The Edition: Assetocracy, the inversion of the welfare state

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4.4 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2021

⏱️ 33 minutes

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Summary

On this week's episode: why is the Prime Minister so desperate to support the assetocracy? In The Spectator’s cover story this week, after Boris Johnson revealed his plan to pay for social care with a National Insurance increase, Fraser Nelson says there has been an inversion of the welfare state. It is right to ask the working poor to pay more taxes to help cover the social care of people who could easily fund it themselves? Kate Andrews, The Spectator’s economics editor, joins Fraser to discuss. (00:47)

Plus, why is our knowledge of Soviet atrocities so poor? Attempting to fix this, James Bartholomew has been interviewing and recording the stories of survivors of Soviet oppression and torture. In the magazine this week, he tells a few of these stories, but also asks the question: why is it acceptable, or even trendy, to declare yourself a communist? James discusses his project with Konstantin Kisin, a Russian born comic and host of the Triggernometry podcast whose family lived under a Soviet regime. (16:18)

And finally, why does London have so many American sweet shops? Some of London’s busiest streets are host to them, taking up prime real estate in the capital. Hannah Moore writes about her confusion with this phenomenon in this week’s Spectator. She joins Lara along with food trend expert Shokofeh Hejazi. (26:46)

Hosted by Lara Prendergast

Produced by Sam Holmes

Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast is sponsored by Canacord Genuity Wealth Management, award-winning wealth managers who go above and beyond to support and guide you.
0:09.3	Visit can-dowealth.com to start building your wealth with confidence.
0:20.2	Hello and welcome to The Edition.
0:22.7	Each week we look at some of the most important and intriguing issues in the week's magazine
0:26.8	with the writers behind them.
0:29.0	I'm Narra Prendergast.
0:30.7	This week, who are the new ascotocracy and why is the Prime Minister bending over backwards to please them?
0:37.5	Plus, why is our collective knowledge of Soviet atrocities so poor?
0:42.2	And finally, why does London have so many American sweet shops?
0:47.1	First up, in the spectator's cover story this week,
0:50.5	Fraser Nelson looks into the main reasons why Boris Johnson has planned to pay for social care
0:54.6	with a national insurance tax increase. He says it's to keep property-owning voters happy.
1:01.1	But is it morally right to ask the working poor to pay more taxes to help pay for the social
1:05.8	care of people who could easily fund it themselves if they would only downsize?
1:10.6	Fraser joins me now, along with
1:11.9	Kate Andrews. Fraser, the headline on your piece this week is the ascotocracy. Can you explain
1:18.4	what the ascotocracy is? Well, it's a word which, you know, I sort of coined for this piece,
1:24.2	to describe not just people who own assets but their dependents their children
1:28.0	and their grandchildren over the last 20 years you've seen a phenomenon where you know people
1:33.4	who aren't particularly wealthy pensioners who bought in a decent area have been absolutely amazed
1:38.2	is to find that a house bought for say 200,000 pounds could be worth a million pounds so they're
1:43.4	sitting with this kind of
	...

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