Tax rises! Cuts to everything! Here comes the pain! Seldom has a Budget been heralded with such dire warnings… if you believe the Toryform Press. But according to Giles Wilkes – Institute for Government fellow and former adviser to Vince Cable and Theresa May – Britain isn’t in such a disastrous state after all. In a weirdly optimistic conversation he joins Andrew Harrison and Jonn Elledge to look at the real story of Britain’s finances; why Brexit is an even bigger drag anchor than the Treasury will admit; and why the embattled Chancellor needs to stick to her course.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Jonn has been watching The Celebrity Traitors, yes that again, do our panel ever watch anything else?

• Giles recommends Wellington: The Iron Duke by Richard Holmes.

• Andrew recommends the old school BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Alec Guinness.

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Presented by Andrew Harrison with Jonn Elledge Audio and Video Production by Chris Jones. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Levelling up goes down the drain as its champion Gove vanishes. Whatever happened to the Tory pledge to the re-grout the Red Wall? Plus, as sewage on the beaches turns us into the dirty man of Europe, is the case for nationalising utilities now unanswerable? This week’s guest is Anand Menon, director of The UK in a Changing Europe think tank.

• “If the Tories have a plan, they are not sharing it with us yet… and that is causing a lot of anger.” – Ros Taylor

• “There's not much space for levelling up when you're in full crisis mode." – Ros Taylor

• "Did Tory MPs vote for shit to be pumped into rivers? No. Did they stop it? No." – Alex Andreou

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Alex Andreou and Ros Taylor. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Alex Rees, Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

Brexit roasting on an open fire! Rees-Mogg nipping at your toes! Yes, it’s a miserable old Christmas for Remainers, but whatever. We need to gird our loins for a big year in 2020, so for Christmas Eve we present inspirational messages from a few of our regulars: Ros Taylor, Ian Dunt, Dorian Lynskey, Ingrid Oliver, Alex Andreou and Andrew Harrison. (Naomi Smith wasn’t feeling up to it, so she sent a very special guest). Listen on the way to wherever you’re spending Christmas, at 3pm on Christmas Day, or maybe on Christmas morning like Jeremy Corbyn does.

Also our panelists choose few tunes to cheer you up over the Christmas period. You can hear them in full on our Spotify playlist.

Thanks again to everyone for listening and supporting us throughout the year. We’ll be back in the second week of January to continue the rearguard action. Team Remainiacs wishes you all a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Produced by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production.