Tough Decisions

Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language.

This week, as Rachel Reeves delivers the first Labour budget in 15 years, we’re talking about ‘tough decisions'.

What’s a tough decision? Why is language around budgets so slippery? And why doesn’t anyone drink at the dispatch box anymore?

A longer version, where Armando recalls making The Thick of It during austerity, and discuss whether Ed Miliband was really ’toss enough’ is available on BBC Sounds.

This episode has been edited to remove an inaccurate statement about the relative size of tax fraud compared to benefit fraud.

Sound Editing by Charlie Brandon-King Production Coordinator - Katie Baum Executive Producer - Pete Strauss

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4. An EcoAudio certified production.