Where’s the money coming from?
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2024
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In an interview with Nick on Radio 4’s Today this week, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined how Labour would try to plug the gap in NHS funding. The interview raised big political and economic questions about the state of the nation’s finances ahead of the next general election.
In The Today Podcast this week, Nick reflects on that interview and why the economic credibility of opposition parties can win or lose elections.
Former chancellor Philip Hammond lifts the curtain on his time in the Treasury and tells us why it is not easy to be honest about the state of public spending.
And Bloomberg’s head of economics and politics, former BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders, challenges Nick on whether the media are asking politicians the right questions on the economy.
Plus Newsnight host Kirsty Wark pops in to give us her moment of the week – and talk about Netflix’s Prince Andrew drama ‘Scoop’.
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 Hazel Morgan and Joe Wilkinson. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Jonny Hall and digital production from Elliot Ryder.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | Sometimes, after you've done a big interview, you spend the rest of the day thinking whether you've got it quite right. |
| 0:12.2 | And a way to cheer yourself up is not to look at Twitter. |
| 0:15.7 | I looked at what we now have to call X this week, having talked to Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, |
| 0:21.5 | about the big question in my mind that is going to dominate much of politics in the run-up |
| 0:28.5 | to the next election. It's the subject we're talking about this week on the Today podcast. |
| 0:33.7 | Where is the money coming from? Public spending in this country is more than £11,100 billion. |
| 0:40.9 | We're having a conversation about raising less than £1 billion. This is loose change down the back of the Treasury. |
| 0:49.2 | So far, it's not a meaningful economic conversation at all. |
| 0:52.0 | Well, Nick, you're right to say that in the first year |
| 0:54.8 | you would raise around £0.7 billion net from the tax avoidance measures rising to £5.1 billion |
| 1:00.9 | by the end of the Parliament. But we're also announcing today ensuring... If it happens. |
| 1:06.3 | Well, Nick, I'm confident about these numbers. This is based on... |
| 1:10.6 | Now, I wasn't trying to catch her out. |
| 1:11.9 | That wasn't what some people call a gotcha question. |
| 1:15.2 | It was me trying to say, these are not the things that you as a very experienced economist, |
| 1:22.8 | a woman who worked in the Bank of England, a woman who knows what she's talking about, |
| 1:25.9 | will really have to focus on |
| 1:27.9 | if, when you become Chancellor of the Exchequer. Now, those questions, some people thought were |
| 1:35.5 | politically unfair because they thought it's always Labour that get asked that question. Others thought |
| 1:42.4 | were economically stupid as the big questions about the economy |
| 1:46.6 | are much more important than trading blows about whether this sum of tax will pay for that |
... |
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