What on earth is the national interest?
Analysis23 Okt 2023

What on earth is the national interest?

Should we be sceptical when politicians claim to act in "the national interest"? The phrase is frequently trotted out to elevate policy and actions as unimpeachably serving us all. But what does it actually mean? So far the Oxford English Dictionary has steered clear of pinning down this "slippery" term. Mark Damazer digs up its historical roots and talks to politicians, prime-ministerial speechwriters and policymakers to define a term that can obscure as much as it elucidates. Is its use just cynical high grounding or does it speak of a sincere effort to disentangle policy from personal or party interests? Is the national interest best served by a strong civic landscape where differing visions of “the national interest” are free to battle it out?

Presenter: Mark Damazer Producer: David Reid Editor: Clare Fordham

Contributors: Michael Gove, Minister for Levelling up, Housing and Communities Angela Rayner, shadow deputy prime minister and shadow levelling up secretary Phil Collins, former prime-ministerial speechwriter Munira Mirza, former Director of the No10 Policy Unit Dame Linda Colley, Professor of History at Princeton Fiona McPherson, Senior Editor at the Oxford English Dictionary, specialising in new words

Episoder(389)

Radical Self-Care

Radical Self-Care

Wellness is easy to lampoon. A vast, trillion-dollar industry, at its worst it offers bogus cures, prescribing over-priced paraphernalia and dubious advice for ailments that might be treated elsewhere...

22 Jun 202028min

Modern Parenting

Modern Parenting

More time and money is being spent on children than ever before. And it's a global trend. Professor Tina Miller, who has studied how parenting styles have changed over several decades, considers what ...

15 Jun 202028min

The Smack of Firm Leadership

The Smack of Firm Leadership

What does the way in which rival political systems around the world have managed the Covid-19 pandemic tell us about the global political future?Writer and broadcaster, John Kampfner, considers what h...

8 Jun 202028min

The Return of Reality?

The Return of Reality?

Before Covid-19 hit, the latest research showed we were more polarised than ever. We broadly agree on the issues - it's the emotions where things get tricky. If someone is part of the other tribe then...

1 Jun 202027min

Identity Wars: lessons from the Dreyfus Affair and Brexit Britain

Identity Wars: lessons from the Dreyfus Affair and Brexit Britain

The episode "tore society apart, divided families, and split the country into two enemy camps, which then attacked each other …”   A description by some future historian looking back at Britain after ...

25 Mai 202028min

Command and Control?

Command and Control?

When Sajid Javid resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer in February rather than accept Boris Johnson's reported demand that he dismiss his own team of special advisers and accept a new one drawn up i...

28 Mar 202028min

The Roots of 'Woke' Culture

The Roots of 'Woke' Culture

Barack Obama condemned it. Black American activists championed it. Meghan Markle brought it to the Royal Family. “Wokeness” has become a shorthand for one side of the culture wars, popularising concep...

23 Mar 202028min

Unequal England

Unequal England

Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies explores what the world of work can tells us about inequality and why some towns and cities feel left behind. He finds England is one of the most regio...

9 Mar 202028min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
i-retten
forklart
popradet
fotballpodden-2
rss-gukild-johaug
dine-penger-pengeradet
stopp-verden
nokon-ma-ga
det-store-bildet
bt-dokumentar-2
hanna-de-heldige
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
chit-chat-med-helle
frokostshowet-pa-p5
aftenbla-bla
e24-podden
rss-dannet-uten-piano