171. Question Time: The return of Liz Truss, Slovakia's answer to Viktor Orbán, and Starmer's popularity waning?

0:00Thanks for listening to the Restus Politics, sign up to the Restus Politics Plus to enjoy ad -free listening and receive a weekly newsletter. Join our members' chat room again early access to live show tickets. Just go to therestuspolitics .com. That's therestuspolitics .com. Right now, with the Home Depot, you'll find storage solutions made to fit your needs. Grab an HDX tough tilt to protect your tools, or keep your sports equipment contained with reinforced snap -fit lids, or stack up and make better use of your space with bins and totes built to last. Whatever your story, we've got the gear to keep it organized and protected at the Home Depot.

0:40How doers get more done? Gatorade is the number one proven electrolyte blend designed to hydrate better than water. So you can lose more sweat and raise your game. Gatorade, is it in you?

1:37Welcome to therestus Politics Question Time with me, Anastakamble, and with me, Rory Stilett. Rory, shall we kick off in Morocco? I guess that's been the other major news story. Matt Davis, Morocco, earthquake, which charity would Rory recommend giving money to so that it arrives quickly and achieves the most? Ideally, I'd like the funds to be distributed to locals in the way he has described previously. Well, I mean, that's very kind question from Matt Davis. So I'm very close to involved. I've been the president. I'm now transitioning to be the senior advisor in a charity call gift directly, which is on the ground in Morocco we have.

2:09Teams on the ground in Morocco who are very experienced in doing direct cash support and particularly in an emergency situation. It's very difficult to beat giving direct cash because you can't know from a thousand miles away exactly what somebody who's been hit by an earthquake needs. Do they need shelter? Do they need food? Do they need to get a business off the ground? You need very individualized response and cash is generally, and this is studied by randomized control trials. This is one of the reasons I'm so proud of gift directly that it uses proper scientific research to demonstrate this.

2:42The most effective way of getting support to people and allowing them to get back on their feet. What about these, you know, often what happens in these kind of big disasters is that each country has official generalized denating bodies that you can give to. Are they effective? Yes, there's this fantastic thing in Britain, which is a disaster relief committee, which brings together when there's an emergency, the leading NGOs and charities in Britain. And that's also deck, which is this committee is a very, very good way of the public contributing to the big reputable, as it were, blue chip British charities who bring that together.

3:22So there are amazing people working on the ground, but as you can imagine, I mean, I was in, we talked in fact, when I was in Turkey, in the aftermath of that earthquake, where gift directly were doing a response. And that was shattering because you realized in that case, 40 ,000 people had been killed in about two minutes. And there and in Morocco now, people are horrified by the afterquakes because all these earthquakes come with aftershocks. And the aftershocks can be as deadly as the original quakes. So not only have you seen your house and business destroyers, you've seen your relatives killed, but you're unable to sleep at night because the ground is continuing to tremble.

3:59And what's this transitioning then? You're transitioning from what to what? So I was the president of gift directly, which meant that I was doing the full -time executive staff. I was the CEO of gift directly. I was, as you remember, from a lot of our podcasts, I was traveling to Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, the United States, fundraising. And I'm now moving my family back from Jordan to London. And I'm going to focus on championing gift directly as a sort of global ambassador. I'm going to be representing them to governments. I'm going to remain deeply involved in some of the ambitious programs we're doing in places like Rwanda and Malawi, but I'm transitioning out a day -to -day operational leadership.

4:39I trust you're taking a huge pay card. I am. I'm not going to be paid in this new role. And that's partly because of this wonderful podcast that I do with you, which allows me to keep deeply involved and give directly and championing them, but I'm going to be waving a salary, which I'm pleased to be able to do. And I'm so proud to give directly. I'm about to go and represent them at the UN General Assembly next week after I see you in Bath and Edinburgh. So who's the new Rory Stewart? I give direct hand. So the new president is Sam Wale, and it's great. I mean, he's a very senior Kenyans civil servant, great to have leadership coming in from Global South, and very excited at how we go forward.

5:18Anyway, question back to you. Suzanne, can you pay some attention to Central Europe and the elections coming up in Slovakia and Poland? How do you see their possible impact on the EU, and how is the UK's relationship with them developing? Well, Slovakia is coming very, very soon. I think it's the end of this month, September 30th, I think. So it's a very, very small country, but the parliamentary election is happening. And if, you know, if the polls are right, we're talking about another mini -Orban figure, a guy called Robert Fiko, proputing, when I say proputing, you know, very much in that sort of the argument, very much modeled on Orban.

5:58And of course, Slovakia, I think it's a little bit smaller than Scotland. I think we do about 5 million people, but a lot of the stuff that we've been talking about, the populism, the post -truthery, the polarization, it's kind of been on the march there. And this is a guy who's been sort of, you know, kicked out of power, has done a bit of a, you know, rebrand, these come back, there's a very different sort of personality, and these, it looks like he's set to win. So I think that will be significant for the European Union, because it means they've got another, you know, we're talking, you know, talking about this in Eastern Europe, this little kind of gaggle of leaders who are, frankly, a lot of the time not living up to the ideals of the European Union.

6:40And that is what we can see European Union. I had a glimpse of it yesterday, the, the manager of the local cafe around, around the corner from my house in London, had just been in Slovakia, his girlfriend Slovakia, he himself, I think, has used European. And he immediately said to me, oh, it's terrible, there are all these Syrian refugees, and he began showing me his phone, which was a pitress sort of Slovakian border guards, and it was really interesting, because there's a sort of dissonance there. On the one hand, I was a bit suspicious of this image he was showing me, didn't seem to me, as though there were that many refugees actually in the photograph at all.

7:16It looked like the camera was being used to exaggerate the number. But of course, he also said, on the one hand, he's sort of sympathetic towards what this Slovakian populist is saying. On the four, five years ago, where he was horrified by the way in which the populist right and Britain were trying to whip up anti -immigrant sentiment. So you can see that kind of divided consciousness there. There's a history to this guy as well. So he's been prime minister before, I think he's been prime minister twice. He was there in the 2006, he was there again, 2012. And something happened there that kind of, I don't know, you just thought would have been the end of him, but it appears not to have been, is that there was a journalist who was exposing all sorts of corruption going inside.

8:04The government links to the mafia and so forth. And the guy who was doing this, the journalist, guy called Jan Kuchek, he and his girlfriend were murdered by contract killers. And it led to huge demonstrations. Fiko and the cabinet had to quit. George Soros was blamed as they often are by the hard right, as he often is by the hard right. And you'd think that would be it, it'd be finished. But no, you had the change and now we're, looks like we're changing back. And he absolutely parrots the putin line about Ukraine. So these people are fascists. So this is pretty worrying. And I think sometimes in the UK, we look at Europe and we think, oh, well, France is important, Germany's important.

8:50But we don't think of the fact that, you know, you're talking about an institution here that does involve all 27 and Slovakia coming in or be a small country. I think it could lead to more change in people, or perhaps ready for. Very good. So legacy bill, Iran, Laughry, a loaded question I'll admit. But I would love to hear it answered. Rory's quick to condemn the actions of the IRA and Republican groups that any given opportunity when Northern Ireland is mentioned. What's his take on the legacy bill passed by his party this week, given the British armed forces murdered 188 civilians during the course of the troubles.

9:27However, unlikely it was before the families of those victims never stand a chance of getting justice now. And this is something that's been really championed by your friend, Johnny Mercer, as an episode, has been one of his main campaigns. Yeah, but the question of the thing was directed to you. It was directed to me. So, well, I think it's possible in this, as I guess in many things, to believe two things on both sides of this, I absolutely feel that the IRA did horrifying things. And we should be very clear about, you know, what was involved in the Brighton bombing and the people that were killed and mutilated there and elsewhere.

10:05While at the same time, accepting that there was also terrorist acts by the Unionist community, there were civilians killed by the British military. Most notably, of course, in bloody Sunday. And I have been very doubtful about this legacy bill. It's not something that I supported. I think that I get why the government did it, the government did it because many soldiers feel that they are still in danger of being prosecuted as old people for things that happened back in the 1970s. And they want to finally be able to draw a line about under it. But anything like that that happens has to be done equally for all communities.

10:41It's very, very important, I think, for not just for security, but for justice and a quality of treatment that if you're going to do this for British soldiers, you should be doing it for everybody else that was involved in the in the killing in the 1970s and 80s. I should just say we're feeling and I watching finally getting around to watching once upon a time in Northern Ireland, which is absolutely brilliant. It's so good. It's essentially the story of the troubles that are interviewing people who were living there. Some of them active, some of them one guy who was in and out of prison, part of the Bobby Sands hunger strike was in prison with Sands at the time.

11:23But a lot of them are just kind of what we would call ordinary people. And it's just really worth watching just to remind ourselves because I think there is a danger we forget of just how horrific things were. And we had a lot of difficult decisions to make when we're doing the Gryffrey Degree, and we've talked before about the most difficult being prison release. That was a very, very, very hard thing to do. And it was a very, very hard thing for a lot of people to swallow. And so is this. What's your view on it? Do you think, do you agree with your friend, Johnny Messe, that soldiers should be getting out on the scene this way?

11:59I think put it this way.

12:05I think we've had the bloody Sunday inquiry, incredibly expensive, incredibly detailed, went on for years and years and years and years. I actually thought one of David Cameron's better moments in Parliament, and it was an attempt in a way to bring some sort of closure. I don't like the way the government has handled this, but I think because I think they've tried to sort of make it a make a big deal of it, make a political point of it. Well, because it's very popular with veterans organizations, isn't it? Yeah, which is, which is, you know, I understand the politics of it, but I just think we're in such a delicate place at the moment.

12:40I think, look, the principle of it, I get, and I can see why they want to do this. The process has got to keep moving forward, and we do have to try to bring people to some sort of reconciliation about the past. I feel very strongly also that we have to be very, very clear about bringing soldiers to justice if they do bad things. And, you know, there's a real knee jerk tendency, very understandable for people who've been in the military to be very, very protective of any allegations made against soldiers. But some of the revelations that have come particularly out of special forces units, the US Navy SEALs appear to have been closely implicated in extrajudicial executions, basically killing unarmed people in Iraq.

13:29Australian SAS, terrifying stories coming out of some of their operations in Afghanistan. And it's really important that being a soldier, having a gun, having that lethal power has to be a very, very precious responsibility, and you have to act with real courageous restraints. And what we can't do is just say soldiers right or wrong, and that, when we have to be serious about allowing them to be legally challenged. I do agree with that. So let's just bring it up to something more to do with today. Stammy 1905, with the stagnation in Northern Ireland causing many issues in funding public services, is it time to legislate to prevent devolved government failing due to the action of a single party and allow other parties to carry on without them?

14:13And this is of course because the DUP are refusing to sit down and get back into devolved administration, and it's testing the arrangement that we came to, where essentially you had to have both in part together. That was part of the settlement. So the question Stammy is asking whether that needs to change. No, I'm not sure whether it can be changed in the current atmosphere and in the current circumstances. It'd be very dangerous to change it, wouldn't it? Don't think you'd be suggesting we should be trying to change that. Here's one for you. Thomas Gray, what are your views on the grammar school system?

14:46I find it often gets overlooked in education policy. I think there's a good argument to be made for the social mobility they provide for bright kids from poor areas as shown by Mustafa Sulamein. Should more grammar schools be created? No. And this is despite the fact that you and Gary Lenica went to the same grammar school and benefited greatly from it. As discovered, well that was because there were lots of grammar schools around though. That's why I argued at the time. I went through my entire school years thinking it was a comprehensive because that's what it became. Anyway, I'm just utterly opposed to selection in schools.

15:19I think that I don't like the existing grammar schools. I wish that we'd done more about them. I just think we, until we have an education system in which all of us feel a shared sense of ownership. I keep talking about Finland and Canada, whether it's next to no private education, there is next to no selection and kids in the main get a very, very good education and that's what I want. And we can all point to examples. Yes, Mustafa Sulamein said in Fair Play, you know, he went to a grammar school, turned up, he had a very good grammar school, fine, he did very well. I think he'd have done very well in the comprehensive school, provided we had proper comprehensive system in which all the schools are good.

15:54So to put in a plug for my father who's no longer with us, one of the things that he felt. So when he was in the civil service, senior civil servant in the 1970s, he went around and looked at the permanent secretary, so the senior person in every government department. And in those days, early 70s, almost all of them had been to grammar school. And one of the things that he noticed as you went into the 80s and 90s, is you began to see an increasing number of people from private schools taking over as the grammar schools were closed and the comprehensive system began to sweep across the country.

16:27So he felt that, unfortunately, one of the consequences of that was that you were not getting people from state education at the senior levels. And that was partly because the grammar school's been removed, but you don't agree with that. Well, I can't disagree if that's his historical analysis of what actually happened. But I just think that our obsession with, you know, a very small percentage of people who think that their children can't possibly mix with other children in a system used by all. And this idea of putting kids into brackets of succeeding and failing aged 10 or 11, I just think is an absurdity.

17:01And I just wish we didn't do it anywhere. Very good. So, Anastya, thank you for that. Many more questions to come. Let's just take a quick break.

17:12This is an ad from BetterHelp. At the moment, we're getting advice from everywhere. You just have to go on TikTok. Could be Alice's cold plunges. Could be my attempts to meditate or the digital detox that I'm doing in Colombia. But of course, one of the things that we know is that it can be incredibly valuable to talk to another human being, somebody who's actually been trained as a therapist to work through these ideas calmly, objectively and professionally. And as the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a very diverse variety of expertise.

17:48They've got over 5 ,000 therapists in the UK. They've helped more than 5 million people globally. And you can join a session literally at the click of a button. Change therapists anytime. So obviously not about fixing you, but it's about hearing yourself clearly, maybe for the first time. So talk it out with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10 % off their first month at BetterHelp .com slash rest politics. That's better H -E -L -P .com slash rest politics. Let's play Burlington's Guess That Price. Back to school means back to saving. We're bringing you kids jeans starting at a hold on a minute, just 1199.

18:25Burlington's aching this test. What about character backpacks? We've got them starting at 1299. Burlington's done it again. How about sneakers for the kids? A plus brands and right on trends starting at 1199. Saving is now in session. Burlington deals brands wow. Stalls on Selection is very about location. It's the Smuckers Uncrustables podcast with your host Uncrustables. Okay, today's guest is Ruffer on the Edges. Please welcome Crust. Thanks for having me. Today's topic. He's round with Soft Pillowy Bread. Hey, filled with delicious PB &J. Are you talking about yourself? And you can take him anywhere.

19:06Why do you invite him? We are out of time. Are you really cutting me off? Uncrustables are the best part of the sandwich. Sorry, Crust.

19:22Paul G, what is the point of the List Trust book? I certainly, I'm not currently intending to read it. What's it called? Ten years to save the world? It's a bit comical isn't it? Because it gives a lot of opportunities for 40 days to destroy the pounds. But when we talked about Kathy Ashton, radical humility, I don't think List Trust does humility, does she? No, it's absolutely amazing. It's not just ten, yeah, it's ten days to save, it's ten years to save the West. I want to share the lessons from my experience where I was often the only conservative in the room. And we need to avoid a managed decline of the Western architecture.

19:58So it's all part of this narrative that Boris Johnson liked, which is the fake optimism of the populist right. So they pretend they're all against decline, they're all for global Britain, they're all optimistic. And actually, I think they're secret pessimists because they're not really focusing on the details of how to make the country better. This is all spin. I think they're actually deeply cynical. I'd ever felt with Boris Johnson that when he was like, Rory, you know, there's something I write about in politics on the edge. When he says, you know, Rory, I want you to go out there and fix Libya, Libya's a bite -sized British problem, that may sound optimistic.

20:32But when I come back to him and say, well, we don't have a resonant bastard in Libya, but with 40 million pounds, we could do this with the UN, we could do this with the Italians in it. He immediately loses interest and ends up actually doing nothing. The so -called optimism is actually an excuse for inaction. Couple of related questions on that. What is the process asked Nigel McFeed for misconduct in public office? You raised Johnson not me. Two questions, if I may, one, what is the process for charging a politician with misconduct in public office? Two, why has Boris Johnson not yet been charged with misconduct in public office?

21:04A related Johnson question, which is about both of us, GJ Sykes, is political discourse to Pally and Kleeke? I cite his examples, Alistair recently chatting away on Sky News with Rachel Johnson and Rory interview interviewees and may I chelp them to plug her new book. Sorry, Roy, so your interview interviewees and may for a book festival, but not getting on the podcast? I think we are getting on the podcast, though. Yes, but not through you. What would you say? I've also been asking. You've not been. You've not been. So you've met it. Anyway, honestly, Roy, you've just got to decide where your loyalties are.

21:36I have profound loyalties both to you and Theresa May. I will somehow find a way to resolve that. On the Pally Kleeke thing, if you were watching the interview, this is the program you were on at the weekend, Trevor Phillips, I did at least use the opportunity to make the point that I felt Boris Johnson ought to be in jail directly to his sister. I thought that was fair enough. That's not Pally and Kleeke. Weirdly, I think that we need more courtesy, not less in politics. I think that we need to fight. This is why I like the British idea of the loyal opposition, which is why I like the idea of still calling people honorable members, which is why I also want to push back a bit against that question about using the law to charge people from misconduct in public office.

22:16I think it's often actually quite dangerous when countries go down that route. I think a certain degree of courtesy, a certain degree of tolerance in the way that we treat people from other parties, is really important for democracy, even if we profoundly disagree with what they're doing. But isn't that giving them a blank check for corruption? This is why you and I have a bit of a standoff on Jeremy Corbyn, for example. Obviously, I completely disagree with Jeremy Corbyn. I think of it as a terrible Prime Minister, but I'm absolutely not in favor of expelling him from the Labour Party and therefore effectively getting out of Parliament.

22:49But we didn't do that. But also, Jeremy Corbyn didn't, you know, whatever his faults and weaknesses as a leader of the Labour Party, he didn't sort of debase public life in the way that Johnson had. I think luckily with Johnson, I feel we're probably in a better place with Boris Johnson than the Americans are getting themselves in with Donald Trump, which is, you know, you and I have done a certain amount to help discredit and expose Boris Johnson. He didn't enormous amount himself to totally humiliate himself and expose himself to incompetent clown. I think once you start taking legal proceedings against people as you've found with Donald Trump, pretty quickly, their stock begins to go up because people say, wait a second, you know, what this guy did isn't quite as serious as this is a hysterical witch hunt.

23:35I'm not even the rule of law, surely. 100 % believe in the rule of law, but I think we need to be very cautious. And this is a point that I'm making also about the prison population, about what offenses you actually tried to prosecute and who you tried to put in jail. And I think putting politicians in jail, absolutely right, if it's conservative Labour politicians who are fiddling their expenses doing all this. And there are proper legal procedures for doing that. There are parliamentary commissioners. There is the police, there are investigations, but goodness sake, let's rely on that and not find ourselves getting ourselves into a world in which Boris Johnson somehow becomes legal martyr, which would be a catastrophe for all of us.