These guys are brilliant. I have spent much of my life staying out of political discussion due to the sheer hatred of the insincerity of it and yet I find myself watching their debates from end to end. In this new tragic era of echo chambers, fake news and cancel culture, it's refreshing to have two intelligent people discuss pretty much every and any topic, intelligently, rationally, in a measured and respectful way. I might even one day find myself returning to voting. Perhaps the day Rory decides to tell us who he think is actual worth voting for lol. "Hello my name is Rory and I'm a recovering Conservative. I've been Tory-free for four and a half years now but every day is still a struggle". You've earned that pin buddy, keep on going.
I'm a leftwinger, and I like Rory...for his integrity and honesty and his ability to learn from his pre-politics life. He is literally too professional for contemporary politics. Alastair? I'll be polite and say that I admired his willingness to talk about mental health and wellness. He has never been elected to anything, though. I would prefer a...you know, actual proof of working democracy in the left-leaning chair.
I really liked Rory's 2-part documentary on the history of Afghanistan. Government has never made the most of his knowledge. This show has become required viewing.
You two are my absolute favourites for bringing current, and wider events to your viewers, and I thank you for that. I would love to know how you find time to read all the books you talk about in your podcast.
Rory is a one of the most knowledgeable, thoughtful people on the planet and (sorry) the only reason I listen to AC. I do wish he would come back to UK politics he is so needed.
Watching a half hour of this followed by a 20 min class discussion would have been a much better use of time than the time i spent staring out of the window not learning french 😂.
I have lived my whole life in a secular country. And I will always stand by secularism. Although an aethiest, I am of Indian origin so I admit there's likely to be bias here. But I think a proper analysis of Modi and Hindu nationalism can only be done keeping the ludicrously complex history of the subcontinent in mind. And that is that the Islamic Sultanates and Empires were the British Empire to the Indian subcontinet before there was a British Empire in India. To Hindus in India there is as much symbolism as tearing down an Islamic palace as there would be in tearing down a British one. Hindu nationalists do need to put the past behind and accept that Muslims in India are as Indian as Hindu and Jain and Sikh and Bhuddist Indians. You can't undo 2000 years of intermingling. But I still think the context of Islamic Rule is something that can't be left behind when talking Indian politics.
Thank you chaps for your continued rational, intelligent, impartial and clear digest of events. Rory’s knowledge and explanations are as brilliant and useful as they are enjoyable. I find this podcast genuinely very useful in helping me make sense of world events.
Impartial? Hmm. You'd never know after watching their many posts the president of the USA was senile. You'd certainly never know that Britain is illegally imprisoning a journalist who legally released images of America's illegal military activities. Of course, the list goes on and on and on. Indeed, democracy and a free press can go hang as far as these two are concerned but you'd never know it from their demeanour. It comes to something when Britain has to rely on the unlikely duo of David Davis and Jeremy Corbyn to join forces in a last ditch bid to save a free British press. Not that you'd know that listening to Rory and Alastair, or any of the other established media, who are happy to sit in a foreign governments pocket. "Make sense of world events"? I think not. It's far simpler than they'd have you believe.
Two things. Mr Campbell. Thank you for your governments dedication to Northern Ireland. I have grown up through it and appreciate all that you made possible. (and we all miss Mo). Rory. If you had become PM who would have made up your ideal cabinet?
I don't know if it is because of Modi's country of origin that he gets a free pass, but I get the impression you guys are far too lenient with his frankly deranged politics. Imagine if some leader in Europe wanted to cosplay as some crusader by knocking down minority temples and rebuilding old Christian churches? That would rightly provoke outrage yet for some reason because the person in question is Indian there is a "it's a foreign country, they do things differently there" attitude.
Bit reductive to say Yazeed represents the Sunni side. Sunnis maintain that Ali and Hussain were better than their opponents. The Sunni case is that Shia veneration of them goes way too far.
Rory was right saying much love at the start of the podcast - as he meant it - now Alastair wants to say it but can't bring himself to say he loves a friend
Two related questions I would like to see answered are: What would it take for you to change your political allegiances? and Would you ever vote tactically, and if so, how would you feel about it, and would you keep that you had to yourself?
Tbf, it's only tangentially an issue of Brexit. British steel has been in a state of collapse for half a century. It's biggest problem is that Governments don't properly address it, instead, they just bail it out every decade. The long term view would be to decide if domestic steel is strategically important and worth sustaining, even at a loss, in which case it should just be nationalised, or we allow it to fold as an unprofitable enterprise.
@@tisFrancesfault the long term plan should of been re training people into different sectors. Not getting pay rises and everything else. How can workers there on average be on 30% more than the same job elsewhere? In a company not posting profits in the UK. They're lucky they kept some of the jobs vs none.
I worked on a project where we purchased millions of pounds of profile cut sheet steel off these guys. The first deliveries were delivered unmarked, so we couldn't easily check against the drawings, we matched a few sheets and they were back to front so we returned the first few lorries, this took days. The issues were supposedly corrected and redelivered a few days later, half was still wrong so we accepted half the delivery because we had welders waiting. All the future deliveries has stuff which needed returning, most we fixed because it was expedient. Their quality control was woeful and their management didn't appear to give a feck. The next orders were purchased from Holland, it was cheaper and delivered on time and correct first time. I worked on another project for another company, British Steel supplied a huge amount of roofing materials, again the first three or four lorry loads were returned because it was not even close to the drawings. They were purchased by Tata because they were a failing company and therefore cheap. Tata is acutely that there is oversupply of steel in the world market and like many take overs he could take out the competition and form a de-facto monopoly, I'm amazed he took so long closing them down. Europe is a protectionist market actively working against those importing materials which compete with those manufactured inside Europe, like speciality steel. Deals could be made but they are low on the British governments agenda. There are no conservative votes to be won spending time saving the steel industry.
I'm usually a fan of this podcast, but your sweeping statement- "During British rule, Hindus, Muslims, everyone lived together" is laughable. It was the British who first introduced religion in politics. There was no concept of "Hindus voting for Hindus" and "Muslims voting for Muslims". The British started Divide and Rule. They started the partition, they started the border conflict between India-Pakistan and India-China. They started most of the border conflicts we see today. How about covering the temple verdict in more detail? Are you aware that the High Court decided to divide the land for a temple and Mosque to be built? Are you aware that a new mosque is under construction? Give us the facts, not your judgement.
Of course, the problems run deeper than I will ever be educated in. For a civilizational country like India that has a long history coupled with a huge population, there will always be problems. But I don't think that gives you the free pass to come manage them for us. The British did not aim to manage any problems, they just wanted to ensure the problems continued, so they could freely exploit India's resources. India is faarr from perfect, it will always be a work in progress. But for a country like the UK that got rich exploiting half the world, it is laughable to preach democratic values.
Thanks Both... a really useful reminder of how little the consequences of brexit are discussed... the actual consequences... on businesses... imigration... would be great to explore... from both sides. I may be missing abundant reporting on this but I think you raise the point that the consequences... with some good faith analysis... .are just not discussed.... Odd given we don't often have a referremdum.
Have SDP leader William Coulston on please. He’d give your audience a viewpoint you don’t represent much: culturally centre right, but economically centre left. He’d have something to say about Port Talbot for sure…
Sometimes what the people want isn't what's right or in their own self-interest. Thus while I agree that populism is as Rory defines it, as one of the people, I don't think we should be let off the hook by the reckless and manipulative cynicism of the populist politician. The people also have to take some responsibility for their choices.
It's because they're viewed as less than. Northwest Europeans like to pretend Western Civilization began with the Ancient Greeks. They conveniently forget about Places like Iraq (Mesopotamia), the Levant (Syria and Palestine), Egypt, and the Phoenicians, who were the greatest seafarers of the ancient Mediterranean. The Greeks interacted with all of these cultures for centuries before the Persian Super Power appeared on the world stage.
33:13 I wish _this_ is what experts would talk about. To suggest that it all comes down to endlessly arguing over the legitimacy of long-ago leaders, lost in the mists of time, offering two branches in a path that came back together soon enough, is very trivial and an insulting parody of Islamic culture.
when two groups turn against each other over religion or any other thing, it is done to divide and conquer over resources, wealth and power.....wouldn't bother going in to the details of the devision.
I love the way you guys put things across in a clear measured way. Especially in view of your political divides. However I don’t feel that having serving ministers in the debate is helpful as they clearly have their own selling points to put across and it changes the platform. I understand that that we love politics and how it develops but I can’t help feeling that if you get a serving politician on the show it just becomes subjective. Your experience and objective views are wonderful but to be honest if I want to hear the selling points of in time politicians ( which for the most I find evasive and car salesman like) I prefer Jo Coburn to hold them to account.
Watching these two gentlemen talk about populism puts me in mind of a couple of dinosaurs scratching their heads over what all these mammals are up to.
When establishment liberals discuss populism there is a tendency for them to use that term as code for anti-democratic forces, quite rightly in some cases (Jan 6 etc). However, I would prefer that all anti-democratic tendencies, political leaders, political groupings etc are discussed on the merits without favour. Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” speech for example was, in my opinion, profoundly anti-democratic, as was the dithering and outrage amongst liberals over the Brexit referendum. So many of my liberal friends and family seem blind to this distinction, and freely indulge in their version of liberal populism. We need thought leaders that value democracy more than their own politics.
Starmer's inability to commit to anything potentially controversial is worrying. I am afraid his first action as PM will be to return from a visit to Putin saying "I have in my hand a piece of paper".
13:30 : Macron: The French Government has bestowed Modi with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. Dont know how much Macron had to do with this. Does this mean that the French think "Liberté, Égalite, Fraternité" is only for the French? Or does the entire First World think it's only for the First World?
To set some facts straight on India - 1. The Mosque was built after demolition of a existing temple by Babur, an invader, This was validated by the Archeological Survey of India led by KK Muhammad. The actual land and premises was subject of a legal dispute from the late 1800s and the Supreme Court of India gave its final approval/ judgement after multiple rounds of petition before the temple was built. 2. A replacement mosque is being built in Ayodhya too. This will also benefit from all the infrastructure 3. The Gujarat riots happened after trainload of Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive. 4. There have been far fewer riots under Modi than under the Congress 5. India was never secular in a way for eg France is. Instead it has created religious ghettos allowing so called personal laws. This has oppressed Muslim women specially. There should be a single set of modern laws which was done for Hindus and other communities in the 50s by Nehru but not for Muslims. It would be good to be genuinely secular. Modi gave better divorce protection for Muslim women for eg, but hasn't yet brought everyone under modern laws.
Love the correction; these two were former decision makers, Rory, M15 background. Stridency and assertion of other cultures history can see how they arrive at the wrong decisions. 🙃
@@minimalist279 Yep...while we all are correctly worried about fake news another danger is cherry picking facts. I know Alastair being a spin doctor is a bit of an expert in that but had more expectations from Rory. But as the old joke goes - Never let facts get in the way of a biased worldview.
The more I look at UK politics the more the voters seem to look like soccer supporters. Even when the party (team) is makinga mess of it, theystill support their party (team). This is exagerrated by the FPP system.
How much of the present situation in India can be traced back to a very unsatisfactory partition division? Mountbatten couldn’t wait to be shot of the problem and get back to Britain. He gave in to Jinnah’s demands without a thought for the ghastly consequences. Artificial boundaries never work ; we only have to look an Ireland and Israel .
I don't think people realise how terrible it would be for the current establishment to actually win. And for current problems to continue, you are basically encouraging serious civil conflict.
Re. Port Talbot: Before the Brexit referendum, EU anti-dumping tarrifs on cheap foreign steel were blocked by Britain, on the instruction of the Tory government.
I live in south Devon your right most of Devon is Tory except Exeter, were i live ,wr have a Labour MP Ben Bradshaw who is stepping down at next general election Ben took if from the Tories in 1997 General Election, Luke Pollard is the only other Labour MP in Devon Plymouth Sutton, Hopefully we will get more at the next general election tackle voting is a must if we want to ouset the sitting Tory Mel Stride is one I'd love to see unseated 😊
A vote for the SNP helps ensure a Tory defeat, and means a smaller Labour victory, maybe a hung Parliament. The SNP is well to the left o a Starmer Labour Party, and will mean electoral reform. If the Scots vote for independence in a reformation changing tge electoral systematic is even more important for Labour.
The Supreme Court of India concluded that there was a temple on that site and the archaeological surveys ( conducted by a Muslim archaeologist ) proved that there was a temple on site. That doesn’t mean that the mosque should have been demolished . But why don’t politicians tell the full story.
Hi Rory. Can I challenge one thing. Pakistan was not created to be a Muslim state. Jinnah wanted a place where 1. The corruption and inequalities running from top to bottom in society and that some of the islamic principles of jurisprudence were a good influence . 2. A state where anyone could live free of persecution for their beliefs and values. Because Muslims were becoming a persecuted minority in divisions driven at root by the British. This would have been extended to anyone who felt they needed a fresh start and did t feel safe in their current abode. Jinnah himself died a year after partition and sadly had set precedence for the dissolving of parliament. So by the time any agreement was reached (in 1953). The people who had grasped control labelled it the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It should never have been an Islamic Republic. Perhaps it was a poorly executed change programme (to coin a modernism) because you cannot control the will or millions of people who will understand whatever they wish to understand by something but I just wanted to clarify that Jinnah never intended this to be a Muslim state.
I like Johnson. I suspect a big chunk of your audience does. But I don't carry a card for anybody so that's not set in stone .. I'm not a political expert and am looking to you guys to educate me.
I can't tell if the little knot in Campbells earphone wire is there because he hasn't noticed it, doesn't care it's there or has done it intentionally to troll viewers with OCD...
Because India has become such a Hindu religious state under Modi it will never rival China which might be an autocratic state but at least the people no longer starve and you cannot say that about India.
Add to all the other points you made above India the fact that people are paid to vote (and paid more locally to vote 'the right way') and you can see where another Modi term will mean. Rory has Yusaf on the head. He's doing everything he can to divert attention from his in-laws and their criminal troubles. Trump can be treated politely but he also needs to be stood up to. There will be no special relationship with the US unless it benefits Trump.
It feels like you guys use the word ‘populist’ when it’s someone someone white. But what you’ve described to me in India just sounds much like what these other popular nationalist/populist leaders are doing. You choose to focus on the religion - when you could easily read the situation as re-invigoration and protection of Hindu culture.
These guys are brilliant. I have spent much of my life staying out of political discussion due to the sheer hatred of the insincerity of it and yet I find myself watching their debates from end to end. In this new tragic era of echo chambers, fake news and cancel culture, it's refreshing to have two intelligent people discuss pretty much every and any topic, intelligently, rationally, in a measured and respectful way. I might even one day find myself returning to voting. Perhaps the day Rory decides to tell us who he think is actual worth voting for lol. "Hello my name is Rory and I'm a recovering Conservative. I've been Tory-free for four and a half years now but every day is still a struggle". You've earned that pin buddy, keep on going.
I'm a leftwinger, and I like Rory...for his integrity and honesty and his ability to learn from his pre-politics life. He is literally too professional for contemporary politics. Alastair? I'll be polite and say that I admired his willingness to talk about mental health and wellness. He has never been elected to anything, though. I would prefer a...you know, actual proof of working democracy in the left-leaning chair.
I really liked Rory's 2-part documentary on the history of Afghanistan. Government has never made the most of his knowledge. This show has become required viewing.
Check out The Rest is History, it's another Gary Lineker show.
and inaccurate
My week isn’t complete without the Rest is politics
I've started talking like Rory since listening to so many of these shows
😂
very good
You two are my absolute favourites for bringing current, and wider events to your viewers, and I thank you for that. I would love to know how you find time to read all the books you talk about in your podcast.
Nothing brings me peace like seeing a new ep is posted. I love you both
Rory is a one of the most knowledgeable, thoughtful people on the planet and (sorry) the only reason I listen to AC. I do wish he would come back to UK politics he is so needed.
Love how Rory can deliver his "very good" without moving his lips at 13:00.
Masterclass
😂
witf
Lovely way to spend 37 minutes of time, listening to these two shoot the breeze of international politics. These podcasts should be in schools.
Watching a half hour of this followed by a 20 min class discussion would have been a much better use of time than the time i spent staring out of the window not learning french 😂.
Quite sure the class would engage too, non ? 🤪 @@tmarritt
Thank you for the podcast. Can you please put book recommendations in the description. Thanks again!
Great conversation guys, informative & thought provoking as always….
I misread this as a reference to Sonny and Cher.
I learn so much here! Thank you to both 😊❤
Rory Stewart literally fizzles with intelligence. And he appears to run almost entirely on coffee ☕️.
Very enjoyable, informative and educational. Thank you, both.
I can't believe you made me wait until the end to hear the answer to the tile: well worth it though. Always love turning in.
I have lived my whole life in a secular country. And I will always stand by secularism. Although an aethiest, I am of Indian origin so I admit there's likely to be bias here.
But I think a proper analysis of Modi and Hindu nationalism can only be done keeping the ludicrously complex history of the subcontinent in mind.
And that is that the Islamic Sultanates and Empires were the British Empire to the Indian subcontinet before there was a British Empire in India. To Hindus in India there is as much symbolism as tearing down an Islamic palace as there would be in tearing down a British one.
Hindu nationalists do need to put the past behind and accept that Muslims in India are as Indian as Hindu and Jain and Sikh and Bhuddist Indians. You can't undo 2000 years of intermingling.
But I still think the context of Islamic Rule is something that can't be left behind when talking Indian politics.
Thanks for posting
Thank you chaps for your continued rational, intelligent, impartial and clear digest of events. Rory’s knowledge and explanations are as brilliant and useful as they are enjoyable. I find this podcast genuinely very useful in helping me make sense of world events.
Impartial? Hmm. You'd never know after watching their many posts the president of the USA was senile. You'd certainly never know that Britain is illegally imprisoning a journalist who legally released images of America's illegal military activities.
Of course, the list goes on and on and on. Indeed, democracy and a free press can go hang as far as these two are concerned but you'd never know it from their demeanour. It comes to something when Britain has to rely on the unlikely duo of David Davis and Jeremy Corbyn to join forces in a last ditch bid to save a free British press. Not that you'd know that listening to Rory and Alastair, or any of the other established media, who are happy to sit in a foreign governments pocket.
"Make sense of world events"? I think not. It's far simpler than they'd have you believe.
Impartial…that was funny!
Two things.
Mr Campbell. Thank you for your governments dedication to Northern Ireland. I have grown up through it and appreciate all that you made possible.
(and we all miss Mo).
Rory. If you had become PM who would have made up your ideal cabinet?
Thank you for the great podcast.
Just brilliant as ever. Interesting, informative, open, not a hint of dogma and fun
I don't know if it is because of Modi's country of origin that he gets a free pass, but I get the impression you guys are far too lenient with his frankly deranged politics. Imagine if some leader in Europe wanted to cosplay as some crusader by knocking down minority temples and rebuilding old Christian churches? That would rightly provoke outrage yet for some reason because the person in question is Indian there is a "it's a foreign country, they do things differently there" attitude.
@@nem2966 Yh don't get me started on the wannabe Sultan Erdogan...
Bit reductive to say Yazeed represents the Sunni side. Sunnis maintain that Ali and Hussain were better than their opponents. The Sunni case is that Shia veneration of them goes way too far.
Great conversation as ever: thanks both!
Rory was right saying much love at the start of the podcast - as he meant it - now Alastair wants to say it but can't bring himself to say he loves a friend
Two related questions I would like to see answered are:
What would it take for you to change your political allegiances?
and
Would you ever vote tactically, and if so, how would you feel about it, and would you keep that you had to yourself?
Whats funny about the port talbot steel issue is I bet 80+% of the workers probably voted for brexit over immigration
Tbf, it's only tangentially an issue of Brexit. British steel has been in a state of collapse for half a century.
It's biggest problem is that Governments don't properly address it, instead, they just bail it out every decade.
The long term view would be to decide if domestic steel is strategically important and worth sustaining, even at a loss, in which case it should just be nationalised, or we allow it to fold as an unprofitable enterprise.
@@tisFrancesfault the long term plan should of been re training people into different sectors. Not getting pay rises and everything else. How can workers there on average be on 30% more than the same job elsewhere? In a company not posting profits in the UK. They're lucky they kept some of the jobs vs none.
@@tisFrancesfault totally agree!!
I worked on a project where we purchased millions of pounds of profile cut sheet steel off these guys. The first deliveries were delivered unmarked, so we couldn't easily check against the drawings, we matched a few sheets and they were back to front so we returned the first few lorries, this took days. The issues were supposedly corrected and redelivered a few days later, half was still wrong so we accepted half the delivery because we had welders waiting. All the future deliveries has stuff which needed returning, most we fixed because it was expedient. Their quality control was woeful and their management didn't appear to give a feck.
The next orders were purchased from Holland, it was cheaper and delivered on time and correct first time.
I worked on another project for another company, British Steel supplied a huge amount of roofing materials, again the first three or four lorry loads were returned because it was not even close to the drawings.
They were purchased by Tata because they were a failing company and therefore cheap.
Tata is acutely that there is oversupply of steel in the world market and like many take overs he could take out the competition and form a de-facto monopoly, I'm amazed he took so long closing them down.
Europe is a protectionist market actively working against those importing materials which compete with those manufactured inside Europe, like speciality steel. Deals could be made but they are low on the British governments agenda. There are no conservative votes to be won spending time saving the steel industry.
The steel issue is nothing to do with Brexit but everything to do with foreign ownership that owes no loyalty to the UK!
just ordered "the house divided"..thnx dudes1!!!!
I'm usually a fan of this podcast, but your sweeping statement- "During British rule, Hindus, Muslims, everyone lived together" is laughable. It was the British who first introduced religion in politics. There was no concept of "Hindus voting for Hindus" and "Muslims voting for Muslims". The British started Divide and Rule. They started the partition, they started the border conflict between India-Pakistan and India-China. They started most of the border conflicts we see today. How about covering the temple verdict in more detail? Are you aware that the High Court decided to divide the land for a temple and Mosque to be built? Are you aware that a new mosque is under construction? Give us the facts, not your judgement.
I wonder if the problems in India run more deep than you are educated in and Britain simply sought to manage them (albeit imperfectly).
Of course, the problems run deeper than I will ever be educated in. For a civilizational country like India that has a long history coupled with a huge population, there will always be problems. But I don't think that gives you the free pass to come manage them for us. The British did not aim to manage any problems, they just wanted to ensure the problems continued, so they could freely exploit India's resources. India is faarr from perfect, it will always be a work in progress. But for a country like the UK that got rich exploiting half the world, it is laughable to preach democratic values.
More history lessons from Rory pls
Thanks Both... a really useful reminder of how little the consequences of brexit are discussed... the actual consequences... on businesses... imigration... would be great to explore... from both sides. I may be missing abundant reporting on this but I think you raise the point that the consequences... with some good faith analysis... .are just not discussed.... Odd given we don't often have a referremdum.
Imagine day after election day Rory going ‘- I was so vexed by it all that I ended up voting for UKIP.’ 😂
Not possible. He's nobody's sockpuppet.
Rory’s not in government, because he’s so bloody bright he scares the crap out of most of his colleagues. Discuss ?
Brilliant podcast but as usual, the title didn't represent the main discussion point.
What was the main point?
Look at young Rory in the thumbnail, Handsome lad
Rory always reminds me of Wallace from Wallace and Gromit… it’s that wide mouth toothy grin.
Rory...with your constant ruffling and preening of your hair are you trying to emulate Boris's style? Or is it an Eton thing?
So wise, so very wise.
Great content again gentlemen. I do have a question on Alistair's book cover. Why is Bezos on there twice ?
Sunni and Shia..........I thought they split up in the '80s............intelligent conversation always needs a pratt to lighten the mood
Thumbs up 👍
Have SDP leader William Coulston on please. He’d give your audience a viewpoint you don’t represent much: culturally centre right, but economically centre left. He’d have something to say about Port Talbot for sure…
Agree on this one. A very popular politics often overlooked but should nonetheless be heard and scrutinised.
Everybody is unpopular in France!
So how is the Hindu minority doing in Pakistan then? How about the Christians? Is there such a thing ans Hinduphobia or Christianphobia?
Any chance of a discussion about conscription, as it's back in the headlines?
Sometimes what the people want isn't what's right or in their own self-interest. Thus while I agree that populism is as Rory defines it, as one of the people, I don't think we should be let off the hook by the reckless and manipulative cynicism of the populist politician. The people also have to take some responsibility for their choices.
Tbf they could keep a lot of industry alive in the UK by infrastructure building. Houses, rail, trams etc
How any foreign policy could be conceived during Iraq and Afghanistan without basic Islamic knowledge is shocking
It's because they're viewed as less than. Northwest Europeans like to pretend Western Civilization began with the Ancient Greeks. They conveniently forget about Places like Iraq (Mesopotamia), the Levant (Syria and Palestine), Egypt, and the Phoenicians, who were the greatest seafarers of the ancient Mediterranean. The Greeks interacted with all of these cultures for centuries before the Persian Super Power appeared on the world stage.
Alistair. Perhaps you should turn the heating on. !!
Rory..true warrior savant....
33:13 I wish _this_ is what experts would talk about. To suggest that it all comes down to endlessly arguing over the legitimacy of long-ago leaders, lost in the mists of time, offering two branches in a path that came back together soon enough, is very trivial and an insulting parody of Islamic culture.
when two groups turn against each other over religion or any other thing, it is done to divide and conquer over resources, wealth and power.....wouldn't bother going in to the details of the devision.
I saw the thumbnail for this episode and misread it as "foreign policy knowledge CAP"
I love the way you guys put things across in a clear measured way. Especially in view of your political divides.
However I don’t feel that having serving ministers in the debate is helpful as they clearly have their own selling points to put across and it changes the platform.
I understand that that we love politics and how it develops but I can’t help feeling that if you get a serving politician on the show it just becomes subjective.
Your experience and objective views are wonderful but to be honest if I want to hear the selling points of in time politicians ( which for the most I find evasive and car salesman like) I prefer Jo Coburn to hold them to account.
Watching these two gentlemen talk about populism puts me in mind of a couple of dinosaurs scratching their heads over what all these mammals are up to.
When establishment liberals discuss populism there is a tendency for them to use that term as code for anti-democratic forces, quite rightly in some cases (Jan 6 etc).
However, I would prefer that all anti-democratic tendencies, political leaders, political groupings etc are discussed on the merits without favour. Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” speech for example was, in my opinion, profoundly anti-democratic, as was the dithering and outrage amongst liberals over the Brexit referendum.
So many of my liberal friends and family seem blind to this distinction, and freely indulge in their version of liberal populism.
We need thought leaders that value democracy more than their own politics.
Starmer's inability to commit to anything potentially controversial is worrying. I am afraid his first action as PM will be to return from a visit to Putin saying "I have in my hand a piece of paper".
13:30 : Macron: The French Government has bestowed Modi with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. Dont know how much Macron had to do with this. Does this mean that the French think "Liberté, Égalite, Fraternité" is only for the French? Or does the entire First World think it's only for the First World?
To set some facts straight on India - 1. The Mosque was built after demolition of a existing temple by Babur, an invader, This was validated by the Archeological Survey of India led by KK Muhammad. The actual land and premises was subject of a legal dispute from the late 1800s and the Supreme Court of India gave its final approval/ judgement after multiple rounds of petition before the temple was built. 2. A replacement mosque is being built in Ayodhya too. This will also benefit from all the infrastructure 3. The Gujarat riots happened after trainload of Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive. 4. There have been far fewer riots under Modi than under the Congress 5. India was never secular in a way for eg France is. Instead it has created religious ghettos allowing so called personal laws. This has oppressed Muslim women specially. There should be a single set of modern laws which was done for Hindus and other communities in the 50s by Nehru but not for Muslims. It would be good to be genuinely secular. Modi gave better divorce protection for Muslim women for eg, but hasn't yet brought everyone under modern laws.
Love the correction; these two were former decision makers, Rory, M15 background. Stridency and assertion of other cultures history can see how they arrive at the wrong decisions. 🙃
@@minimalist279 Yep...while we all are correctly worried about fake news another danger is cherry picking facts. I know Alastair being a spin doctor is a bit of an expert in that but had more expectations from Rory. But as the old joke goes - Never let facts get in the way of a biased worldview.
Can someone explain the positive correlation between affiliation with tory party and unkempt hair.
Is Rory going for the Boris look with the roughed up hair.
Dishevelled chic. 😂
I'm finding this episode interesting. waiting for AC to mention Brexit got to 12 mins so far without mention.
I lived between both:
Shia religion wants Iran to rule the world 🤢
Sunni the muslims wants to worship one God no matter who rules wherever they are 🤲🏻
Anyone else looking for Granny Dryden's Cat?
Did they find the Rama temple under 😅 or is it another Sulomon temple under Jerusalem
Ultimately, a clerical issue 😂
For some reason I hear Jeff Ross's voice when saying that 😂
I got to admit I don't understand people who are die hard voters for one party. I've for all three over the year. I think I'm the exception though.
The more I look at UK politics the more the voters seem to look like soccer supporters. Even when the party (team) is makinga mess of it, theystill support their party (team). This is exagerrated by the FPP system.
I always think this too!
I must have missed something, I wasn't aware we had a choice in voting this time.
Dear rory and alistair, why couldn't the government convert the port tablot steel works into producing nato shells until the war is over?
That moment when Rory says "I will just give listeners a little background" 🙈🙈
Yes, indeed - time to actively listen. Brilliant bloke.
He treats the listeners like they are all thick , patronising tosser
How much of the present situation in India can be traced back to a very unsatisfactory partition division? Mountbatten couldn’t wait to be shot of the problem and get back to Britain. He gave in to Jinnah’s demands without a thought for the ghastly consequences. Artificial boundaries never work ; we only have to look an Ireland and Israel .
I don't think people realise how terrible it would be for the current establishment to actually win.
And for current problems to continue, you are basically encouraging serious civil conflict.
so if I'm Alistair, I just think, "What woudl Tony Blair do?" and then I'm licesend to say all manner of bollocks.
Re. Port Talbot: Before the Brexit referendum, EU anti-dumping tarrifs on cheap foreign steel were blocked by Britain, on the instruction of the Tory government.
I live in south Devon your right most of Devon is Tory except Exeter, were i live ,wr have a Labour MP Ben Bradshaw who is stepping down at next general election Ben took if from the Tories in 1997 General Election,
Luke Pollard is the only other Labour MP in Devon Plymouth Sutton,
Hopefully we will get more at the next general election tackle voting is a must if we want to ouset the sitting Tory Mel Stride is one I'd love to see unseated 😊
The Prophet appointed the Imam Ali in the same way Jesus appointed Peter
A vote for the SNP helps ensure a Tory defeat, and means a smaller Labour victory, maybe a hung Parliament. The SNP is well to the left o a Starmer Labour Party, and will mean electoral reform. If the Scots vote for independence in a reformation changing tge electoral systematic is even more important for Labour.
usually Scandinavian countries pick good leaders.
Rory mentioned the Mughals. I often wonder if we got our word mogul from this word of the past rulers of India.
The Supreme Court of India concluded that there was a temple on that site and the archaeological surveys ( conducted by a Muslim archaeologist ) proved that there was a temple on site. That doesn’t mean that the mosque should have been demolished . But why don’t politicians tell the full story.
and before all that there was nothing but earth and some plants.
Rory should say he's still going to vote Tory, if just to wind up Alastair.
In Saudi Arabia the weather can be Sunni or Shiite.
It's alot more nuanced than that us sunnis don't side with yazid 😊
Mr. Campbell thinks he "dodged a bullet". The same could not be said of generations of Gandhis. 😮
Hi Rory. Can I challenge one thing. Pakistan was not created to be a Muslim state. Jinnah wanted a place where
1. The corruption and inequalities running from top to bottom in society and that some of the islamic principles of jurisprudence were a good influence .
2. A state where anyone could live free of persecution for their beliefs and values. Because Muslims were becoming a persecuted minority in divisions driven at root by the British. This would have been extended to anyone who felt they needed a fresh start and did t feel safe in their current abode.
Jinnah himself died a year after partition and sadly had set precedence for the dissolving of parliament. So by the time any agreement was reached (in 1953). The people who had grasped control labelled it the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It should never have been an Islamic Republic.
Perhaps it was a poorly executed change programme (to coin a modernism) because you cannot control the will or millions of people who will understand whatever they wish to understand by something but I just wanted to clarify that Jinnah never intended this to be a Muslim state.
Rory, can you be my 'phone a friend' for my appearance on 'Who wants to be a millionaire?'? What don't you know?!
I like Johnson. I suspect a big chunk of your audience does. But I don't carry a card for anybody so that's not set in stone .. I'm not a political expert and am looking to you guys to educate me.
I can't tell if the little knot in Campbells earphone wire is there because he hasn't noticed it, doesn't care it's there or has done it intentionally to troll viewers with OCD...
Gandhi means Smith, in passing.
Is it true that Trump is trying to get Republicans to vote _against_ reform for the southern border? If so, is that actually a good strategy?
Because India has become such a Hindu religious state under Modi it will never rival China which might be an autocratic state but at least the people no longer starve and you cannot say that about India.
I bet the kit-kat club hasn't got any real kit-kats in it.😢🍫
It must have other delights...😅
From Turkey?@@paulheydarian1281
Add to all the other points you made above India the fact that people are paid to vote (and paid more locally to vote 'the right way') and you can see where another Modi term will mean.
Rory has Yusaf on the head. He's doing everything he can to divert attention from his in-laws and their criminal troubles.
Trump can be treated politely but he also needs to be stood up to. There will be no special relationship with the US unless it benefits Trump.
Ah Religion, the one thing your god doesn’t want you to get involved in.
I fully intend to tactical vote. Luckily for labour that means in my constituency its them.
We vote Renaissance 🇨🇵🇪🇺 and will soon vote Labour 🏴 for the first time since 1983 (oops 1985, I forgot) 😂🎉. +1
It's not our problem, we should stay out of it!
WHO WANTS TO WATCH THESE TO ISRAELI LOVER
Alistair is always playing second fiddle to Rory, intellectually but he does do it well.
It feels like you guys use the word ‘populist’ when it’s someone someone white. But what you’ve described to me in India just sounds much like what these other popular nationalist/populist leaders are doing. You choose to focus on the religion - when you could easily read the situation as re-invigoration and protection of Hindu culture.