Jon Sopel, co-host of The News Agents podcast, discusses his new book, Strangeland: How Britain Stopped Making Sense, in which he reflects on returning to the UK after eight years as the BBC’s North America editor. He examines the social and political changes that have transformed Britain since his departure, including the rise of antisemitism, conspiracy theories, and the impact of Brexit and Boris Johnson.
‘It took a while to adjust to being on the outside’ … Jon Sopel , co-host of The News Agents podcast, in London last week.‘It took a while to adjust to being on the outside’ … Jon Sopel , co-host of The News Agents podcast, in London last week.He was the BBC’s North America editor, living in Washington DC for eight years before returning to a shockingly changed UK.
Is it not rather a leap to suggest that could happen here? “It could have been very different – if Trump had been a little better organised, if there was more discipline, if three or four people hadn’t done the right thing. You realise that so much of our democracy relies on people behaving decently and properly.” In the UK, he adds, “Boris Johnson had no interest in behaving properly or decently. He was eventually muscled out, but there could have been people who wanted to indulge him more.
“It was,” says Sopel. “Obviously, when you’re in the middle of it and you’re being brought up there, it just seemed normal.” It had been set up in 1914 to turn new Jewish immigrants into, writes Sopel, “upstanding British citizens and patriots”. Perhaps it’s no wonder that six decades after he left the place, Sopel is still thinking about what it means to be British. “I think it’s a pride in the country. It’s about long, complicated history.
He worries about the rise of anger and intolerance, and the rise of the Reform party. “ are now in second place in 90 Labour seats … a lot of their grassroots support are even further to the right. You’ve got a Tory leadership contest where the party members are way to the right, much closer to Reform. So is the Tory party going to become a far-right, anti-immigrant party?”Sopel finished his book before the riots in the summer.
Jon Sopel The News Agents Strangeland Britain Politics Social Media Antisemitism Conspiracy Theories
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