On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Sam Mahdi Torabi, the Director of the Risalat Strategic Studies Institute. He discusses the current situation regarding coronavirus from Qom, US sanctions on Iran that have prevented Iran from getting access to vital medicines and equipment which has exacerbated the Covid-19 outbreak, the Iranian government’s request access its funds in foreign bank accounts to buy the equipment, Saudi Arabia’s continued bombing campaign against Yemen and more! Next, we speak to the Co-Founder and former General Secretary of the United Voices of the World Union Petros Elia. He discusses attempts to gag healthcare whistle-blowers who are exposing the shortage of PPE in the fight against the coronavirus, the shortage of PPE in the NHS, how frontline staff such as cleaners and porters, not just nurses and doctors, are at risk due to the shortages, how workers of color are disproportionately the most at risk in the NHS, his demand that the government pay all essential staff a £15 minimum wage, and the case of Percy, a cleaner at King’s College London, who was fired for not attending a disciplinary hearing due to the lack of social distancing measures. Finally, we speak to Keir Milburn, author of Generation Left. He discusses what has caused the generational political divide between the young and old, the importance of the 2008 financial crisis in shifting the politics of young people leftwards, why economic interests entrench the generational divide, the generational divide in the UK 2019 General Election, which saw Boris Johnson’s victory and Jeremy Corbyn’s defeat and more!
