Pod Save the UK 
Double, Double, toil and trouble…the Government’s first budget has been unveiled on the eve of Halloween, and Nish and Coco are peering into chancellor Rachel Reeve’s cauldron. It’s a spooky episode, so buckle up, we find out if the Halloween budget is the horror show it’s been predicted to be.
A seance with economic and political journalist Grace Blakeley helps us break down the raft of tax rises, loosened borrowing restrictions, and investment in public services.
But what about the skeletons in the closet? Principal policy advisor at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Katie Schmuecker drops in to chat about reforms to benefits for sick and disabled people, as well as private renters on low incomes.
And finally Torsten Bell, Labour MP and former head of the Resolution Foundation, reveals if he’s going to sleep easy or if he’s worried about any market monsters emerging overnight…
Guests:
Grace Blakeley
Katie Schmuecker
Torsten Bell MP
Chapters
0:00 Pumpkin Save the UK
3:28 Labour’s first budget in 14 years w/ Grace Blakeley
20:09 Will the budget help fight poverty? W/ Katie Schmuecker
31:47 Torsten Bell MP drops in
40:59 Official pumpkin verdict
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About The Author
Thanks for listening to Pumpkin Save the UK!
How many pumpkins would you give Rachel Reeves' first budget?
They are just Tories in disguise and a very poor copy at that!
Was the budget a trick or treat?
I think the budget is pretty good overall.
She should have made sure that any national insurance paid by an employer shouldn't be passed on to impact employees.
As a disabled person they terrify me with thier new cruel rules and cuts people will die
Impressed Nish managed to record this whilst on tour. Saw him last night in Nottingham ^^, awesome standup
Machines is more right than humans, that is the problem. If I have to choose between a single Human Doctor to diagnose my cancer or an AI, the AI is miles ahead of even the best doctors. We could pool 100 doctors to diagnose each cancer patient to get closer to what AI can do, or we can make the AI work for the doctor.
Problem is the idiotic use of Advanced Guessing Machines, to guess how to drive cars or manipulate us into buying stuff. The AGM will suggest you make a baby farm, to harvest baby fat for cooking… It has no idea what it's saying and need a human interface person to avoid it harvesting babies for modern cooking, as long as we don't replace doctor with people just educated enough to request an answer for the machine.
Bottom Line Is, you are confusing the COMMERCIAL abuse of tech, by soulless billionaires trying to get off the planet before they destroy it. With the actual power of having a machine that can diagnose cancer better than ALL doctors.
Living wage foundation minimum (living) wage is still more than the government minimum will go up to in April 2025
I cannot apologize enough for the fact that you have to care about our (US) election.
Pumpkins aren’t good they’re gourd 😅
It is a centrist budget from a centrist prime minister
Nish, you can't say Halloween Eve; it means 'All Hallows Eve' as in the eve of All Saints Day. It's like saying Xmas Eve Eve. 😁
carbon capture is appalling excuse to please carbon mining industry…
Point of order: The NI increase on businesses specifically DOESN'T apply to small businesses, normally those who employ less than 5 people, unless those people are very well paid.
Also, the investment in infrastructure vs investment in day-to-day spending can be summarised thusly: If you want to buy a house, you take out a loan, because it's an investment/ Even after paying the interest, you are still left with a roof over your head that will last in your family as long as you don't sell it. But you DON'T take out a payday loan to cover your rent, because that way lies utter ruin, because you'll have to do the same every month, and that's what the Tories have been doing.
So infrastructure is something that can't be taken away from the nation (until the Tories get back in and sell it to their mates), so borrowing to pay for it makes sense, whereas wages are something that are a monthly cost, and THAT that needs to be covered by taxes.
Basically whatever the tories were doing, stop it, and reverse it.
First, I could not enjoy your show more. You are both outstanding hosts and your guests are often quite brilliant. As an American shitting his shorts daily, I give Ms. Reeves 4 out of 5 pumpkins. When I listened to her speak, I felt Britain was fortunate to have a government who is genuinely interested in the working class. In America, we have a party working for the middle class and a NAZI Party. America could become a Fascist state and that makes me sick!
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
GOURD SAVE THE KING! – wait…on second thought.
I give this episode 8 pumpkins out of 13 =)
For efficient carbon capture, depending on methodology, you would want a place that has a cool or cold climate, low elevation, dry, has graphic stability, and electricity that is cheap as hell. The UK is a strange place to focus effort on that… But I do believe that middle-sized nations like the UK shouldn't try to do everything on the R&D side. It is best for them to pick a concentrated area to focus on and scale. Otherwise public investment gets too diluted. To be clear: I'm talking about unproven new directions, not proven ones. Clearly all countries need to work on efficiencies, carbon-neutral infrastructure, public transit, and carbon-neutral power.
Sorry, but are you in the EU ? No ?
Are you the US ? No ?
Ah I see, you are done….finally.
But may be you can rent your army to the US for "good money" like the past 50 years…..
thank you
more like a "you're not invented" thing
0:52 Am I the only one questioning how they've managed to spend £3.50 in poundland? 😂
So, Poundtown is the equivalent of our dollar stores? I could see a store here named Dollar Town. We have a Dollar General and Dollar Tree already
Don't worry Coco I appreciated the gourd pun even if Nish didn't!