WEBVTT - The real Mr Darcy set to be PM

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<v Speaker 1>You can listen to the Front on your smart sneaker

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<v Speaker 1>every morning to hear the latest episode. Just say play

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<v Speaker 1>the news from the Australian.

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<v Speaker 2>From the Australian, here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.

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<v Speaker 2>It's Tuesday, June twenty five. The Albanese government is to

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<v Speaker 2>tell the Aboriginal Justice Service NAJA to show leadership on

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<v Speaker 2>family violence. That's after The Australian's revelation its chairman beat

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<v Speaker 2>up his pregnant partner. The lead author of the government's

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<v Speaker 2>Defense Strategic Review has warned the debate over Peter Dutton's

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<v Speaker 2>nuclear energy plan has the potential to run off the

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<v Speaker 2>rails and turn Australians off nuclear together a threat to

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<v Speaker 2>the Navy's future submarine program. That story is live now

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<v Speaker 2>at the Australian dot Com dot a U. A fresh

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<v Speaker 2>scandal is engulfing the UK's Conservative Party, with allegations five people,

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<v Speaker 2>including a police officer with links to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,

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<v Speaker 2>bet on the election date before Sunac announced when it

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<v Speaker 2>would be. Voting is in just two weeks and everyone's

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<v Speaker 2>betting Labour's Keir Starmer will be PM. But there's something

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<v Speaker 2>about Starma, a dashing former human rights barrister that might

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<v Speaker 2>surprise you.

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<v Speaker 3>Hello, darling, how's it going.

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<v Speaker 4>Mother's trying to fix you up with some to force.

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<v Speaker 3>Human rights barrison, a pretty nasty beast apparently.

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<v Speaker 1>Who deem tong.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe this time Mom had got it right.

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<v Speaker 4>Come on.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the greatest characters in modern movie history is

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<v Speaker 2>Mark Darcy, played by Colin Firth in the Bridget Jones's

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<v Speaker 2>Diary franchise. He was a charming, handsome, almost unbearably pompous

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<v Speaker 2>lawyer named after Fitzwilliam Darcy, the hero of Jane Austen's

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen thirteen masterpiece Pride and Prejudice.

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<v Speaker 5>Mother, I do not need a blind date, particularly not

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<v Speaker 5>some verbally incontinent spinster who smokes like a chimney, drinks

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<v Speaker 5>like a fetch, and dresses like a mother.

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<v Speaker 2>His nemesis and rival for Bridget's affections was suave TV

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<v Speaker 2>executive Daniel Cleaver played by Hugh Grant, a cad for

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<v Speaker 2>the ages there fight scenes two men who don't know

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<v Speaker 2>how to fight, reveling at each other our cinema classics.

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<v Speaker 4>Do you have any idea what's century we actually live in?

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<v Speaker 4>Are you're gonna sit outside.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm not gonna have to drag you.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm gonna have to drag me.

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<v Speaker 2>They fall into a fountain and have the least dignified

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<v Speaker 2>brawl ever caught on film.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you know what, mate, Because you're so obsessed with

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<v Speaker 3>Bridgete Jones, why don't you just marry her?

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<v Speaker 1>Because then she definitely shagged me. It has long been rumored,

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<v Speaker 1>ever since it came out that Keir Starmer was the

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<v Speaker 1>inspiration for mister Darcy, the handsome but slightly stuffy human

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<v Speaker 1>rights lawyer who is the great love of Bridget Johns

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<v Speaker 1>and Bridget Joins's diary.

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<v Speaker 2>Richard Ferguson is the Australian's National Chief of Staff. We

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<v Speaker 2>should note that Helen Fielding, the author of the Bridget

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<v Speaker 2>Jones books, has denied basing Mark Darcy on Kiirs Starmer.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's hard not to see him as a

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<v Speaker 1>kind of mister Darcy figure. Keir Starmer has led an

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<v Speaker 1>incredibly interesting life. He was very much a lawyer rather

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<v Speaker 1>than a politician, never really involved in student politics, ended

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<v Speaker 1>up in the Chief prosecutor in England.

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<v Speaker 2>He is how Britain's Channel four News framed it.

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<v Speaker 5>I've used to run the Crown Prosecution Service. Fiber was

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<v Speaker 5>Director of Public Prosecutions. Director of Public Prosecutions.

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<v Speaker 3>He wants you to know about these five years in

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<v Speaker 3>his career, the job for which he was knighted.

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<v Speaker 5>I've taken down terrorist gags in my.

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<v Speaker 1>Path had some controversies. For example, you know he never

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<v Speaker 1>prosecuted the terrible BBC personality and later revealed mass pedifile

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<v Speaker 1>Jimmy Saville.

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<v Speaker 2>The evidence is now overwhelming that one of Britain's most

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<v Speaker 2>beloved entertainers, the late Sir Jimmy Saville, was also a

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<v Speaker 2>predatory sex offender.

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<v Speaker 1>But he was considered to be a very tough on

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<v Speaker 1>cream prosecutor, went for big sentences and then he joined

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<v Speaker 1>the Labor Party got into Parliament in twenty fifteen.

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<v Speaker 2>That was when David Cameron's Conservatives scraped into coalition government,

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<v Speaker 2>leaving Labor ed Miliband and Starmer on the opposition benches.

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<v Speaker 1>So he thought he was joining kind of the new

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<v Speaker 1>ed Meliban government after a rackety coalition between the Tories

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<v Speaker 1>and the Liberal Democrats. Instead, he's been forced to Leve's

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<v Speaker 1>years in oppositionion and Lever's years in oppossession under Jeremy Corbin.

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<v Speaker 2>Corbyn was the hard left Labor leader whom Starmer would

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<v Speaker 2>eventually replace after a thumping defeat of Labor at the

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<v Speaker 2>twenty nineteen election, and.

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<v Speaker 1>It has made him a ruthless figure, but also a

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<v Speaker 1>very safe and sometimes people would say slightly gellibella figure

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes to policy.

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<v Speaker 2>In particular, Starmer is promising to rebuild the public health

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<v Speaker 2>system a clean energy transformation, and he's sent a chill

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<v Speaker 2>through the middle classes with a plan to put the

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<v Speaker 2>broad based VAT tax on private schools.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a very Daniel Andrews esque policy. It's essentially putting

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<v Speaker 1>up what we would call a GST on private school fees.

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<v Speaker 1>Now private schools have a little bit of a different

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<v Speaker 1>relationship I think than here in Australia. I think a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more people use private schools Australia than they would

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<v Speaker 1>in Britain. But it has slightly dented his attempts to

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<v Speaker 1>portray himself as somebody who supports aspiration, as somebody who

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<v Speaker 1>supports people who want to grow wealth. And after Jeremy Corbyn,

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<v Speaker 1>who is a Marxist, admitted that by his own admission,

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<v Speaker 1>he had worked very hard to try and re establish

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<v Speaker 1>Labor as a party that can work with business. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a more kind of classic labor corporadist sort of socialist left,

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<v Speaker 1>probably a little bit like Anthony Albanezy.

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<v Speaker 2>So he's not going to ta down the establishment.

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<v Speaker 1>He's definitely not going to tear down the establishment. He

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<v Speaker 1>does have a knighthood, after all, he is Sir Kiir Starmer.

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<v Speaker 1>He's really made a point of trying to reintroduce patriotism

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<v Speaker 1>into the Labor Party. Of course, Jeremy Corbyn famously didn't

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<v Speaker 1>sing God Save the Queen, was an avid Republican, turned

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<v Speaker 1>up to tripping the color in donkey jackets and things

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<v Speaker 1>like that. He is very much portrayed himself as a

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<v Speaker 1>supporter of the king, obviously a supporter of the late Queen.

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<v Speaker 1>He does want to make changes to the House of Lords.

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<v Speaker 1>He wants to stop all lords over the age of

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<v Speaker 1>eighty being active participants in the Second Chamber, and he

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<v Speaker 1>wants to get rid of head reditary peers and people

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<v Speaker 1>who become lords by birth. The manifesto is that eventually

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<v Speaker 1>the House of Lords will be abolished, and I mean

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<v Speaker 1>this has been the opinion of Towny Blair and Gordon

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<v Speaker 1>Browne as well, but it's about lake the Republican Australia

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<v Speaker 1>for the Labor Party. It mate saying diod in theory,

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<v Speaker 1>but I think when it comes to the practice, they're

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<v Speaker 1>less keen to run into it. But I think that's

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<v Speaker 1>another example of hope. This is not a prime minister

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<v Speaker 1>who's going to tear down the establishment anytime soon. This

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<v Speaker 1>is no Jeremy Corbyn.

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<v Speaker 2>This campaign kicked off last month in a downpour. It

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<v Speaker 2>was the campaign launch a snap election called by Pam

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<v Speaker 2>Rishi Sunak in an attempt to get the jump on Labor,

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<v Speaker 2>complete with a Churchill esque speech out the front of

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<v Speaker 2>ten Downing Street. But Sunak's team clearly forgot to look

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<v Speaker 2>out the window first, and seconds after Sunac opened his mouth,

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<v Speaker 2>the heavens opened and he was drenched.

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<v Speaker 5>Over the next few weeks, I will fight for every vote.

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<v Speaker 5>I will earn your trust.

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<v Speaker 2>And then someone with a loud speaker started blasting Sunak

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<v Speaker 2>with things can only get better, the nineteen nineties anthem

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<v Speaker 2>and Labour's unofficial theme song.

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<v Speaker 5>China is looking to dominate the twenty first century by

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<v Speaker 5>stealing a lead in technology and migration is being weaponized

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<v Speaker 5>by hostile states to threaten the integrity of our borders.

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<v Speaker 2>I think your take out from his appearance in the

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<v Speaker 2>reign was that he was a bit of a drip.

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<v Speaker 2>Now as his campaign improved it all since the beginning.

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<v Speaker 1>No, he's not just a drep. He's a whole stalking puddle.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, he's lost in the puddle. It may be

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<v Speaker 1>the most disastrous political campaign and modern Western politics since

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<v Speaker 1>oh who knows. I mean, he mixed both short and

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<v Speaker 1>entries of me looks like campaign geniuses, makes Hillary Clinton

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<v Speaker 1>look like a competent campaigner. You know, to just be

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<v Speaker 1>grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into

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<v Speaker 1>what I call the basket of deplorables, right the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamophobic,

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<v Speaker 1>you name it. It's been a terrible campaign and it's

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<v Speaker 1>not all of his fault, but a lot of it

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<v Speaker 1>is his fault. He has no eye for politics. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>the skepping of d D was a completely not disaster,

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<v Speaker 1>which I think Kelder's campaign stone dead.

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<v Speaker 2>That's where Sunak flew home early from D Day commemorations

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<v Speaker 2>in France to give an interview to ITV that delivered

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<v Speaker 2>one of the most toe curlingly awkward moments in modern politics.

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<v Speaker 3>Have you ever gone without something?

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 3>I mean I grot. My family emigrated here with very little,

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<v Speaker 3>and that's how I was raised. I was raised for

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<v Speaker 3>the values of hard work.

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<v Speaker 4>What did you go.

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<v Speaker 1>Without as a child?

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<v Speaker 3>Lots of things, right, because my parents wanted to put

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<v Speaker 3>everything into our education and that was a priority. So

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<v Speaker 3>what sort of things had to be sacrificed? Lots of things, right,

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<v Speaker 3>I would give me an example, all sorts of things,

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<v Speaker 3>like lots of people. There'll be all sorts of things

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<v Speaker 3>that I would have wanted as a kid that I

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<v Speaker 3>couldn't have, right, But famously SkyTV that was something that

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<v Speaker 3>we never had growing up.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually, this scandal where members of the top Tory campaign

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<v Speaker 1>team are now being investigated for betting on the election

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<v Speaker 1>date because they had found out the election date before

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<v Speaker 1>the Prime minister announced it has I think shocked people

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<v Speaker 1>and it was reminiscent of the party Gate scandals under

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<v Speaker 1>Boris Johnson and where people were having parties during COVID

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<v Speaker 1>lockdowns and Tory staffers were having parties during COVID lockdowns,

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<v Speaker 1>in which it seems to be one role for Tory

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<v Speaker 1>staffers in one role for everybody else. His top cabinet

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<v Speaker 1>ministers are basically out there admitting they're not going to

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<v Speaker 1>win and that it's all about stopping labor from having

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<v Speaker 1>massive majority, and he looks completely defeated. Resisternaki looks as

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<v Speaker 1>if he doesn't want to be there. I think he's

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about his next job in Silicon Valley. But it's

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<v Speaker 1>a very sad end for the Tory Party's fourteen years

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<v Speaker 1>of power.

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<v Speaker 2>There are predictions hard to fathom that the Tories could

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<v Speaker 2>see their three hundred and forty four seats chipped down

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<v Speaker 2>to just one hundred in Britain's six hundred and fifty

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<v Speaker 2>seat House of Commons. That would be worse than the

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<v Speaker 2>conservatives nadir the nineteen oh six election when they were

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<v Speaker 2>reduced to just one hundred and fifty six seats. Coming

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<v Speaker 2>up the populist firebrand who's stealing all suon acts thunder.

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<v Speaker 2>The Australian's full of expert analysis from politics to business.

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<v Speaker 2>We'd love you to join our subscribers and always be

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<v Speaker 2>the smartest person in the room. Check us out at

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<v Speaker 2>the Australian dot com dot a U and we'll be

0:12:55.559 --> 0:13:10.440
<v Speaker 2>back after this break. There's certainly a dynamic voice on

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<v Speaker 2>the Conservative side of UK politics. But it's not one

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<v Speaker 2>of the Tories. It's Nigel Farage, the populist anti europe

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<v Speaker 2>campaigner who's now turned his attention to securing Britain's borders.

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<v Speaker 1>Nigel Farage really came on the scene to advocate for

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<v Speaker 1>Britain's exit from the European Union really before it was popular.

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<v Speaker 1>In many ways. One of the reasons that David Cameron

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<v Speaker 1>called the Brexit referendum in twenty sixteen was to head

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<v Speaker 1>off Nigel Farage doing what Nigel Farage appears to be

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<v Speaker 1>doing no, which is completely gobbling up the Tory vote. No.

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<v Speaker 1>He ended up doing very well when he ford something

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<v Speaker 1>called the Brexit Party when Theresa mel was failing to

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<v Speaker 1>get in Brexit done. And he ran again obviously in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty nineteen, but didn't do very well because Boris Johnson

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<v Speaker 1>managed to get a lot of that vote that he

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<v Speaker 1>was taking back. But this time he's been able to

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<v Speaker 1>really establish himself as a very very powerful voice. He

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<v Speaker 1>has made a major stumble though, I think, in that

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<v Speaker 1>he's basically revealed himself as soft on.

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<v Speaker 4>Putting hang on a second. We provoked this war, of course,

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<v Speaker 4>it's his fault he's used but we provoked the invasion.

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<v Speaker 4>And very interestingly, once again ten years ago, what I

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<v Speaker 4>predicted this? By the way, I'm the only person in

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<v Speaker 4>British politics that predicted what would happen, and of course

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<v Speaker 4>everyone said I was a pariah for daring to suggest it.

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<v Speaker 1>He said that the EU had a lot to blame

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<v Speaker 1>for the situation in Ukraine, and I think a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of traditional Tories who are very anti Russia and very

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<v Speaker 1>pro Ukraine may be turned off by that. So I

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<v Speaker 1>think that was a mistake on his part. But things

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<v Speaker 1>are looking good for him. He's running in Clacton, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a seaside town which has the second oldest population

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<v Speaker 1>of the electorates in Britain, so I think he'd have

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<v Speaker 1>a very good chance there. But famously he did say

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<v Speaker 1>before he decided to run in selection, which was not

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<v Speaker 1>a sure thing, he said, do I really want to

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<v Speaker 1>spend every weekend in Clacton? Well, they see what they've

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<v Speaker 1>WoT to say about that.

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<v Speaker 2>Richard Ferguson is The Australian's National Chief of Staff. You

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<v Speaker 2>can check out all our journalism right now by joining

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<v Speaker 2>our subscribers at the Australian dot com, dot au