How To Fix...

…Leaving the EU

Leaving the EU, despite what the Leave campaign claimed last year, is turning out to be rather complicated. We were supposed to save money—£350m a week—but now it seems we’re paying tens of billions first. We were supposed to quickly sign a trade deal with the rest of the EU—the German car manufacturer would insist on it, remember—but we haven’t even started talks about talks yet. And all those concerns about what this meant for Northern Ireland and the border were pretty straight-forward to deal with, really—but, well, we know where we are with that… So, was there—is there—another way? In this week’s show, Steve Bloomfield and Stephanie Boland are joined by: · Asa Bennet, Brexit commissioning editor · Chris Bickerton, Cambridge academic · Alex Dean, Prospect’s Brexit expert Get in touch Steve: https://twitter.com/BloomfieldSJ Steph: https://twitter.com/stephanieboland Further reading The case for a slow-motion Brexit: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/the-case-for-a-slow-motion-brexit The EFTA Court piece we mentioned: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/in-future-britain-may-have-a-judge-on-the-efta-court-bench-says-its-president And since Chris talked about the productivity, here’s Diane Coyle’s recent piece for the mag: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/how-to-have-a-productive-brexit

...Remaining in the EU

How do you fix Brexit? Well, for a start it depends on whether you want us to leave or remain. Next week we’ll work out how to fix leaving. Today, we’re going to see if there’s a way to remain. Despite the vote, is it possible for the UK to remain in the European Union after all? It is, and we’ll explain how. In this week’s show, Steve Bloomfield and Stephanie Boland are joined by: · Alison McGovern, Labour MP · Alex Dean, Prospect’s Brexit expert Get in touch Steve: https://twitter.com/BloomfieldSJ Steph: https://twitter.com/stephanieboland Further reading The inside story of how David Cameron drove Britain to Brexit, by Ivan Rogers: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/the-inside-story-of-how-david-cameron-drove-britain-to-brexit Alison McGovern on why free movement doesn’t affect wages: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/the-evidence-is-clear-ending-free-movement-wont-raise-british-wages Ian Dunt on how Brexit negotiations are going to get worse: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/think-brexit-negotiations-are-going-badly-its-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-worse Dominic Cummings fears Brexit will fail: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/peering-over-the-cliff-edge-why-dominic-cummings-fears-brexit-will-fail

How to fix… listener special!

For the tenth episode of How to Fix we decided to hand the reins over to you, dear listener. What do you think needs fixing? We’ve whittled down your suggestions to half a dozen and have parcelled out your queries to a handful of prospect editors, including myself and Steph. So in the next twenty minutes or so you’ll hear Tom Clark discuss the state of the United Kingdom, Sameer Rahim will wax lyrical on English curriculums at universities, Steph will tell us all about children’s health and I’ll have a minor rant about sports administration. We’ll also talk about the age bias in the arts and discuss the growing distrust in the media. In this week’s show, Steve Bloomfield and Stephanie Boland are joined by: · Tom Clark · Sameer Rahim Get in touch Steve: https://twitter.com/BloomfieldSJ Steph: https://twitter.com/stephanieboland Further reading Here’s that bizarre piece about children spending less time outside than prison inmates: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/25/three-quarters-of-uk-children-spend-less-time-outdoors-than-prison-inmates-survey Here’s a good overview of the ‘decolonising Cambridge’ row: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/cambridge-university-decolonisation-lola-olufemi-13831287 The moment when FIFA executives were arrested: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/sports/fifa-scandal-arrests-in-switzerland.html?_r=0

…Air Pollution

Think of a city with an air pollution problem and, a few years ago, Beijing probably would have sprung to mind. Dense smog, citizens in face masks, this was a problem that cities like London had left behind after the Clean Air Act of 1956 dealt with the problems caused by the great Smog of 1952. But while London and other cities in the UK don’t suffer from a Great Smog today, they are feeling the effects of air pollution in far greater ways than many of us have realised. An estimated 40,000 deaths each year are attributable in some way to air pollution. Too many cars, of which too many of those are diesel, are causing serious health problems. the mayor of greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, from the chair of the transport select committee, Lilian Greenwood; Sarah Macfadyen at the British Lung Foundation, and the science editor of Buzzfeed News, Kelly Oakes In this week’s show, Steve Bloomfield and Stephanie Boland are joined by: · Lilian Greenwood, chair of the transport select committee · Kelly Oakes, science editor, Buzzfeed UK · Sarah Macfadyen, policy manager, British Lung Foundation Get in touch Steve: https://twitter.com/BloomfieldSJ Steph: https://twitter.com/stephanieboland Further reading Here’s Kelly’s piece on Brixton Road and its air pollution: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellyoakes/this-london-road-has-breached-its-annual-air-pollution-limit?utm_term=.wgXP2vEK9#.utDYk4ryz Here’s the British Lung Foundation’s very useful explainer on air pollution: https://www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/air-pollution Here are those adverts about air pollution that Steph mentioned: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hardhitting-air-pollution-posters-to-go-on-display-on-londons-tube-network-a3661891.html

...Refugee Camps

Right now, there are 65.6 million people around the world who have been forcibly displaced. That’s roughly equivalent to the population of Britain. Of those, 22.5 million are refugees. Of those, less than 200,000 were resettled last year in another country. So what about the rest? Well, many of them are in camps. We think of the refugee camp as a temporary structure. A place of tents and well-meaning aid workers in white t-shirts handing out food and medicine. And at first, they can be. But as the weeks turn into months and the months into years and the years into decades, and refugees still can’t go home, they are left in limbo. The aid often dries up. The camps become dangerous. Solutions are thin on the ground. In this week’s show, Steve Bloomfield and Stephanie Boland are joined by: · Kilian Kleinschmidt, former director of the Zaatari refuge camp · Ben Rawlence, author of City of Thorns Get in touch Steve: https://twitter.com/BloomfieldSJ Steph: https://twitter.com/stephanieboland Further reading Here’s a review of Ben’s brilliant book, City of Thorns: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/books/review/city-of-thorns-by-ben-rawlence.html Here’s a profile of Kilian Kleinschmidt from his time as the director of Zaatari: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/world/middleeast/kilian-kleinschmidt-calm-boss-at-center-of-a-syrian-refugee-camps-chaos.html