No Sacred Cows

By The Political Power WorksNews Government Politics

No Sacred Cows episodes

November 02 In a pickle
In this week's special budget episode of No Sacred Cows, the herd discusses the central, still unanswered, question of the difficult decisions still facing the government - on growth, welfare, taxation, public spending, devolution and Britain's relationship with Europe.
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33 min
October 13 Now what?
In this special post-conference edition of No Sacred Cows, Ben Lucas, Anna McShane and Ed Owen ask what has been achieved in Burnham’s first 100 days — and whether Labour is ready for the much harder decisions that still lie ahead.
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37 min
July 14 The end of triangulation?
As voters splinter between Reform, the Greens and an increasingly volatile centre ground, this week we examine what a winning centre-left politics might look like in an age where trust is collapsing, loyalties are weakening and delivery matters more than ever. If Labour wants a second term, our new Prime Minister, his team and the cabinet will have to stop the assumption that yesterday’s political truths will still work tomorrow.

Labour faces a stark reality where it can no longer assume progressive voters have nowhere else to go. That competent government will eventually be rewarded. That careful triangulation can hold together an increasingly fragmented electorate. That if voters don’t understand what you’ve achieved, the problem is communication rather than strategy.

It’s time for change and Andy Burnham’s accession to the premiership next week offers the opportunity.

Better storytelling matters, but only if it is supported by a clear sense of purpose, coherent priorities and evidence of delivery. Burnham's perceived strengths - authenticity, political instinct, communication skills and a clearer sense of values - could help him reconnect with voters, but success will ultimately depend on whether he can demonstrate progress and convince the public that Labour has a credible long-term plan.

The author of ThinkLabour’s latest research, Christabel Cooper, joins us to dig into the data behind Labour’s electoral challenges, examine why support has ebbed across multiple voter groups, and ask what a Burnham premiership might do differently - from economic insecurity and migration to political identity and electoral reform.
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36 min
July 06 A new political economy?
As debate over the future direction of Labour in government gathers pace, this week we explore the growing disconnect between politics and economics, the collapse of the old social contract, and what a new political economy might look like.

From devolution and housing to regulation, growth and the role of the state, this is a conversation about far more than individual policies. It’s about what kind of country Britain wants to become, who the economy should work for, and how progressives can respond to an era of stagnant living standards and rising anti-system politics.

Fresh from his stint leading the Labour Growth Group Mark McVitie talks about the new economic settlement for Britain and we reflect on what these ideas mean for Labour’s next chapter and whether this long-overdue debate can finally produce the political strategy that the government has been missing.
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51 min
June 16 Britain's energy reality
Can Britain achieve net zero without sacrificing energy security, economic growth and public support? As energy prices remain stubbornly high and global instability continues to expose vulnerabilities in energy markets, the debate is no longer just about climate change. It is about jobs, national resilience, living standards and Britain's place in a rapidly changing world.
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42 min
June 05 Time for nation building?
This week, we ask whether Westminster is still fighting yesterday’s battles while the world moves on. Public First’s Jeegar Kakkad joins us to examine why defence and national security remain peripheral to political debate, despite growing global instability, as well as consider what a serious programme of national resilience might look like, and whether a new politics of nation building could offer an answer to both international insecurity and domestic stagnation.
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47 min
May 15 19th Century institutions, 21st Century problems
Is Britain’s political system is capable of responding to the economic, technological and cultural challenges reshaping not just the country, but the world? That’s the question Stella Creasy and Damian Hinds have been exploring together - and the one they join Ed, Anna, Mark and Ben to examine on this week’s episode of the pod - returning for our second season, at a huge time for Britain’s mainstream politics.
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56 min
March 23 Reshaping the state needs a real plan
Political analyst, writer and former government adviser Sam Freedman steps into the cow shed this week to look at how Labour in the UK needs to continue to realise that competence and good intentions will be enough to change the state. He lays out how some criticisms from the political right about state inefficiency are valid and need engaging with and how the government must move on from naivety towards a real plan on reshaping the state, if it wants to deliver. Sam talks about decentralisation away from Westminster as a potential remedy the government should pick up - as well as boosting the Prime Minister’s office and creating stronger ministerial offices. We also hear from Sam, and reader Katy, about our last episode on progressive education, which got the comments section livened up.
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46 min
March 08 Let's not go backwards on education
‘Progressive Education’ - the idea that education must be authentic, child-led, and discovery-oriented - actually leads to regressive outcomes for children and society. To secure progressive outcomes for kids and the future of our country’s, Kristopher Boulton and Daisy Christodoulou join the herd and lay out how the left is going to have to let go of some of its fallacies about the classroom and, most importantly, not allow ideas of the past take us backwards going into the future. Join us now for this special listener-submitted episode of No Sacred Cows - looking at the politics of and future of education, alongside a collection of tales from the classroom and lessons we can all learn about making schools work for kids and our society.
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39 min
February 07 Dump Trump
It’s time Keir Starmer dumps Trump - for the interests of the UK as well as his own and the Labour Party’s political skin.
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40 min

About No Sacred Cows

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