The Battle For Big Ideas
Politics Unpacked
Anna Covell
4.1 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
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Summary
With Labour and The Tories parties losing ground to populists - have centrist parties run out of ideas, or just politicians who can sell them?
Hugo Rifkind unpacks the politics of the day with James Marriott and Fraser Nelson.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, hello, I'm Hugo Rifkin, and now we're going to be unpacking the politics of the day. |
| 0:09.8 | As Kirs Starmus stares down the BMA to the Conservative push to get Britain drilling now, |
| 0:14.8 | we're also going to be asking whatever happened to the heavyweight political thinkers. |
| 0:17.9 | But joining me, I've got two of them. |
| 0:19.9 | And they are The Times is James Marriott. |
| 0:21.9 | Hello, James. |
| 0:22.6 | Good morning. |
| 0:23.2 | Good morning. |
| 0:23.5 | How are you? Good. Not a heavyweight political thinker, I don't think. Well, you will be in 45 minutes. And also, Fraser Nelson, hello Fraser. I'm more midweight. No, you're the definition, heavyweight political thinker. You're the Muhammad Ali in comment. |
| 0:37.8 | No? |
| 0:38.3 | More than George from me, actually. |
| 0:39.9 | Well, either's good. |
| 0:40.9 | Let's be honest. heavyweight political thinker. You're the Muhammad Ali comment. No? More than George |
| 0:38.8 | former, actually. Well, either's good. Let's be honest. Let's start with oil and gas and fuel |
| 0:45.4 | and crisis and all that. The Times has revealed that the Chancellor is set to benefit for an extra |
| 0:49.5 | £20 million in tax revenues a day thanks to surging oil and gas revenues. That's going to result |
| 0:55.3 | in an extra £8 billion if prices stay elevated for 12 months. Please God they don't, which is about |
| 1:00.7 | a third of the total raised by fuel duty last year according to the OBR. Stig Abel put this to the |
| 1:05.8 | Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray on Times Radio Breakfast. So you're not going to be better off |
| 1:10.5 | because of this war, |
| 1:11.3 | is the question. Look, higher energy prices are not good news for anyone. Let's be clear about that. |
| 1:16.9 | High energy prices are not good for households, not good for businesses. They're not good for us |
... |
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