The Sceptic | Episode 67: The Downfall of Mandelson and McSweeney, the Scourge of Westminster ‘Comms’ Brain and Why Blue Labour Was Always Fake
In Episode 67 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Felix Hardinge, a writer and cultural critic who works in financial services.
Laurie and Felix discuss the defenestration of Peter Mandelson and what his elevation to US ambassador in the first place says about Keir Starmer; his departed chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and whether his ‘Blue Labour’ politics really existed; why Starmer’s crackdown on the riots is what killed it off; why the PM is so uniquely hated – and why the Right would be worse off if he resigned; plus The Thick of It and how it convinced a generation of politicos that politics is really just media management, and why what the country really needs is ‘reheated Thatcherism’.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X. Follow Felix on X. Read his latest on the Daily Sceptic here. Subscribe to the Daily Sceptic YouTube Channel here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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This man cannot finish a sentence. Unlistenable.
Quite right. I gave up after 20 minutes.
Yes, almost impossible to listen too, not sure I’ll get to the um, end, you know, and erm finis erm it.
I did listen to the whole podcast and I’m glad I did. Felix is very insightful, gritty and down to earth. When he is in full flow all the fillers disappear and he’s passionate about his subject. Perhaps he got off to a bad start and perhaps needs to dump a few sentence fillers but this is well worth listening to.
I hope Lawrie reads this. Could he perhaps occasionally hook Toby Young and Nick Dixon up together and fire a few questions at them for a feature on the regular podcast. They lead busy lives but if they could delegate everything else but appear for a segment of the podcast now and then I would appreciate it, and I need their sense of humour as well.