"We are slipping into authoritarianism"
Chopper's Politics
The Telegraph
4.2 • 864 Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2023
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sir Charles Walker MP joins Christopher Hope in the Red Lion this week to express his fears that we are descending into authoritarianism, after arrests of protestors this weekend at the Coronation. Plus as the MP for Broxbourne is not seeking re-election, he gets a few more things off his chest, such as how MPs these days are just "superannuated citizens advice bureaus". Ouch.
Also on the podcast, Miriam Cates MP debates the nature of conservatism and reveals why she cried when the Government announced its plans to help only working mothers with the costs of their childcare, and it may not be for the reason you think.
And veteran lobby journalist Andy McSmith returns to the Red Lion to share some choice anecdotes from his 40 years reporting in Westminster, and give his verdict on the state of modern politicians.
Strange people I have known, by Andy McSmith
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Coming up on Chopper's Politics, Charles Walker frothing at the mouth. |
| 0:05.0 | I believe in politics, but we're not getting the best people anymore. |
| 0:12.0 | I don't know how we do... It's your last interview on this... getting the best people anymore. How do you get the... |
| 0:12.8 | I don't know how we do... |
| 0:13.8 | It's your last interview on this podcast. |
| 0:15.4 | I'm getting over excited. |
| 0:16.4 | The coffee's kicking in... |
| 0:17.4 | Hello and welcome to the Red Line pub in Westminster. |
| 0:23.0 | I'm Christopher Hope chopper to my pals, |
| 0:26.0 | he says it editor for politics at the Telegraph |
| 0:28.0 | and this is Chopper's Politics Podcast. |
| 0:32.0 | This week we are considering the big existential questions of our age, rights and freedoms. |
| 0:38.0 | Tori MP Miriam Cates is with us to discuss what she thinks conservatism should mean in modern day politics. |
| 0:46.7 | And we have Andy McSmith, political journalists for four decades standing on his encounters |
| 0:51.8 | with a big beasts of Westminster. |
| 0:54.0 | But first, Sir Charles Walker, the Tory MP for Broxbourne, |
| 0:57.3 | is quitting parliament after 19 years. |
| 1:00.5 | And he's got a few things to get off his chest first about the overreach of |
| 1:03.8 | government and why our politicians today don't measure up to those of the past. |
| 1:10.4 | Sir Charles Walker, welcome to Chopper's Politics Podcast, great to have you on. |
| 1:14.4 | Thank you for having me. |
| 1:15.4 | First time, I think in person in the Red Line pub. |
... |
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