Will Ed Miliband take on Richard Tice in a Misfits Boxing Match for the future of Net-Zero? We’ve got the exclusive 🤣

It’s been an exhilarating 10 days of b2b conferences and a huge milestone for What’s Left as we interviewed ex-Labour leader, Energy Secretary of State Ed Miliband and Kamala Harris’ immigration tsar Frank Sharry!

In this episode we’ve got something a bit different for you – a buy one get one free. The first half is an interview with Miliband, where we discuss the challenges of urgently lowering bills and industrial energy costs, while delivering new jobs.

We all know Reform is on the offensive, but Miliband is up for the fight against Tice and his legion of chronically online climate change deniers. LPC was a curious bubble, with attendees drifting from ‘complacency to cynicism’. The vibe, as Ed pointed out, was “anxious”. We felt the PM delivered a punchy speech against Farage, framing the next election as Labour vs Reform - but will it be enough to pull together a fractured and divided left?

Deindustrialisation, how the PM has handled Trump, and ofc my Issey Miyake trousers also feature in our convo w Ed… Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen a Labour politician look more natural and relatable in an interview for quite some time. But then again, we didn’t have enough time to truly get into the weeds of policy. Ed you’ll have to come back for some more scrutiny!


The 2nd half of the ep joins us at the Global Progress Action Summit (think centre-left CPAC!) which saw the PM announce digital ID cards in a bid to tackle illegal immigration. Once polling at +35%, support has cratered to -19, demonstrating a govt severely lacking in trust to deliver the change the country needs.

Now even Palantir has come out against the policy, which may be surprising to some, but consider their current PR troubles and the type of access they could acquire under a Reform govt. Maybe twisting the knife is in their interest?

Frank Sharry, the Biden-Harris border security policy tsar was kind enough to give us an interview on how the centre-left responds to the challenge of illegal immigration. He makes a compelling argument for Labour to change tack and become the party of both immigration and controlled borders.

We also discuss the government’s £5bn high-street regeneration plan - the exact sort of policy that could go some distance in galvanising community spirit in the places hit worst by the cost of living crisis. It’s a brilliant policy. So why do we hear so little about it?

Ofc, we were delighted to be invited to GPAS and to discuss with leading experts of the Left how we unite against populism. But, I can’t help feeling that we’re still lacking the radicalism we need at such a crisis point in our politics. It’s not looking good brev but we’re still holding out hope.

Follow us @wtf_is.left + fix up as we organise against the Right.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:08 Cold Water Swimming, Chappell Roan + Mental Health

05:50 Fears of Reform + Radical Right

12:20 Taking the Fight to Richard Tice

18:30 Challenges for Net-Zero

24:26 Cutting Edge Communication

27:47 Our Verdict on Ed

32:57 Global Progress Action Summit

38:45 Starmer’s Digital ID Gamble

45:40 AI + Growth Agenda

50:10 Best Policy for Fighting Populism

53:00 Interview with Frank Sharry - Biden/Harris Immigration Tsar

58:35 Farage Copying Trump’s Playbook

1:07:08 American Authoritarianism Backsliding

Bill Gates Advisor + LSE academic Hassan Damluji offers us a glimmer of hope to avoid international catastrophe!

Expert in global politics, climate change, pandemics and education reform, Hassan spent a decade at the Gates Foundation in charge of the Middle East, Pakistan and East Asia, closely advising Bill Gates and holding discussions with the likes of Saudi’s MBS, UAE’s President MBZ, Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif and original GOAT investor Warren Buffet. Quite the line up.

Currently, he is a senior visiting fellow in International Relations at LSE and director of the think/do tank ‘Global Nation’, which advises UN agencies. He is also the author of ‘The Responsible Globalist’, a manifesto for reforming internationalists, unmoored by the MAGA-led nativist populist insurgency that has multilateralism on its knees. Gates described it as “thought-provoking and well written”, endorsing Hassan’s “ideas that can help make global systems more successful’.

At the UN General Assembly this week, Trump doubled down on the end of American Internationalism. In the face of increasing global disorder and violent conflict, what strategy should the Labour pursue to protect the UK’s interests while meeting its principles as a moral mission?

Such a tightrope has seemed contradictory at times - with the pomp and flattery of a Trump state visit being counterbalanced by the historic recognition of Palestine as a state. Hassan believes this can be turned into a coherent strategy, with the UK pursuing a middle powers alliance that stands up for the international rule of law. His latest report, Rules Britannia, is well worth a read:

In this episode, we chart the failures of ‘globalism’, addressing the rise of populism in response to the immigration crisis, as well as the economic challenges facing developed economies. Hassan explains his vision for a world that feels solidarity around global identity, giving international institutions the requisite consent to solve complex problems like climate change.

We also spend a long time discussing the US’ internal contradictions and how it’s not in billionaire’s interests for the world to descend into war and chaos. An international wealth tax must form some part of the solution.

This chat with Hassan is probably our favourite so far for the podcast. It addresses the seemingly intractable political problems of our era and offers a real yet narrow way forward. I hope it gives you a bit of hope in these worrying times.

As always, follow us @wtf_is.left on Instagram/TikTok Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/ZJe5aef3

00:00 Intro

01:25 Bill Gates, Billionaires and Philanthropy

11:10 Globalism vs Populism

22:15 Democracy Matters Most

35:18 Why Populists are Winning

43:09 Britain + Middle Powers Alliance

53:05 An End to American Hegemony

1:04:02 Avoiding World War 3

1:12:04 UK’s Response to America’s Economic Revolution

We are addicted to ragebait - Jameela Jamil dropped serious bars in the latest What’s Left? pod!

Short Form content is information crack. We’re hooked on it, even though doomscrolling leaves us feeling empty.

Your da’ gets sunday scaries now - isn’t that mad.

But what’s even more mental is hosting Jameela on the podcast discussing what the hell is left?! Thanks for coming Jam 🤝

A legend who has experienced the culture war from the eye of the hurricane. Conquered London + LA. A megaphone for millions, whose voice is valued by many across the activist base.

Our chat meandered from populism to relationships to the influencers shaping modern culture. But the common thread that tied it together was the spectre of ragebait.

In echo chamber freefall, we are ploughed with ragebait content, intoxicating us with something to hate and fear.

Is the algorithm just holding a mirror up to ourselves, like the social media bosses want us to believe? Or are we in fact being sold an identity, that doubles as a product - constantly?

We discussed how the Right looks for converts, while the Left indefatigably looks for traitors. Infighting has naturally been the achilles heel of the Left. Now, we must look for unity as we dive headfirst into a fight against international populism.

If we are indeed addicted to division, I urge us to remind ourselves: recovery is about progression, not perfection.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:43 Why Jameela is an Advocate not an Activist

09:33 How the Left gets Ragebaited

16:40 Building a Left Co-alition

25:10 Populism and Anti-System Feeling

31:10 Bonnie Blue Documentary + Being Deepfaked

37:28 Challenging Misogyny

46:10 Algorithms are Exploiting Us

51:15 The Reality of VAWG

58:10 Ending Polarisation

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As always, drop us a follow on IG/TT: @wtf_is.left

Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/GSq9CeWZ

We're setting up a Patreon soon!! So bear with lol.

When Britain is shattered who do you need to win the next UK election?

Latest What's Left episode with pollster Luke Tryl drops amongst the “OMG this poll has Reform predicted to win 400 seats” hysteria. Chillllll, Winston, we’re still a few years out.

Of course, any given poll should be taken with a pinch of salt and a shot of tequila + lime. Politicos are taught not to read polls in isolation - but to look at the average across the polls for a sober analysis. Even then, you only have a limited snapshot and political parties and No 10 have their own operations with more accurate data.

But if we’re being fully real rn, to quote Castillo, the average of the public-facing polls is “not looking good brev [sic]”. So what explains Labour’s drop off and the dramatic rise of Reform in the polls since the election? Who better to ask than one of the UK’s leading pollsters, Luke Tryl.

Luke is the Executive Director of More in Common, widely rated as one of the best polling companies in SW1. He’s long had his finger on Westminster’s pulse, having served as a Special Advisor in the Department for Education during the Theresa May premiership following years on the think tank circuit. His analysis is deeply respected across the major parties, as shown by his frequent guest appearances on The News Agents’ podcast.

In this discussion we delved into More in Common’s latest report, ‘Shattered Britain’, and its segmentation of the electorate which identified 7 types of voter. In particular, we zoomed in on the growing anti-system sentiment across the UK and Labour’s challenge in being seen as defenders of a rotten orthodoxy.

Luke also made some adroit observations around the prospect of widespread social disorder, that has been whipped up by Farage and co over the past few weeks. No one wants to see the ugly and violent scenes we saw last year. Cool heads are needed to avoid talking ourselves into a febrile atmosphere. And Reform themselves would be wise to heed Luke's advice on how the public views such self-fulfilling prophecies...

So how can Labour win the next election? The government needs to be seen to deliver for normal people - it’s about returning control to the electorate around a politics of respect. A renewed social contract, where you give in and understand that you also get out. Now more than ever, we need to rebuke the Thatcherism that 'there is no such thing as society' and create an integrative common culture. Otherwise, the UK will capitulate to the f@r-r1ght. It really is that deep, I’m afraid.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:35 Britain is Shattered

11:23 Pro-System vs. Anti-System

21:23 What’s Causing Social Fragmentation?

30:30 Splitting the Left Vote

37:10 Better Political Comms

42:33 Impending Civil Unrest?

46:30 Immigration and Social Integration

53:10 Can our Electoral System Cope?

59:50 How to Win the Next Election

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Follow Luke on Tw*tter: @LukeTryl

Follow us on IG/TT: @wtf_is.left

Be safe be lucky people yh!

Wealth taxes are all the rage as we approach an Autumn budget where money affi make for the Treasury.

75% of the British public want a wealth tax (2% tax on assets over £10 million) according to YouGov polling. Gary Stevenson, Dale Vince and the Patriotic Millionaires crew say it will raise £24 billion - so why doesn't the government just do it...

Dan Neidle is the UK's foremost tax expert - head of the Tax Policy Associates and formerly Clifford Chance's Head of Tax for 20 years. His tax vigilanteism led to the sacking of senior Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi. His organisation 'Tax Policy Associates' continues to go after dodgy tax schemes, creating more scuffles with some of the most rich and powerful in the UK.

We call him Professor (ta)X, some call him tax Batman.

In this episode we discuss a wide range of ideas - not just wealth taxes - but wealth inequality, populist comms and radical pro-growth reform of the UK's antiquated tax system.

P.S. for our leftist audience, we're not giving up on an internationally co-ordinated wealth tax.

We also hone in on a land value tax, supported by every tax policy wonk across the political spectrum but a big fat 0 politicians. Maybe the govt's mission really should be a housing-theory-of-quite-a-lot, moving with far more urgency and doing whatever necessary to upend the UK's supply problem.

But of course, the cost of that is votes - votes that virtually every party has deemed necessary not to challenge, leaving us with council tax home valuations from the 90s... It really is such a mess.

Enough of the doomerism. Hopefully this episode will leave you, like us, feeling a bit more informed about the shape of British tax policy and how we should be influencing the national conversation.

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Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:23 Will a Wealth Tax Work?

08:02 Are Millionaires Leaving the UK?

14:00 Wealth Tax vs. Economic Growth

21:12 International Wealth Taxes

26:53 Fixing the UK’s Boomer Tax Problem

31:58 Land Value Tax = A Real ‘Wealth Tax’

38:00 Farmer’s Inheritance Tax Solution

41:06 Why Politicians are Failing on Tax

52:55 Eradicating Tax Havens

59:00 Fighting Fraud and Tax Avoidance

1:04:51 Private Sector vs. Public Sector

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Watch on YouTube: Youtube.com/@wtfisleft

Follow Dan on X: @DanNeidle

Follow us on IG + TikTok: @wtf_is.left

Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/vmF3SjKu

New left-wing commentator unlocked!!

Tilly Middlehurst a.k.a. BlondePraxis shot to TikTok fame after her debate with Charlie Kirk at the Cambridge Union went viral.

Charlie Kirk made a name for himself by turning up on US college campuses to troll leftie students.

When he came up against Tilly, a competitive British debater currently in her 2nd year at uni, the chronically online US political scene went ballistic. Kirk had certainly met his match.

With over 300k followers on TikTok, Tilly has done what Robbie Williams failed to do – broken America. Her content focuses on the state of American democracy, insurgent populism in the UK and abroad and what that means for left wing politics.

In this podcast, we chatted about Cambridge, meritocracy and got the inside scoop on the pushback she had post the Kirk debate. There’s also an in-depth discussion about the new Left party in the UK and its wider political implications.

It’s always a pleasure to see the emergence of a new voice on the scene!!! And a privilege to host Tilly’s first of very many podcast appearances on our channel.

00:00 Intro

01:23 Charlie Kirk Debate

09:45 Working Class in Cambridge

16:52 Meritocracy, Identity and Code Switching

25:15 Controversy post-Kirk Debate

31:00 Is Gen-Z Polarisation Real?

38:00 What are Tilly’s political views?

45:20 Do you support the Labour Party?

53:46 Corbyn-Sultana's New Left Party

Worried about the Manosphere? We got you w a DLC.

We've got two of the world's leading authorities on what is really going on inside the world of the pay-to-play male paranoia.

James Bloodworth is a journalist and author, who has recently published 'Lost Boys: A Personal Journey Through the Manosphere'. Matt Shea is a former VICE journalist, best known for his series of documentaries on 'you know who', which were aired on the BBC.

Hopefully this 90+ min discussion can help explain the deeper complexities that tie the manosphere, the conspiracy right and male loneliness together - and offer some thought-provoking ideas on how we move forward.

Chapters

00:00 The reality of the manosphere

12:00 The male anxiety marketing industry

22:50 Lessons from leaving the manosphere

31:15 ‘Feminism has gone too far’

46:16 Why are the left losing with men?

55:00 Social Media has changed our relationships

1:09:13 C0rn, doomscrolling and dopamine addiction

1:24:19 Conspiracy theories shifting the Overton window

1:28:50 - Positive masculinity and role models

Don't forget to drop us a follow @wtf_is.left on IG/TikTok. Stay blessed people.

Labour welfare rebel Henry Tufnell is the first MP in the hot seat at WLHQ… 

There’s been no breaks to the psychodrama of UK politics since 2016. We can’t be the only ones who are feeling completely exhausted.

This week the government had to climb down from its proposal for welfare reform which targeted the UC + PIP bill (benefits) which has ballooned since COVID and is projected to double over the course of this parliament.

Critics of the bill said it would target the most vulnerable. Many economists said it was absolutely necessary.

If you want to know what’s really going on here, who better to ask than one of the signatories to the amendment that killed the bill?

Let’s not cap, this has been an incredibly challenging week for the Starmer-Reeves premiership. Most of the country is ever more confused about the direction of travel. And there is clearly a disconnect between number 10 and the backbenches.

So how do we solve this seemingly intractable problem?


We need to find a way to unite, a story that offers a solution to the deep rot we can sense in our communities – a new social contract, perhaps.


More questions than answers, and ever more pressing a time to help us figure out what’s left.