The Owen Jones Podcast

Happy Christmas you lot! Ok, so a lot of my videos verge on the bleak side, but we have to work with the material we've got. Yet there so many reasons to be happy and optimistic - and here I set them out. Consider it a Christmas present!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh dear oh dear. Two reports have come out showing that Boris Johnson's Brexit deal has been disastrous for the economy, meaning slashed growth and tax revenues. But what do we do about it - given the gruesome culture war detonated by the EU referendum?Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spare a moment for the poor suffering editor of The Spectator magazine. Besieged as it is - just because his publication publishes deeply offensive bile! - he now declares that the Royal Mail isn't delivering it on time to customers. But old on a minute: didn't you loudly cheer on its privatisation as a "resounding success"?!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why doesn't Rishi Sunak just give nurses and paramedics the pay rise they deserve? Their pay has plummeted, after all, it's left the NHS massively short of staff, the public on their side, and there's no evidence it'll drive up inflation. This is the truth - and it's gruesome.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy Clarkson's repulsive attack on Meghan Markle in The Sun newspaper has rightly been widely condemned. But what he said can't be seen in isolation. This is just one gruesome symptom of a system of male domination of women - and it's why all men must speak up.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elon Musk calls himself the king of free speech, but he's just mass banned a load of journalists who were scrutinising him from Twitter. Now the right don't really believe in free speech at all - by their own definitions, though they are hypocrites. What they really want to defend is the right of privileged white men like Musk to say what they want, not least about marginalised minorities, and face no response or consequence.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seriously, Alan Sugar's latest diatribe against Mick Lynch is one of the stupidest yet. What it shows is there is genuine fear at the RMT - they're attacking Lynch because they know his message has resonated. Here's what it tells us.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're now at the 'let's demonise nurses' stage of the collapsing Tory government. By going on strike, we're told, the nurses are putting the NHS at risk. But the truth is the demands of the strikers are key to saving not just the NHS - but saving lives. This is how...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Owch! Mick Lynch was in no mood to play the standard media game, and turned his fire on the BBC live on air. His accusation: that it has an Establishment bias. Is that fair? The evidence is actually overwhelming - as we can see here.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his war on striking public sector heroes, Rishi Sunak has told us that giving them a pay rise that matches the cost of living would cost £1,000 per household. This is a total lie. Here's this nonsense comprehensively debunked.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ok, so this was an experiment - I let people listening choose what we spoke about. This was a lot of fun!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the new Netflix documentary on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drops, the media are in overdrive against the couple. But what's the truth? The brilliant Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu talks us through what the show tells us - and how the response of the media damns the industry. Plus: is Prince Harry now a republican?Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Weak doesn't cover it: Rishi Sunak's government is flailing around without any direction. Here we list some of Sunak's u-turns, underlining a weak, unprincipled politician blowing around with the breeze.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It gets worse and worse for the Tories: Rishi Sunak stood up at Prime Minister's Questions to say he was 'shocked' about the Michelle Mone scandal, involving allegations around a massive government contract to a company the Baroness allegedly lobbied for and allegedly profited from. But this scandal goes so much further: it's about how a society in which we are told that plucky entrepreneurs make their own money through their hard graft, while benefit claimants are dependent on the state. But who are the real state dependents we should be worried about?Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Tories want us to blame nurses, paramedics and railway workers for the coming chaos. But these strikes could have been avoided - if the Tories stopped screwing over the people who keep this country running on a daily basis. Here's why the last people we should blame are those forced into a corner - and why it's the Tories who have wrecked Christmas.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a scandal that rocked the monarchy: Lady Susan Hussey - Lady of the Household - subjected Ngozi Fulani - a Black British woman and chief executive of domestic violence charity Sistah Space - to a racist interrogation. In the aftermath of her resignation, much of the media has focused on sympathy for this senior member of the Royal court. This is a travesty. Mandu Reid - leader of the Women's Equality Party - witnessed the whole event, and tells us exactly what happened, why it matters - and what it tells us not just about the monarchy, but about British society in 2022.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Keir Starmer won the Labour leadership contest with promises of party unity, a "broad church", and the right of Labour members to select their own candidates. All of these commitments have gone up in smoke - and Starmer's leadership has waged a remorseless war against the left.We speak to former Channel 4 News journalist Michael Crick - who has been following Labour's selections closer than any other journalist - about the shocking revelations he has uncovered; and former Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who has written to Starmer about the internal stitch-ups.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So I get flak from two sides - all part of the job!: from Starmer ultra supporters who are all waaaaa leave our boy alone!!! and lefties baffled at why a socialist could vote for the modern Labour party. So here's my main reasons - and I'd love to know your thoughts so do leave them in the comments!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Tories just suffered their worst defeat in Chester for nearly 200 years - and the polling shows that Rishi Sunak is well and truly sunk. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has made it clear that he's standing for re-election as a Tory MP. Here's why his return as PM isn't actually far fetched - but even plausible.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As our Prime Minister is reduced to defending private schools - a class privilege used only by Britain's elite - and denouncing striking workers - who the public are solidly behind - here's why Sunak is in a catastrophic mess.Help us take on the right-wing media here: https://www.patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nigel Farage has responded to the 2021 Census - which shows Christians are a minority and Britain is more diverse - with objective untruths and nonsense. Here we comprehensively debunk the gibberish of him, Douglas Murray and Andrew Pierce.EDIT: Misspoke at 5:25, obviously meant "because white Britons have become a minority", not "non-whites" (doesn't make sense otherwise)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This scandal is absolutely breathtaking: how vast sums of public money were showered on companies and individuals with Tory connections during the pandemic, often with no background in supplying PPE. Some provided useless PPE - but still made a packet at public expense. Why isn't there more outrage? We're joined by Russell Scott from the Good Law Project to explain clearly and succinctly all the details you need to know.Support the Good Law Project here: https://goodlawproject.org/donate/help us take on the Tory media here: https://www.patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Osborne now graces our TV screens as an oh-so-wise pundit, dispensing his informed and learned tidbits about British politics like a detached observer. But no single person is more responsible for the mess this country is in than Osborne: his cruel ideologically-driven austerity agenda whipped up a whirlwind of discontent which helps explain our current plight. This rehabilitation of monsters - and the failure to hold the powerful to account - is why we will keep suffering over and over again.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain is a country which cracks down on the misdemeanours of the poor but facilitates the crimes of the rich. Shoplifting is soaring - but instead of dealing with the causes - mass poverty in a rich country - the government and supermarkets want to go to war with desperate people instead. Here's what that says about Britain in 2022.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to devastating revelations in The Guardian, the Tory peer Michelle Mone is alleged to have lobbied on behalf of a company she reportedly made vast sums of money from - despite previous denials. These allegations need answers, of course - not least from Michael Gove, who told Sky News that he referred the bid to the appropriate civil service channels - but this seems to be contradicted by the evidence. So what is really going on? And what does this say about modern Britain?Read David Conn's latest piece here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/24/michael-gove-under-pressure-explain-role-ppe-deals-michelle-mone Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the moment where Suella Braverman's cruelty and stupidity was taken apart - and the horror of our asylum system exposed.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The right to an independence referendum is like the right to divorce: you don’t have to support separation to accept it as a right. The Scottish people voted for parties which back a referendum: denying them that right is an attack on democracy itself. I don't support independence - but I do support democracy, and the Scottish people must have their decision respected.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oooof. The RMT's Mick Lynch was in no mood for the Daily Mail's nonsense, responding to their description of him as the 'grinch' by referring to their history of backing the Blackshirts. So now is a good time to remind ourselves of the Daily Mail's record - back then and now, and what purpose they serve in society.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh great news everyone, Keir Starmer has secured the lucrative Nigel Farage endorsement: the former UKIP leader is cheering on Labour for being to the "right of the Tories on immigration". We've got to stop politicians constantly pretending that it's immigration responsible for falling wages - or other problems, like the housing crisis and struggling public services. Here's the real reasons!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the England team to wear the OneLove armband was the most basic act of solidarity possible - given the minor detail of the World Cup being held by a tinpot dictatorship which oppressed LGBTQ+ among others. But when FIFA banned them from even that, the Football Association immediately crumbled, showing how pathetically weak their solidarity really is. There's massive lessons here - and here they are.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement made it clear: Britain faces two years of acute social and economic pain. This is the only major country introducing cuts and tax hikes as we head into recession: laying the foundations for a doom loop of falling growth. Has the Tory project finally collapsed? Or will the world's most electorally successful political party find a way to claw back support?Please like, subscribe - and help us take on the right-wing media here: https://www.patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's International Men's Day, and I want to talk about homophobia against straight men. No, this isn't a joke: it's deadly serious. Homophobia is the violent border guard of masculinity, there to punish and victimise any man deemed to violate the norms of 'being a man'. So obviously queer men are the principal victims of male homophobia - but it's homophobia against straight men that allows us to understand what this bigotry is, and how maleness is constructed.Here's my Guardian column about it: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/17/homophobia-against-straight-men-lgbtq Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh wow. This Tory MP - Vicky Ford, who represents Chelmsford, unlucky guys! - went on TV to claim Britain had better economic growth than other countries. She could not be more wrong! No European country is set to have such terrible economic growth. Ford offers us a valuable lesson though: about how much of an economic catastrophe Tory rule has represented, and why we should never let them get away with it.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Tories are trying to present their Autumn Statement as fair and compassionate - but it's anything but. After 12 years of economic misery, they're back for more cuts and ideologically driven mayhem. Economist James Meadway explains why it's a con, what it actually means - and why there is an alternative.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're told by the Tories and their media allies that there's a whopping big £50 billion fiscal hole which, unless we do another round of cuts that'll destroy public services, will cause the markets to collapse. It's a big lie. Here I explain why - and why we can't let them get away with it.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wow. A former Tory Cabinet minister, Sir George Eustice, declared to the House of Commons that the trade deal with Australia was a "failure" and "not actually a very good deal" for the UK. But we were promised a post-Brexit buccaneering Britain: instead, the Tories have given us non-existent growth and declining living standards. Will we really let them get away with it?Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unfortunately, suggesting the Health Secretary Steve Barclay is high is a generous explanation after he said the NHS doesn't need more cash. Wow. Just wow. The truth is the NHS is teetering on the edge of total catastrophe - soaring waiting lists, unstaffed vacancies, collapsing morale - and without urgent extra resources, people are going to die.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has been marked by mass sackings, mass resignations, mass desertions by advertisers, a calamitous abandoned rollout of 'Twitter Blue', and talk of bankruptcy: all in the space of a fortnight. Is this really the end of Twitter?We're joined by New York Times tech reporter Mike Isaac with the inside story of a disaster, and former Twitter vice-president Bruce Daisley.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Hancock is being paid £400,000 rather than do his parliamentary duties, and he clearly has one main aim: to whitewash his reputation, and make us think of him as a cuddly nice guy. If you fall for this, you're a sucker. This is a Health Secretary who presided over avoidable mass death, PPE shortages and real terms pay cuts for nurses. It's this repeated failure of accountability that keeps leaving us in the mess we're in.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh dear oh dear. You might have thought Elon Musk's take over of Twitter would be disastrous - but did you think it would be this bad? There's now every chance that a medium which, whatever its flaws, has become a critical plank of our social and democratic infrastructure could collapse. Here's the story of the catastrophe - and why it has very, very serious implications for all of us.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh dear oh dear: it was supposed to be a Republican wave - in mid-terms, the opposition normally does well, there's massive inflation and Joe Biden's popularity is low - but it didn't happen. To explain what the results mean - for the Democrats, the left and Donald Trump - I'm joined by David Sirota - journalist, former Bernie Sanders speechwriter and writer of 'Don't Look Up'.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the name of clamping down on refugees, a Tory MP has proposed scrapping all your rights and freedoms. Think I'm being hyperbolic? Well, bad luck! This goes to show where bigotry always leads: it's not the foreign 'other' which threatens your freedom, but demagogues who try to scare you about those deemed to be alien.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the BBC thinking? As bile and hatred is whipped up against migrants and refugees - some of the most vulnerable people on earth - a BBC reporter talks of the UK "defending itself on the frontline against migrants". This is the language of war and invasion - and with a far right terrorist attack on a migrant processing centre, this narrative is radicalising dangerous elements. This is the truth.You can complain to the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaintsPlease subscribe - and keep the channel going here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a very funny slapdown of the Prime Minister and his incessant attacks on the former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn declared he lives 'rent free' in Rishi Sunak's head. But the Tory attempts to link Keir Starmer to Corbynism belie a basic fact: progressive policies - like taxing the rich and public ownership - are not just hugely popular, but more relevant than ever. Here's why these attacks can't be allowed to bury a basic truth.Please subscribe - and help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, or so the quote ascribed to Albert Einstein goes, and that more than applies to the catastrophic failure of the 'war on drugs'. All it's achieved is mass criminalisation of disproportionately young Black men, more violence, people with addiction not getting the support they need, handing criminal gangs a massive source of revenue, ensuring dangerous stuff can circulate and so much more. End the madness - legalise it now.We can only keep this channel and podcast going with your support: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vile. The Home Secretary sprayed the sort of invective about asylum seekers you might expect from the far right. I give the facts here: those arriving at our shores are a tiny proportion of those fleeing violence and persecution globally - most are hosted by poorer countries, and many are leaving homes because of Western complicity. Why do we allow ourselves to be conned by the powerful into blaming desperate people for problems caused by our elites?Please subscribe - and help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, the BBC committed a straightforward violation of journalistic objectivity, presenting Tory spending cuts as an inevitable consequence of the economic situation. I did a video about it, and huge numbers of you complained. The BBC have now responded to your complaints - and goodness grief, it is absolutely epic gaslighting and dishonesty. This matters - a public broadcaster which is supposed to be impartial and objective cannot manufacture public consent for ideological right-wing policies. And as I show here, this couldn't matter more - it's a matter of life and death.Please share, subscribe - and help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hallelujah: far right demagogue Jair Bolsonaro has been defeated in Brazil's presidential election by progressive standardbearer and former president Lula da Silva. It was a victory secured despite attempts at voter suppression by an authoritarian regime. But nonetheless - despite Bolsonaro's catastrophic record - the vote was so close. Why? How was victory achieved? What happens next? And how frightened should we be about Bolsonarismo coming back?I'm joined live from Brazil by David Adler - the general coordinator of the Progressive International - and Aline Piva - the Latin America coordinator.Please subscribe - and help us take on the right-wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Liz Truss' catastrophic premiership, the Tories remain way behind Labour, despite clawing some support back - but with Rishi Sunak moving ahead of Keir Starmer in personal ratings and economic trust, and the Conservatives uniting after intense civil war, could the government - against all the odds - pull back from the brink?Please subscribe - and help us take on the right wing media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Goodness grief: the Home Secretary got reinstated after leaking confidential information, all so Rishi Sunak could have Suella Braverman's support in the Tory leadership contest. But are there any fans of Braverman who want to put up a fight? Well, on the Jeremy Vine Show today one rang in and claimed Braverman was "excellent" - and I asked them one good thing the Home Secretary had done to justify that accolade. Here's what she said.Please share, subscribe - and help us take on the Tory media here: https://patreon.com/owenjones84Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-owen-jones-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.