Bad politics, local elections, and toxic debates

[@tanyapedwards]

I was elected in 2017, actually took the labour leaders seat so it was quite a big achievement as a local independent Councillor. Went in so passionate and determined and left after one term deflated and very cynical of our democratic system. For me it was the civil servants very often working against us, sometimes outright lying to us, sometimes just failing to engage in anyway at all. It was virtually impossible to feel like you were making any sort of difference. I'm slowly starting to get back into politics now but it left a very bad taste in my mouth for a very long time afterwards. I would urge my two grown daughters to have an understanding and an awareness of the machinations of local and national politics but its hard to say if I would actively encourage them to stand. Its one of the biggest honours and achievements of my life, I learnt so much and have no regrets for having had a go but it was also really difficult from a personal moral perspective and towards the end questioning if you had just become part of the problem 🤔

[@alasdairjames1215]

My children suggested I listen to this... Going on and on about it in fact. Just had my first listen. Brilliant! Alasdair from Buckfastleigh

[@dmd9080]

Rory Stewart is such a great intellectual.

[@davebento1548]

Wouldn't it be great if Rory was tory leader and Alistair labour leader. Always remember the fact that Rory like his 300 other tory MP's knew exactly what a liar and crook johnson was. The difference is that Rory was the only one to have the integrity to say I cannot serve under this liar and crook. The rest put themselves first. That is why Rory should be leader.

[@mrques2x115]

Only an establishment lacky, with no general knowledge, would have thought that Johnson was anything other than a waste of space. This should not be a qualification for 'leadership'. This is common sense.

[@garethyoung6067]

Excellent as always

[@sarahrigby7580]

Are the back editions of this podcast going to be made available via KZbin as well please? Really enjoyed these two last episodes, thank you. I have to say, as someone English (who identifies as British and European, but I must be specific for this point), I am constantly amazed and horrified by the complete lack of knowledge or interest, that I come across all the time, in the basics of Northern Irish politics, especially in those of my age or older, ie those who lived through some of “The Troubles” (always an odd name for what was effectively a war), who would’ve seen the acts of terrorism in England, even if they didn’t pay attention to Ireland. I grew up in Hertfordshire, just north of London, which was a frequent destination for outings as there wasn’t much locally. I was caught up in evacuations, bomb scares, controlled explosions - you name it, but fortunately all incidents that were either false alarms or dealt with without injury- so transport was often chaotic and I didn’t have a mobile phone back then. Although one controlled explosion did turn out to be egg mayo sandwiches, where a railway worker had obviously dropped them on the track at some point. At school, as part of my GCSE History syllabus, one module was about how a continuing story from history still actively affects the present day (many examples of which have been touched upon in the podcast, such as the Act of Union, or the break with Rome, or the evolution of Europe post-WW2, or the drastic social changes, especially those associated with class and gender, ushered in by both WWs) and our school did modern-day Northern Ireland, basically what the situation was (this was 1993-1995) and how we’d got there. It really should’ve been part of the compulsory National Curriculum and still should be, imo. As well as putting it in the correct historical contexts and looking at both arguments, part of the work was about looking at handling biased sources and effectively trying to figure out what’s reliable, how to check and process political propaganda, and what is today called fake news. The Good Friday agreement felt like a miracle - goodness only knows what it felt like in NI. It also required everyone in NI, no matter which side of the debate they were on, to make huge sacrifices, which the vast majority agreed to after having carefully read through and debated the terms of the deal before voting in a referendum. I moved up to the NW at 18 to go to University and have stayed in the area since, although have changed cities. When it came to the Brexit débâcle, it was immediately obvious that any form of withdrawal from the CU and EEC would jeopardise the GFA. People didn’t seem to care though. There was little in the way of people seeking out further knowledge and both campaigns were awful in different ways. I know people who believed the slogans on the sides of a bus and voted leave thinking it would save the persistently underfunded NHS. No one actually seemed to consider the NI question and believed the politicians who confidently stated it wouldn’t be a problem. In 1997, I turned 18 just in time to vote for the first time in the May GE that year, then later that year, I moved to Manchester, which had acquired the nickname of Polo City, because an IRA bomb had blasted a large hole in the middle of the city centre the previous year. Just down the road, in leave-voting Warrington, there is the Peace Centre, opened in memory of those killed by an IRA bomb there. Liverpool sits at the junction of the Mersey river and the Irish Sea and relies on the labour of Irish and EU economic migrants, and has benefitted greatly from EU regeneration funds when effectively written off and left to rot by successive British governments, and we certainly don’t need the hassles that strongly enforcing a border in the Irish Sea would bring. Yet bring any of that up in the NW in the run up to 2016, and people didn’t know, didn’t care: they wanted a better NHS and less foreigners 🙄etc etc And both Liverpool and Manchester have a good level of interest and engagement with politics- people will bring up the big news stories and interviews and ask you what you think of what Boris/Starmer said, and do so in a polite way usually. If engagement or consideration of key issues is a problem around here, it certainly will be in other places away from London, and the lack of engagement- poor turn outs, lack of knowledge, just letting the media spoon feed them - worries me.

[@davebento1548]

Worries me too Sarah excellent comment

[@sparkskie]

Great podcast- can’t wait for future episodes

[@Bettys_Eldest]

I was wondering a couple of days ago, if when Keir Starmer becomes Prime Minister he might elevate Rory Stewart to the house of Lords to then take up a Cabinet position. I would not expect Rory to accept collective responsibility in all matters, but to have agreed in advance where they might differ. I'd like to see Mhairi Black of the SNP in a ministerial post too.

[@helenedwards1468]

Just found your podcast. Have always rated you individually as being people with analytical minds but now in one podcast. Would like to see you in the government again Rory but not sure your role would not be more beneficial as you describe in the interview you had with Harry Kreisler many years ago where you describe being a lens between government and people and people and government. Not sure if it was this podcast or the later one when Boris has resigned but you talked of parliamentary reform, where would you start with that? Is it even feasible?

[@iandolan-betney6343]

I know I'm late in the discussion, but my knowledge of history has yet to be included. The East of what we now call Ukraine was determined by the Soviet Union. In 1954 Mr Kruschev needed/wanted the Ukraine vote in the Soviet that was called to to win selection. So he made a deal and transferred Crimea to Ukraine. Previously, in 1917, the Donbas were absorbed into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the middle of a revolution. The claims of the people of both the Donbas and the Crimea were ignored by the West in 1991, and so was born Ukraine! Meanwhile, I see the Russians have found a Czar again.

[@lynnmay6436]

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