Guilty party: Boris Johnson’s lies catch up with him
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 15 June 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The investigation into covid-lockdown-era parties during Boris Johnson’s premiership—and his denials of their impropriety—comes to damning conclusions. Is it the end for the former prime minister? Japan’s onsen hot baths exploit the country’s plentiful hot springs and are now in conflict with the push to develop geothermal energy. And building a better hypodermic needle, inspired by nature.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Financial markets are more complex than ever. That's why Goldman Sachs is breaking down the key factors driving the economy each week. |
| 0:07.0 | Join us every Friday for just 10 minutes or less. Listen to the markets, a new series from the Goldman Sachs exchanges podcast. |
| 0:18.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm your host, Jason Palmer. |
| 0:24.0 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:33.0 | The people of Japan have made good use of their plentiful hot springs for centuries, building the culture of onsen or hot baths. |
| 0:42.0 | But all that heat could also be used for geothermal energy. We examine how a clash between those two industries is being resolved. |
| 0:52.0 | And lots of people can't bear the prick of a needle, a medical technology that definitely hasn't moved with the times. |
| 1:00.0 | Now researchers are borrowing ideas from insects with hopes to make injections more painless and more effective. |
| 1:10.0 | But first... |
| 1:13.0 | What might seem outside Britain to be pretty small bore misbehavior might turn out to put an end to the career of its former Prime Minister Boris Johnson? |
| 1:29.0 | Just as COVID-19 first gripped the country, Mr. Johnson gravely addressed the nation. |
| 1:35.0 | From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction. You must stay at home. |
| 1:42.0 | If you don't follow the rules, the police will have the powers to enforce them. |
| 1:48.0 | Simple though the instruction was, it seems members of his government and party weren't following it. |
| 1:54.0 | For months details leaked out of parties held in the Prime Minister's residence and government buildings. |
| 2:01.0 | People in close quarters holding champagne at birthday parties and after work drinks. The British people were furious. Many still are. |
| 2:21.0 | Mr. Johnson just kept insisting, including in Parliament, that he didn't know the gatherings were happening. |
| 2:28.0 | What I could tell the right honourable gentleman is that all guidance was followed completely during number 10. |
| 2:35.0 | Or that where they did no rules had been broken. |
| 2:38.0 | I can tell you that the guidelines were followed at all times. |
| 2:41.0 | Or that if rules were broken he didn't know about that part. |
| 2:44.0 | I can understand how infuriating it must be to think that the people who have been setting the rules have not been following the rules. |
... |
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