Political Currency

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 ...

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 t...

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 ban...

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...

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 o...

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? 

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 adve...

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 Statemen...

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 S...

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 bi...

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 li...

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...

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...

The Starmer government’s landmark Assisted Dying bill could be in danger of collapsing, with sponsor Kim Leadbeater now proposing major changes in the final moments. Will this signal the end once and for all? Ed Balls and George Osborne clash over how Keir Starmer should best proceed. Should he pull the bill entirely? Or is it time to press on? 

Meanwhile, Kemi Badeoch is marking 100 days in what is arguably one of the wors...

This week, Ed Balls and George Osborne take on some of the most difficult challenges facing society today. With millions of people of working age not in a job - officially called economically inactive - the pair consider the current costs to society and how to fix them. Columnist for the Times and former MP Matthew Parris asks George directly: Didn’t he see this coming with the introduction of personal independence payments? 

Keir Starmer has been in Brussels this week, meeting with European Union leaders with the view to resetting the relationship with the bloc. George Osborne and Ed Balls ask, is it making good on a campaign promise? Is it to shore up UK-EU relations as President Donald Trump runs wild with tariffs? Or, is it a perfect opportunity to lay the perfect trap for the Conservatives … 

Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on major US tra...

This week Ed Balls and George Osborne look at what makes a smart, successful opposition party. Is disagreeing with everything the government of the day says the best way to do it? Or are there some judicious, selective compromises to be made? And who are the best examples of politicians who’ve made some well played, cross party agreements? 

Amid global tumult, they consider the question: is democracy dead? What will happen ...

In the wake of the horrific Southport attack, George Osborne and Ed Balls consider the parameters of the upcoming inquiry and the intensifying concern about young men engaging in acts of violence. Should the definition of extremism be changed with the so-called manosphere in mind? And do we need new rules for reporting on major crime for our social media age? 

And the pair mull over Rachel Reeves speech outlining her plans ...

A somewhat sporty one this episode, as in the wake of a Davos meet, George Osborne and Ed Balls consider: Why hasn’t David Beckham been knighted yet? Lady Posh Spice would just sound so good. 

Meanwhile, Former Minister for Sport Tracey Crouch asks if there’s any way to keep politics out of sport under Trump’s presidency. With a World Cup and an Olympics games in the US this year, what will be at stake under the new adminis...