Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Based on his live one-man show Rock & Roll Politics, the broadcaster and author Steve Richards takes a weekly behind-the-scenes tour of UK politics and the media that shapes the way we view the epic political dramas. The future is ridiculously unpredictable and the past is so easy to misread. Subscribe to your weekly guide through seismic times.
276
The Dangerous Self- Confidence of Etonian Prime...
One of the biggest differences between Conservative Prime Ministers and the few Labour leaders that have made it to Number 10 is their level of self confidence. B Johnson has pursued the hardest possible Brexit without agonising about its impact on...
36 min
277
Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Rebel Tory MPs
Michael Gove wrote a well argued essay in the Times explaining the reasoning behind the new tier system. Within hours a panic stricken Boris Johnson implicitly undermined the arguments to appease Conservative MPs..and even before the tiers replace the...
36 min
278
Form A Square Around the Pritster
With Rock N Roll Politics streaming live on Monday at 7 here's a great chance on the podcast to have more time for your brilliant questions, this time from BBC interviewing styles to the Number 10 'reset'...Plus B Johnson's use of the term 'Pritster'...
33 min
279
Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings and a Downing S...
With the departure of Dominic Cummings there is much talk of a 'reset' in Downing Street... But how much will really change or can change? Plus more brilliant questions..keep them coming : . Tickets for Rock N Roll Politics the live lockdown special...
34 min
280
Biden, Merkel, Macron....and Brexit Johnson.
The victory of Joe Biden and the fall of Donald Trump raise many questions: What's the impact on the increasingly isolated B Johnson? Will 'Trumpism' flourish without Trump ( I doubt it)? Are there lessons for the BBC in CNN's grown up coverage (Yes)?...
31 min
281
Johnson and Lockdown; Starmer and Corbyn
We're living through epic times...B Johnson calls a second national lockdown inevitably. Yet he acts weeks after he was advised to do so..the same dark sequence as in the spring. When leaders are out of their depth they repeat past misjudgements...
44 min
282
Boris Johnson V Andy Burnham and Marcus Rashford
A government with a big majority faces a dizzying array of critics less than a year since its election victory -some of its own MPs highlight forensically what's wrong with the 'world beating Test and Trace' system, Marcus Rashford is once again the...
42 min
283
Covid Response in the UK and the Consequences o...
A preview of the live stream of Rock N Roll Politics from the Kings Place Website at 7pm on Monday (and available for a few days after the live event). There'a lot to catch up on..Brexit, Covid latest, your questions and much more. Tickets here: ...
5 min
284
Steve Richards Presents Rock n Roll Politics
Boris Johnson's unconvincing 'Third Way' on Covid
38 min
285
Test and Trace-The Reasons for The World Beatin...
In another packed episode-latest on Covid testing, B Johnson's conference speech crammed with objectives without explaining how he'll meet any of them-and your brilliant questions inc Andrew Neil's new channel, Keir Starmer's knighthood..and...
42 min
286
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak-Nothing is What I...
The media is trained to spot tensions between PMs and Chancellors, but often gets the complex relationship wrong...plus Covid, the government's response and Monty Python's Flying Circus...and your brilliant questions.
36 min
287
The Tory Papers Turn on Boris Johnson
As the virus wreaks havoc again, why some MPs are calling for the army to intervene ...and why there'll be significant consequences as some Tory newspapers give B Johnson a hard time (though nowhere near as hard as they would have done to a Labour...
31 min
288
Boris Seeks to Break the Law
The government's 'oven ready' deal that would 'get Brexit done' is now being violated...by the government...and your brilliant questions on Boris Johnson, Brexit, Keir Starmer and much more.
35 min
289
Brexit is back (it never went away)
The Number 10 that presided chaotically over Covid and its consequences does not go for introspective humility...Instead of learning lessons from its failures it moves on with naive self-confidence and counterproductive machismo as it threatens to...
41 min
290
Prime Ministers and the Misery of Power
Boris Johnson is struggling. Does he realise yet that he is not equipped to meet the epic demands of leadership? Writing the paperback version of 'The Prime Ministers- Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to Johnson' I am struck by how miserable...
29 min
291
The most significant political year since 1945
Have the last twelve months been the most historic since the end of World War Two? Covid, Brexit, a big Tory election win....that takes a lot of beating..there's been the Suez Crisis, Sterling Crises, Three Day Weeks, Winter of Discontent, Iraq,...
10 min
292
Boris Johnson and A Fear of Scrutiny
In UK politics B Johnson can escape scrutiny more easily than D Trump, Johnson's model of leadership in some respects. Johnson does not like being challenged and in one huge policy area he is getting his way. The UK economy faces another big hit...
28 min
293
Keir Starmer's 100 days and How to Challenge Ri...
Rishi Sunak walks on water but he does so by putting the case for borrowing and spending. How should Labour respond? There are big risks and opportunities for Starmer and his new team.
28 min
294
Prime Ministers and the Favourite Special Advisers
Is Dominic Cummings the most powerful Number 10 special adviser of modern times? I reflect on the relationship between PMs and their favourite special advisers. From Harold Wilson and Marcia Williams to Johnson and Cummings...the most...
11 min
295
Boris Johnson as Churchill, Roosevelt and Jose...
This week I reflect on the chasm between B Johnson's bold objectives and his capacity to deliver..plus Dominic Cummings, the shallow revolutionary with angry, contradictory plans...and K Starmer's sacking of RLB and the complex implications.
31 min
296
Will Boris Johnson be PM at the time of the nex...
In this episode I reflect on the contradictory leaks coming from Number 10, the Treasury and the wider government..and reveal the outcome of my exclusive poll on the fate of Boris Johnson.
32 min
297
The Virtual Live Show
A lookahead to the next virtual live Rock N Roll Politics on Wednesday June 17th.
8 min
298
Boris Johnson And The Question of Competence
In England voters only turn against Conservative governments when they are seen as incompetent. With one of the highest virus death tolls and a hard Brexit looming is B Johnson in danger of losing the battle of competence..with electoral consequences?...
23 min
299
Boris Johnson, the Scientists and 'the science'
There are signs of tension between Johnson, ministers and some of the scientists over the lockdown exit and the Cummings' affair. At first they appeared to be dancing together as ministers proclaimed absurdly that they were 'following the science',...
31 min
300
Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings
Why is B Johnson so dependent on D Cummings? Is his determination to keep him a sign of strength or weakness? The saga of Cummings dash to Durham shows at the very least that the Vote Leave campaign runs Number Ten.
30 min