The Edition: back to the future
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 16 November 2023
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's been a busy week in Westminster. On Monday, Rishi Sunak's first major reshuffle saw Suella Braverman sacked and David Cameron make a surprise return to politics. Then two days later, the Supreme Court's Rwanda ruling left the government's pledge to 'stop the boats' in tatters. It was meant to be the week in which Rishi Sunak had hoped to stamp his authority on a fracturing party, but it seems to have only added to the narrative of Tory disrepair. Katy Balls writes about Rishi’s last gamble in the magazine this week, and joins the podcast alongside Kate Andrews, The Spectator’s economics editor. (01:01)
Also this week:
Svitlana Morenets writes a candid account of the current state of the war in Ukraine for The Spectator. After visiting the frontline recently, she concludes that Zelensky needs to start being upfront with the population about the harsh realities on the battlefield and abandon his current line of tactical optimism. She is joined by Owen Matthews, The Spectator’s Russia correspondent, to discuss. (15:05)
And finally: what happened to the golden era of television ?
Zoe Strimpel writes in the arts section of the magazine this week that after a boom in quality TV starting in the early 2000s, we are now in the televisual dark ages. She joins the podcast alongside James Delingpole, regular television reviewer for The Spectator. (32:51)
Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Spectator magazine combines incisive political analysis with books and arts reviews of unrivaled authority. |
| 0:07.6 | Subscribe today for just £12 and receive a 12 week subscription, in print and online, plus a £20 £20,000 Amazon gift voucher, absolutely free. |
| 0:17.4 | Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher. |
| 0:26.2 | Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator, where each week we look at three pieces from the magazine with the writers behind them. |
| 0:38.7 | I'm Laura Prendergars, the Spectator's Executive Editor. |
| 0:41.7 | And I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor. |
| 0:44.6 | On this week's episode, we'll discuss a busy week in Westminster and where it leaves Rishi Sunak. |
| 0:49.8 | We'll be asking whether Zelensky needs to be more honest with Ukrainian people about the state of the war, |
| 0:55.0 | and we'll be debating whether we're in the Danavizio dark ages again. |
| 0:59.0 | First up. |
| 1:01.0 | The change is needed to eliminate the risk of reformment may be delivered in the future, |
| 1:07.0 | but they have not been shown to be in place now. The Home Secretary's appeal is |
| 1:15.4 | therefore dismissed. That was Lord Reid, the Supreme Court President, who seems to have left |
| 1:21.4 | Rishi Sunak's pledge to stop the boats in Tatters. This news came just two days after the Prime |
| 1:26.7 | Minister's first major reshuffle, |
| 1:28.6 | saw Suella Bravaman's Sackt and David Cameron make a surprise return to politics. In her cover piece |
| 1:34.2 | for the magazine this week, Katie Bulls writes about Rishi Sunak's last gamble, and she joins us now, |
| 1:40.1 | along with Kate Andrews, the Spectator's economics editor. |
| 1:49.9 | Katie, this week Rishi Sunak had hoped to stamp his authority upon a fracturing party. |
| 1:51.9 | Has he managed it? |
| 1:54.4 | I think the jury is out. |
| 1:56.6 | I'd love to bring you a firm conclusion there. |
... |
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