The Lesley Riddoch Podcast

Lesley Riddoch and Pat Joyce
The Lesley Riddoch Podcast

Scottish politics dissected from a left, pro-independence stance. Each week, award-winning broadcaster and journalist, Lesley Riddoch chews over the week’s news with former media lecturer and Dundee United fan, Pat Joyce. If you like intelligent, quirky chat about Scottish society and culture, and Scottish, UK and international politics analysed from a Scottish perspective; this podcast is for you.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    Show Us The Money

    MPs are scheduled to vote on the Private Members’ Bill proposed by Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP, to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults on Friday.However a cross party group has co-sponsored a so-called “fatal motion amendment” that could kill the Bill if enough MPs support it.The amendment comes amid concern in the Commons that such a significant change was proposed as a Private Members’ Bill, meaning there is limited detailed assessment and analysis of the provisions it includes.We examine the detail of both the Leadbeater Bill and Liam McArthur's proposed Scottish Bill and ask what impact Friday's Westminster vote may have in Holyrood. Meanwhile there's much heat being generated in the media over the " Call a General Election Now" petition which has apparently garnered over 2 million signatures in the past four days.How significant is this in reality? Should Labour be concerned? Should the Tories be more concerned? Rachel Reeves has announced the payment to the Scottish Government to compensate for the impact of her raise in employers' National Insurance contributions.How fair was the package? After recent polling and by election results we look at the state of play of the parties in Scotland. How much of an impact have they had on Anas Sarwar's U-turn on Winter Fuel Allowance payments? How concerning is the rise of Reform? Will we face a Holyrood impasse in 2026 with no viable coalitions in prospect? And as Donald Trump makes his final nominations for his Cabinet we cast our eyes over the array of right wing, reality TV, Fox News hosts, dubious characters he's selected.Here's the link to the Neal Ascherson article Lesley mentionedhttps://www.thenational.scot/politics/24746186.neal-ascherson-scotland-needs-take-as-if-approach/ ★ Support this podcast ★

    1h 4m
  2. NOV 19

    Cute Moves

    Anas Sarwar has announced a U turn on Scottish Labour's stance on Winter Fuel Payments. If they form a Holyrood government in 2026 he has pledged to reverse the cuts and reintroduce the payments to pensioners on a universal but means tested basis. What lies behind this sudden change of heart. Political expediency in the light of recent polls and upcoming by elections? No matter his reasons it does present a challenge to the Scottish Government. How will it respond? How should it respond? The row over Stephen Flynn, and other SNP MPs , plans to seek a dual mandate in 2026 and become MSPs rolls on. Lesley has always highlighted the accident of the election cycle for the absence of so many talented SNP politicians from Holyrood. Why is she so opposed to Stephen's bid?How damaging are the revelations to the SNP of the use of ministerial cars to attend sporting events? How naive were these politicians to how this would look given the furore over Starmer's freebies? A lot has been made over the proposed appointments Trump has made to his Cabinet with much of the focus falling on Robert Kennedy Jr and Matt Gaetz. However in terms of foreign policy the nomination of Mike Huckabee as US ambassador to Israel has tended to go unreported. Who is Huckabee? What are his beliefs and why should  all who believe in a just peace be concerned? Meanwhile the 30 day deadline imposed by the Biden administration  for Israel to take specific steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has come and gone with none of the promised "consequences" coming to pass.This denial of genocide was not only echoed but amplified by Sir Keir Starmer at Westminster.  What is the UN definition of genocide?  Is Starmer a hypocrite given his stance on Serbian actions in Croatia before the ICJ in 2014? The narrative of farmers under threat after the changes to include them in inheritance tax is picking up pace. What's the reality? Talking of reality Femke Halsema the Mayor of Amsterdam has signalled her regret at claiming there was an anti-Jewish pogrom after the Ajax v Maccabi Tel Aviv football match.  A welcome retraction but is it too late? ★ Support this podcast ★

    54 min
  3. OCT 29

    A Square Go

    As the US Presidential election enters its final days Donald Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden where speaker after speaker spewed racist, misogynist bile. Has this harmed or enhanced his campaign in those seven vital swing states where the presidency will be won or lost? World leaders have condemned the overwhelming decision by the Knesset to ban the UNWRA from operating inside Israel,Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has claimed that UNRWA has colluded with Hamas in Gaza. This is the culmination of decades of  anti UNRWA activity by Israel.The USA government has said it is "deeply concerned". Is it concerned enough to use legislation which allows the stopping of military aid to countries that restrict US humanitarian aid? King Charles acknowledged “painful aspects” of Britain’s past while sidestepping calls to directly address reparations for slavery at the summit of Commonwealth leaders, saying “none of us can change the past, but we can commit … to learning its lessons”.What lessons can we learn by examining the role of the Royal Family in the slave trade? Reparations are justified but who should pay them? We look forward to Rachel Reeves' first Budget. Will there be any surprises? Just what is a "working person"? Kemi Badenoch appeared on the Sunday Show and was skewered by Martin Geissler over the "voluntary" union and her plans-lack of- for reprogramming devolution. It looks likely that she will defeat Robert( Pensioners waking up with illegal migrants in their bedrooms) Jenrick to become Tory leader. No matter which of the two win it signals yet another shift to the Right in UK politics. All this plus a surprise guest appearance of the Masked Postie! ★ Support this podcast ★

    58 min
4.9
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Scottish politics dissected from a left, pro-independence stance. Each week, award-winning broadcaster and journalist, Lesley Riddoch chews over the week’s news with former media lecturer and Dundee United fan, Pat Joyce. If you like intelligent, quirky chat about Scottish society and culture, and Scottish, UK and international politics analysed from a Scottish perspective; this podcast is for you.

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