204 | What if Remain Had Won...?

This week Helen and David explore some counterfactuals: What if Remain had won in 2016? What if Corbyn hadn't got on the leadership ballot in 2015? What if Scotland had voted for independence in 2014? We consider whether British politics would be very different or whether a lot of what we are seeing in 2019 was coming anyway. Plus we explore if there are any circumstances in which the stranglehold of the two main parties could be broken in a general election and why the Lib Dems have so spectacularly failed to break it this time.

193 | Cameron's Referendum

David and Helen take a step back to unpick the tortuous history of how we got to the Brexit referendum in the first place. Does the justification Cameron offers in his new memoirs stack up? What was he trying to achieve? And why did we end up with an in/out vote when the political risks were so great? A conversation linked to David's review of Cameron's book in the current 40th anniversary issue of the LRB. https://www.lrb.co.uk

88 | James Meek on the NHS

David talks to journalist and novelist James Meek about his epic new study of the NHS in crisis.  They discuss the ideas behind a generation of NHS reforms, the meaning of efficiency and the challenge of caring for an ageing population.  What does the future hold - Japanese-style robotics or explosive politics and intergenerational strife?  Read the essay in the current edition of the LRB - https://bit.ly/2IpapQv