In this week’s podcast we talk to Robert Peston about his policy solutions to the causes of Brexit and Trump

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For our final weekly podcast of 2017 we bravely ventured out of UnHerd Towers in London Bridge and travelled three stops along the Jubilee line to Westminster – and to the ITN studios for a chat with one of the biggest names in broadcast journalism – Robert Peston.

It would be fair to say that we gave ITN’s Political Editor more time to answer our questions than he would ever give interviewees on his flagship Sunday morning talk show. It was actually difficult not to give him the time he wanted. When we tried to interrupt his incredibly distinctive voice just got louder!

The focus of our time together was his timely, beautifully-crafted and often compelling new book – WTF. It’s his view of a best way forward for the likes of Britain and America as the “metropolitan bubbles” – of which he is a self-confessed but trying-to-reform member –  seek to understand and respond to the shocks of Brexit and Trump.

In the podcast we explored…

• Whether it was appropriate for a supposedly impartial political editor of Britain’s second most powerful broadcaster to advocate such a clear policy agenda – WTF includes rec0mmendations to levy a wealth tax, cut the privileges of private education, spend a lot more on the NHS, borrow much more for capital spending and – again and again – supports more rather than less government…
• The largely inadequate social reform programme of the current UK government. Robert was of the view that voters were so angry and/or anxious that the very institutions of democracy couldn’t be taken for granted…
• And, in conclusion, we talked about the problem of other news being ‘under-reported’ as the huge subjects of Brexit and Trump consumed such a fat lion’s share of broadcast airtime and newspaper space.

We enjoyed the conversation a great deal and hope you do, too. Many will disagree with much of what WTF advocates but we don’t think you’ll regret the time you spend reading it. Order a copy here.

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