Political Currency

Ed Balls and George Osborne take us behind closed doors into the rooms where decisions are made. Having battled it out across the despatch box, the former Chancellor and shadow chancellor now meet in the studio to discuss the decisions that affect the nation’s pockets. Our frenemies have the knowledge and experience to explain how good politics follows the economics - and expose how the powerful become powerless when faced with market forces and political currents they can’t control. Join us every Thursday.

Send your messages or voice notes to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk

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Political Currency is a Persephonica production.

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EMQs: How should PMs behave after they leave No 10?
Apr 14, 2025 – 34:13
Trump Vs the Bond Market: Inside the President’s tariffs U-turn
Apr 10, 2025 – 57:32
EMQs: Is toxic masculinity a government problem?
Apr 7, 2025 – 37:18
Trump’s tariffs: Is Starmer right to ‘keep calm and carry on’?
Apr 3, 2025 – 1:02:53
EMQs: Who’s to blame for the state of the economy?
Mar 31, 2025 – 37:26
Could Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ gamble pay off?
Mar 27, 2025 – 1:05:08
EMQs: Should frozen Russian assets fund Ukraine?
Mar 24, 2025 – 34:55
Is Rachel Reeves risking her reset moment?
Mar 20, 2025 – 57:05
EMQs: Political Golf Buddies
Mar 17, 2025 – 39:30
Will welfare cuts be Labour’s undoing?
Mar 13, 2025 – 1:02:39
EMQs: A post politics survival guide
Mar 10, 2025 – 47:50
Will Rachel Reeves be forced into an emergency budget?
Mar 6, 2025 – 58:00
EMQs: The art of parliamentary heckling
Mar 3, 2025 – 47:28
Europe’s security wake-up call
Feb 27, 2025 – 1:01:32
EMQs: How to survive a cabinet reshuffle
Feb 24, 2025 – 46:39
Could Keir Starmer send British Troops to Ukraine?
Feb 20, 2025 – 1:03:08
EMQs: Are personal insults fair in politics?
Feb 17, 2025 – 42:48
Can Kemi Badenoch get free of Nigel Farage?
Feb 12, 2025 – 58:58
EMQs: Can we get young people back to work?
Feb 10, 2025 – 41:05
Will the Tories fall for Keir Starmers EU trap?
Feb 6, 2025 – 59:51
EMQs: Should we want Donald Trump to succeed?
Feb 3, 2025 – 32:40
Can extremism amongst young men be stopped?
Jan 30, 2025 – 59:05
EMQs: Should David Beckham be knighted?
Jan 27, 2025 – 39:33
Trump's tech supremacy era begins?
Jan 23, 2025 – 58:48
EMQs: Could Ed Davey’s EU plan actually work?
Jan 20, 2025 – 38:16
Should Starmer replace Reeves?
Jan 15, 2025 – 55:28
EMQs: Time to take Trump seriously?
Jan 13, 2025 – 38:21
Reeves’ bond market headache
Jan 9, 2025 – 1:01:23
Inside No 10: David Cameron - The First Six Months (Part 3: The World Stage)
Jan 6, 2025 – 49:17
Inside No 10: David Cameron - The First Six Months (Part 2: The Austerity Budget)
Jan 2, 2025 – 39:06
Inside No 10: David Cameron - The First Six Months (Part 1: Prime Minister at last)
Dec 30, 2024 – 40:13
EMQs: 2025, The Comeback Year?
Dec 26, 2024 – 38:19
EMQs: Christmas crises and cracker etiquette
Dec 23, 2024 – 24:29
A lump of coal for Waspi women?
Dec 19, 2024 – 57:55
EMQs: Political Mishearings
Dec 16, 2024 – 33:40
Starmer’s blame game
Dec 12, 2024 – 53:42
EMQs: Can one person flip an election?
Dec 9, 2024 – 34:25
Why Starmer shouldn’t underestimate Elon Musk
Dec 4, 2024 – 1:02:32
Inside The Room: The Scottish Independence Referendum (Part 3: The result)
Dec 3, 2024 – 33:40
Inside The Room: The Scottish Independence Referendum (Part 2: The unanswerable question)
Dec 2, 2024 – 29:49
Trump the peacemaker?
Nov 28, 2024 – 59:10
Inside The Room: The Scottish Independence Referendum (Part 1: The vote is granted)
Nov 25, 2024 – 32:41
John Prescott: The punchy political powerhouse we knew
Nov 21, 2024 – 50:12
EMQs: Will the government support British farmers?
Nov 18, 2024 – 35:59
Who should be the UK’s ambassador to Trumpworld?
Nov 14, 2024 – 55:23
EMQs: Is there a silver lining in Trump?
Nov 11, 2024 – 37:35
Trump 2.0: The economic fallout
Nov 7, 2024 – 59:28
HOT TAKE: Donald Trump is President
Nov 6, 2024 – 30:39
EMQs: Can you revamp a political image?
Nov 4, 2024 – 38:50
What did Rachel Reeves’ Budget miss?
Oct 31, 2024 – 1:00:27

Recent Reviews

Gageueheuege hi geeheyeh

Poor man’s TRIP

A pod clearly established in response to the success of Rest is Politics. But George Osborne’s defense of the ultra nationalist Trump /Vance/Musk government is despicable and Ed Balls never challenges him on it. They both LAUGH about what Trump is doing - honestly don’t bother.
PortSaid56

President Biden - Ukraine Nov 28, 2024

Thanks for a great podcast. Love the in-depth analysis of how government works or should work. On Ukraine, President Biden, who is a zealous institutionalist, would probably follow the protocols of an outgoing administration. Biden’s red line was crossed when it was established that an estimated 11,000 North Korean Troops were in Russia (Airforce Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder Press briefing Nov 4). By Nov 18 they were believed to be in the Kursk region. In October 2024, the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence sent a letter to President Biden that an introduction of N. Korean troops in the conflict must be viewed as a Red line for US and NATO. This was an ongoing discussion in the White House.
Jbr1111

Far superior to The Rest is Politics

This is the premier division for British political podcast particularly compared to the The Rest is Politics. George and Ed have superior insight and humour.
'Cesca 1234

Informative, Witty, and Entertaining!

As former opponents facing each other across the despatch boxes in Parliament, George and Ed, ex-Chancellor and ex-Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, are uniquely qualified to bring us the inside scoop of British Politics. And they do so, focusing on not only Ripped-Out-of-the-Headlines current affairs and their political-economic significance, but also on the daily workings (and non-workings) of Parliament. Similarly, they regale listeners to their Podcast with fascinating anecdotes about ministers and governments present-and-past as well as the parts they themselves played respectively (including the hot water both occasionally landed in). Always informative, George and Ed work together with an easy-going, good-humoured rapport that they share with members of the public who call in on EMQs, Ex-Minister's Questions, a separate half-hour weekly podcast. I cannot recommend Political Currency strongly enough!