Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that people are misreading Donald Trump. Discussing Greenland, Gaza, the Panama Canal, North Korea, NATO and more, he says that there is coherency there. Trump enjoys chaos and is actually thinking several chess moves ahead. He is forever and a day a New York real estate developer – loud, proud, bold and radical. Tim feels that with Reform consistently ahead in the polls and poised to have the largest UK party membership, this is the most important development in British politics in 40 years. The Conservative Party may haemorrhage money, talent and members and could even find themselves the fourth party behind the LibDems at the next election.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
While "Never Here" Keir Starmer thinks the UK can reset its position with the EU, political commentator Mike Indian believes the government is viewing the stagnating EU with rose-tinted spectacles and that this will not be a panacea for our financial troubles. Despite talking about it a great deal, the government has done little so far to promote growth and Reeves' recent speech highlighting a third runway at Heathrow will do little to change that. We need a better-connected country and should be encouraging local mutuals. Mike finds Trump's ideas for Gaza irresponsible and risks plunging the region back into conflict.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University says that there was much in Rachel Reeves's recent speech, including her desire to see expansion at Heathrow, that was sensible and should have been done years ago by the Tories. But there was no realisation that her Budget had been disastrous, particularly on taxation. The Conservatives, though, are going about opposition in totally the wrong way and should recognise that there is a higher calling. With Trump's issuing of so many Executive Orders – so many his opponents will have trouble pushing back on all of them – he feels that America has almost discovered a monarchical system of government. But although some Europeans may be envious of the can-do spirit, he worries whether the polarisation of American politics may portend darker days ahead.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian says that Trump's return to the White House represents a pivot back to US isolationism which leaves a void to be filled and means a less secure world. Despite outward appearances, he feels that Trump's Presidency should not be seen as normal. The UK Government's removal of legal challenges to UK infrastructure projects is, he says, a welcome development. While the Chancellor is under pressure from increasingly nervous money markets, Mike feels it is too early to write Rachel Reeves off yet, pointing out that her fortunes are very much bound up with Sir Keir Starmer.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University wonders, now the wheels are coming off the Government's bus, if Labour is pivoting to the right, with rumoured welfare cuts, implementing the university free speech law and scrapping the banning of gas boilers by 2035. If so, how will the Conservatives react? He strongly recommends Peter Turchin's book, "End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites an Indicators of Revolution" and what it means for our times. And he discusses the probable change in government in Canada in the autumn and whether a new Conservative government will reconsider the role of the state.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Unabridged and without comment from Share Radio, here's the King's Christmas message as broadcast on 25th December '24.
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Political commentator Mike Indian discusses the Chancellor's options in face of the rise in UK borrowing costs and fall in sterling. Will Keir Starmer retain confidence in her? His own future will be determined by her fate. He also addreses the grooming inquiry call and vote, worrying it all feels like too little too late. We owe it to the victims to see that the Jay Report's findings are implemented and that failings in the system need to be addressed. He also discusses Elon Musk's intervention and his relationship with Reform.
Guests: Mike Indian
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
As 2025 begins, Professor Tim Evans takes the opportunity to discuss the political economy of seasonality and time and reflect upon the importance of time, which some political regimes have tried to amend. He feels we are starting to see the birth of a new "New Right", 45 years on from Reagan and Thatcher. While Milei, Trump and Farage have many different ideas, it appears that they are consulting each other, which might make 2025 a rollercoaster year. He also considers the unintended consequences of the push to electric vehicles, with a divide growing between those who have driveways (and cheap charging) and those who do not. If the US brings down the price of oil, the attraction for EVs will decline and further embolden those who oppose the rush to Net Zero.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Professor Tim Evans of Middlesex University rounds off the year's Bigger Pictures by explaining why investors are getting spooked by the UK economy going from bad to worse. We are effectively back in the 1970s, he says, only, in some ways, it's even worse. Instead of effectively tackling the problem, politicians' heads are full of spaghetti. If Elon Musk contributes heavily to Reform, a psychological wall will break and the Conservative Party will face an existential crisis. And Tim looks ahead to what 2025 might bring, wondering where the unforseen Black Swans will come from.
Guests: Professor Tim Evans
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Original Broadcast: The Bigger Picture
Tim Price of Price Value Partners explains why, despite the US market's Trump optimism, US debt has gone from a problem to a predicament. Most western governments are technically bankrupt but Tim points out that, contrary to popular belief, there is no real link between economies and stock markets. He explains his investment philosophy which stresses the importance of not losing money, ignoring the latest hot thing like the tech sector and investing in real assets such as gold and silver, now 20 years into a bull run. Silver, he says, is essential for industry and the green revolution but demand is greater than is being mined. He discusses long-term inflation and why he feels money is too important to be messed about with by central bankers and politicians.
Guests: Tim Price
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