeWParker, Peter Foster @pmdfoster, Robert @robertshrimsley
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Presented by Lucy Fisher. Produced by Tamara Kormornick. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Audio mix by Sean McGarrity and original music by Breen Turner. The broadcast engineers are Andrew Georgiadis and Petros Giumpassis. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | How's Westminster preparing for Trump? |
| 0:03.8 | Robert. |
| 0:04.7 | Well, apart from Nigra Farage, I think they're mostly fighting under their desks |
| 0:07.2 | and trying to work out how bad it's going to be for them. |
| 0:09.7 | Pete. |
| 0:10.9 | With baited breath, you know, it's quite clear that the relationship's going to be difficult |
| 0:15.0 | and it's going to force some difficult choices between Europe, between America. |
| 0:19.8 | And it's not going to be easy, |
| 0:21.5 | not as easy as people think when it actually starts, I think. |
| 0:24.7 | George. |
| 0:25.2 | Well, it's a difficult start for the Labour government, and frankly, this is the last thing they |
| 0:28.7 | needed, the prospects of trade disputes and diplomatic rouse and security issues raised |
| 0:33.0 | by the Trump presidency. |
| 0:37.6 | Welcome to Political Fix from the Financial Times with me, Lucy Fisher. |
| 0:42.8 | Coming up, Donald Trump's election victory has continued to shake Westminster |
| 0:46.9 | as he's begun to appoint his cabinet. |
| 0:50.1 | British ministers and officials are scrambling to calculate |
| 0:52.7 | where they might find common cause with the president-elect |
| 0:55.5 | and where potential policy flashpoints lie. |
| 0:59.1 | Plus, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves gives her first mansion house speech to the great and the good of the city of London, |
| 1:05.1 | we examine Labour's relationship with business. |
| 1:08.0 | Has it all gone a bit sour? |
... |
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