Podcast appearances and mentions of George Osborne

Donald Trump is keeping everyone guessing on Iran. After Israel's surprise strike and Tehran's retaliation, George Osborne brings fresh insight from Washington on how far Trump might really go - and what it means for Britain if he does. Ed Balls asks whether Starmer's government could say no if the US wants to use British bases for strikes, and the pair unpack the real choices facing UK leaders caught between an unpredictable White House and deepening conflict in the Middle East.Back home, Keir Starmer has announced a long-demanded national inquiry into grooming gangs, after years of failures and political arguments about who knew what and when. Ed and George debate whether this is a moment of accountability or just another U-turn that risks backfiring.And Labour looks set to retreat on taxing non-doms' worldwide assets, amid signs the wealthy are packing up and moving out of London. Is this the only way to stop an exodus, or another blow to Labour's big fiscal promises?To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Nadine Dorries is one of the most recognisable Conservative politicians from the past two decades. Elected as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire in 2005, she notably clashed with David Cameron and George Osborne (who she called ‘two arrogant posh boys') and lost the whip in 2012 when she took part in the reality show I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. Loyal to Boris Johnson, she served in his government and rose to be Culture Secretary. She stood down in 2023 and went on to write about politics in the bestselling books The Plot and Downfall.On the podcast, Nadine tells the Spectator's executive editor Lara Prendergast about her memories of tinned burgers and Sunday lunches as a child, working long shifts as a nurse in Warrington and what it was like spending a year in Zambia. She also explains the ‘relentless' but ‘collegiate' atmosphere of Parliament and how she once saw a mouse at the Commons' salad bar. Nadine explains what it is like to have recently used the weight-loss jab Mounjaro and why, in her family, she is still the ‘queen of the Sunday roast'.Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nadine Dorries is one of the most recognisable Conservative politicians from the past two decades. Elected as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire in 2005, she notably clashed with David Cameron and George Osborne (who she called ‘two arrogant posh boys') and lost the whip in 2012 when she took part in the reality show I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. Loyal to Boris Johnson, she served in his government and rose to be Culture Secretary. She stood down in 2023 and went on to write about politics in the bestselling books The Plot and Downfall. On the podcast, Nadine tells the Spectator's executive editor Lara Prendergast about her memories of tinned burgers and Sunday lunches as a child, working long shifts as a nurse in Warrington and what it was like spending a year in Zambia. She also explains the ‘relentless' but ‘collegiate' atmosphere of Parliament and how she once saw a mouse at the Commons' salad bar. Nadine explains what it is like to have recently used the weight-loss jab Mounjaro and why, in her family, she is still the ‘queen of the Sunday roast'.  Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Could a weekly grilling like Prime Minister's Questions fix US politics? In the wake of Original Sin - Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's damning account of Joe Biden's final days in office - Ed Balls and George Osborne ask whether a PMQs-style showdown could bring more accountability to American democracy. And are there any American political customs they'd import to the UK in return?The pair then flick open their ministerial boxes: what's it like to carry one, what can one find inside and why has it never been replaced in the digital age for something more user-friendly? A red tablet perhaps? Speaking of opening up, George responds to Michael Gove's ex-wife Sarah Vine's claims in her recent memoir “How not to be a Political Wife” - did he really tell her to borrow some money from her father when she was in a financial bind?Plus - Giles Winn, Special Advisor to the Treasury under Philip Hammond, asks about soft diplomacy in an era of ramped-up military spending. With UCL, he just released a report, The Soft Power impact of The BBC World Service' - and he wants Ed and George to weigh in. And Christine Farquharson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies asks about the politics of the rise of Sure Start, which she recently evaluated alongside co-authors in this report.To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Pippa Crerar of The Guardian assesses the latest developments at Westminster. Pippa takes a closer look at Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Spending Review with the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Conservative MP John Glen and Labour's Dame Siobhain McDonagh, who sits on the Treasury Select Committee. How to prepare for an ageing society is the subject of an inquiry by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee and Pippa discusses this with Labour peer, Stewart Wood, who chairs the committee and Daily Telegraph columnist Annabel Denham. Pippa interviews the Big Issue founder and crossbench peer, John Bird about the scrapping of the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act which will decriminalise rough sleeping in England and Wales. And, following the government's u-turn on winter fuel this week, David Gauke who was a Treasury minister at the time of what became known as the omnishambles budget under George Osborne and former BBC presenter Carolyn Quinn discuss famous political u-turns.

Rachel Reeves has finally delivered her much-anticipated Spending Review, but has it done anything to shift Labour's story? George Osborne calls it “continuity Sunak,” arguing that the big spending pledges are less a break from the past and more a continuation of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak's economic path. Ed Balls says Reeves is taking ‘a real gamble' without ‘any insurance', boxing herself in with big promises, uncertain growth, and no room to manoeuvre.With defence and the NHS coming out on top, and departments like the Foreign Office facing deep cuts, what does this Review tell us about Labour's true priorities? And can the party really keep these pledges without raising taxes or breaking its own fiscal rules?Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Donald Trump is making headlines once again, this time for turning on his old ally Elon Musk and deploying troops into LA over immigration protests. Ed and George assess what it all means for the UK's relationship with Trump, the future of US-UK diplomacy, and Starmer's carefully built transatlantic strategy.To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Two Members of Parliament (and a former too!) are seeking Ed Balls' and George Osborne's counsel this week. The pair consider the impact of AI, courtesy of a question from Alan Mak, the MP for Havant and the Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology - who has rung in to ask how emerging technologies can help governments run better. Meanwhile, Jake Richards, a newly elected Labour member, wants their views on immigration policy.And Ed and George are live, unscripted, and face-to-face for the first time - answering questions at the SXSW festival. The pair consider how best to handle a political sacking - would a couple of sherries help? Or should one invest in a coffee machine so you never have to leave the house? They also mull the value of a Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) degree. Plus, they share their favourite political jokes, and the role of humor and satire in the current environment … To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

When things go wrong - very badly wrong, as with the case of the infected blood and the sub-postmasters scandals - why can't the state act quickly to compensate victims? Ed Balls and George Osborne consider how the government should best respond, and balance the interests of innocent people as well as taxpayers. Harvard is the latest American university to feel the full force of Donald Trump's ire, with the US president trying to stop the storied institution from bringing on international students. Could there be benefits for Britain? George thinks the government should act now, without delay, to see if some of the best and brightest could abandon the USA for the UK.And the pair lift the lid on their own political memorabilia collection. Can you guess which former US president George has got a special connection to - thanks to some surprising collectors items?Don't forget we're doing our first Political Currency live show - we'll be taking to the stage on Thursday 5th June 2025 at SXSW London. Want a chance to grab a FREE ticket and a pass to the WHOLE six day business conference, worth £600?! Sign up to be a Kitchen Cabinet member to hear how you can get your hands on a ticket! To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

I've been viewing houses this past fortnight, so I thought I'd share my anecdotal 2p on the state of the London property market.I'm looking in Brockley, SE4, which, if you don't know it, used to be rough AF, but is now where all the cool kids are. The area has benefited from the various London rail line extensions – you can be in Shoreditch or Canary Wharf in 15 minutes; the Jubilee and Elizabeth lines are a similarly short step away – and that has attracted the slay crew to the area. The road links though are still horrendous though, made worse by 20mph speed limits and bus lane misallocation of essential road space. The drive to west London is interminable.Brockley has a good stock of beautiful detached, semi-detached and terraced Victorian houses. For example: With its proximity to Greenwich and the river docks, it was once a wealthy area, though, like most of south-east London, it got bombed to heck in the war.There are plenty of nice parks too. One of them, Hilly Fields, was modelled on Hampstead Heath, and there are many gorgeous houses in the roads running off it. Not quite Hampstead gorgeous, but getting there.Brockley also has the highest density of cemeteries in London, if you fancy dying any time soon, it's highly convenient. It is, I gather, London's most haunted area.It is only a bit stabby. Nothing like as bad as neighbouring Lewisham. (Maybe “only a bit stabby” will one day become part of estate agents' jargon, perhaps to replace “vibrant”. I can't believe how normalised stabbing now is that I'm talking like that.)The stabbiness is offset, however, by the plethora of nice restaurants, cafés, bars, craft ale breweries, the farmers' market, mini-festivals, pilates studios et al. I understand, in Browns, the area boasts London's best coffee and, in Babur, its best Indian restaurant. (Technically Babur is in Honor Oak, but, like England and many of its foreign sporting greats, we'll claim it as our own.)I shot this vid from the steps up to the station.Brockley feels younger and more up-and-coming than the once-cool areas to the west like Queen's Park, Kensal Rise, Clapham and so on, probably because of its easy access to east London. (A lot of people from Hackney move down here.)I moved here begrudgingly and skint in 2015 and have grown to really like it.But what about the housing market?I've known markets in which estate agents don't give you the time of day, there are so many prospective buyers, but – perhaps because they know I am an unencumbered buyer – the agents are maybe not quite all over me, but certainly on my case: lots of emails, phone calls and the rest of it. That indicates it's more of a buyers' market.But, while I would describe the housing market here as slow, it is not dead. Stuff has been going under offer in the two weeks I've been looking, though rarely at asking.With the costs of moving – Stamp Duty is 10% above £925k, and 12% above £1.5m, plus an extra 5% if you own another property – buyers have got to really want to buy.Sellers, meanwhile, have to really want to sell, which often entails reducing their asking prices. Stuff which is unrealistically priced is staying on the market a long time. Look at this one (actually up the road in Honor Oak):This is a 5,000-square-foot property, not so nice inside, but with access to a 2-acre private garden behind with its own tennis court – quite something in London. From £2.5 million to £1.75 million and they still can't shift it. (It needs a lot of money spending on it.)On the other hand, there don't seem to be many forced sellers – people who can't make their payments – and we won't get any house price crash, long-awaited or not, until that is a reality.I imagine Brockley, as a young, trendy area, is busier than other parts of town, but that is my overall feel: slow, but not dead.I've looked at a few family houses. I can't really comment on flats, but I gather there is an oversupply of 2-bed flats across London, and it is really hard to shift them. I'm not sure if this applies to Brockley or not.It doesn't feel as expensive as it did around 2019–2022 (realised sales prices are a fraction lower, but there is obviously currency debasement to consider too), but nor does it feel super cheap. We're a long way off where we were in, say, 2013, even though grander parts of London – Kensington and Chelsea, for example – are back at those 2013 levels.Where does the housing market go from here? It all depends on two things: interest rates and Stamp Duty.Britain's zombie housing market, brought to you by Stamp Duty.If rates go lower, the market will not collapse. There won't be the forced sellers. We'll continue as we are: stagnant. If rates go higher, the market is in trouble.But get rid of Stamp Duty, and you'd have a flurry of activity across the country tomorrow. People aren't moving because of the amount of dead money involved. Stamp Duty has immobilised the country.If you're buying a two-million-pound house, you will pay £153,750 in stamp duty. Cash. Money you've already paid tax on once. You can't borrow the money. You have to be extremely rich, or extremely desperate for a home, to be willing to pay a £150k one-off tax of this kind. Most would rather avoid paying it, so they don't move.You will pay more if you are not a UK resident.If you happen to own another property – which most people in that wealth bracket will, either their first flat they never sold, a property they inherited, or a home in the country – and the house you are buying is not your main residence, the tax rises to £253,750. A quarter of a million quid.That's why houses in Kensington and Chelsea no longer sell. EDIT: My mate, whose kids have now flown the nest, sent me this: "We live in a 4 floor house, 2 floors we don't use, I haven't been to the top floor for about 5 years (seriously). We would love to move and downsize but makes no sense as the costs of buying a new house would use up all the gain on downsizing . IE We just end up with a smaller house."This happens all the way down the scale. Kirstie Whatsit off the telly was tweeting about it the other day.My mother's friend, who is in her 70s, lives in a 2-bed flat two floors up in Wandsworth worth maybe £700,000. She is worried about climbing the stairs at her age, and wants to move to another 2-bed flat. She will pay £25,000 in Stamp Duty on top of all her other moving costs. She doesn't have 25 grand to throw away.The result is this nearly dead market. Britain's zombie housing market.Stamp Duties were one of the taxes the ignited the American Revolution. If only we had muskets today …The biggest villains in all this are former Chancellor Gordon Brown for first raising Stamp Duty on property transactions (before him it just one per cent on all properties over £60,000), and, worst of all, George Osborne for raising the rates to today's ludicrous levels. Rather than address the root causes of unaffordable housing – fiat money, artificially low interest rates, improper measures of inflation and dumb planning laws – he blamed the market, and attacked it with Stamp Duty. But all of Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak, Sajid Javid, Philip Hammond and Alistair Darling must take their share of the blame for failing to do anything about it, when they had the chance. (We'll give Kwasi Kwarteng and Nadhim Zahawi a pass on the grounds they didn't have the gig for long enough).Osborne, Brown et al have given birth to the zombie situation we have now. They have immobilised the country in the process. Government. Yet again. 0 stars. Would not use again.It's enough to make you a libertarian. Until next time,DominicPS If you enjoyed today's article, please like, share and all that stuff. It really helps.PPS If you missed this week's market commentary, here it is:As always If you are buying gold to protect yourself in these times or relentless currency debasement, the bullion dealer I use and recommend is the Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. Find out more here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

There is also now a video version of this article, if you prefer, here:I've been viewing houses this past fortnight, so I thought I'd share my anecdotal 2p on the state of the London property market.I'm looking in Brockley, SE4, which, if you don't know it, used to be rough AF, but is now where all the cool kids are. The area has benefited from the various London rail line extensions – you can be in Shoreditch or Canary Wharf in 15 minutes; the Jubilee and Elizabeth lines are a similarly short step away – and that has attracted the slay crew to the area. The road links though are still horrendous though, made worse by 20mph speed limits and bus lane misallocation of essential road space. The drive to west London is interminable.Brockley has a good stock of beautiful detached, semi-detached and terraced Victorian houses. For example: With its proximity to Greenwich and the river docks, it was once a wealthy area, though, like most of south-east London, it got bombed to heck in the war.There are plenty of nice parks too. One of them, Hilly Fields, was modelled on Hampstead Heath, and there are many gorgeous houses in the roads running off it. Not quite Hampstead gorgeous, but getting there.Brockley also has the highest density of cemeteries in London, if you fancy dying any time soon, it's highly convenient. It is, I gather, London's most haunted area.It is only a bit stabby. Nothing like as bad as neighbouring Lewisham. (Maybe “only a bit stabby” will one day become part of estate agents' jargon, perhaps to replace “vibrant”. I can't believe how normalised stabbing now is that I'm talking like that.)The stabbiness is offset, however, by the plethora of nice restaurants, cafés, bars, craft ale breweries, the farmers' market, mini-festivals, pilates studios et al. I understand, in Browns, the area boasts London's best coffee and, in Babur, its best Indian restaurant. (Technically Babur is in Honor Oak, but, like England and many of its foreign sporting greats, we'll claim it as our own.)I shot this vid from the steps up to the station.Brockley feels younger and more up-and-coming than the once-cool areas to the west like Queen's Park, Kensal Rise, Clapham and so on, probably because of its easy access to east London. (A lot of people from Hackney move down here.)I moved here begrudgingly and skint in 2015 and have grown to really like it.But what about the housing market?I've known markets in which estate agents don't give you the time of day, there are so many prospective buyers, but – perhaps because they know I am an unencumbered buyer – the agents are maybe not quite all over me, but certainly on my case: lots of emails, phone calls and the rest of it. That indicates it's more of a buyers' market.But, while I would describe the housing market here as slow, it is not dead. Stuff has been going under offer in the two weeks I've been looking, though rarely at asking.With the costs of moving – Stamp Duty is 10% above £925k, and 12% above £1.5m, plus an extra 5% if you own another property – buyers have got to really want to buy.Sellers, meanwhile, have to really want to sell, which often entails reducing their asking prices. Stuff which is unrealistically priced is staying on the market a long time. Look at this one (actually up the road in Honor Oak):This is a 5,000-square-foot property, not so nice inside, but with access to a 2-acre private garden behind with its own tennis court – quite something in London. From £2.5 million to £1.75 million and they still can't shift it. (It needs a lot of money spending on it.)On the other hand, there don't seem to be many forced sellers – people who can't make their payments – and we won't get any house price crash, long-awaited or not, until that is a reality.I imagine Brockley, as a young, trendy area, is busier than other parts of town, but that is my overall feel: slow, but not dead.I've looked at a few family houses. I can't really comment on flats, but I gather there is an oversupply of 2-bed flats across London, and it is really hard to shift them. I'm not sure if this applies to Brockley or not.It doesn't feel as expensive as it did around 2019–2022 (realised sales prices are a fraction lower, but there is obviously currency debasement to consider too), but nor does it feel super cheap. We're a long way off where we were in, say, 2013, even though grander parts of London – Kensington and Chelsea, for example – are back at those 2013 levels.Where does the housing market go from here? It all depends on two things: interest rates and Stamp Duty.Britain's zombie housing market, brought to you by Stamp Duty.If rates go lower, the market will not collapse. There won't be the forced sellers. We'll continue as we are: stagnant. If rates go higher, the market is in trouble.But get rid of Stamp Duty, and you'd have a flurry of activity across the country tomorrow. People aren't moving because of the amount of dead money involved. Stamp Duty has immobilised the country.If you're buying a two-million-pound house, you will pay £153,750 in stamp duty. Cash. Money you've already paid tax on once. You can't borrow the money. You have to be extremely rich, or extremely desperate for a home, to be willing to pay a £150k one-off tax of this kind. Most would rather avoid paying it, so they don't move.You will pay more if you are not a UK resident.If you happen to own another property – which most people in that wealth bracket will, either their first flat they never sold, a property they inherited, or a home in the country – and the house you are buying is not your main residence, the tax rises to £253,750. A quarter of a million quid.That's why houses in Kensington and Chelsea no longer sell. EDIT: My mate, whose kids have now flown the nest, sent me this: "We live in a 4 floor house, 2 floors we don't use, I haven't been to the top floor for about 5 years (seriously). We would love to move and downsize but makes no sense as the costs of buying a new house would use up all the gain on downsizing . IE We just end up with a smaller house."This happens all the way down the scale. Kirstie Whatsit off the telly was tweeting about it the other day.My mother's friend, who is in her 70s, lives in a 2-bed flat two floors up in Wandsworth worth maybe £700,000. She is worried about climbing the stairs at her age, and wants to move to another 2-bed flat. She will pay £25,000 in Stamp Duty on top of all her other moving costs. She doesn't have 25 grand to throw away.The result is this nearly dead market. Britain's zombie housing market.Stamp Duties were one of the taxes the ignited the American Revolution. If only we had muskets today …The biggest villains in all this are former Chancellor Gordon Brown for first raising Stamp Duty on property transactions (before him it just one per cent on all properties over £60,000), and, worst of all, George Osborne for raising the rates to today's ludicrous levels. Rather than address the root causes of unaffordable housing – fiat money, artificially low interest rates, improper measures of inflation and dumb planning laws – he blamed the market, and attacked it with Stamp Duty. But all of Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak, Sajid Javid, Philip Hammond and Alistair Darling must take their share of the blame for failing to do anything about it, when they had the chance. (We'll give Kwasi Kwarteng and Nadhim Zahawi a pass on the grounds they didn't have the gig for long enough).Osborne, Brown et al have given birth to the zombie situation we have now. They have immobilised the country in the process. Government. Yet again. 0 stars. Would not use again.It's enough to make you a libertarian. Until next time,DominicPS If you enjoyed today's article, please like, share and all that stuff. It really helps.PPS If you missed this week's market commentary, here it is:As always If you are buying gold to protect yourself in these times or relentless currency debasement, the bullion dealer I use and recommend is the Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. Find out more here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

Helen Thomas is the CEO of Blonde Money, an independent consultancy firm that analyses and monitors mispriced risks in financial markets in the US, UK and the EU. Helen has a long and distinguished career in both finance and politics. She was an adviser to the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Previously, Helen has been a partner in the global macro hedge fund, ABD Investment Management, and a former Head of Currency Alpha for State Street Global Advisors. In this podcast we discuss the return of political risk after unusual low interest rate/low volatility world, S&P 500 derivative risks and upcoming correction, Trump's ‘controlled demolition' strategy, and much more.    Follow us here for more amazing insights: https://macrohive.com/home-prime/ https://twitter.com/Macro_Hive https://www.linkedin.com/company/macro-hive

If Labour was hoping for one of those quick and easy policy U-turns, they certainly haven't got it. With Rachel Reeves' spending review a scant two weeks away, the government is still having trouble explaining the details - or providing any detail, really - on how winter fuel payments are now going to work. Now that cutting the two-child benefit cap is in the mix, who is going to explain what is playing out to the general public, and when? Ed Balls thinks it's all pretty messy, while George Osborne has got a different word for it: baffling.Meanwhile, King Charles has just been in Canada to open up the parliamentary session. An interesting piece of soft diplomacy as Prime Minister Mark Carney navigates a tense relationship with US President Donald Trump. The pair consider - with an unprecedented second state visit to the UK for Trump on the horizon and a chaotic on-again off-again US trade war underway - how should the government best handle it?And they turn their attention to the US tech giants dominance of the UK app store. Is the Apple-Google duology stifling UK growth?A reminder that we're doing our first Political Currency live show - we'll be taking to the stage on Thursday 5th June 2025 at SXSW London. Want a chance to grab a FREE ticket and a pass to the WHOLE six day business conference, worth £600?! Sign up to be a Kitchen Cabinet member to hear how you can get your hands on a ticket! To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Can a quick political win keep the public on side while the hard work happens behind the scenes? This week on Ex-Ministers' Questions, Ed Balls and George Osborne debate whether Labour's lack of early symbolic moves has cost them public goodwill - and whether a bit of political theatre can actually make or break a government.They also tackle questions from across the UK and the US: how can Kemi Badenoch rebuild morale in a bruised Conservative Party? What's the right way to pitch bold economic ideas in a divided world? And who really decides where government contracts go - ministers or mandarins?Plus: a look back at Keynes's legacy with HM Treasury's Mario Pisani, a tip of the hat to Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and Ed's run-in with a very enthusiastic listener at Harvard.And a reminder, we're doing our first Political Currency live show - we'll be taking to the stage on Thursday 5th June 2025 at SXSW London. Want a chance to grab a FREE ticket and a pass to the WHOLE six day business conference, worth £600?! Sign up to be a Kitchen Cabinet member to hear how you can get your hands on a ticket! To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Did someone say U-turn? Ed Balls and George Osborne have been saying it for a while, actually, when it comes to the matter of the controversial winter fuel tax cut. Now that the government has walked it back, will it do the trick and soothe voters and ease tensions with Labour MPs? Ed thinks the approach is “politically and technically messy”. George, for his part, thinks it's nothing short of a damaging “fiasco” for Labour. Meanwhile, David Lammy announced this week the suspension of trade talks with Israel, in light of the escalating violence in Gaza. Does this signal a shift in the UK-Israel relations? And will it make much difference to the crisis if it does? George isn't so sure… Plus, the pair discuss the newly-minted, post-Brexit deal with the EU - did Britain make the right calls and the right concessions? And a trip down banking regulation memory lane: is it time to wind back bank ringfencing, an ongoing legacy from the Osborne era?And a reminder, we're doing our first Political Currency live show - we'll be taking to the stage on Thursday 5th June 2025 at SXSW London. Want a chance to grab a FREE ticket and a pass to the WHOLE six day business conference, worth £600?! Sign up to be a Kitchen Cabinet member to hear how you can get your hands on a ticket! To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

California Governor hopeful Steve Hilton has a question for Ed Balls and George Osborne this week: which American state would they choose to live in, and would they rather be a senator or a governor? A trip down fantasy lane has the pair questioning the best path to political glory, based on previous presidents' CVs. Ed Balls for 2032? Seems… far fetched.Back in the real world, the pair debate whether cutting Employer National Insurance Contributions could help get people back into work - and whether Trump's approach to tariffs has, unintentionally, made him a little bit green.Plus, they reflect on their time facing PMQs in Parliament - and what was really driving their biggest moments at the despatch box.Some exciting news from us! We're doing our first Political Currency live show - we'll be taking to the stage on Thursday 5th June 2025 at SXSW London. Want a chance to grab a FREE ticket and a pass to the WHOLE six day business conference, worth £600?! Sign up to be a Kitchen Cabinet member to hear how you can get your hands on a ticket! To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Keir Starmer's controversial reference to an “Island of strangers” as part of his immigration overhaul has sparked a furore, and inspired a comparison to his previous stance on migration. Ed Balls thinks while there's no doubt it will cause some consternation, it will be a price worth paying. George Osborne, meanwhile, is getting Tory vibes … it all sounds a bit like it could've come from a Conservative government to him. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is on a glitzy tour of the Middle East, shaking off any suggestion the gift of a plane from Qatar might be running afoul of a little thing called the US constitutional emoluments clause. What's the foreign policy impact of this trip? And speaking of the president, the pair consider Trump's tariff on film production outside the US. It's a bid to restore the American film industry to its former glory, but at what cost? And what kind of fallout will there be in the UK's industry?Plus, some exciting news from us! We're doing our first Political Currency live show - we'll be taking to the stage on Thursday 5th June 2025 at SXSW London. Want a chance to grab a FREE ticket and a pass to the WHOLE six day business conference, worth £600?! Sign up to be a Kitchen Cabinet member to hear how you can get your hands on a ticket! To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

This week on Ex Ministers' Questions Ed Balls and George Osborne hear from listeners from the high seas, the Dubai sun, and the halls of Parliament - including a Gold subscriber who circumnavigated the globe listening to the podcast under the stars.The pair consider, has the press been too negative on the government's brand new free trade deal with India? And while they're talking about global alliances, they share their thoughts on CANZUK, a proposed alliance between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.Meanwhile, the newly-elected Reform UK Mayor Andrea Jenkyns asks for advice on putting Greater Lincolnshire on the map. They weigh in on how cash-strapped local councils can protect the most vulnerable. And they cast their minds back to when they last slept out in a tent…To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

It's been an impressive week for the Labour government, with trade deals with both India and the US. Ed Balls and George Osborne consider: what does this say about the Starmer government's ‘softly-softly' approach to the wildly unpredictable Trump administration? Being the first in the world to ink a deal with the Americans is nothing to be sniffed at, even if it is a little light on the details – but they both agree the big prize will be a deal with the European Union.... What role will free labour movement play? And what price will Labour be willing to pay, considering the all-important need to keep voters placated on matters of immigration and the economy? Back home, Nigel Farage claims his Reform Party is now the official opposition of the land following a bruising local election for both the major parties. Ed and George consider how both Labour and the Tories will need to position themselves to keep their base. Plus, they turn to the matter of interest rates. The US Federal reserve opted to keep the base rate steady, while the Bank of England has granted borrowers something of a reprieve. What does this say about the direction of the British economy? To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Ed Balls and George Osborne, fresh from a break for the Inside the Room Series: The Election that Never Was, jump straight back in with a slew of questions. With George's old mate and former David Cameron adviser Steve Hilton jumping into the Governor's race in California they counsel a stateside Republican voter (and Kitchen Cabinet member) on whether they think he's a good choice. They also mull data sources for parliamentarians. Are there rules on what's fair game when crunching the numbers? Or can you cherry pick and choose as it suits? They turn philosophical: is there ever a point when politics and policy has totally served its purpose? A listener who has been using the show to work up to GCSE studies asks: What's the best way to get across the financial aspect of politics? The pair share their tips on the best ways to build a good political and economic understanding in today's climate.To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Local elections are taking place across England today - and they're a major political test for Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch, and Nigel Farage. Ed Balls and George Osborne break down what's at stake in these key contests, from mayoral races to a critical by-election.Meanwhile, across the pond, Donald Trump has just hit 100 days in office. With stock markets reeling, 142 executive orders signed, and a trade war brewing, Ed and George ask how Keir Starmer should handle the ‘special relationship' with a now even more unpredictable White House?Plus, Mark Carney - the former Bank of England Governor - has just led his party to victory in Canada. A backlash to Trump, or a one-off? And what might it signal for upcoming elections in Australia and beyond?To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

Election Speculation... Labour had a substantial lead in the polls in 2007, fuelling talk of a snap general election to cement Gordon Brown's place in Number 10. And things only got better as the party arrived in Bournemouth for their party conference. By the end of it, election fever was well and truly in the air.To listen to episode 3 straight away, sign up to Political Currency Gold or our Kitchen Cabinet. Head to Apple Podcasts or www.patreon.com/PoliticalCurrency to find out more. Subscribers will also get exclusive access to 'The Inquiry' - our bonus episode where Ed and George give their reflections on the series.EPISODE 2: Labour's rivals had to follow the show, and shadow chancellor George Osborne had an ace up his sleeve to unveil at their own conference in Blackpool: a hugely popular cut on inheritance tax. David Cameron followed it up with his own surprise move, a ‘no-notes' speech that was well received. Suddenly, the polls swung back, erasing the Labour lead in less than a week. Deborah Mattinson - a key pollster for Gordon Brown - continues in the studio with George and Ed to relive these tumultuous couple of weeks.Producers: John Rogers and Miriam HallTechnical Producer: Danny PapeExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford and Dino SofosPolitical Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gordon Brown Takes the Crown... Ed Balls and George Osborne relive the sliding doors moment that could have changed the course of British history - the 2007 election that never was.To listen to episodes 2 and 3 straight away, sign up to Political Currency Gold or our Kitchen Cabinet. Head to Apple Podcasts or www.patreon.com/PoliticalCurrency to find out more. Subscribers will also get exclusive access to 'The Inquiry' - our bonus episode where Ed and George give their reflections on the series.EPISODE 1: Gordon Brown had sat in Tony Blair's shadow for over a decade. But suddenly, in the summer of 2007, he had his chance. As Blair stepped back, Brown stepped up - from Number 11 to Number 10 - without a single vote being cast. On the 27th June, he visited Buckingham Palace, and accepted the invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government.His first three months were somewhat chaotic. Before his first PMQs, he was dealing with terrorism attacks in London and Glasgow. An outbreak of foot and mouth disease came soon after, as did flooding across the country. And then came the runs on Northern Rock, the canary in the coal mine of the impending financial crash.George and Ed go 'Inside The Room' with Deborah Mattinson, Gordon Brown's chief pollster. Deborah and Ed were inside many of the same Labour war rooms together, as trusted lieutenants of the former Iron Chancellor, and they recall these positive early days of the Brown premiership. George, meanwhile, takes us inside the Tory camp of that era and David Cameron's struggle to land effective blows against Brown. We also hear from Andy Coulson, the Tory head of communications during that period.Producers: John Rogers and Miriam HallTechnical Producer: Danny PapeExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford and Dino SofosPolitical Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Easter special, Ed Balls and George Osborne meet a truly mythical creature: someone who wants to pay more tax, not less. And according to George, there's actually a way to do it.They also discuss a big political what-if: what happens if a Prime Minister loses their seat? They've talked before about how someone can become PM without being an MP - think Mark Carney in Canada - but this week they flip the question: could one keep the top job if your constituents vote you out?Also in the mix: is a government running out of money about to come for your pension? Would scrapping the tax-free lump sum be a smart or desperate move? And is it time to give our big cities more power - and more room to grow?And a note, don't miss our upcoming Inside the Room: The Election That Never Was - which is out tomorrow for subscribers and Monday for everyone else. Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

As the US-China trade war heats up, Ed Balls and George Osborne ask: what if the Trump White House took the nuclear option… defaulting on its debts to China? Ed explains why that could be a catastrophic thing to do, while George points to the ‘Mar-a-Lago Accord' as a way that the US in reality may negotiate its debt. Sticking with Trump, Ed and George also ponder ‘patrimonalism' – a term coined by Max Weber to describe governance by personal loyalty and kinship… Is Donald Trump the first patrimonial President of the United States? Josh Simons MP, a rising star in the Labour Party, asks for advice on getting government backing for a new road in his Makerfield constituency. Is he right to lobby the Housing and Transport departments, and what sort of arguments will pique the interest of the Labour leadership?Right now, the UK has eight living former Prime Ministers. Ed and George conclude by comparing their behaviour upon leaving Number 10. Which PMs clearly can't let go, and whose stock has risen over time? Technical Producer: Danny Pape Producers: Miriam Hall and Jarek ŻabaExecutive Producer: Dino SofosPolitical Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

It's ten years since George Osborne introduced his landmark private pension reforms, known as the ‘pension freedoms'. In this AJ Bell Money and Markets Deep Dive, we explore whether the pension freedoms have been a success and how you can make the most of them with your pension.   (05:26) Tom Selby and Rachel Vahey from AJ Bell will be joining Laith Khalaf to discuss what the pension freedoms were, and how people have been using them over the last decade. We'll also be running through the tax treatment of pension withdrawals and the chancellor's plans to levy inheritance tax on pensions.   (23:55) One of the architects of the pension freedoms, Sir Steve Webb, the Pension Minister in the coalition government of 2010 to 2015, talks to Laith about why the reforms took place and whether they've been a success.   (45:20) The team talk through the differences between drawdown and annuity and ask what a sustainable income is. We also discuss investment strategies in retirement, and ask whether annuities might be due a comeback. Finally we run through the resources that can help you decide how to take your retirement income.

It's been a rollercoaster few days for the world economy thanks to Donald Trump's ‘Liberation Day' tariffs announcement - and his dramatic U-turn a scant week later. With a 90-day pause for every country hit - aside from China - Ed Balls and George Osborne consider the significance of a hugely disappointing auction of US treasuries, and how it led to Trump's Treasury Secretary warning him of a looming economic crisis. They ask: are we watching in real time the US tearing at the foundations of the very system they created? And are there now the first rumblings of Republican discontent? Seems like there's the first signs of figures in Congress and on Wall Street starting to dissent … Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has vowed to ‘turbocharge' the UK economy in the face of global economic tumult. George runs through the options available to the Prime Minister… Is the answer in softening ‘ironclad' fiscal rules, deals with India or the EU, or hoovering up scientific talent alienated from the US? And they turn their attention to a Harvard and Kings College London paper, co-authored by Professor Ed Balls – what can the UK learn from ‘Bidenomics'? Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

This week, Ed Balls and George Osborne mull museums and memes via bank holidays and pennies. With listeners telling us their locations of choice, funeral director Ross ranks highly with his admission that Ed and George are sometimes listened to in a hearse on the drive home. The pair consider: what are the merits of regulating the funeral industry?Should our cultural institutions be charging more for access?George calls upon his expertise as Chair of the British Museum to weigh it up. Meanwhile, Ed shares his own research into the economics of a bank holiday… do we really stand to lose billions if the government was to introduce another?Toxic masculinity and online safety are in the spotlight in the wake of Netflix's hit show Adolescence, with research indicating that young people in the UK are particularly worried about these issues. Ed and George look at the role of government in addressing their concerns, before assessing whether the humble penny should remain a staple of British life. And a touch of nostalgia …  a listener reminds the economic duo of the ‘Budget Rap Battle', put together by Sky News when the pair were on opposite sides of the dispatch box. Ed expresses scepticism that such memes can make a political difference, although both agree that Nick Clegg's I'm Sorry remix was a damaging – albeit amusing – moment in the Lib Dem leader's career…. Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

In the wake of Donald Trump's ‘Liberation Day', Ed Balls and George Osborne break down the economic thinking – or lack thereof – behind President's tariffs. Rather than the numbers emerging from complicated analysis, Ed explains how they are merely reached through a simple formula. Will the Federal Reserve be able to cut interest rates as quickly as Trump would like in the wake of his tariffs?  Back home, Keir Starmer is calling for calm and resisting a push to reciprocate, as he seeks to strike an ‘economic prosperity deal' with the US. Is a wider security concern at play here?And on the other side of the globe, Australians are preparing for a federal election, called by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for May 3rd. It's currently looking like a neck and neck contest. Peter Dutton, his Liberal Party opponent, has previously made Elon Musk-like noises, creating his very own shadow ministry for government efficiency… But at a time when Musk might be finding himself out of favour, is this a wise way for Dutton to position himself? Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

A whole host of Treasury buffs have sent in their questions this week in wake of the Spring Statement, for Ed Balls and George Osborne to answer. Former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt asks whether in the light of Labour's announcing civil service reductions and welfare reform, the government is “stealing our clothes”? Lord Macpherson, Permanent Secretary to no less than three Chancellors, praises Rachel Reeves' “courageous” claim of non-negotiability on her fiscal rules (which George translates as a euphemism for ‘bonkers').Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride is predictably critical of the Chancellor's choices, but how much is Rachel Reeves to blame for the situation she finds herself in? And Ruth Curtice, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation and another former Treasury civil servant, sparks a conversation about how living standards will ultimately dictate Labour's electoral chances. Plus, Ed and George also clash over Keir Starmer's use of “coalition of the willing” - is this a conscious attempt to provoke American sentiment, or simply a widely used buzzphrase? You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free with a Political Currency Gold subscription! And even better, you can now get even more perks by becoming a member of our KITCHEN CABINET to get access to live tickets, merch and more! Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon.Technical Producer: Danny Pape Producers: Miriam Hall and Jarek ŻabaExecutive Producer: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel Reeves doesn't want to use the word 'austerity', but has she found a narrative to help explain her cuts to welfare and government spending? Why was 'fixing the roof when the sun is shining' such an effective message for David Cameron and George Osborne? And which of Danny's three types of strategy will Labour adopt at the next General Election?Send questions, comments and voicenotes to howtowin@thetimes.co.uk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has Chancellor Rachel Reeves got it right? Ed Balls and George Osborne provide their immediate reaction to her Spring Statement, questioning whether she's missed her big opportunity for a relaunch. George likens her approach to ‘staying at the Roulette table', having failed to land on black the first time around… He also compares her inflexibility to fiscal rules to his own approach while Chancellor, before the pair turn their attention to the government's own impact assessment on welfare reform. Ed explains what the findings of the report potentially means for millions of families across the country. And, having returned from the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong mere hours before recording, they turn their attention to uncertainty over the global economy following the announcement of yet more tariffs from Donald Trump. They also ponder somewhat gloomy international perceptions of the UK, with Brexit and Liz Truss being consistent themes that are still raised in conversations abroad. Finally the US national security establishment strayed into farcical territory this week, sharing operational details of a strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen on the messaging app Signal - and accidentally including the editor of The Atlantic, Jeff Goldberg, in the conversation. George and Ed express their bemusement at this turn of events and share their own experiences in government of receiving highly classified intelligence... You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free with a Political Currency Gold subscription! And even better, you can now get even more perks by becoming a member of our KITCHEN CABINET to get access to live tickets, merch and more! Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon.Technical Producer: Daniel PapeProducer: Miriam Hall and Jarek ŻabaExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With talk of raiding pensions, George Osborne and Ed Balls consider how to increase the incentives for working people to save. As former Treasury insiders, the pair reflect on specific parts of their own previous pension reforms and ask: what approaches would they take if they were still setting policy today? They're also pressed on recent arguments made by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak that Russian assets held in European banks should be directly channelled towards the Ukrainian war effort. Is this a viable approach to funding support for Ukraine? And how can Mark Carney become Prime Minister of Canada without sitting as a member of Parliament? From Lord Halifax to Alec Douglas-Home, George provides an overview of historical precedent for such an occurrence in the UK whilst explaining the impracticalities of it happening today. But what is the one British government role that demands you be an MP?Finally a question to you, our EMQ listeners – what are your favourite hobbies and pastimes to do whilst listening to the podcast? And can you beat this week's question-asker?You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free with a Political Currency Gold subscription! And not only that… get even more exclusive perks by signing up to be a member of our KITCHEN CABINET! Including bonus content, access to live events, exclusive merch and more.Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon.Technical Producer: Danny Pape Producers: Miriam Hall and Jarek ŻabaExecutive Producer: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: why is economic growth eluding Labour? ‘Growing pains' declares The Spectator's cover image this week, as our political editor Katy Balls, our new economics editor Michael Simmons, and George Osborne's former chief of staff Rupert Harrison analyse the fiscal problems facing the Chancellor. ‘Dominic Cummings may have left Whitehall,' write Katy and Michael, ‘but his spirit lives on.' ‘We are all Dom now,' according to one government figure. Keir Starmer's chief aide Morgan McSweeney has never met Cummings, but the pair share a diagnosis of Britain's failing economy. Identifying a problem is not, however, the same as solving it. As Rachel Reeves prepares her Spring Statement, ministers are bracing themselves for cuts in day-to-day spending as the public finances deteriorate. Is austerity back? Michael and Rupert joined the podcast to discuss further. (1:02) Next: survival of the fittest vs seduction by the hottest Biologist and Conservative peer Matt Ridley writes about the concept of sexual selection in the magazine this week, explaining that evolution might not just be driven by survival of the fittest but also by section by the hottest. This, he says, would explain some of nature's most colourful oddities, particularly within birds, as outlined in his new book Birds, Sex and Beauty. Charles Darwin proposed this as a later part of his evolutionary theory, but it caused a rift amongst his contemporaries – why is it a controversial concept? And could it be true for other species such as humans? Matt joined the podcast alongside David Puts, Professor of Anthropology and Psychology at Penn State University. (19:13) And finally: what makes historic murders so fascinating? Historian and author Hallie Rubenhold's new book, Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Dr Crippen, retells the famous murder case from the perspective of the women involved. Lisa Hilton declares it an ‘intellectual adventure' in the lead book review in the magazine this week. But why do these cases continue to capture our imaginations, decades and even centuries later? And, whether as victims or as accomplices, what makes women such compelling subjects in historic cases like these? Hallie joined the podcast alongside the historian and broadcaster Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives. (30:40) Presented by William Moore and Lara Prendergast. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

This week: why is economic growth eluding Labour? ‘Growing pains' declares The Spectator's cover image this week, as our political editor Katy Balls, our new economics editor Michael Simmons, and George Osborne's former chief of staff Rupert Harrison analyse the fiscal problems facing the Chancellor. ‘Dominic Cummings may have left Whitehall,' write Katy and Michael, ‘but his spirit lives on.' ‘We are all Dom now,' according to one government figure. Keir Starmer's chief aide Morgan McSweeney has never met Cummings, but the pair share a diagnosis of Britain's failing economy. Identifying a problem is not, however, the same as solving it. As Rachel Reeves prepares her Spring Statement, ministers are bracing themselves for cuts in day-to-day spending as the public finances deteriorate. Is austerity back? Michael and Rupert joined the podcast to discuss further. (1:02) Next: survival of the fittest vs seduction by the hottest Biologist and Conservative peer Matt Ridley writes about the concept of sexual selection in the magazine this week, explaining that evolution might not just be driven by survival of the fittest but also by section by the hottest. This, he says, would explain some of nature's most colourful oddities, particularly within birds, as outlined in his new book Birds, Sex and Beauty. Charles Darwin proposed this as a later part of his evolutionary theory, but it caused a rift amongst his contemporaries – why is it a controversial concept? And could it be true for other species such as humans? Matt joined the podcast alongside David Puts, Professor of Anthropology and Psychology at Penn State University. (19:13) And finally: what makes historic murders so fascinating? Historian and author Hallie Rubenhold's new book, Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress and Dr Crippen, retells the famous murder case from the perspective of the women involved. Lisa Hilton declares it an ‘intellectual adventure' in the lead book review in the magazine this week. But why do these cases continue to capture our imaginations, decades and even centuries later? And, whether as victims or as accomplices, what makes women such compelling subjects in historic cases like these? Hallie joined the podcast alongside the historian and broadcaster Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives. (30:40) Presented by William Moore and Lara Prendergast. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

They may have both been leading Brexiteers but Dominic Cummings and Nigel Farage were once fierce rivals, vying to be the top campaign of the referendum. As recently as last year Cummings accused Farage of ‘surrounding himself with useless characters' – so why are we now hearing of a secret meeting between the two before Christmas? Ed Balls and George Osborne pick apart the significance of this rendezvous at a time when Reform are contending with a senior bust up, as well as an imminent by-election in Runcorn where polling has them out in front. In a week where Diane Abbott and Andy Burnham backed Ed's criticisms of the government's welfare reform, Liz Kendall has been in the Commons to announce further detail of Labour's plan. And they reflect on what options Chancellor Rachel Reeves will have in her Spring Statement (or mini-budget) next week. Can she create a reset moment?Plus, in London this week was the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. With rumours swirling about an imminent Canadian election, George and Ed debate the merits of calling a vote early into your premiership, reminiscing about the examples of Gordon Brown's ‘the election that never was' and Theresa May's disastrous loss of a majority in 2017. You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free with a Political Currency Gold subscription! And not only that… you could have been in the room asking a question as a member of Political Currency's KITCHEN CABINET, along with early and ad-free listening, and exclusive Political Currency merchSubscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon.Technical Producer: Daniel PapeProducer: Miriam Hall and Jarek ŻabaExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Britain reflects on 50 years since Margaret Thatcher took the helm of the Conservative Party, the outlook for free-market thinking—and a dynamic economy—has rarely seemed so uncertain. In this special edition, CapX Editor-in-Chief Robert Colvile is joined by former Chancellor George Osborne and Professor Sir Niall Ferguson of the Hoover Institution to chart a course for the party's future. Recorded live at the Margaret Thatcher Conference, this episode is presented in partnership with the Centre for Policy Studies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Ed Balls and George Osborne complete the chancellor triptych with current shadow Chancellor Mel Stride ringing in to ask: how much space should a treasurer leave themselves against their fiscal target? And pressingly, does Rachel Reeves pass their test?They also consider if Nigel Farage will come to regret his close alignment with Donald Trump. Could the electorate turn against him if Trump continues on his rampage of tariffs and military aid halts against Ukraine? Speaking of, why has it taken three years for Europe to come together to back Ukraine against Russian aggression physically, as well as financially?And they turn to the all-important issue of golf, spilling the tee (get it?) on their ideal political partner for a four-hour round on a golf course. Which political golfing invite made David Cameron deeply nervous?You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free with a Political Currency Gold subscription! And not only that… you could have been in the room asking a question as a member of Political Currency's KITCHEN CABINET, along with early and ad-free listening, and exclusive Political Currency merchSubscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon.Technical Producer: Oliver GeraghtyProducer: Miriam Hall and Rosie StopherExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A ceasefire in the Russian-Ukraine war is now on the table, with US and Ukrainian officials reaching a deal to stop the fighting. With US military aid to Ukraine and intelligence sharing now reinstated, the world is now turning to Putin's next move. Will the Russian president agree to peace? George Osborne and Ed Balls consider the monumental shifts in the way the years-long conflict is now being viewed. And at what price? Meanwhile on both sides of the Atlantic, leaders are getting to grips with the trade war being waged by President Trump, with the latest to consider their approach being incoming Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. After discussing Trump's dismissal of the stock markets, Ed and George discuss the merits of Carney's firebrand response to US tariffs, comparing it to Keir Starmer's more moderate approach. Back at home, Starmer's government is already under fire as rumours spread over possible welfare reform ahead of the Spring Statement. Will this be the undoing of a party that has stood so squarely against very similar suggestions when in opposition?Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

This week George Osborne and Ed Balls are taking questions in person, with a select few Kitchen Cabinet members joining the first ever live audience recording of the show. Is Fredreich Merz right to worry that the European Union will face a financial crisis thanks to government debt? Is AI data management the way forward for driving significant savings in both welfare and healthcare? And is Trumpian rhetoric having an adverse effect on centre-right campaigning? Plus, they turn their minds to an area of true expertise: how to manage life after a career in politics. How do you keep bitterness at bay and forge a new, meaningful career? Is a comparison to a retired top-level footballer too much? George doesn't think so… You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free with a Political Currency Gold subscription! And not only that… you could have been in the room asking a question as a member of Political Currency's KITCHEN CABINET, along with early and ad-free listening, and exclusive Political Currency merchSubscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon.Technical Producer: Danny PapeProducer: Miriam Hall and Rosie StopherExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a week of political whiplash, including that infamous explosive meeting in the Oval office and renewed commitment from European leaders to back Ukraine. George Osborne and Ed Balls consider who - if anyone - has fared well in this wild week. Is Trump himself as the deft negotiator he claims to be?And with a rush to bolster arms on this side of the Atlantic, what is the fallout for Rachel Reeves? As the Spring Statement approaches, what choices does she have to limit the damage that may or may not be forecast by the OBR? And doesn't this all feel just a little bit like one of those second annual fiscal events she swore she wouldn't hold?Finally, Ed and George turn to the outcry around the government's artificial Intelligence and copyright consultation, from artists including Annie Lennox, Damon Abarn and Kate Bush. Is there a way for this government to balance championing and regulating big tech? Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon.Producers: Miriam Hall and Rosie StopherTechnical Producer: Danny PapeExecutive Producer: Ellie CliffordPolitical Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Holland is a storyteller whose range and erudition seem to be as unbounded as history itself. Now he brings us closer than ever to the lives of the first twelve Roman emperors. The ancient Roman empire was the supreme arena, where emperors had no choice but to fight, to thrill, to dazzle. To rule as a Caesar was to stand as an actor upon the great stage of the world. Delving into his new translation of Suetonius's Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Tom Holland joins George Osborne to illuminate the lives of the Caesars as never seen before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin asks for advice on how to keep a government report from sinking without a trace. Her review - released on Thursday - calls for a ban on degrading and misogynistic pornography. George Osborne and Ed Balls provide their views on how to make sure the findings reach the right people and make an impact.Speaking of influence and power, host of Politico's Westminster Insider podcast Sascha O'Sullivan has a question regarding the relationship between the Prime Minister and Chancellor. How does that personal interplay between the two impact the reach of the Treasury? They consider Keir Starmer's surprise defence spending announcement, by way of example. Lord Evans of Rainow has an apology for Ed that sparks a question about the future of heckling and sledging in parliamentary questions. Is it getting tougher in modern politics? Or easing off?And they cast their minds back to A-Level politics. What 1980s sixth form learnings did George draw on in his political career? Why did Ed elect to skip the course altogether? And what would they include if they were teaching the course today? This episode is brought to you by British Airways. British Airways will take care of you over a lifetime of journeys. Book your next flight at britishairways.com You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free! And not only that… join Political Currency's KITCHEN CABINET to enjoy early and ad-free listening, access to live EMQs recordings, and exclusive Political Currency merch.Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon.Technical Producer: Danny PapeProducer: Miriam Hall and Rosie StopherExecutive Producers: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Keir Starmer recently forced to promise his Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, would stay on until the next election, Westminster Insider Host Sascha O'Sullivan talks to former Chancellors and advisors who have worked in No 10 and No 11 Downing Street over the last 30 years to find out how to survive one of the toughest gigs in politics. She talks to former Chancellor Norman Lamont about the aftermath of the Black Wednesday financial crisis in 1992 and what lead to John Major sacking him less than a year later. Former advisor to Blair and Brown Theo Bertram tells Sascha the Chancellor-turned-PM Gordon Brown struggled to relinquish control over the Treasury to his new neighbour in No11, Alistair Darling. Sam White, who worked for Darling during his time as Chancellor, explains how an ideological wedge pulled the two apart before and after the 2008 financial crash. George Osborne, former Chancellor and now host of the Political Currency podcast, explains his unusual closeness with David Cameron through their shared belief in the merits of austerity. But he tells Sascha how their closeness may have risked a form of 'groupthink' during their time in office. Osborne also sets out why he thinks Rachel Reeves current economic plans have more in common with his economic agenda in the 2010s that people might realise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter  or Bluesky for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 13th March 2025. The winner will be contacted via Bluesky. Show references: Website: https://www.crowdconvert.co.uk/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/crowd-convert/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/crowdconvert.co.ukCrowd Convert has been created to provide attractions with the tools and expertise to create world class digital interactions that extend their incredibly moving physical experiences into the digital world. Very simply Crowd Convert is here to Rehmanise Commerce http://kellymolson.co.uk/Kelly Molson - The Lifestyle Agency AdvisorSupporting overwhelmed solo founders who crave long-term sustainable growth, through monthly advisory. Define your niche. Generate leads. Build your pipeline. Founding Rubber Cheese, a lifestyle web development agency in 2003, she grew the agency profitably for over 20 years transforming our success in 2019 by establishing it as the leading web design agency in the visitor attraction sector. She sold the business in 2024, and now support founders building specialist lifestyle agencies to find their own path – agency growth on their terms.• Gain clarity on direction, mission and positioning to win the right clients• Become confident in increasing prices and saying no to ‘stuff' that sucks time and energy• Feel the excitement of building strategic partnerships that deliver your dream clientsBuild an agency on your terms, choosing profitability over pressure, putting life before work.  Transcription: Kelly Molson: Well, look who is back. They've let me loose with the microphone again. I might never leave. Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in and working with visitor attractions. Kelly Molson: Can I just say that you pretty much called me a queen just before we began recording this, and I think I wear that crown appropriately today. Andy Povey: Podcast royalty. Kelly Molson: She is back where she belongs in her rightful place on her throne with her microphone. Wow. Thank you. You two have been cooking up something interesting, and I am back here to tease it out of you both today. But because I am in charge again, I get to do things my way, which means Icebreakers are back on the cards. Yay. Kelly Molson: I'm so happy to be back here doing this. Right? Paul Marden: I've never done one of these. This is so. In all of the time. I know. Andy Povey: So I've got something over you now, Paul. Kelly Molson: I can't believe this. Even when we did the sessions that were us two, the episodes that were us two. Paul Marden: You didn't ask me icebreakers. I am dodged that bullet for two and a half years. Kelly Molson:  That's outrageous. Okay, well, then we'll start with you. I would like to know who's your favourite podcast host? Why is it me? Paul Marden: Wow. Kelly Molson:  No. Genuine question. Genuine question. Okay, so, I mean, obviously it is me. We could put that aside. Paul Marden: Yeah, yeah. So put a pin in that one. Kelly Molson: Put a pin in that. So listen there, I have seen in the last. Well, since we started Skip the Queue back in 2019. Goodness, July 2019, there's been lots of different sector podcasts that have kind of popped up, and they are brilliant. And I'm all for more and more niche podcasts. They are the best kind of podcast. But I want to know, aside from Skip the Queue, what is your second favourite sector podcast? Paul Marden: Oh, oh. Attraction Pros is the one for me. I do like listening to the guys at AttractionPros. Kelly Molson: They are good. They were around before Skip the Queue. So they're like. For me, they're the ones that we are looking up to in terms of the podcast. Paul Marden: We were. Kelly Molson: Oh, oh, Podcast Beef. Josh is gonna hear this. He's not going to be happy. Andy, same question to you. What other podcasts you listen to sector wise? Andy Povey: So, I mean, that's a really difficult question because. Well, it's not. The answer's none. I don't listen to sector podcasts very much. I become a politics junkie, or I've been a politics junkie for years. Kelly Molson: Okay.Andy Povey: So my podcasts are just full of politics podcast, which in the past two weeks I've stopped listening to. I've turned off completely because the world of politics is just such a mess.Kelly Molson: It's a car crash.Andy Povey: Within two minutes of having been published. Kelly Molson: What would be normally your go to, like, the regular one that you would listen to? Andy Povey: Me being a reluctant remainer. It's all the stuff that hangs over from that. So there's. Oh, God, what now? Quiet riot. The two. Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart. I can't remember what that one's called right now. Paul Marden: The rest is politics. Kelly Molson: Rest is politics. Yeah, cool. Paul Marden: What about the one with Ed Balls and George Osborne? Andy Povey: I tried it and haven't really got into it. Paul Marden: Yeah. So I'm the opposite way around. So that's the one I like. And I don't like Rest is politics. And I turned out that actually George Osborne is a human being and I quite like the guy. I'd go for a drink with him. Who knew? Kelly Molson: This is no news. Paul Marden: Yeah. Kelly Molson: I wonder if he'd like to go for a drink with you. Paul Marden: Probably no.Andy Povey: I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear that when he listens to this. Paul Marden: When these politicians, when they give up their day job and they return to normal life and then you hear them on programmes, they're actually quite relatable and you think, why could you not capture that relatability when you were actually doing the job? Andy Povey: Well, it's actually a key part of the job, isn't it? It's the only thing you need to be good at as a politician. Kelly Molson: You would think, “Oh, could I could make a good politician then?” I'm just generally nice to people. Andy Povey: Absolutely. What would be your policies, Kelly? What would you do? What would you bring in? Kelly Molson: Oh, new policies. Oh, well, that's a very good question. I have one about mobile phones and people walking and looking at them at the same time, which I would ban because I generally just want to kick people. Kelly Molson: You know when you, like on the tube and you've got to get somewhere and you've just got people walking up the stairs in front of you, like, whilst looking at their phone, like, I want to swipe their legs away. So something around that they would be useful. It would make me happy anyway. Andy Povey: Absolutely. Kelly Molson: Make some other people happy, too. Who knows? Good. Okay. Glad that went there. Second question. This is a good one. It's coming up to. Well, I mean, it's already started, isn't it? Conference season has kicked in well and truly. You're at NFAN. That's really the start of it. I am going to be at the Association for Cultural Enterprise Conference in March. So looking forward to seeing everybody. I'm going to be at the awards do as well. I've been judging the awards. Paul Marden: Have you really? Kelly Molson: Yes, there was a lot in my category, I'm not going to lie. That took a lot longer than I was expecting it, but it was really fun. And the short list of finalists is out now if you haven't seen it. And it's an amazing list. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing who the winners are. But I would like to know what is the worst food you've ever been served at a conference? Because let's face it, can be a bit dodge, can't it? Andy Povey: So this sticks in my mind. It was an awful experience. We were at Port Sunlight up in. Actually not that far from Liverpool where the ACE conference is going to be in March. And it was pretty close, pretty soon after lockdown and it was almost like the caterers just looked in the freezer to see what they've got left over and no other conference had been there and then just put it all out at the same time. And it was all beige and it was just such mixture. Kelly Molson: Hang on a minute, hang on a minute. Let's not dis beige food because I'm not gonna let. I am a bit of a fan of beige food. So if you. If there was a conference that basically the lunch was made up of like kids party food, that would be the best conference I'd ever been to. Like sausage rames. Andy Povey: As long as you can have half a grapefruit covered in tin foil with cocktail sticks with cheese and pineapple stuff in it. Kelly Molson: No pineapple, I'm allergic, that would kill me. Paul Marden: But cheese tinned pineapple, it's got to be. Kelly Molson: Oh, tin pineapple is actually okay. Weirdly, that wouldn't kill me. So yeah, I would be down. I know, it's weird, I know. It's just fresh pineapple. Who knew?Kelly Molson: So little classed. Paul Marden:  Still loves the sausage roll and a scotch egg. Andy Povey: That's fine. Sausage rolls and scotch eggs, absolutely no problem. It's when you mix them with onion barges and samosas and Chinese spring rolls and. Paul Marden: Sounds like every Boxing Day lunch I've ever been to. Kelly Molson: I'm not going to lie, it actually sounds like my dream conference. Paul, over to you. Paul Marden: Conferences that serve you food that you cannot eat with one hand. Andy Povey: Yes. Paul Marden: Yeah. So pasta with a sloppy sauce. Why would you do that to me? I mean, I am not the best eater. I need a bib at most times, but if I'm out in public, I don't want garlic bread, I don't want saucy food. I want stuff I can shovel crack quickly and politely. I mean, as politely as you can shuffle food, but, you know.Kelly Molson: I'm with you on this. Like, what is wrong with the sandwich? Yeah, genuinely, I don't feel like we need to push the boundaries of conference food. I'm happy with stuff that you can pick up with one hand and eat comfortably. Kelly Molson: Stuff that, you know, you're confident that you can sit because let's face it, you get quite upright cos. And personal to people at conferences, don't you, when you're trying to, you know, it's not. Let's not be overloading them with garlic or anything. Kelly Molson: Delightful, you know? Yep, exactly. I don't know, I still, I keep going back to the whole party food. I think kids parties have got the right idea. Party rings, sausage rolls, scotch eggs. Paul Marden: And what sits that you can put in your mouth like a walrus. Kelly Molson: Oh, you know my party tricks. Brilliant, guys. Okay, listen, unpopular opinions are back for one time only. So, Andy, what you've got for me? Andy Povey: So mine's food related and it's probably more unpopular in my house than it is anywhere else, but Chinese food is massively overrated. Paul Marden: Behave. Kelly Molson: Yeah, I'm very on the fence about this one. Andy Povey: My kids love it, but the things they love are all the stuff that come with the sugar sauces. So lemon chicken, the sweet and sour chicken balls, all that kind of stuff. We good? So we mean, I don't need dessert and the main meal at the same time. Paul Marden: So we're talking English approximations of Chinese food from the takeaway. Yeah.Andy Povey: Nothing very sophisticated. Kelly Molson: I'm afraid I feel like that is all the stuff that I used to like, but now if you served me up a big plate of all of that stuff, it'd be like, oh, God, I'm gonna, I'm this. I'm gonna really struggle with this and I'm gonna be up in the night, aren't I? Paul Marden: I'm basically just a nine year old. Because it sounds like my idea of heaven. Sweet and sickly, deep fried. What's not to love? Kelly Molson: All right, well, let's see how our listeners feel about the whole Chinese debate. Paul, what about you? What you got? Paul Marden: The best radio station, is in fact Radio 4. Andy Povey: I agree with you 100%. Paul Marden: So that's not a controversial opinion. I thought that was going to be massively controversial. They've been podcasting for about 100 years. They podcasted long before there was really a podcast. It's all just spoken voice. So if I got trapped on a desert island, my luxury would be a Radio 4 on a radio to listen to because there's always a variety of stuff that you can listen to. Kelly Molson: Do you not listen to any of the other? Paul Marden: I do quite like. I quite like Greg James in the morning. Kelly Molson: I love Greg. I am a Radio 1 fan. Paul Marden: So have you listened to Greg on Radio 4? Kelly Molson: No, I know he does do that. Paul Marden: But, yeah, he's got a program on Radio 4 where he delves through the BBC archives. Rewinder, it's called, and it's brilliant. I love it. It's Greg James. Funny, combined with the novelty of listening to new things on Radio 4. Kelly Molson: Okay, all right, well, I'll give that a go. Yeah. I'm not fully sold on the Radio 4. I do like it. Paul Marden: But if I've got three or four hours in the car, up to a meeting and then another three or four hours to drive back afterwards, I'd rather listen to Radio 4 than Radio 1 because I won't get repeats of stuff. Kelly Molson: Yeah, I definitely am with you on that. And I would not. Yeah, I would not listen to Radio 1 for that length of time for that reason. Well, I'm. I did used to like. What was the pop quiz? Was that on Radio four? No, that was radio. Paul Marden: That was Radio 2. Kelly Molson: It was two, wasn't it? Sorry, I'm getting my radios mixed up. Paul Marden: Getting your old person radio mixed up. Kelly Molson: If I'm honest, I quite like a little bit of magic every now and again, but that really does age me. It's quite gentle. It's calming. When you've had a three and a half year old toddler screaming at you in the car for a while, it's quite nice to put something neutral on. Andy Povey: Absolutely. Kelly Molson: Thank you. Thank you for indulging, actually. Paul Marden: That was enjoyable. Kelly Molson: You're welcome. Andy Povey: That's why she likes doing them. Kelly Molson: All right, listen, let's get to the good stuff. I mean, everyone likes that bit. Let's face it, they've missed it, they want me back. But let's get to the actual route of why we're supposed to be here. Andy Povey: So I have another unpopular opinion that sort of leads in as a segue to where we were going. Kelly Molson: Oh, for God's sake, who's in control of this podcast? Me. Go on, then. Andy Povey: So this unpopular opinion is that if you're an attraction operator, you don't want a ticketing system. Kelly Molson: Excellent segue. Andy Povey: We were just talking about conferences. There are sessions in conferences and one of my favourite conferences I go to is the Ticketing Professionals Conference. But there are sections in each of these conferences on how to find a ticketing system, how to choose your ticketing system supplier, how to get a better relationship with your ticketing system. And in my opinion, an attraction operator doesn't want one. They want happy guests who are giving them lots of money to come and have great experiences. They don't care how it happens. Kelly Molson: It's true. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that, definitely. But are you dissing ticketing professionals and saying basically the sessions you're putting on a rubbish no one gives them? Andy Povey: No, no, no. There's a certain section of society that really enjoys it. So I describe this as. When I go to B and Q to look for a drill, I'm one of the geeks that actually wants to understand how the drill works and how fast it is and all that kind of stuff. But the majority of people going to buy a drill don't want a drill. They want a hole. Kelly Molson: Want a hole. Andy Povey: Yeah. So he's an attraction operator. You don't want a ticketing system. You want happy customers who are giving you lots of money and having great experiences. Kelly Molson: Okay, right. So that was a great segue into where I was going. Look, you two, you two have been thick as thieves for a good few months, if not longer, and there's been something cooking up between the two of you. Kelly Molson: I have had a little bit of privy to understand what's been going on, but this is the first time that you've actually got to the point of talking about it openly and publicly, isn't it? And that why you've got me back on, basically, is to grill you on what you're doing. So spill up, fess up. What have you been doing in the background, the two of you? Paul Marden: Well, this all came about after a lunch that Andy and I had in August of last year, where were putting the world to rights and figuring out what do attractions need to do with their ticketing, what do they need to do with their websites, and what could we do to try to improve things? And Andy had thought lots about this stuff and he prepared me. It's quite the lunch. He prepared me a PowerPoint presentation for lunch. Kelly Molson: Wow. Like when you want your mum and dad to get you a dog. Andy Povey: Absolutely. Can we make this happen? Paul Marden: Yeah, it was. It was his wish list. Clearly, this PowerPoint has been worked on for many years because there was lots of wishes, lots of ideas, and being the developer at heart that I am, I'm like, how hard can that be? It's only a website. Surely we can do this. Surely we can do it. We've done bits of it before and we started to think about where we could go with stuff that had long predates me. Yeah. There are elements of Rubber Cheese that you and Wag were working on for years, probably prior to the merger with Carbon Six. But it's been a really challenging market. Paul Marden: And getting out there and meeting people and talking about some of these elements of E commerce and ticketing, sales and personalisation and things like that we're going to talk about in a minute are quite hard to sell into people when it's a challenging market. And it seemed like, well, that was our first date and we thought that it could be a marriage made in heaven for the two of us, because Andy's got a lot of understanding of the sector and the needs and the challenges and who would benefit from this sort of technology. And I'm in the lucky position after having merged Carbon Six and Rubber Cheese, of having some of this technology that we could then develop. So it was a seed that grew from there, really, wasn't it, Andy? Andy Povey: Yeah. And he's carried on growing. I mean, the intent behind it all was that everything is just so disjointed at the moment. So if you're a big theme park with accommodation and a decent retail and decent catering, food and beverage offering, you're looking at seven or eight different systems that you need to run your business and someone needs to plug all of those together to get a good guest experience. And unless you're the size of Merlin or Disney or Universal, with lots and lots of resource to apply to plugging these systems together, it just doesn't happen. Which is why we're still not delivering the Best in class Omni Channel experience to people who are coming out for a day out. Kelly Molson: I think this is a really exciting conversation. And if I think back to some of the conversations that we were having prior to me leaving Rubber Cheese, Paul,it's exactly the challenge that they were having. You know, thinking back to a particular pitch where there's a historic house, there was a plague playground, there was a golf course, there was a spa, there was a hotel, there was something else. And all of these things had so many different systems that were running them and there wasn't really a way to facilitate bringing them all together. And that's the challenge because that's exactly what they need. But they weren't of the scale to be able to invest in the infrastructure to be able to do that. But it is exactly what they needed. Kelly Molson: So is this thing that you've built, or in the process of building and developing, going to solve that problem for people? Andy Povey: That's the objective. Paul Marden: That was a very guarded statement, wasn't it? That was a politician's answer. I think the answer that were just groping for then was yes. Kelly Molson: Yes, it is.Andy Povey: Yes. Kelly Molson: It's exactly the answer that I wanted. Andy Povey: We're forming a company that we're calling Crowd Convert and we'll put a link to the URL and website and all that kind of stuff in the show notes. And the objective behind CrowdConvert is that we will make this all work together. It's a journey. We don't have it today. It doesn't exist. I worked for Merlin Entertainment for the two source group for 18 years now. We had lots of resource in comparison to smaller attractions, but we still didn't make it happen. So it doesn't exist out there at the moment and we're going to build it. Kelly Molson: Okay, so we've got Andy, we've got an industry veteran. Hope you don't mind me. Andy Povey: Not at all. Kelly Molson: Kind of makes you feel, it makes you feel ancient, but you're not. But, you know, you've got all of this historic understanding and experience within the sector. Paul, yours is building, obviously we've built that over the years with Rubber Cheese. But you're, you know, you're the digital specialist that can come in and support facilitating building these and you've both come together under the Crowd Convert name. So this is the new company that the two of you have formed. I love the name. Andy Povey: Thank you. Kelly Molson: So I want to understand, like how then there's a story there. What I want to get a little bit of a deeper understanding is what is the offer? So, you know, what is the thing that you are actually building and does that thing have a name at the moment? What does it look like? So firstly, where did the name come from? Crowd Convert. Paul Marden: Weeks and weeks of effort. I hate choosing names for things, so hard. You come up with a brilliant idea and then you say it to your wife, “Oh my God, you can't call it that”. Or you come up with a name and then somebody's bought the domain name and by the end of It I was just like, please, somebody just put me out of my misery. I don't care what we choose. Andy Povey: It was actually the most torturous thing about getting this all together. There were a few others that came in very close second. But choosing the name and getting that together was really quite painful. Paul Marden: But it was the right process because we were so happy with the result at the end of it. Andy Povey: Absolutely. But it seems or it felt to me like the choosing the name, when we actually got to that part of the process took two or three minutes. And if we'd have thought of that name right at the start, then would we have rejected it or would we have carried on? Could we have saved two minutes? Kelly Molson: So you worked through the process, which means the name has more meaning. Paul Marden: Yeah. Kelly Molson: So what is the meaning behind it? What's the ethos behind between Crowd Convert? Like what? Andy Povey: So we've reverse engineered this one a little bit. And if you're in the world of attractions, you have a crowd. You hopefully you have a crowd. And as a visitor to an attraction, you want to be part of a crowd. You don't want to be the last person in the pub or the only person in theatre, because that just feels weird. But as an attraction operator, I want to have a relationship with you. I want to know who you are, I want to know what you want. I want to give you a great experience. I want to give you a membership. If I'm a charitable organisation, I want to convert you to a donor. If I'm not, then I want to turn you into an advocate at a superfan. Andy Povey: So Crowd Convert is giving you the tools to convert those crowds into individuals that you can create that know, like and trust relationship with. Kelly Molson: That's nice. So you talk a lot on the website about kind of humanising that process. And I think it is. It's taking it back to that kind of one on one that talking to people as individuals rather than talking to them as a mass. Andy Povey: Absolutely. That goes back to the. You don't want a ticketing system. Don't show me what goes in the sausage. Give me a great experience. Paul Marden: Mixing your metaphors there. Andy Povey: I know. Kelly Molson: You lost me at sausage. So, sorry. So I want to go back a little bit, Paul, to what you. Something that you said earlier about that this predates you and your part that you play in Rubber Cheese and your ownership of Rubber Cheese. So I'm going to make an assumption here that something that you're using is something that we already kind of started, but quite a long time ago. So we had almost like a product at Rubber Cheese that was in the ticketing space. And if I'm honest, as a small agency, you only have so much resource to work on things that are for you and ultimately the things that were for us and for you, like the podcast and the survey and the report, always took priority. Kelly Molson: And that was an awful lot of work for an agency that was, you know, before we merged, there were six or seven of us. You know, we weren't huge. We didn't have a whole lot of capacity and resources to give up to these things. But we did start to develop a product that kind of. We knew that it could be good, but it almost. We just, we had to shelve it and we just said, you know, one day we might get investment or one day we might be big enough that we could actually kind of focus on that. It feels like that's the product that you are now. Paul Marden: That is definitely the great grandparent of the idea that we've got now. Kelly Molson: I like that. Paul Marden: So there's, I guess there's two parts to some of the stuff that you had developed previously. Some of it was in the ticketing space. So for very small attractions, you developed a system that had an inventory of tickets that you could buy online and it would issue the ticket, create a barcode, send it to them. But there was also a piece that you did that integrated with existing ticketing systems. And that's the area where I think my mind was going is around building a best in class e commerce experience. Because people sat on the sofa on a Thursday night trying to decide what they're going to do at the weekend, want to be able to find an attraction, get their tickets, and then carry on watching the telly. They want quick and easy experience. We can build that experience. Paul Marden: We know from the survey that it's nine steps on average to be able to complete an attractions checkout, plus or minus a couple of steps. So there's ones that are even worse. And that checkout experience is torturous in many cases. They want to know when you're coming, what time you're coming, what type of ticket you want to buy. They want to know who's coming, the names, possibly the email addresses of all of your guests that you're bringing with you. They'll want to know what your home address is, what your billing address is. They'll then want to sell you a guidebook. They might upsell or cross sell some other products along the way. And that's how you end up with 12 steps in a process that just feels torturous. Paul Marden: I had one last year where they even made me enter a password for a site I was never going to return to and told me off twice for getting the password wrong. I mean, the process that many attractions go through to make you buy, it's a wonder anybody ever perseveres. What's stopping us from achieving an Amazon like one or two click experience? How can we go from that really extreme version down to something really simple and quick? And we've proven that it is possible to do that. It's possible to get down to a couple of clicks and we do that. I know you look surprised. Kelly Molson: Yeah, well, yes, I, well, I am surprised, but also quite excited by that because that is one of the issues that has come up year after year in the visitor attraction, you know, website report is the amount of steps and the aggravation it causes people, but also the cost that it could save attractions. Paul Marden: Yep. Kelly Molson: I mean you said nine steps. I thought were, I thought were aboutbbetween seven and nine steps is about the average. Kelly Molson: Right. So we know that can cost attractions a huge amount in lost revenue. You know, I'm just going back to the 2022 report, but it was something like 250k for one of our best performing attractions. But it's also tied to, you know, that excessive amounts of CO2 emissions, which I know you focused on really heavily for the current report. So you're saying that the product that you're building could essentially take those average steps down to two. Andy Povey: It's not good. It does. Kelly Molson: WowPaul Marden: It does. Yeah. So the way that we do that is a number of different core principles. Yeah. So we are not going to ask you for anything we do not need in order to affect the transaction. We are only going to ask you to share the data we absolutely need to complete the transaction. We are going to start to make some assumptions about you through personalisation technology. We will know roughly where you are and how far you are away from the transaction. If you're within an hour's distance of the place, chances are if you're looking on Thursday night, probably looking for this weekend. If you're on a different continent, you might be planning for a long term holiday. Paul Marden: If we know that you're quite local, let's assume the date that you want to travel based on our understanding of average behaviour of people at that particular attraction and then let people change it if it's not right. Yeah. Another thing Andy talks about a lot is not overselling. So a lot of ticketing systems are trying to upsell, cross sell and increase the average order value, but by cannibalising the conversion rate. And you talk, Andy, don't you, about the maitre d at the restaurant? Andy Povey: Yeah. So it's. It's like comparing a McDonald's experience to go to a fine dining place. So if I'm in the McDonald's world, I have to choose what drink I want, what dessert I'm going to have, what main course I'm going to have, all at the same point. And it's a really artificial transaction. It's almost like if you were walking into a fine dining restaurant with the maitre d at the front going, “Welcome, Andy, come in. Lovely to see you. Can you tell me what you'd like for your starter for your main course? For dessert? Will you like coffee after dessert? Would you like a liqueur after the coffee?” We still haven't got to the table and that's where we are with attractions, upsells. Andy Povey: Because we believe mistakenly, in my opinion, that's the only opportunity that we've got to sell guidebook or the teddy bear or whatever to the guest who's coming. We should stop all of that because it's stopping the transaction, it's interrupting the transaction, adding extra steps and causing people to leave. Kelly Molson: It's a really good point. I mean, I actually have in the past have advocated for adding in upsells in that journey. And because I have often been like, well, yeah, actually it's a really good opportunity for people to sell a little bit more, you know, whether it's a guidebook, whether it's an experience, whatever that might be. So what would you say to people who they still want to do that? Is that, are we then talking about, you know, there's options for you to do that or actually that becomes part of the pre visit, pre boarding. So it funnels down into like emails, comms and stuff. Andy Povey: It's both options, really. For an upsell to work really well, it needs to be at the time where it's most appropriate. So back to the restaurant analogy, offering me a coffee at the point I walk in the door is completely inappropriate. Andy Povey: Offering me a coffee after I've had a great meal and I'm feeling quite full and quite happy with myself is entirely the appropriate time to offer me the coffee. So let's make the offers on the upsells appropriate to the time and to the guest. So if you're an attraction that charges for car parking, for example, it might be that 9:00 in the morning on the day of visit when the family are just getting in the car to travel to the venue is the most appropriate time to offer the car parking upsell. Not at the point where I'm buying the ticket. It might be if you've got a VIP upgrade experience. So if you're a water park there's a cabana you can have. If you're a theme park it's a fast track experience. Andy Povey: If you're a museum then there's a guided Tour that upsell VIP type experience you offer 48 hours before the day of visit. Kelly Molson: Sure. Andy Povey: Memberships are another great thing. So there's still the majority of first time membership purchases are made as the consumer is leaving the attraction. Had a great day out. Get today's entry feedback against your membership and that's still go and join this queue with kids who are overtired and a little bit disappointed because they're leaving and I'm stressed because I've got a. I'm tired as well and I've got a long drive home and then I've got to work out what we're going to do for dinner when we get in. There's all these negatives. Don't try and sell me a membership then. Sell me the membership for the next seven days and hit me up with lots of different messages through appropriate channels. Andy Povey: So it might be that a WhatsApp message on the way home offering me a really simple way of upgrading to a membership is the most appropriate that time. But it might be that 9 o'clock on Monday morning when we can assume that a lot of people are going to be sitting behind a desk. Then it's the most appropriate to send me an email and then hit me up again Thursday when I'm thinking about what I'm going to be doing next this weekend coming remind me of the great experience I had and give me an opportunity then. So just be, make it much more human. Kelly Molson: It makes sense. And there's something that you. I've been able to have a sneak peek of the Crowd Convert website. So we'll talk a little bit later about where people can find out a little bit more about you. But I've been able to have a little look at that and there's something that you talk about which is about rehumanising commerce and there's a really lovely story on there that you talk about, which is the Shopkeeper's Wisdom. And I read that, I was like, this is really nice because I've always. The local shop is or did sit at the epicentre of the community at one point. And I have got really vivid memories. So we lived on a little estate near my school in Essex and across the road from us was the corner shop. Kelly Molson: And it was where everything happened, you know, like it was the post office, it was where you got your papers, where you got your sweets. At one point is where you got your videos, not your DVDs because they did not exist. You know, you got your VHS cassettes and you could go and rent, you know, everything kind of happened there. And they knew you, they knew your family, they knew your mum and dad, they knew your names, you know, and it was a really, it was just quite a wholesome experience. And you talk about that, the Shopkeeper's Wisdom. So you say, you know, the local shopkeeper knew everything that it was to know about their customers. And that is kind of taking it back to that level. That's, that's what this feels like. Andy Povey: And that's completely where we're trying to get to. We don't want to get to the level of creepiness where people are getting all upset about what were. Andy Povey: And we don't want to be intrusive. But we have a great opportunity in the attraction space. Our customers want to engage with us. They're going because they enjoy what we do. They're going to see us because they want to experience the thing that we're doing. It's not like we're selling insurance or car tires that you just got to have and it's really tedious. People want to engage, so let's make it easy for them to do that. Kelly Molson: Okay. So we're doing that by making it quicker for them and less friction to buy a ticket in the first place. Communicating with them at the appropriate times and in the ways that they want to be communicated to and offering them. Because we don't want to stop offering people extra things. We're doing it in the way and at the time that's appropriate for that audience. Paul Marden: We're absolutely convinced that moving some of these upsells and cross sell opportunities to later in your relationship will increase the likelihood of you closing the deal. Don't cannibalise the conversion rate at the initial conversation. You haven't built a trust relationship with someone, so don't keep throwing options at them. It's just too much. I'm a simple boy. If I go to a restaurant, I want a really simple menu, three or four things, and I'll make a choice. Yeah. If you give me too many options, I'll just sit there and I won't be able to decide. And I think that's what we do when we present people with nine steps and we want to know the email address of everybody, we want to know the postcode of where they live because we want to be able to market to them and that's important. Paul Marden: But there are other better ways of being able to identify where somebody is other than using their postcode and making them type something in. They don't need that hassle. Andy Povey: So this is all about the e commerce journey. Stepping back a little bit closer to what Rubber Cheese do. And the DNA behind Rubber Cheese is making attractions websites work really well. And it's back to the point about things being disconnected and attraction operators having to plug them together. How many websites are there or how many attraction e commerce journeys are there where you click on the button to buy a ticket and you're taken to a different page and that different page can have a completely different look and feel? Kelly Molson: Oh, yeah. I mean, that's a massive bug. It's been a bugbear of mine for years. Andy Povey: But how many websites do you have where I can be sitting there looking at the tulip experiences coming up? We heard lots of that kind of stuff at the end fan conference. I'm on the tulips page. But then you take me to a page where I've got to pick the date that I want to visit. I've already told you, I'm on the tulip page. I want to come and see tulips. I'm not interested in Father Christmas. Kelly Molson: I'm just all about the tulips. Andy Povey: So don't make me choose twice. Make it work together. Kelly Molson: Okay, So I want to play devil's advocate here because I'm sitting here listening to this going, this sounds great. I'm going back to what Andy said about, you know, attractions, they don't really want a ticketing system. They just. They don't really care about the system. They just want it to work. Right, I get that. But there's going to be a lot of people that are listening to this podcast going, “bloody ticketing system”. There's a lot, right? Let's face it. Paul Marden: It's a busy space. Kelly Molson: You are. It is a busy space. And if you are an attraction sitting here going,”Oh my God, another one.” We know that another one. You know that we know what we've got isn't working for us. We've, we've got workarounds, we're doing what we can with what we already have. But you know, ultimately we can't grow with what we have and we know we need to change it. This is a big task, right? You know, your ticketing system is often embedded so deeply into your organisation that the process of selecting a new one and then implementing that change is so vast and overwhelming that one people declare we just won't bother. That's why I've got these workarounds in place or two, you know, overwhelmed with choice. And yes, I know there's specialists out there. Kelly Molson: You know, we work with a couple that will help you go through that process and select the right partners for you. But if someone like me is sitting here going, “Okay, why do I come to Crowd Convert?” Like, why is this, what is it the thing that your product is going to be stand out for that is going to sit above or is going to solve the problems I've got above all of the other options that I've got out there? Andy Povey: So this is back to the comment earlier about this being a concept, an ethos of philosophy. Our business will grow through either building solutions, acquiring other solutions that have already been built, or selecting partners to integrate with. And we will do the whole integration. So it doesn't matter what ticketing system you're using that you have today, if you want the better digital experience for your guests, we will integrate to your current ticketing system. Kelly Molson: Okay, so you're taking the pain of having to change something that's deeply embedded in your organisation and almost putting something, a layer on top of that will actually facilitate this better customer interaction, purchasing process without the need for all of the stressful change. Paul Marden: Do away with the whole monolithic solution that solves the operation of the entire business and start to turn it into LEGO bricks. I want a LEGO brick from a website. I want a LEGO brick for my ticketing. I want my LEGO brick for my e commerce experience. I want my LEGO brick for my online shop. We'll either build or acquire those LEGO bricks or partner with the best of breed LEGO bricks that exist. Other building blocks are available and we will help to plug those together and make them work effectively. But you can imagine, you know, I always talk about, we talked a lot about ticketing today, but I, whenever I talk to somebody about ticketing, changing your ticketing system is like open heart surgery on the business. Paul Marden: Yeah, it's something you don't necessarily do casually, although I have met people who have changed it casually. But it's often so difficult because it's so deeply ingrained across the entire operation. But if you start to. It's a horrible, boring technical term. If you start to build this composable set of systems that can plug together, then it becomes easier. If you plug in an e commerce online ticketing solution and it plugs into your current ticketing system, well then later on when you change that ticketing system, you won't necessarily have to change the online experience in order to be able to do that. Yeah, we'll be able to plug into the new one that you choose. It makes it easier for you to chop and change things and become less dependent on one single monolithic provider. Kelly Molson: Yeah, because that's the thing. Right. You know, I think the past dream has been one system that does everything and suddenly that one system goes down and you're absolutely screwed. Andy Povey: That's not the way the world works anymore. And the human world. I use analogy of a TV. I got a new TV a few weeks ago out of the box and turned it on and I was presented on screen with an option to get the remote control for my new TV to operate other devices in my house. And my kids could have set it up. Kelly Molson: Danger.Andy Povey: Absolutely. Why is integration so difficult? And that's the way the world is going. If you look at credit card processing two, three years ago, to be able to accept a payment by credit card, you had to sign into a five year agreement with a credit card process provider. I was in my local WIX yesterday and I could have bought credit card terminal off the shelf. Andy Povey: They were sitting on the shelf next to the suites at the checkout. For 50 quid I could have taken it home, unboxed it and I would be processing credit card transactions there and then. I'm not signing into a three year agreement. If I don't like it, I can take it back and get one in pink because I prefer pink to white. It's got to be much easier. The world is becoming much easier. The technology world is becoming much easier to make these things work together. So you won't need clever people like Paul to make it all work together. Crowd convert. Paul Marden: I'll be on the golf course, won't I? Kelly Molson: Do you play golf? Paul Marden: No. Never played golf in my life. Crazy golf. Kelly Molson: I like the analogy. I like the Lego brick analogy. I like this whole kind of the concept that it's, you know, like plug and play but you know, you haven't got. You're using the base of what you already have, but you can pop these things as part of it. That feels really understandable for people to get their head around the concept of what you're doing. Paul Marden: But still totally integrated. What we don't want is the solution that is that somebody, an attraction that we've been to recently, where to get in, you have to go through different turnstiles depending on whether you've got a day ticket or a membership ticket because the two different sets of systems can't talk to the same turnstile at the same time. And so then you need more double the staff to be able to man the turnstiles. Kelly Molson: And confusion, and it ruins that whole first impact of arrival because you don't know yet. Andy Povey: But we're exposing our dirty laundry to the consumer. Why? They don't care. Kelly Molson: Yeah, yeah. Andy Povey: It doesn't matter to them what ticketing system you've got. Paul Marden: That is the vision. And the vision is becoming reality as well. Kelly Molson: Okay, well, let's talk about that. So there is a website that I've had privy to and the product is in its, should we say it's in its infancy at the moment and it's being developed. Paul Marden: Yes. Kelly Molson: So this is the time to that you'll be having, I guess you'll be having conversations with people about what that product, you're almost building it for the people. Right. You're having conversations with them about this is what we see happening. This is how we see what we do. What are your needs? Paul Marden: Yeah. Kelly Molson: Okay, cool. So can people get involved with that process? Paul Marden: Exciting. Andy Povey: Absolutely. Paul Marden: Anyone can talk to Andy. He'll talk to anybody. Kelly Molson: It's true, he will. Paul Marden: I just get locked in a cupboard and told to design things. Andy Povey: Make it work, plug it together. Kelly Molson: Okay, so I've got a few questions about what does this mean for Rubber Cheese? What does this mean for Rubber Cheese? What does this mean for Skip the Queue. What does this mean for the report initiatives that we do? I guess that's all still happening. Paul Marden: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely no changes to Rubber Cheese at all. This is part of a wider, bigger family that Rubber Cheese is part of. And looking at different parts of the attraction operating experience. Paul Marden: Yeah. So Rubber Cheese is going to carry on almost single minded focus on websites that enable people to get to the buy button. Kelly Molson: I like that. Paul Marden: Getting them from being interested in the attraction to hitting that buy now button or get your ticket button. Yeah. That's our specialty and that will remain our specialty. The job of Crowd Convert then is to convert them. Kelly Molson: Pick up from that point. Andy Povey: Absolutely. Kelly Molson: That's lovely, isn't it? Andy Povey: And that's where the build, acquire and partner comes in. So there will be other organisations, other tools that we partner with and plug together. And that's the bit that Crowd Convert does. It's almost the umbrella, the glue that glues all of these things together. Kelly Molson: Okay, so what more do our listeners need to understand about Crowd Convert and how can they get involved? How can they be part of this conversation to define what this product actually looks like and does for them? Andy Povey: So we're launching the website. You can find Paul and me on LinkedIn. We've got a bunch of events and exhibition shows that we're going to be at over the next few months where we're actively going to be asking people to get involved. If you are interested, then pick up the phone and drop us an email. We'll have a chat. Paul Marden: Contact@crowdconvert.co.uk.Kelly Molson: I was going to say we need the domain name in there. Crowdconvert.co.uk is the place to go. Go and have a look, find out, have a little bit of a read through about the site. It's designed in a really nice way. I think that what I really liked as I was reading it through was kind of this real focus on building something for the greater good. It's not just another ticketing platform. It's not just about. It really is about working with the attractions to build something that is just, it just works. And it works for them in the way they need it to and it works for the visitors in the way they need it to. Andy Povey: And that's it completely. It's about putting the guest at the centre of everything we're doing. And looking at this from the consumer's perspective, does it make sense or am I going to have to work out where I bought my tickets? So I know whether I go through the right hand turnstiles or the left hand turnstiles, that's just rubbish. Kelly Molson: Yeah, okay, great. So website is launching.Paul Marden:  It is launched. It's up and running. Kelly Molson: Oh, it's out. It's out there all right. It's out there in the world already. So that's where you go, listeners, if you want to find out more about what's happening. And I would really recommend booking a call with Andy, booking a call with Paul, talking through, you know, if anything that we've talked about today has made you feel quite excited about what the prospect of this product could potentially be. Book a call with them. I mean, listen, if you're seeing Andy at a conference, you just need to up. And you'll find him. Or maybe it's just me.Paul Marden: Me, not so much. Kelly Molson: Oh, it's just me. Okay, listen, I always finish off my podcasts with a book recommendation for our listeners, so I'd like to ask you both if you've prepared a book today. Andy, what do you have for us? Andy Povey: So I pondered this for quite a while because I was expecting it and I think it's the third or fourth you've asked me for. So I'm actually not going to recommend a book at all. I told you that I've given up on podcasts earlier on and I found Audible. So at the moment the thing that's occupying all of my attention is that, The Day of the Triffids on Audible which is fantastic. Fantastic escapism from everything that's going off in the world at the moment. Paul Marden: Interesting. Kelly Molson: That's nice actually. That's really good. But audiobooks are really good for long drives that were talking about earlier. They're quite good. I got into. Sorry, Paul, just. I'll come to you in a minute. Paul Marden: It's all about you. Kelly Molson: It's all about me today. I really got into. Kelly Molson: Just before the pandemic and during it there was a BBC podcast called the Lovecraft. Oh gosh, what is it called? The Lovecraft's Tales. I'm gonna have to have to check this on my.Paul Marden: Sorry, listeners. Well, she's out of practice on this. Kelly Molson: So I am out of practice. Apologies, but you know me. The Lovecraft investigations. Don't know if anyone would listen to it. It's brilliant. It's based on the love. It's loosely based on on Lovecraft books but it was quite like it's about supernatural. But what I really enjoyed about it was linked to like local places that I kind of knew like Retend and Forest and there was a lot of like, kind of like Norfolk, Suffolk and Dunwich and stuff. And that was. They're really good for like long drives as well because you can really get into something on like a two or three hour journey. So I totally with you on the triffids thing. So I did bring it back to Andy in the end. Andy Povey: Thank you, Kelly. Kelly Molson: Paul, what have you prepared? Paul Marden: I am an absolute Fan of classic British crime novels. Love an Agatha Christie. Love, a  mystery of some sort. But I'm not going to recommend an Agatha Christie one. I'm going to recommend one that I've got on Audible as well, that I found originally from Audible. Paul Marden: And it is one of the British Library classic British crime series, where they're republishing stuff from, like, you know, the 20s and 30s, and it's called the Wintringham Mystery Anthony Barclay. It's a classic whodunit in a kind of locker room mystery in a massive stately home. It's just like a Poirot novel, but it's not Poirot. It's a different one. But I love it. It's a brilliant book. Kelly Molson: When you find stuff like that, it's really comforting, isn't it? It's like a little a warm hug and a cup of tea. Andy Povey: Absolutely. Kelly Molson: Lovely. Well, do our listeners still get to win copies of those books even though they're audiobooks? Paul Marden: Yeah, but they don't do it on X anymore because, you know, who wants to be posting on X? So if listeners. If you'd like a copy of Andy's. Well, no, you can't have Andy Lovecraft books but it was quite like it's about supernatural. On Audible or mine. On Audible or on Paperback, then head over to Bluesky and repost the shownotes where Wenalyn has announced the podcast and the first person that does that will get a copy of the book. Kelly Molson: Lovely. Well, it has been an absolute treat to be back on the podcast today. Thank you. Paul Marden: You're not coming back over again? It's still mine. It's mine there. Kelly Molson: Please let me come back. Please. Anything that we've talked about today will, as ever, be in the show notes. So you'll find links to the Crowd Convert website, you'll find links to Paul and Andy's LinkedIn profiles and email addresses, whatever. However, best to get in touch with them. But I highly recommend having a chat with them. Can I just say, because it is all about me. I've been very sad to not be part of the podcast moving forward. But I am also been really thrilled that you have taken completely up to the ownership of it. So I just. While I'm on here, and it is about me, I just wanted to congratulate you for taking over and making it your own, because you really needed to do that. And it's brilliant to see. Kelly Molson: And I've loved listening to the episodes. I think the bravery in doing some of the live ones. Paul Marden: Stupidity. Kelly Molson: Well, maybe a tad. Paul Marden: We won't talk about what happened at NFAN last week. Please let's not talk about that. Andy Povey: What happens in Blackpool stays in Blackpool. Kelly Molson: Next time I come on the podcast, I'm going to make you spill that as a guilty confession. Paul Marden: But you know what? I absolutely loved it. I came back afterwards and I listened to that episode and it's the first one where I've been. I really thoroughly enjoyed listening to the conversation. I'm finding my feelings only taken me a couple of years. Kelly Molson: Well, it only took me a couple of years as well. But you're there now and it's brilliant. So, like one, well done. I genuinely think that you're doing an excellent job and I'm very glad that I got to hand the baton over to you and you're doing it differently. Paul Marden: You can just come back as a guest star. Andy Povey: It was more of a temporary end, wasn't it, than a handover. Paul Marden: It's mine. It's mine. Kelly Molson: I think it was a, "Here you go, dumped on your lap." Paul Marden: Thank you for coming back and talking to us. It's been marvellous. Kelly Molson: Thank you for having me back. I've loved every minute. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others to find us. Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them to increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcripts from this episode and more over on our website, skipthequeue fm.  The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the 2024 Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

As Keir Starmer meets with Donald Trump for the first time since the latter's re-election, international order appears to be fragmenting around us. George Osborne and Ed Balls ask, are European leaders having to face up to a painful truth that their security is now at the whim of Trump's? Could other countries even come close to providing the kinds of military forcepower the Americans can provide?All the same, Starmer made a big splash this week ahead of his momentous trip to the White House by announcing increased defence spending - and a slashing of the aid budget. The pair consider how this massive strategic shift will recast Britain's role on the world stage. And what does it say about Starmer's grip on his Cabinet? Plus, pure podcast gold as George and Ed take a look at the latest Elon Musk amplified conspiracy: that the US's reserves in Fort Knox might be missing. Why is gold of such political and economic importance, and how do the optics of Musk and Trump's pronouncements remind us of Gordon Brown's sale of reserves - or even the ‘Pasty Tax'? This episode is brought to you by British Airways. British Airways will take care of you over a lifetime of journeys. Book your next flight at britishairways.com Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

Ex-ministers Ed Balls and George Osborne reflect on the moments in their political careers when they went against the whip. What are the consequences of going against the party grain, and is it worth it? Simon Hart, former Chief Whip under Rishi Sunak, sends us a voice note to ask… And on the subject of political maneuvering and backroom deals – and with rumours swirling No 10 is planning a Spring rejig – what's it like when there's a cabinet reshuffle? The pair reflect on the political brutality that comes into play when there's a shakeup. You'd be surprised who is actually first to know when there's a change in the air … They also turn their attention to foreign aid in this era of nationalism and tight budgets. At the request of Tom Fletcher, of the UN, they consider the case for sending money abroad. Plus, Labour MP Whitehaven and Workington Josh MacAlister asks for advice on how to make big, successful decisions on things like building nuclear power stations. This episode is brought to you by British Airways. British Airways will take care of you over a lifetime of journeys. Book your next flight at britishairways.com You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free! And not only that… join Political Currency's KITCHEN CABINET to enjoy early and ad-free listening, access to live EMQs recordings, and exclusive Political Currency merch.Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrencyTechnical Producer: Danny PapeProducer: Rosie Stopher and Miriam Hall Executive Producers: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance have set the cat amongst the pigeons as they criticise Europe and Ukraine this week. Ed Balls and George Osborne look back on a week that turned the world upside down. How do NATO members respond to perhaps the most unpredictable world leader ever known?Keir Starmer is just one world leader considering his next steps in Trumpworld. Is his vision for Britain as a bridge between the EU and the US working? And if he's to follow through on his pledge of British troops in Ukraine, how on earth is he going to pay for it?And, perhaps the only country seeing a buck in the trend of Trump-style right-wing leanings, Canada is heading towards a federal election - and former Governer of the Bank of England, Mark Carney's decision to run has shaken things up. Ed and George take stock of their friend's campaign. This episode is brought to you by British Airways. British Airways will take care of you over a lifetime of journeys. Book your next flight at britishairways.comBecome a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD

With Valentine's Day just gone, podcast soulmates Ed Balls and George Osborne are turning to questions of both hearts and minds this week. As Keir Starmer recently became the first sitting Prime Minister to take a public HIV test, Richard Angell, the Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust asks: Did Ed and George ever take a similar step while in leadership?They also consider whether UK politics could ever drop the inevitable personal attacks that are rolled out during an election campaign. And speaking of, was Ed Miliband dealt a bad hand in the 2015 election, or was the infamous bacon sandwich incident fair game? And, are the “gotcha” moments of politics and journalism a thing of the past? They look back on some memorable deer-in-the-headlights moments while doing the media rounds … You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free! And not only that… join Political Currency's KITCHEN CABINET to enjoy early and ad-free listening, access to live EMQs recordings, and exclusive Political Currency merch.Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency. Please note Kitchen Cabinet subscriptions are only available through Patreon. Technical Producer: Danny PapeProducer: Rosie Stopher and Miriam Hall Executive Producers: Ellie Clifford Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Subscribe now on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Davos day two, and Rachel Reeves has touched down in Switzerland to continue her hunt for growth. On the agenda today was a fireside chat with the Business Secretary on ‘The Year Ahead for the UK', and she will also be attending a series of meetings with business leaders. The party line is that ‘the time to invest in Britain is now'; however, she will be doing this from the sidelines, having not been given one of the headline speaking slots. Can she bring home the bacon? And why is Davos so important? Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Rupert Harrison, former chief of staff to George Osborne. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Labour is supposed to be going for growth, so Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will be disappointed with the news today that the economy unexpectedly shrank in October, and for the second month in a row. Rachel Reeves's mood seems to have visibly changed in the last month or so, is she having her George Osborne moment? And can she turn things around, or have the dynamics of the Labour–UK plc relationship changed irreversibly?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.