On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Guy Standing, the former economic adviser to Labour’s John McDonnell. He discusses the spring budget by new Conservative Chancellor Rishi Sunak, why he disagrees with there being a budget at all during the coronavirus outbreak, his worries about Dominic Cummings’ level of control over Boris Johnson and the new chancellor, whether the UK’s NHS and other public services can withstand pressure from the coronavirus, the need for a universal basic income, and more.
Next, we speak to Prof. James Robinson of the University of Chicago about subjects including the global response to the coronavirus, why he believes China’s statistics can’t be trusted, whether anything can be learned from China’s response to the pandemic, and the impact of poor public health policies on the ability to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Finally, we speak to former Minister of State at the Home Office Norman Baker on this week’s top stories, including Trump enlisting big pharma to stem the coronavirus crisis, Prince Andrew hiring Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s lawyer as the FBI pursues pedophilia allegations, Israeli snipers opening up about shooting Palestinian protesters, and the SAS in Syria.
