Show Notes
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The Labour leadership crisis has gone nuclear with Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigning this afternoon, after a week of intense speculation of a coup following Labour's local elections drubbing.
We sat down with Phil Tinline, author of Ghosts of Iron Mountain and The Death of Consensus: 100 Years of British Political Nightmares, to dive deep into the chaos. Phil is an expert in both Labour history and conspiracy theories - coalescing here for a rich discussion on the polycrisis that has rendered the British state obsolete.
How can Labour make the case that they aren’t the Tories, with infighting and psychodrama returning from 2022-3? Do bond market jitters await?
Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:48 Britain's Permacrisis 12:09 Starmer's Leadership Challenge 20:53 Burnham's Manchesterism 30:57 Politics Love of Conspiracy Theories 39:04 Breakdown In Political Communication 48:45 Who is Labour for after the AI revolution? 56:35 British Cultural Identity 1:05:40 Conspiracy Theory vs. Reality 1:16:35 The Iron Mountain Conspiracy 1:23:30 Who Believes Conspiracies? 1:31:20 Reinvigorating the Social Contract 1:34:30 Reform, Donations and Accountability
More from What's Left? With Jovan + Freddie
In our latest escapade to widen discourse on the Left, we sat down with Owen Jones to discuss his latest book, 'The Fall of The West'.
JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft ****
We're delighted to be joined by the Rt Hon Kanishka Narayan MP. In our first episode from Labour Conference 2026, we discuss the backlash to AI doomsday warnings, the fragility of the AI economy and how this tech will be used - to the benefit or detriment of workers. As listeners will know, we've approached AI with a healthy dose of scepticism. Technology is itself neutral but the politics emerges in its application. We have plenty examples in history of how industrial revolutions disempowered workers before inevitable backlash and revolution. Do we need to wait for things to get bad? Or does the UK have a serious plan for a future that harnesses the white heat of technology? We delve into all of this and more, asking how the UK is preparing for the moral mission of worker-centric AI.
JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content
JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft