It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's new political party - now officially named Your Party - had its founding conference at the end of November.In fashion that is seemingly becoming typical with the organisation, the conference wasn't without its difficulties, with arguments over access, disputes over positioning and Sultana ending up boycotting the first day.But the new leftist party are officially founded and will be a force in British politics going forward. So what is going on inside the fledgling group and how can they end up operating with the rest of the progressive side of the spectrum?To discuss it all, Compass Director Neal Lawson is joined by Deputy Editor of The House Magazine, Sienna Rodgers, and organiser and co-host of the Life of the Party podcast Joe Todd.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

The 2025 Budget was set up to be the most important since at least the Truss-Kwarteng mega-failure of 2022. It’s Labour’s first attempt to set a full, multi-year spanning agenda since 2007. In the build-up to it every possible financial lever has been floated as on the table: income tax rises, changes to national insurance and VAT, windfall taxes on banks or the gambling industry, to name a few.What the Chancellor eventually decides to do will have serious ramifications for years to come. So it’s only right that our reactive episode of It’s Bloody Complicated treats this moment with the seriousness it deserves.This episode was hosted by Clive Lewis, Labour Member of Parliament for Norwich South, as he gave his own insight into what the Budget means and how the PLP have reacted to it.Joining Clive was Erin Mansell, Head of External Affairs at the Women’s Budget Group, and Michael Jacobs, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Sheffield.Erin Mansell leads WBG’s influencing work getting their analysis and policy recommendations for a gender equal economy out to as large and diverse audiences as possible. Before joining WBG in October 2022, Erin was responsible for public affairs at Solace Women’s Aid, a specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence charity where she specialised in tackling housing and homelessness issues for survivors of male violence. Prior to that she was Political Advisor and Researcher at the Women’s Equality Party, supporting the Party Leader, developing policies, and campaigning for universal free childcare and an end to violence against women and girls.Michael Jacobs is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Sheffield. He is a former General Secretary of the Fabian Society (1997-2003) and member of the Council of Economic Advisers at the Treasury (2004-07). He was Special Adviser to Gordon Brown at 10 Downing St from 2007-10. His books include The Green Economy: Environment, Sustainable Development and the Politics of the Future (1991), Paying for Progress: A New Politics of Tax for Public Spending (2000) and Rethinking Capitalism: Economics and Policy for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth (ed, with Mariana Mazzucato. 2016).Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Jamie Driscoll was the Mayor of the North of Tyne between 2019-2024 and a true champion of progressive ideas throughout his political career. In 2023, he was denied the ability to run as Labour’s candidate for the North East Mayoral Election by the Labour NEC – an unprecedented decision for an incumbent Mayor and an inherently political decision. This moment has become one of the key indicators of the direction the Labour Party has moved under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer.Since then, Jamie Driscoll has set up the political party Majority to advance progressive ideals up and down the country. With the launch of the new Left party by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, Driscoll has been open about the need and desire for unity, cohesion and cooperation on the Left. This has only been exacerbated by Zack Polanski’s election as leader of the Green Party.With the threat of Reform lurking and a political system not built to house six legitimate political parties, listen now to hear Neal and Jamie Driscoll discuss exactly what the Left need to do to navigate this fragmented space.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

In the second instalment in this miniseries, Compass Director Neal Lawson sits down to chat to long-time Compass intellectual contributors - and hosts of their own podcast Culture, Power and Politics - Professor Jeremy Gilbert and Professor Alan Finlayson. The three discuss the history of factions within the Labour Party, from its inception through the New Labour era and now to the Starmer-McSweeney hyperfaction, and the consequences that has both for the party and for democracy in Britain today.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Paul Holden's new book, 'The Fraud', has made waves since its publication last month as it lays bare the intrigues, stratagems, and deceits that made Keir Starmer Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.Paul Holden shows how Starmer has been the frontman for a ruthless, right-wing political project headed by Morgan McSweeney, now chief of staff in Number 10 and arguably the most powerful man in Britain.McSweeney’s clique often employed dirty tricks to undermine the left-wing Labour leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, fuelling a moral panic over antisemitism and establishing front groups that hobbled prominent independent media outlets in the name of fighting ‘misinformation’.With the shallow nature of this Labour project now clearly in its final throes, this episode is part of a multi-episode series bringing together how this happened and what can be done to bring the Party back into the hands of those who have its best interests at heart.You can purchase 'The Fraud' from OR Books here: https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-fraud/.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Named one of The Guardian and The Telegraph’s Top 50 Comedians of the 21st Century, Nish Kumar has come to stand out from the stand-up crowd. With his politically-charged brand of funny, he has sought out and established his own space in the entertainment scene.As co-host of Pod Save the UK, Nish melds comedy with commentary to bring light and resolution to the ever-growing sense of bleakness in British politics (including on an episode with Compass Director, Neal Lawson, back in 2023). As host of The Mash Report in the late-2010’s, The Bugle, and regular appearances on your TV screens on successful shows such as Taskmaster, Nish has come to be one of the most recognisable figures in British entertainment.So join us as Nish Kumar dissects a turbulent autumn in British politics and sets out the landscape for what on earth progressives need to do between now and the next election.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Where and how we live has always been political – but with the right to buy, the explosion of the private-rented sector, and ever-increasingly demand for affordable, social, and council housing, it’s rarely felt this existential.With the Renters’ Rights Bill currently making its way through Parliament, the mammoth English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill set to extend planning powers to new mayors and councils, and the budget expected on 26th November, it feels like a timely moment to unpick this huge, crucial issue – and how Labour is handling it.To dig into this, we were joined by two brilliant guests:Cllr Aydin Dikerdem is the Cabinet Member for Housing at Wandsworth Council. His background is in organising and campaigning, having worked as a community organiser for both the Labour Party and then the New Economics Foundation, where he focused on supporting renters unions and the retrofit agenda.Dr Beth Stratford is an economist, currently an Honorary Research Fellow at UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, and founder member of the London Renters Union. She was a lead author of Land For The Many for the Labour Party, and is co-leading the Homes that Don’t Cost the Earth project alongside colleagues from UCL, Arup, Dark Matter Labs and Rising Tide.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

The Labour Government find themselves in a difficult moment. On the eve of their 2025 Conference, they are faced with the knowledge that their ‘decade of national renewal’ currently seems stuck in first gear.A series of events have rocked public confidence in the government, including the resignation of Angela Rayner from her government roles and role as Deputy Leader of the party, the sacking of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador, and the launch of the new network, ‘Mainstream’.With the autumn looking decisive for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, we’re thrilled to be joined by two amazing guests to discuss:Rachael Maskell, Member of Parliament for York Central, who has currently had the Labour whip withdrawn for causing Government concessions on the controversial vote to cut Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for disabled people.Jeremy Gilbert, Professor of Cultural and Political Theory at the University of East London, and the current editor of the journal New Formations, and author of Twenty-First-Century Socialism (Polity 2020) and Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

It's clear that this Labour Government are in a bit of trouble. Already floundering in the polls off the back of a year in which their promise of 'change' in 2024 hasn't lived up to expectations, they have now been rocked by a series of scandals and resignations - Angela Rayner, Peter Mandelson, Paul Ovenden - that are undermining Sir Keir Starmer's Premiership. With a Deputy Leadership contest now being seen as an internal referendum on the leadership, the 2025 Party Conference is set to be one to keep your eye on.To that end, the release of Mark Perryman's new book, 'The Starmer Symptom', couldn't have come at a more opportune time. The Starmer Symptom brings together leading political writers to navigate the complex terrain of this seismic shift in British politics. This unique collection analyses voter data, and looks at the break-up of the two-party system with the rise of a populist right in Reform UK and a new independent left. Will Keir Starmer’s government be able to successfully combine the pragmatic and social democratic to produce radical change? And if not, who is waiting in the wings?Perryman sits down with Compass Director Neal Lawson, who contributed a chapter to the book. Other contributors include Clive Lewis, Danny Dorling, Emma Burnell, Gargi Bhattacharyya, James Meadway, Hilary Wainwright, Jeremy Gilbert, Phil Burton-Cartledge, and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.Special Offer for Compass Members and Supporters: ‘The Starmer Symptom’ for JUST £11.89 (usual price £16.99). Use coupon code ‘STARMER30’ at Pluto Press here.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice. 

Investigative journalist, author, commentator and activist – George Monbiot has come to define the intellectual left in many of his own ways over the past three decades.From the rights of indigenous peoples the world over to climate activism to opposition to the Iraq War to now speaking out on the Government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action, George has taken a stand where many others wouldn’t tread.And with the political moment being what it is, with tremendous uncertainty both home and abroad, valued voices are needed more than ever.So listen in as Compass Director, Neal Lawson, discusses what progressives need to do strategically to win the next decade-plus and what a Popular Front could achieve in Britain.Support the showEnjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist?Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member!You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.