What does Keir Starmer really believe in?
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2024
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a week in which Keir Starmer outlines his six ‘first steps for change’ (just don’t call it a pledge card), Amol and Nick look into what defines the Labour leader’s mission – and how left wing he really is.
Labour insider and author of Starmer’s latest biography, Tom Baldwin, gives Amol and Nick a behind-the-scenes look into what Keir Starmer is really like and how his working class background has shaped his political beliefs.
Zarah Sultana, a leading light among Labour’s socialist MPs, gives her take on whether the left of the party are convinced by Starmerism.
And Susie Dent leaves Countdown’s dictionary corner to join Amol and Nick in the studio with some words that best define the Labour leader – and shares her moment of the week.
Episodes of The Today Podcast land every Thursday and watch out for bonus episodes. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week, with insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme. If you would like a question answering, get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email us Today@bbc.co.uk
The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the UK’s most influential radio news programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.
The senior producer is Tom Smithard, the producers are Hatty Nash and Joe Wilkinson. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Hannah Montgomery and digital production from Elliot Ryder.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.9 | Yeah, Nick, have you, um, have a look at your WhatsApp. |
| 0:08.2 | My first steps for change. |
| 0:11.2 | It looks awfully like that pledge card they used to always talk about Tony Blair having |
| 0:16.2 | before he won an election. |
| 0:18.0 | What is this? |
| 0:18.6 | This is Kirstarmer saying this is what he's going to do with power, is it? Just released six. Six, that's odd, isn't it? Things are normally five or ten. Six steps for change, and you can't call it a pledge card because, of course, most people are going to see it on a phone. They are not going to have a little credit card. Deliver economic stability, cut NHS waiting times, launch a new border security command, |
| 0:39.8 | set up great British energy, crack down on anti-social behaviour, and recruit six and a half thousand new teachers. |
| 0:46.5 | Well, I just wonder, listening to that list, whether some people on what you might call the left of the Labour Party will say, |
| 0:53.0 | this is a leader who is not delivering what he said he would, and he's betrayed us. People on the left of the party would say, you know what, this is a guy who said he's going to re-nationalised utilities. It's gone. This is a guy who said he was going to spend £28 billion on green energy. It's gone and this is a guy who's welcomed Natalie Elphick into the party with open arms. |
| 1:11.2 | I don't think those people are going to be too happy about that. |
| 1:13.5 | And of course we know they're unhappy, people who think that way, partly because of Gaza. |
| 1:19.4 | Because he allowed himself to be trapped in an interview shortly after October 7th and looked like he was saying that Israel had the right to withhold water and power from the Gaza Strip. |
| 1:28.3 | And I think it took him 10 days before he clarified. |
| 1:31.5 | So there are a lot of people who've got their doubts. |
| 1:35.2 | So is this about whether or not he's changed his views or whether or not he doesn't really have any views? |
| 1:40.3 | In other words, who is Kirstama? |
| 1:43.3 | What does he believe? And what is Stama isn't? That's our |
| 1:47.6 | question today. What does Keir Stama really believe in? Let's do it. Do you know, many months in, that music, I like it more and more every time I hear it. |
| 2:07.8 | Hello, it's a mole here in the Today Podcast studio. |
| 2:10.3 | And Nick, back here, which is nice. |
| 2:12.5 | We're going to try and answer a question. |
... |
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