Hello, you're listening to The Times, Red Box Politics podcast, and for the last time

for a while, it's coming from me, Patrick McGuire. Yes, maturely it is finally back on Monday.

But in the meantime, we're going out with a bang. Today, we're asking the question. Did

political correctness save comedy? Now that might sound crazy, but it might just be true.

I'm going to speak to David Stubbs, the author of a new book on the history and politics

of British comedy to test that theory out. That's coming up after today's columnist panel.

The columnists on Times Radio. Yes, it's a Friday, and I'm joined by the Times

of Chief Art critic Laura Freeman. Hi, Laura. Hi, Anne. And Alvaray, host of Polisco's

Westminster inside a podcast. Hello. Great to have you both. How are you? How are you, Laura?

I'm very well. Thank you. I'm looking out the big gray sky. I was going to say it doesn't feel

very August today, sadly, although I mean, I mean, August company. Alvar, how are you?

Oh, good. Thanks. I mean, apparently it's warm rain, rather than cold rain, which makes a

difference, doesn't it? You know what? I haven't checked yet. I don't really want to

given how great it looks from Times Radio towers. But anyway, let's kick off with Westminster's

favourite topic of conversation. Every journalist loves talking about this. Working class.

Working class. Working class. Working class. Working class. Working class. Working class.

Now, some guy called Patrick McGuire has written a column in this morning's Times about the

Labour Party's very deliberate shift in language. You know, for years and years and years,

people like Tony Blair and other Labour modernisers didn't like talking about class, class war,

class envy, but Keir Starmer in the past couple of weeks, and especially around a level

of results day yesterday, has started talking about working class about his working class childhood,

other shadow cabinet ministers to do the same thing. Labour talking about wanting to smash the

...