It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

What would a Fair Society actually look like? What are the feasible policy building blocks that could help us get there? In Daniel Chandler’s book Free and Equal he makes the case for a new progressive liberalism grounded in the ideas of the philosopher John Rawls – complete with democratic reform of the voting system for the House of Commons, a universal basic income, and the abolition of private...

Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the NHS this year, Julia Grace Patterson is publishing a new book, Critical: Why the NHS is being betrayed and how we can fight for it. After years of austerity, a global pandemic, and the looming threats of privatisation, the NHS is bad shape. She writes, “The NHS is an institution. But it’s also a political football, kicked back and forth between politicians for...

Vince Cable has been a Labour party councillor, a SDP coalition candidate, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, our Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, an academic, a civil servant in the Foreign Office, and a key minister and negotiator in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government of 2010-15. We sat down with him and others with international experience o...

On this episode, Frances Foley, deputy director of Compass hosted two great movers and shakers of the community power movement: Andy Jackson, community leader at We’re Right Here, the campaign for community power Mohammed Afridi, Director of Organising at the Civic Power Fund We got into the complicated nitty and gritty of what terms like ‘community power’ actually mean, the links to physical infr...

With the Conservatives publicly announcing that they are expecting of loss of more than 1,000 councillors in the upcoming local elections, it looks to be a good year for progressive councillors. But we know that, especially when there are 8,000+ seats up for election with 25,000+ candidates, It's Bloody Complicated . Join us on May 9th as we dig into the results from the Local Elections in 20...

On the 4th April 2020, Keir Starmer assumed office as the Leader of the Labour Party. He won that leadership election with almost a 30% winning margin. 3 years on, Neal talks with journalists Rachel Shabi and Rafael Behr to look back, and forward to where Starmer's leadership is taking us. Sir Keir is a controversial leader. In the three months since the beginning of this year, he's come...

On 21st April 2023, Extinction Rebellion are bringing 100,000 to protest peacefully outside the Houses of Parliament to demand an end to the fossil fuel era and for a citizen-led transformation towards a fair society that includes reparations. This is the Big One . After a "winter of discontent" that saw thousands gathered at picket lines and demonstrations, and hundreds of pages spent e...

Zack Polanski has had an incredible year. Last September, he was elected the Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. As a member of the London Assembly, he is the Chair of the Environment committee, and has worked with others across all parties and persuasions on an incredible array of progressive policies. From the fight to end new transmissions of HIV, campaigning for universal ba...

When people can't feed themselves and their families and the planet burns, it's clear democracy is not working. On this episode of It's Bloody Complicated , we're diving into the mechanics of how our political system makes our society more unequal and unstable. The structure of our parliaments changes what they can and will do, limiting the potential for the change this country...

On this episode of It's Bloody Complicated, Frances hosted a conversation between  Anthony Barnett and one of the symbols of hope for British progressives - longtime Compass friend and the only Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas.   At the tail end of 2022, Anthony Barnett caused a stir with an essay, "The Year of the Definite Left". He laid out why new movements on the Left across the w...

Significant power is vested in Wall Street and Silicon Valley. How did we come to live in a world dominated by big tech and finance, where they hold considerable sway over the direction of politics and government? How do we understand this transformation in power? And what can we do about it? On this episode of It's Bloody Complicated, Jeremy Gilbert joined us to talk through how we might upg...

It's fair to say that the events of the past few years still encroach on the everyday lives of people. Whether it’s the Covid pandemic, Brexit, economic instability or the cost of living crisis - how we all get through life and work has completely changed due to these major events. Nothing has changed as dramatically in our society and culture than the world of work. This is because we are ex...

After the historic vote on the Labour Conference floor for a manifesto commitment at the next general election to implement proportional representation in the House of Commons, a group of the organisations campaigning for democratic renewal came to together to publish a petition together to call on Keir Starmer to take up the torch of electoral reform. Tens of thousands of you agreed. To start off...

Politics isn’t working. To do the big things, to transform our society and planet we have to transform the way we do politics.  On this special episode of It's Bloody Complicated, our four guests helped us understand why and how our miserable political structures and culture deny the chance of big change in the areas they most care about, and why a better politics gives us hope that the syste...

Join Frances in conversation with long time friend of Compass, Lisa Nandy MP about her new book "All In: How we build a country that works". This brilliant new book reveals how Britain can leave behind the mess in which we find ourselves. All In charts a course towards a fairer, more equal, more prosperous country by drawing on the greatest asset we have – each other. Get your copy of Al...

As part of Win As One, we’re going round the country holding podcasts in key regions to talk to local activists about the issues they’re facing, and ask the golden question – what do you want to win for? During this special episode of the Compass podcast, we talk to activists working in Cumbria about the climate crisis. We speak to activists from South Lakes Action on Climate Change, Make Votes Ma...

We need a leadership revolution if we are to reach our collective potential and address our complex challenges.  Through her work as an activist and grassroots organiser, Clare Richmond is calling for leaders to shake off outdated leadership styles and seek instead a more inclusive, resilient and grass-roots methodology to find success for themselves and their teams. In this special episode, Neal...

Tuesday 8th November marked a decisive day in the US political calendar - the midterms elections - which set the scene for the rest of Biden's presidency and beyond. Following a summer of positive polling for the Democrats, some were cautiously optimistic that they would defy historic trends and hold on to their narrow majorities in both houses.   The question now is not only whether Democrat...

Perhaps the biggest reason we need to Win As One is the urgency and scale of the climate emergency, which impacts every one of us and demands a collective response like no other.  On this episode of the Compass podcast, we discuss what on earth we are going to do to address this crisis to save people and planet. We know that we will need a united front between grassroots social movements, politica...

Roger hosts this special episode in conversation with activists fighting the cost of living crisis whilst working for a pluralist, progressive politics in Buckinghamshire. If you're curious about the work that Compass local groups do, and where we're at with the Win As One campaign, this is a must listen. Also, we get an update from our director, Neal Lawson, on what Prime Minister Sunak...

Our economy is in crisis.  Ordinary people can’t afford even the basics – heating, eating and transport, mortgages are going up and pensions going down. Some of this is down to geo-politics, much of it is home grown. What’s happening, why, where does this go and what are the alternatives?  Finally, what is the link between a failing economy and a failing democracy?  To help us understand what happ...

 The Teal Independents are marking waves in Australian politics, finding electoral success by putting community and climate first. They're bringing difference and creativity into their political system that's bringing about tangible change to the political landscape. In this episode, Neal Lawson sits down with Byron Fay -  chief executive of Climate 200 and a core supporter of the Teal m...

Labour faces a huge challenge, not just to win power but to use it to transform the country. The old politics that allows the domination of elites and swing voters constrains what we can do in the face of huge challenges like climate change and economic instability. A new politics, unlocked in the first instance by proportional representation, disperses power to the people, communities and workers...

In this special edition of the podcast Neal talks to Andrew Murray, former advisor to Jeremy Corbyn, about the lessons of the Corbyn era and what that means for the future of socialism in Britain. Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Become a member! Support our work and be a part of the Compass...

This podcast makes reference to slides presented by Ken Spours. To view these, watch the podcast video on our CompassTV youtube channel The right is shape shifting again - from Johnson to now Liz Truss.  What a Truss premiership means is unclear - will she stick to desiccated Thatcherism or pivot to a new hybrid Toryism? We are joined live with Professor Ken Spours who through his work on the Osbo...