Breaking Britain: A Podcast about the Politics of a Disunited Kingdom

With the 4 July parliamentary election now coming closer, there are growing indications of a political shock that could reshape the United Kingdom. Over the past few weeks Scotland has emerged as a key electoral battleground, where a Scottish National Party that has governed Scotland's devolved institutions for seventeen years risks losing many of its seats in the UK parliament to a resurgent Labour Party.To help us explore the impact political turmoil and social change in Scotland will have on this pivotal election we've been joined by David Leask. Through a long career in journalism, David has provided incisive analysis on the changing nature of Scottish and global politics. The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield. 

With elections looming on 4 July, the UK faces a turning point in its relationships with Europe and the wider world. Though there are three weeks of campaigning to go, all signs point to a substantial victory for the opposition Labour Party and a total collapse for the governing Conservative - or Tory - Party.To help us explore the impact this election will have on the UK's foreign and defence policy we've been joined by Ben Jones, whose fascinating research explores the impact of military cooperation on state sovereignty. As a lecturer in European foreign policy here at King's College London and with his extensive experience of the UK political scene, in this podcast Ben sets out the challenges a new UK government will face in a rapidly changing world. The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield. 

During the 2010s the Russian state under Vladimir Putin and a Turkish government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan deepened a geopolitical relationship involving cooperation as well as armed conflict. Both leaders faced domestic political challenges while pursuing their own visions of great power status.Over the past two decades, Dimitar Bechev has written extensively about these complex interactions between Turkey and Russia in studies that are rich in fascinating insights. This week he will help us explore how an interaction between domestic protest and escalating conflict reshaped the politics of Turkey, Russia and their neighbours during the crisis of the 2010s.The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.

In the final years of the 2000s the UK and EU were rocked by seemingly endless turmoil on global financial markets. A sense of crisis over the future of the banking system and the Euro converged with a surge of support for eurosceptic populism to fundamentally disrupt British political life. To discuss the turmoil that enveloped the UK in the early 2010s we've been joined by Annette Dittert, who as London correspondent for German public broadcaster ARD has witnessed the ups and downs of British politics up close since 2008. With her extensive knowledge of the British political scene as well as her previous experience as a foreign correspondent in Warsaw and New York, Annette provides fascinating insights into tensions in British politics that laid the foundation for the fateful vote to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum of June 2016. The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.    

As the Crisis of the 2010s unfolded after the near collapse of the global financial system in 2008, relations between Russia and the West shifted from cautious cooperation to profound hostility. Yet even in the wake of the Russian military assault on Georgia in 2008, governments in the US and EU continued to hope for a reset of relations despite every escalatory step taken by Vladimir Putin's authoritarian regime. In this episode we have been joined by Ruth Deyermond, who as Senior Lecturer in Post-Soviet Security at King's College London can help us explore key factors that led to the breakdown of relations between Russia and the West. As a scholar with a background in pathbreaking research exploring Russia's security landscape, Ruth can provide extensive insights into the emergence of tensions between Moscow and the West a decade ago that culminated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.

In the wake of the near collapse of the global financial system in 2008 the post-Cold War order was upended by a convergence of crises in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Beginning our series exploring this Crisis of the 2010s, we have been joined by Clingendael Institute Research Fellow Andrew Lebovich to explore the turmoil that engulfed communities across the Sahel and West Africa during this tumultuous period.The near collapse of the Malian state in the face of an insurgent offensive in January 2013 triggered a French-led European military intervention as well as wider regional instability that became intertwined with conflicts in every other state in the region. The rapid escalation of insurgencies, military coups and creeping involvement of Russian mercenaries and other external actors became symptoms of deeper structural pressures that have reshaped West African politics. As a scholar with extensive experience of the history and politics of West Africa, Andrew Lebovich can help guide us through the social roots of the crises that turned the Sahel region into one of the central geopolitical flashpoints of the 2010s.The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.   

In this week's episode, we have been joined by Glen O'Hara to explore the escalating crisis facing the UK's public services. Over the past 18 months among public services from universities to healthcare the British state has been shaken by waves of strikes and infrastructure breakdowns whose effects have come to be acutely felt in everyday life. With his extensive research background on the history of British state institutions, Glen O'Hara helps us explore the wider social, economic and political dynamics that have brought Britain's public services close to breaking point.As Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Oxford Brookes University, Glen O'Hara has published groundbreaking work on economic and social policy in Britain after the First World War. He is currently Co-Investigator on the AHRC-funded programme 'Spaces of Hope: The Hidden Histories of Community-Led Planning in the UK' and writes regularly on current affairs and policy for The Guardian and The New European.The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.   

This week we've been joined by Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte to explore the impact the changing social position of LGBT voters has had on British politics. As discrimination from state institutions has eased and wider social acceptance has grown, people with LGBT backgrounds have gained more space to play an open and prominent role in British politics. With his research focus on how LGBT communities have influenced electoral politics across Europe, Stuart provides some fascinating insights into key social and political dynamics in contemporary British society.As an Assistant Professor in Quantitative Political Science at the University of Southampton, Stuart published his first book, “VOX: The Rise of the Spanish Radical Right”, and is currently working on his second book project “Lavender Ballots: How queers vote and how to win them over”.The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.   

This week on the Breaking Britain podcast, we examine the economic dilemmas the UK faces in an increasingly competitive global landscape. Joining us is John Mills, who as a senior figure in the world of business and author exploring the global economy who has written extensively to make the case for Brexit as a potentially transformative economic project.John Mills is founder and Chairman of JML, a consumer goods distribution company, which exports to more than 70 countries around the world. He is also an economist and author, noted for his writing on Brexit, the Labour Party and exchange rate policy. A lifelong Labour Party supporter, John has over the years played a prominent role in UK policy debates and was a  Co-Chair of Vote Leave and Chair of Labour Leave during the campaign over the UK's future in the EU in 2016. He was also national agent for the ‘No’ campaign during the 1975 Referendum on the UK joining the European Economic Community (EEC).With his long experience of the challenges societies face at a time of accelerating globalisation, John Mills can help provide key insights into how UK governments can kickstart economic growth that has stagnated for too long.The background music is 'Through the City' by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.  

As inflation, the legacies of the Covid-19 pandemic and state austerity cause lasting disruption to families across the UK, the importance of school meals in providing children with regular access to healthy food has become a matter of national debate. To explore what  political controversies over the provision of school meals can tell us about social change in the UK we've been joined by Heather Ellis, a historian at the University of Sheffield. Together with Gary McCulloch at UCL and Gurpinder Singh Lalli at the University of Wolverhampton, Heather is leading an ESRC-funded project to investigate the policy and social history of the UK's school meal service. With this expertise, Heather can provide much-needed insight into the social impact and policy provision of school meals in the UK.The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.