The Edition: Reeves's gambit, a debate on assisted dying & queer life in postwar Britain

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4.4 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

This week: the Chancellor’s Budget dilemma.

‘As a former championship chess player, Rachel Reeves must know that the first few moves can be some of the most important of the game,’ writes Rupert Harrison – former chief of staff to George Osborne – for the cover of the magazine this week. But, he says, the truth is that she has played herself into a corner ahead of this month's Budget, with her room for manoeuvre dramatically limited by a series of rash decisions. Her biggest problem is that she has repeatedly ruled out increases in income tax, national insurance and VAT. ‘So which taxes will rise, given that the easy options have been ruled out? The answers appear to be evolving rapidly when ministers are confronted with the OBR’s harsh reality.’ Rupert joined the podcast alongside The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews. (01:29)

Next: Charlie Falconer and Charles Moore debate assisted dying. As Kim Leadbeater’s private member’s bill comes before the Commons, the former justice secretary Lord Falconer (who introduced a similar bill to the Lords) and The Spectator’s chairman Lord Moore debate assisted dying. The full conversation can be found on SpectatorTV but we have an extract from their conversation on the podcast. (19:01)

And finally: In his Books & Arts lead, Philip Hensher reviews Peter Parker’s history of homosexuality from 1945 to 1967, revealing many of the era’s bizarre and, at times, amusing speculations. They both join the podcast to discuss the demonising of homosexuals in postwar Britain and the role of the tabloids in stirring up fear and distrust. (33:26)

Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Spectator magazine is home to wonderful writing, insightful analysis and unrivaled books and arts reviews.
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0:11.5	along with a free £20 £10, John Lewis or Waitrose voucher.
0:15.0	Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher.
0:30.4	Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator, where each week we shed a little light on the thought process behind putting the world's oldest weekly magazine to bed.
0:35.7	I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor. And I'm
0:38.7	Laura Prendergars, the Spectator's executive editor. This week, we look at the challenges facing
0:43.1	the Chancellor ahead of her budget. Lord Moore and Lord Faulkner discuss whether a sister
0:48.0	dying should be legalised, and we look at what queer life was like before homosexuality was
0:53.1	legalised.
1:02.9	First up, Rupert Harrison, the former chief of staff to George Osborne, writes the cover piece for the magazine this week. In it, he argues that Rachel Reeves appears to be starting
1:07.1	her tenure as Chancellor from a position of strength, but actually she has played herself
1:12.8	into a corner ahead of this month's budget, and her room for manoeuvre has been drastically
1:17.1	limited by rash decisions that she's already made. So what will she do now, given that the
1:22.6	early options have been ruled out? Well, Rupert joined me earlier to discuss, along with our
1:27.4	economics editor, Kate Andrews. I started by asking Rupert joined me earlier to discuss, along with our economics editor,
1:28.5	Kate Andrews. I started by asking Rupert to take us through the mistakes that the Chancellor
1:32.9	has made so far. Yeah, sure. Look, thank you for having me. I think that she, in many ways,
1:37.4	starts from an incredibly strong position. She's obviously a very trained and experienced economist.
1:43.1	She and Kirstehm have a huge majority in the House of Commons.
1:45.9	This is the first budget of an incoming administration with a huge majority should be the
1:49.7	moment to set out the agenda for the next five, ten years. But in order to get where she is,
	...

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