The Edition: how the Tories gave up on liberty
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 1 February 2024
⏱️ 43 minutes
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Summary
Kate Andrews writes the cover story for The Spectator this week. She argues that after the government announced plans to ban disposable vapes and smoking for those born after 2009, the Tories can no longer call themselves the party of freedom. Kate is joined by conservative peer and former health minister Lord Bethell, to discuss whether the smoking ban is a wise precedent for the government to set. (01:22)
Also this week: can the UAE be trusted on press freedom?
At The Spectator that’s a question close to our hearts at the moment as we face possibly being sold off to an Abu Dhabi backed fund. In the magazine this week Anna Somers Cocks, co-founder of the Art newspaper, writes about her own experience dealing with the UAE as an art journalist. And it's not exactly a positive one. She joins the podcast alongside The Spectator's editor Fraser Nelson. (20:03)
And finally: can Gen Z be counted upon to defend Britain?
Investigating in this week's magazine, The Spectator's assistant online editor Angus Colwell argues not. He speaks to people his own age about whether they would take up arms to defend King and country. This is of course in light of general Sir Patrick Sanders’ comment that Britain may need to resort to conscription if world events spiral further out of control. Angus joins the podcast alongside Dr Mike Martin, security expert and former British army officer. (31:16)
Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.
Produced by Cindy Yu and 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. Absolutely free. Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher. |
| 0:30.1 | Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator, where each week we look at three |
| 0:35.6 | pieces from the magazine with the writers behind them. |
| 0:38.3 | I'm Lara Prendergars, the Spectator's Executive Editor. |
| 0:41.1 | And I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor. |
| 0:43.7 | On this week's episode, we'll be discussing what the smoking ban says about conservatism today. |
| 0:49.1 | We'll be looking at the UAE's track record on press freedom, |
| 0:52.6 | and we'll be asking whether Gen Z can be counted on |
| 0:55.1 | to defend Britain. First up, the government plans to ban disposable vapes and smoking for people |
| 1:01.2 | born after 2009. The bill will likely pass the Commons this month, thanks to Labour support, |
| 1:07.1 | but is this really a wise precedent to assert when it comes to government intervention? |
| 1:16.0 | That's the question Kate Andrews asks in this week's cover piece, and she joins the podcast now, |
| 1:21.7 | together with Lord Bethel, a conservative peer and former health minister, who is very much in favour of the ban. |
| 1:28.1 | Kate, you've written the spectators' cover piece this week, in which you argue that the proposed smoking ban means that the Tories are no longer the party of freedom. It's quite strong words, |
| 1:33.8 | I would say. I suppose the government's defense would be that they want to create a smoke-free |
| 1:38.0 | generation, which is, is that not an admirable and healthy goal? So what is your opposition to it? It is an admirable and healthy |
| 1:47.5 | goal and one that I think the vast majority of people would agree with. I would love for the next |
| 1:52.2 | generation to be smoke-free. The good news for the government is that all of the numbers were |
| 1:56.7 | already going in this direction. We are at the lowest smoking rates. On record, that's true |
| 2:01.2 | for adults. It's also true for children trying cigarettes for the first time. They are at record |
| 2:06.2 | lows. This isn't a popular thing to do anymore. It's not a cool thing to do anymore. The kids don't |
| 2:11.2 | want to smoke. And I think that's fantastic. So the question is, why then create a generational ban? And I suppose the government might say, |
... |
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