The Lesley Riddoch Podcast
679 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 4 ratingsScottish politics dissected from a left, pro-independence stance. Each week, award-winning broadcaster and journalist, Lesley Riddoch chews over the week’s news with former media lecturer and Dundee United fan, Pat Joyce. If you like intelligent, quirky chat about Scottish society and culture, and Scottish, UK and international politics analysed from a Scottish perspective; this podcast is for you.
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Episodes
The Arrangement
August 12, 2019 10:09 - 51 minutes - 35.4 MBThere has been a slew of articles by journalists and commentators down south supporting Scottish independence. Lesley tries, and succeeds, to tease out just what's going on. Gordon Brown, in stark contrast, remerged to issue dire warnings about "disruptive and divisive nationalism". We question what, if any, relevance the ex PM’s intervention has in the current political climate. Wings over Scotland has announced his intention, under specific circumstances, to launch a new pro Indy party...
It's good to be back
August 05, 2019 12:08 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBWe return after a three week hiatus as a survey by pollster Lord Ashcroft put backing for Scottish independence at 46 per cent, with 43 per cent against. Support for independence rose to 52 per cent, with 48 per cent against, when those who said they did not know how they would vote or said they would not vote were removed. Lesley considers the significance of this reverse Boris bounce and just where this leaves not only the Yes movement but the SNP leadership. Ruth Davidson's populari...
Boiling frogs
July 16, 2019 11:21 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBLesley found herself at the centre of a Twitter pile on when she raised how cold the working conditions were for staff at her local Tesco store. She discovered there was a lot more to it than face value when she responded to the criticism, not only in terms of the treatment of workers but the climate emergency. SEPA has also come in for some stick this week for its use of short haul air flights to the Scottish islands. Again, Lesley probes beneath the presenting issue to examine the potent...
Game Changers
July 09, 2019 11:25 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBThe Women’s World Cup in France was an unprecedented success in terms of media coverage and popular interest but Lesley questions just what the legacy, if any, will be for the women’s game in Scotland. Lesley was one of the distinguished panel, which sat in Edinburgh, courtesy of the Electoral Reform Society, to answer questions from the press and public on the potential role of Citizens Assemblies in determining Scotland’s democratic future. How did it go? Today sees the introduction of...
Not my circus
June 25, 2019 16:26 - 42 minutes - 29.4 MBLesley’s just back from the Community Land Scotland conference at Sabhal Mor Ostaig on Skye where the rural housing crisis, facing young people in particular, was the key topic. Lesley questions whether the Scottish government is doing enough to tackle the desperate situation particularly, in the light of its opposition to the Andy Wightman amendments to the Planning Bill. We just can’t escape from Brexit and I have a wee look at the UK government’s proposed replacement for the EU struct...
The Con men
June 19, 2019 13:10 - 57 minutes - 39.3 MBIt's the morning after the night before and, as we promised, we try and dissect the Tory party leadership debate on BBC 1. We focus, not just on the performances of the candidates, but the format and the poison chalice of chairing handed to Emily Maitliss. The latest YouGov poll revealed that Tory party members were quite willing to see the breakup of their precious union, damage to the economy, and the destruction of their party rather than fail to achieve Brexit. Lesley tries to figure...
The Selectorate
June 11, 2019 19:20 - 46 minutes - 31.6 MBWe kick off this week’s podcast with the unavoidable bunfight that is the race for the Tory party leadership (I defy you to name the 10th contender without Googling him). Lesley focuses on the broadcast media’s coverage of what is an entirely internal Conservative party issue but one with major implications for the wider public. Almost seamlessly we switch to examining Ruth Davidson’s support for Sajid Javid, has she backed the wrong candidate given Boris Johnson’s early lead amongst Con...
Powers and levers
June 04, 2019 13:03 - 55 minutes - 37.9 MBLesley has just submitted her, nine years in the making, PhD thesis on the Norwegian and Scottish hutting movements. She reflects on what these two very different experiences can tell us about the economics of power lying beneath the surface of UK democracy. This leads us, neatly I reckon, into the Preston Model of local economic democracy and the story of the Mondragon Cooperative. Trump has landed in London for his state visit. Just what can the coverage of the event by both the Britis...
Gubbed
May 28, 2019 12:45 - 59 minutes - 40.8 MBUnsurprisingly the European Parliament elections take up most of this week's podcast. We try and analyse the results across the UK and Europe not only in terms of Brexit but their implications for our domestic political parties and Scottish independence. Along the way I might just touch on media spin and Lesley surprises me with why the Scottish Tories faring marginally better than their English counterparts is positive news for Yessers. We couldn't escape the car crash that is the...
Milkshakes and martyrdom
May 21, 2019 13:27 - 52 minutes - 35.8 MBIt's a week of political limbo as we wait for Theresa May's "big" announcement on her reshaped EU Withdrawal Bill and the EU elections on Thursday. The latest polls for those elections showed growing support for the Brexit Party right across the UK. In Scotland the SNP is still way ahead but it could be meltdown for both Labour and the Tories as the Brexit Party is in second place. On these figures the SNP could gain one seat, rising to three MEPs, the Brexit Party two MEPs, and a straight...
Democratic deficits
May 15, 2019 11:35 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBAndrew Marr interviewed Damian Hinds (he’s the current Education Secretary-nope me neither) and Nigel Farage on his show this Sunday. Both were on to talk about the European Parliamentary elections. Both had to try and do this without the benefit of their parties issuing manifestos. Lesley picks apart the significance of this and the flaws at the heart of the UK's political system which mean the party of government and the party leading in the polls for that election can get away with it...
March to the beat of a different drum
May 10, 2019 12:27 - 1 hour - 42.4 MBSaturday saw over 100,000 supporters of Scottish independence march through Glasgow. Lesley was there and gives her impressions of what it was like out on the streets and the reflects on the continuing commitment to the cause of the grass roots movement. All of this despite brickbats from some obvious, and some surprising, sources. We both tuned into the latest edition of Question Time, featuring yet again Nigel Farage. We wonder if the shambles we witnessed was simply a show that Fiona Br...
Civil Disobedience
April 30, 2019 15:15 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBLesley made her first appearance on BBC Scotland's Debate Night last Sunday and she wonders if, in trying not to be the bear pit of Question Time, it has become too staid. This leads us neatly, well in my mind anyway, into Nicola Sturgeon's declaration, at the SNP Party Conference, of a Climate Emergency. We try and pick apart the implications of this and the possible motivations behind it. Lesley was at the Conference and tries to give a flavour of the atmosphere, and in particular the ...
Catalonia.Aftermath
April 26, 2019 13:24 - 24 minutes - 16.5 MBLesley was in Catalonia last week for the Books and Roses Festival. What she found there was so important that we thought we'd create a wee Aftermath special. So, here it is.
Game on?
April 26, 2019 12:55 - 1 hour - 42.5 MBIt's an extra-long (time for two sets of ironing) podcast this week and we spend most of it discussing Nicola Sturgeon's statement on Indyref2 in Holyrood this Wednesday. While we look at the reaction to it from across the political spectrum Lesley focuses on the questions arising from the broader Yes movement. In particular how can a narrative be created which moves the debate away from aridity to positivity and the role of a Citizens' Assembly. Scotland in Union published a poll which ...
Polls and Taxes
April 18, 2019 10:44 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBLesley went to a fringe meeting at the STUC annual conference on local government finance reform and we kick off this week's podcast with this. And if you thought I was an anorak on the D'Hondt Formula...... Seriously, Lesley goes on to explore the nature of local democracy in the light of recent revelations regarding the English local elections. We've been promising to focus on climate change for weeks and the recent appearance of George Monbiot on Frankie Boyle's New World Order, plus ...
Decades of Deference
April 09, 2019 13:53 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBIt was the Scottish Greens' party conference last weekend and we spend a fair amount of time looking at Tommy Sheppard's suggestion that some form of electoral pact be reached between them and the SNP in the 2021 Holyrood elections. How far should the Greens, their supporters, and other nonaligned "Yessers", subsume their values within an SNP dominated drive for independence? This leads us on to the, seemingly inevitable, European Parliamentary elections. Lesley believes that we are crying...
Part of the Union
April 02, 2019 13:03 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBYet again it's another morning after the Westminster night before and Lesley and I attempt to unpick the Gordian knot of indicative votes on Brexit. I won't try and unravel what we cover in this episode in detail but we range across who voted for what; the arcane and archaic House of Commons voting procedures; whether the SNP MPs should simply up sticks and come home; and as usual what all this means for Scottish independence. You also find out why I was angry and Lesley wasn't, plus an ...
Who are the grown ups?
March 21, 2019 15:54 - 48 minutes - 33.4 MBThe astonishing twists and turns of the events of the past couple of days over Brexit fill this week's entire episode . Rather than my usual set of meanderings here I'll let you listen to the podcast as we don't half cover a whole lot of ground. Our conclusions? Well, our final duet statement, is genuinely where we're at today,Thursday. Wha kens whaur we'll be the morn!
Saman.Together
March 11, 2019 13:50 - 58 minutes - 40.2 MBAs is so often in our podcasts Lesley has just returned from one of the Nordics. This time it's Iceland where she was attending a three-day (well it was three days for most delegates Ms Riddoch) conference on how they solved the substance abuse and anti-social behaviour epidemic among its young people. Lesley discovered what we might learn from the Icelandic experience and some surprising, and heartening, facts about Scotland, particularly in the ongoing soul searching over knife crime in ...
To be wanted
March 04, 2019 13:25 - 50 minutes - 34.4 MBAfter I begin by giving far too detailed an explanation of why we're now podcasting on Mondays, Lesley gets stuck into what looks like a bidding war between the EU and EFTA for a post-independence Scotland. She also considers, what appears to be, growing indications of the launch of Indyref2 and asks will any Tory PM agree to a Section 30 order and just who will decide who gets to vote, and the question on the ballot paper. In the light of Richard Leonard's car crash interview on Sunday Po...
People Power
February 26, 2019 17:22 - 53 minutes - 36.8 MBIt was "Hold the front page" time this afternoon as Theresa May made her much trailed statement to the Commons after a fractious Cabinet meeting. We give our initial reactions to her last-minute Brexit manoeuvring. Lesley returned to her alma mater at the end of last week to attend a conference organised by the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at Oxford University on remaking the UK constitution. Lesley and Joanna Cherry turned out to be the only journalist and MP to attend and both ...
The Secret 7
February 19, 2019 13:37 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBThere's only one place to begin this week and it's the, less than, surprise resignation of seven Labour MPs to form TIG-The Independent Group. Lesley and I try to get our heads round why now, what for, and what next for this disparate group. This speculation, inevitably for us, leads us down several highways and bye ways including proportional representation, and the founding of the Scottish Labour Party in 1888. Just when you thought the hoo ha surrounding BBC Question Time had died d...
The road from the isles
February 12, 2019 13:03 - 1 hour - 45.4 MBLesley's just back from a wee tour of the Western Isles and looks back on the perils, and pleasures, of travel around the Outer Hebrides. The pleasure mainly being her discovery of the joys of the electric bike. She also reflects on the crofting and housing crisis facing the islanders and the enduring legacy of Canon Angus MacQueen. It may seem a long way from Lewis to the USA but Donald Trump is rarely quiet about his island heritage. I was appalled by his recent tweets on Elizabeth W...
The Aftermath
February 05, 2019 15:44 - 21 minutes - 14.7 MBBack in the days of Riddoch Questions we used to sit around post show and record our thoughts about the topics and podcast them as Aftermath. Well...after today's podcast we suddenly found ourselves chatting about the meaning of identities ,specifically our own, and we decided to go back to the future and create our very own Aftermath. We hope you enjoy this wee bonus.
True Grit
February 05, 2019 13:33 - 52 minutes - 35.8 MBIt's a podcast of two halves today.The news that Celtic Connections has been awarded £100,000 from the Scottish Government's Expo Fund to commission eight new pieces of work for the Grit Orchestra sparks off part one. Part the second moves from music to history examining the wartime nationalist narrative of Brexiters and wondering if Scotland can awake from this nightmare. There's a wee bit of reflection on Angus Robertson's new Progress Scotland venture and lots of the other usual nons...
Danes 1 Fox News 0
February 03, 2019 16:15 - 27 minutes - 18.5 MBLesley interviews Danish MP Dan Joergensen
A tale of two parliaments
February 01, 2019 18:08 - 48 minutes - 33.3 MBThe Irish backstop is still the hot topic of Brexit debate and Lesley examines the "Let's blame Ireland" narrative which the likes of John Humphrys and Andrew Marr are punting on the BBC. I spent most of Tuesday glued to BBC Parliament trying to follow the series of amendments to the Brexit vote on Theresa May's latest deal. I reflect not only the fate of Ian Blackford's amendment but the disgraceful behaviour of Tory and DUP MPs towards him. We consider, again, the nature of adversarial p...
The B word
January 22, 2019 15:39 - 53 minutes - 36.8 MBThere's nothing happening with Brexit but there's nothing else we can talk about. Well, Lesley and I hope to prove that wrong and we begin by......talking about Brexit. We reflect on the impasse at Westminster and how the log jam might be broken by the series of amendments placed for next week. It's been a struggle to try and understand why support for a hard Brexit is so popular, particularly in working class areas of Northern England. Lesley's conversations recently at the "Think Ane...
A majority of contradictions
January 16, 2019 12:18 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBIt's the morning after the night before and as the light at the end of the Brexit tunnel looks increasingly like the No Deal express thundering down the track we try and make sense of it all. Lesley wonders just where Theresa May can now go to get some sort of parliamentary consensus and is this time for the Commons to step in and create that temporary cross-party coalition. As Nicola Sturgeon flies down to London to meet with Ian Blackford and the SNP MPs we inevitably speculate on wher...
Common cause and conventions
January 12, 2019 13:02 - 1 hour - 42.2 MBWe make our first appearance of 2019 and it's our longest edition ever. I leave it you to decide if this is a good thing.... Lesley spent the last week in London and we begin by looking at her appearance on the BBC's Politics Live. I'm giving no secrets away by revealing in advance that she didn't enjoy it. However, in stark contrast to this, Lesley spent Friday speaking and chairing sessions at "Think Anew, Act Anew", an emergency Convention on the need for a second EU referendum. The C...
Brexit. Stage left
December 17, 2018 13:48 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBI had, as is my wont, my wee notebook with a plethora of end of year topics for us to discuss. However, Lesley has just come back from down south where she met up with supporters of Lexit. Folk on the left who are in favour of Brexit, and there are more of them than we up here would think. All this meant that we threw the notebook, metaphorically, oot the windae and let this take us to some quite surprising places. Rather than try and encapsulate this I'll let you embark on the voyage of...
Motherland
December 10, 2018 14:06 - 1 hour - 43.3 MBIt will come as no surprise to you that we begin with, and spend most of the podcast on, Brexit. The ECJ's ruling on the "Scottish Case" has suddenly sent the media into a frenzy on something that they've been dismissing as fringe nonsense for the past year. Lesley considers the shining light of cooperation across party lines as Labour, SNP, and Green politicians fought the good fight with the support of Jolyon Maugham QC. Just to prove that there is political life beyond Brexit, the Sco...
What's my line?
December 03, 2018 13:06 - 43 minutes - 29.5 MBIt's been a week of touring. Lesley visiting the four corners of Scotland with her film on Norway, and Theresa May punting her Brexit deal to her "precious union". We try and get our heads around just what the PM was trying to achieve with her carefully managed charm offensive. The National, of course, was barred from the Bridge of Weir extravaganza, a genuine own goal as the decision was roundly condemned by journalists of all persuasions. But was this yet another example of Scotland's ...
Bravery not Bravado
November 26, 2018 15:18 - 48 minutes - 33.2 MBWe're back! Yup after a two-week break, during which time nothing politically significant at all has happened, the podcast has returned. Please read that last sentence with a note of irony, of course. As you might be aware our absence was down to my better half's close encounters with the NHS and that's where we begin. Lesley recently went to see Nae Pasaran, the movie about the Scottish workers who defied Pinochet's fascist dictatorship in Chile. What lessons can we draw from this ama...
The Infamous Grouse
November 08, 2018 16:40 - 1 hour - 42.4 MBLesley and I were both enthralled by the US midterm elections. I followed them on CNN and she on C4. Still her go to news channel despite the Nicola Sturgeon Brexit debate debacle. The blue surge in the States ushered in a swathe of new, progressive Democrats to the House of Representatives,but has Donald Trump managed, with typical sleight of hand, another master stroke of deflection with his sacking of Jeff Sessions and attack on CNN's Jim Acosta? Lesley's most recent column in the Nat...
Ghosties,ghoulies and whigmaleeries
November 01, 2018 14:16 - 42 minutes - 28.8 MBLast night was Halloween but there's no trick or treating in this all genuine, all traditional, Scottish podcast. Lesley turns her gimlet gaze on Scotland's less than glorious witch hunting past and explodes some myths. I chip in with a wee bit on the roots of Samhain and memories of the 1950s. We both reflect on what the witch hunts of the 17th century mean to modern Scottish society. Lesley's recent column in the National on the People's Vote, sparked by Pete Wishart's warnings ove...
Equality and elites
October 25, 2018 11:58 - 1 hour - 42.8 MBYou'll be able to get a wheen o' ironing done this week chums as we offer up an extended, hour long, podcast. Westminster takes up the first section with thoughts on Sir Paul Beresford's " I can't understand your accent" nonsense; Ian Blackford's sterling performances at PMQs, and the unsinkable Theresa May's "Christianity". We move on to Nicola's Sturgeon's refusal to take part in the EBU's NewsXchange event after it was confirmed that Steve Bannon would also be attending. The BBC justi...
The art of thrawn
October 17, 2018 11:36 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBWriter Gabriella Bennett has just published her new book, “The Art of Coorie", inviting her readers to "embrace all things Scottish". Lesley and I cast our sceptical, though not cynical eyes, on her interpretation of coorie and Caledonian cool. We stick with the land and the new twists in the fight of tenant farmers Alison and David Telfer of Cleuchfoot farm to stop Buccleuch estates removing them to make way for planting trees. As deadlines on Brexit loom ever nearer the BBC has sudde...
Senator Neale Richmond interview
October 11, 2018 15:51 - 4 minutes - 3.32 MBSenator Neale Richmond was elected to Seanad Éireann in April 2016 to the Labour Panel. He is the Fine Gael Spokesperson on European Affairs in the Seanad. Senator Richmond gave this short interview to Lesley after his recent appearance at the 2018 SNP conference.
Respect yourself
October 11, 2018 12:05 - 53 minutes - 36.8 MBIt may come as a shock to you but we begin each podcast with a list of topics, all in my wee blue notebook. This week we break with tradition and open with a continuation of our off-mic conversation on the nature of being who we really are. How does the putting on and shedding the masks we wear affect us personally, politics, and society. This, to our surprise, leads us, quite naturally, to both the SNP conference and the huge All Under One Banner march in Edinburgh. Lesley wonders if th...
It's a legal matter
October 04, 2018 18:42 - 45 minutes - 31.2 MBWe can't ignore the Tory party conference, try as hard as we might, and we kick off this week's podcast with our reflections on Theresa May's moves. Ruth Davidson has been on a PR offensive for her new book while ignoring requests for serious political interviews. Gordon Brewer of the BBC and STV's Colin McKay finally got the chance to grill her, with very different results. Lesley has had a long commitment to justice for Scotland's tenant farmers and her steely gaze turns on the scandal...
Decisions decisions
September 27, 2018 17:25 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBWe return, after some time, to the murky world of Trump and US politics as Christine Blasey Ford appears in front of the Senate Judiciary about the alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Lesley asks if Kavanaugh can survive Blasey Ford's compelling testimony and that of his other accusers. Trump defended Kavanaugh during his recent rambling, shambling, press conference. So bad that James Kelly sat with his head in his hands throughout most of it and Jared Kushner...
The V&Tay
September 20, 2018 15:40 - 52 minutes - 35.9 MBWe're back after our three week break and unashamedly spend the first part of the podcast singing the praises, with a few caveats, of the brand-new V&A Dundee. Many thanks to Jenny, V&A Dundee press officer for her help in organising our visit. However, we get back to grim reality with the recent controversy over P1 assessments, yesterday’s defeat for the Scottish government over them, on a Tory led motion, and the reaction to it among independence supporters. Lesley's thoughts, as always,...
Haud yir wheesht
August 31, 2018 12:56 - 46 minutes - 32.2 MBIf a week's a long time in politics the past two have seemed like an eternity and it should be no surprise to anyone that we begin and end this podcast focusing on the ongoing controversy surrounding Alex Salmond. The majority of our time is spent trying to unpick the story and reach our own conclusions on its importance to the SNP, the broader Yes movement, and the rights of folk, in particular women, at work. Lesley's trip to Finland reignited her commitment to the reform of the curren...
Facts are chiels that winna ding
August 16, 2018 15:11 - 43 minutes - 30 MBAfter a shock opening, where Lesley blows my cover as the essence of cool by revealing my in-depth knowledge of Friends, we get down to this week's business. As we get ready for this Saturday's AUOB march in Dundee, Lesley’s been out and about at showings of the first two movies in her Nation series and loves the feeling of almost religious solidarity folk get from sharing these communal events. Me being me, an RC (Recovering Catholic) I cast a somewhat sceptical eye over where an over...
Testing times
August 09, 2018 12:27 - 41 minutes - 28.5 MBWe're back after our two week break where Lesley had a braw time on Barra and I struggled with my less than stellar DIY skills. It's results time for our senior school pupils but Lesley examines whether it makes any sense at all to conduct national tests on five year olds and asks what, if any, evidence exists for doing it. As deadlines approach on Brexit deals and the wave of All Under One Banner marches goes from strength to strength is it time for Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP to embrac...
Up the wrang dreel
July 26, 2018 14:01 - 49 minutes - 34 MBLesley's latest Scotsman article on berries rotting in the fields sparked some controversy among its readership. But just what are the causes of this farming disaster? Talking of controversy, Tommy Sheppard became headline news with his reply to Labour MP Ian Murray that, in retrospect, he would vote to bring down the Labour government of 1979 just as his SNP colleagues did back then. For those of you too young or too sensible to get the symbolic nature of that exchange I launch into a h...
Bees make honey
July 20, 2018 15:34 - 37 minutes - 25.5 MBWe begin with the stushy that Lesley's latest article in the Scotsman commenting on Nicola Sturgeon's stance on Donald Trump's visit caused. Never read the comments section is our sage advice. Hard on the heels of the Donald's departure for his infamous Helsinki meeting with Putin our very own populist wannabe, Boris Johnson, made his resignation speech in the House of Commons. Lesley reflects on just why this wasn't a Geoffrey Howe moment and what the former Foreign Minister's behaviour ...
A state of chassis
July 15, 2018 13:18 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBBenjamin Franklin famously said that there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. Politically we can add Trump and Brexit,especially after this week. Lesley, hotfoot from her appearance on Sky News, takes on both these inescapables with her take on Trump's visit to Scotland. What does Nicola Sturgeon's refusal to engage with the self-proclaimed master of the deal tell us about a future independent Scotland? Having spent my morning watching Theresa May fighting for her futu...