In the last election Jonathan Ashworth lost one of Labour’s safest seats. On New Years Day this year, Jonathan suffered a major stroke, aged just 47.

In this revealing podcast Niall and Roy discover how this former key member of Labour’s leadership views the plight of the government and the Prime Minister he helped to secure the leadership after disastrous Corbyn years

In a frank exchange, Jonathan explains how and why the two party system has collapsed as well as how he warned his colleagues to back a ceasefire in Gaza, but they point black refused to listen, and he lost his seat.

Reflecting on the last two years, he says Starmer lacked charisma and ‘oomph’. But he is also clear Labour badly needs a policy debate. They won the election with a slogan of change - not being Jeremy Corbyn and not being nasty Tories. But that was not enough to create a programme for government, based on hard choices.

Jonathan calls for that debate now and for example to flesh out what Andy Burnham means by bringing health and social care together. ‘Unless we grasp the nettle over social care, ageing and frailty, and preventative health (and what that really means), we are not going to fix the NHS’.

Jonathan wants radical thinking – even exploring whether ending the triple pensions’ lock could be used to fund social care reform. As for Andy Burnham, while he notes how he endeared himself to Labour grassroots with his opposition to private sector tendering , Jonathan notes how the Manchester mayor worked pragmatically with the private sector to promote youth employment.

As for his own stroke and remarkable recovery, he praises the NHS but laments the miserable 6 hours of rehabilitation offered as standard to stroke victims. As a result he claims they are more likely to fall back on health and care services.

This is a great example of a politician freed from office, able even to admit ‘I am the ultimate hypocrite’. That was because he made endless speeches about the need for men to have check-ups but the ignored the text messages invitations himself. ‘If I had bothered.. .maybe I would never have had this stroke in the first place’.

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If there is one clear sign that the NHS is not working, it is the state of its accident and emergency departments. Across the UK, under all sorts of different political regimes, the story is the same. Patients spend hours even days, many waiting for a bed and the incontrovertible evidence that thousands of lives are being lost as a result.

In their latest podcast Niall and Roy hear from Dr Ian Higginson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, who voices his anger and frustration at a system that is failing patients and staff.

But he argues strongly that this Gordian Knot will not be untangled by discouraging patients from turning up at A and E but by dealing with the ‘back door of the hospital. And on that, he clearly believes that while there is more that hospitals themselves can do to improve discharge procedures, more attention and resources need to be directed at social care and community health services.

As for the former Secretary of State in England, he is determined to make sure that Wes Streeting’s commitment is not forgotten

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Did you know that you are likely to die 20 years younger if you have a learning disability?

Did you know that the great 10 year NHS Plan mentions learning disability 0 times?

In their latest podcast Niall and Roy seek to understand the dire state of health support for individuals with learning disabilities and their families. Their guest is Professor Jim Blair, a nurse and academic who has campaigned relentlessly for the 1.5 million or so people with a learning disability in the UK.

In a fascinating discussion, Jim lets us into a world that is not understood by professionals or the wider public. It is a world where individuals and their families are not seen as having worth and where services are not shaped by those who use them; and where abuse and scandals will persist until this is tackled head on.

Jim also highlights those with profound learning disabilities – who cost millions to look after with 24/7 care and who he describes as the hidden among the hidden.

Learning disability nursing is in sharp decline yet this champion of change says to improve their health, learning disability patients need these advocates as they need services that are developed by them and their families, and staff who are trained by users and their families.

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