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...
Apr 21, 2025•49 min•Season 1Ep. 167
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 m...
Apr 17, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 166
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 fi...
Apr 14, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 165
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 found...
Apr 10, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 164
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. Meanwhil...
Apr 07, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 163
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...
Apr 03, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 162
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 ...
Mar 31, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 161
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 ...
Mar 27, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 160
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 effo...
Mar 24, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 159
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-...
Mar 20, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 158
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 h...
Mar 17, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 157
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 gri...
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 156
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 ...
Mar 10, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 155
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 ma...
Mar 06, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 154
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 t...
Mar 03, 2025•47 min•Season 1Ep. 153
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...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 152
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 politic...
Feb 24, 2025•47 min•Season 1Ep. 151
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 ...
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 150
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. A...
Feb 17, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 149
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 worst jobs going in politics: Leading the opposition. She's working hard...
Feb 12, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 148
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? And the Office of Budget Responsibility is meant to be apolitical...
Feb 10, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 147
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 trading partners sent shock waves across the globe and sent the stockma...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 146
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 if President Donald Trump’s policies are a roaring success? And the ...
Feb 03, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 145
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 for growth. George thoroughly approves of everything she is announci...
Jan 30, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 144
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 administration? And, the pair slip into professor mode to break down a few ...
Jan 27, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 143
President Trump has had a big week, what with an inauguration and then signing a myriad of actions in his first days in office - never mind the move to US tech supremacy. After a big start, Ed Balls and George Osborne ask whether he can sustain the political honeymoon, or if this will be a very different Trump presidency, marred by the reality of being a populist President in office. Meanwhile, like the rest of the global elite, George is in Davos, and he’s reporting back to Ed everything ...
Jan 23, 2025•59 min•Season 1Ep. 142
With Donald Trump back in the White House as of Monday, leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has called in to ask: In strengthening the nation's negotiating hand with the new American leadership, is there a case for rejoining the EU customs union? George Osborne and Ed Balls discuss whether he's on to something - and whether there's any way it could happen under a Starmer government. Meanwhile, the PM wants to supercharge the UK’s Artificial Intelligence capabilities – but should that be top...
Jan 20, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 141
After a tough week, Keir Starmer’s been forced to publicly proclaim Rachel Reeves has his full support – and to hose down suggestions she won’t make the full parliament. Ed Balls and George Osborne weigh in on just how politically fatal it would be to ditch a Chancellor six months into the Labour leadership. The second Trump presidency is now a matter of days away, so how will this new American political era play out on the world stage? Why are some Trump opponents approaching the Trump se...
Jan 15, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 140
George Osborne and Ed Balls are back for their first round of questions of the year, ready to mull the big conundrums of 2025! Craig Oliver, former director of Politics and Communications in David Cameron’s No 10, asks the pair to weigh in on the upcoming Trump Presidency. Do we need to take him seriously – and literally – this time around? In the wake of our Inside No 10: David Cameron - The First Six Months series, should Labour have taken a leaf from the Cameron/Osborne era and painted ...
Jan 13, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 139
Is Rachel Reeves starting 2025 with a bond market headache? Ed Balls and George Osborne explain how global trends and UK inflation might just mean she’s boxed herself in… again. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s growing interest in British politics – and hatred of Keir Starmer – has erupted into a row over the grooming gangs scandal. What would Ed and George do in Starmer’s position? And what are the long and short term political implications for Labour, the Tories and Nigel Farage’s Reform party. Pl...
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 138
