Labour drags us further to the '70s and Burnham stokes the psychodrama
Planet Normal
Louisa Wells
4.7 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wQSgb9En2k0
This week on Planet Normal, your co-pilots of sanity, Liam Halligan and Alison Pearson, take us back to the 1970s as they look at the retro economic policies dragging the country in reverse. With financial markets reacting to the Labour infighting with horror, sending the UK government's borrowing costs to a staggering 30-year high, the duo warns that the British economy is on a knife edge.
Liam focuses on the unfolding fiscal emergency, explaining how sovereign bond markets are reeling from a protracted Labour leadership battle, where all the major contenders are looking to increase borrowing and spending even further.
Meanwhile Allison shares her deep frustrations with the current state of the nation, highlighting the desperate struggles of local community hubs and family pubs fighting to survive under the weight of punishing economic changes.
This week’s stowaway on the rocket is royal historian and biographer Andrew Lownie, who discusses the ongoing fallout surrounding the royal family and his investigations into institutional secrecy.
Highlights
- Labour drags us further to the '70s and Burnham stokes the psychodrama
- Sir Keir Starmer's leadership is under intense pressure amidst a protracted Labour leadership battle.
- Sovereign bond markets react to high spending as government borrowing costs spike to a 30-year high.
- Royal biographer Andrew Lownie exposes new allegations and the culture of institutional secrecy.
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Read Allison ‘‘Don’t drink them all at once’: Regulars enjoy free pints on National Pub Day’:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/16/allison-pearson-national-pub-day/ |
Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |
Read Liam ‘As Labour lurches further Left, the markets are calling time’:
Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |
Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.0 | You know the UK's heading for a... |
| 0:12.7 | It's a crisis because all the MPs go jogging. |
| 0:17.5 | Four. |
| 0:19.1 | Mary is in his strenuously youthful black bomber jackie. |
| 0:23.3 | You think, leave it out. |
| 0:24.7 | Three. |
| 0:26.1 | Idiotic, absolutely idiotic MPs with a combination of arrogance and ignorance that's dangerous. |
| 0:32.9 | Two. |
| 0:34.1 | I think this is turning out to be a huge conspiracy with many more people involved than we realize. |
| 0:43.5 | Welcome once again to Planet Normal, the Telegraph podcast with Alison Pearson. |
| 0:50.0 | Hello. |
| 0:50.9 | And me, Liam Halligan. |
| 0:53.0 | We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, Allison. |
| 0:56.4 | That was Terry Jack's ubiquitous song back in our youth, not least the long hot summer of |
| 1:01.5 | 1976. But while we were young and free in the mid-70s, the British economy was anything but |
| 1:08.0 | what with rampant trade union sky-high taxation and ultimately, of course, |
| 1:12.7 | an IMF bailout. It seems as Labour government's taking us back to the 70s, financial markets |
| 1:18.5 | are on a knife edge, sending the UK's government's borrowing costs to a 30-year high, |
| 1:23.5 | as Labour indulges in a protracted leadership battle, with all the runners and riders set to |
| 1:28.4 | increase borrowing and spending even more. The Government's Trade Union-friendly Employment Rights Act has |
| 1:34.5 | sent unemployment to 5.5% in March, sharply up from 4.2% when Labor took office in July |
... |
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