It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

Election results across England, Scotland and Wales showed more than ever why progressives need to work together – and what can happen when they do. We're joined by a stellar lineup to survey the aftermath, and work out where we go next: Sir John Curtice, polling expert, Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde and Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Social ResearchCaroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton PavilionBeth Winter, Labour MP for Cynon ValleyLayla Moran, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and AbingdonTommy Sheppard, Scottish National Party MP for Edinburgh EastClive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich SouthFrom Hartlepool to Holyrood, we analyse the outcomes for the different progressive parties, as well as, crucially, what the results mean for the prospect of a Progressive Alliance to overturn the Tory majority in Westminster.Almost 900 people joined the call live.It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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. 

Leader of the Women's Equality Party Mandu Reid joined the podcast to talk about why the pandemic has not been a gender-neutral crisis, how her 'politically polyamorous' party is shaking up the system and why she's working to put herself out of a job.Mandu Reid is Leader of the Women’s Equality Party, the party’s candidate for Mayor of London and the first Black leader of a national British political party.It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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. 

Former leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable joins It’s Bloody Complicated to share the lessons of his long and varied political life and tell us about his new book, Money and Power.In uncertain times for progressives of all stripes, not least the Lib Dems, it was great to get Vince's unique perspective.Vince Cable was MP for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019, and as leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017–19. He served in the Conservative–Lib Dem coalition government as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2010 to 2015, and as deputy leader of the Lib Dems from 2006 to 2010.Vince Cable – Money and Power: The World Leaders Who Changed Economics (Atlantic)Vince Cable – The Chinese Conundrum: Engagement or Economic War (coming September 2021, Bloomsbury)It's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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 a year since Keir Starmer was elected leader of the Labour Party – a year that has seen the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, internal divisions within the party and vocal debates about the best way forward.We welcome writer, journalist and film-maker Paul Mason to It’s Bloody Complicated to discuss Keir Starmer one year on, the prospects for a Progressive Alliance, strategies for the left and his fascinating political life.Paul Mason is the author of six books, the most recent of which is Clear Bright Future. His next book, How to Stop Fascism, will be published in Spring 2021.How to Stop Fascism by Paul Mason'A Year of Keir: The Road Less Travelled' – statement by CompassIt's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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. 

Special guest host John Harris is joined by Marc Stears to discuss Marc's new book, Out of the Ordinary: How Everyday Life Inspired a Nation and How It Can Again.Joining John and Marc are Jon Cruddas, Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, and Sue Goss, author of Open Tribe and the Compass report Garden Mind.In Out of the Ordinary, Stears describes how, in a period of intense political turmoil from the 1920s–50s, a group of British writers and artists showed a way forward by shining a light on the strength and creativity of ordinary people going about their lives. Now, the book argues, the ordinary might once again provide a unifying path out of crisis.Marc Stears was a senior advisor and chief speechwriter to former Labour leader Ed Miliband, and directs the Sydney Policy Lab at the University of Sydney. John Harris is a columnist for the Guardian.Discussed in the show:Out of the Ordinary by Marc Stears  Under Milk Wood by Dylan ThomasOur Country  (dir. John Eldridge)English Journey by J.B. Priestley'The Lion and the Unicorn' by George Orwell'Year 3' by Steve McQueenIt's Bloody Complicated is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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. 

On this very special edition of It’s Bloody Complicated, we're joined by Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South; academic and advocate for human rights Francesca Klug; and political theorist Stuart White to celebrate the launch of Belonging, Place and the Nation, Compass’s new report into nationalism and patriotism.Should we try to confront the Right with our own, more progressive, patriotism and nationalism? Or should we abandon these terms and instead try to build something else?In Belonging, Place and the Nation, Clive and Francesca explore what it means to belong, in a wide-ranging conversation with Frances Foley on race, identity and the telling of British history, while Stuart considers the possibility of a democratic English patriotism in the republican political tradition. They touch on all this and more in a wide-ranging conversation that doesn't shy away from the difficult questions.Discussed in the show:Belonging, Place and the NationRadical Republicanism by Bruno Leipold, Karma Nabulsi and Stuart White (eds.)It's Bloody Complicated  has moved to fortnightly calls, and is recorded every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6pm GMT. Become a Compass member to join our live recordings and put your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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. 

On this edition of It’s Bloody Complicated , we're celebrating a very special reunion. Neal Lawson is joined by 2017 Progressive Alliance veterans Andrée Frieze, Barry Langford, Stephen Clark, Remco van der Stoep, Jana Mills, Steve Williams and Frances Foley to look back on the successes and lessons of that election, and look forward to how we can build a formidable Progressive Alliance next time.Results analysis suggests that, in 2017, the Progressive Alliance made a difference in dozens of seats, contributing to the Conservatives losing their majority in Parliament. It’s time to get the band back together.On the next episode of It's Bloody Complicated, we're launching Compass's new report Belonging, Place and the Nation with Clive Lewis MP, Francesca Klug and Stuart White. The live recording is open to all – just sign up here.Support the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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. 

On this episode of It's Bloody Complicated, Frances Foley is joined by another great double bill – this time Peter MacFadyen who has inspired the Flatpack Democracy movement and Indra Adnan one of the co-founders of the new politics champions The Alternative UK.Flatpack Democracy is an independent movement which started in Frome, inspired by frustration with  missed opportunitities the way local government usually works. Since then, the group has taken control of the local council and inspired similar groups in other towns across the UK.The Alternative UK is a political platform based in the United Kingdom. Through curation, editorial, public events, commissioning and research, it aims to transform the language and practice of politics on these islands. Inspired by and associated with Alternativet in Denmark, it is trying to bring about “a friendly revolution”."It's Bloody Complicated"  is moving now to fortnightly calls, and will be recorded every other Tuesday at 6pm GMT. Become a Compass Member to join our live recordings and bring your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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. 

We’re diving straight into 2021 with a conversation about what the next year might hold for us and what it all means for progressive politics.Our guests, Tom Clark (Editor of Prospect Magazine) and Yasmin Khan (human rights campaigner), were on hand to help us chart a course through what is likely to be an extraordinarily challenging year for us all.We covered the pandemic, the economy, the Tories, Labour, Scotland, Biden, and more. And as ever, we took questions live on the call from Compass members."It's Bloody Complicated" is recorded fortnightly on Tuesdays at 6pm GMT. Become a Compass Member to join our live recordings and bring your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport the show (https://www.compassonline.org.uk/podcast/)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. 

For the final podcast of 2020, we had an extra special Christmas treat for our members.  Writer, economist, politician, and former academic Yanis Varoufakis joined us live on Zoom for an hour of hard-headed economic analysis, a few home truths for the European Left, and plenty of laughter too.A former academic, Yanis is perhaps best known for his tenure as Greek finance minister and his role in the country’s high stakes negotiations with the EU.  But he is also a prolific author and political commentator, known for his thoughtful and engaging approach to complex topics, and his approachable and accessible style."It's Bloody Complicated" is recorded fortnightly on Tuesdays at 6pm GMT. Become a Compass Member to join our live recordings and bring your questions to our guests: https://action.compassonline.org.uk/podcastSupport 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.