Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards

Boris Johnson outlined the Lockdown exit strategy in a grand televised address to the nation. Yet avoidable confusion followed. Why? I reflect on how Tony Blair and others in the New Labour era would 'bombproof' every statement before a public word was uttered and seek to answer why B Johnson and his team are more casual in their approach. Also my verdict on Keir Starmer's early days... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I reflect on Matt Hancock not meeting his testing target, claiming to do so..and the triumph he could have claimed for getting close to his goal. Targets work..and the scrapping of targets was one of the many calamitous decisions taken by the coalition government... Plus Brexit latest..and thoughts on my virtual live show from a room in my house.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rock n Roll Politics the Lockdown Special is on the Kings Place website at 7pm on Monday April 27th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am hooked on the Number 10 daily press conferences even though they are dull and reveal little..perhaps my addiction is explained by the gap between the eerie, subdued mood at the conferences with the epic crisis being played out..it's a darkly compelling disjunction..and on other matters the former Cabinet minister Peter Hain reflects on Labour's decline and the need for radical Keynesian economic policies under Keir Starmer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I look at how perceptions of B Johnson changed in terms of his role as a Prime Minister when he was moved to Intensive Care-he was viewed suddenly as more leadenly than he was; I interviewed T Blair for my Radio 4 programme on Labour's challenges 'Left out of Power'- here is the interview in full. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not for the first time ministers are hoist by their own petard as they try to exert control over the NHS only to discover they gave away their powers to do so..and Keir Starmer wins by a landslide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

B Johnson has been famous for so long it is easy to forget how inexperienced he is as a PM facing the big challenge since 1945...and now he gets the virus along with other key players. Keir Starmer faces a different challenge..making his mark at a time of national emergency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

n this episode: The coronavirus means all fashionable assumptions are turned on their head. We turn to the state to come to our rescue after decades in the UK when big government and public spending were seen as a threat...but even so B Johnson's confused libertarianism allows many fools to be 'free' to get the virus and pass it on...not so many laughs this time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

n the latest episode of Rock N Roll Politics I conclude I was wrong a week ago in suggesting that the virus would not become political...and a Tory Chancellor contradicts his predecessors and media orthodoxy by arguing that higher spending boosts economic growth-quite a moment  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brexit not done, a virus spreading across the globe, a Labour leader soon to be elected-what is the most politically significant?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.