The Spectator podcast: Brexit – the first 100 days | 11 June 2016

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The EU referendum on June 23rd looks set to be one of the most important political moments in a generation. But if Britain does vote out, what would the next 100 days actually be like? The Prime Minister has predicted disastrous consequences, saying Brexit would plant a bomb under the economy. And we’ve been warned that house prices will crash and everything from air fares to ice cream will cost more. So, would Cameron step down straight away and watch the pound tumble? James Forsyth says in his Spectator column that a vote to leave would be a defining event in recent British political history. On the podcast, he speaks to Isabel Hardman and is also joined by Christopher Meyer, the former British ambassador to the United States, who says:

‘It could be that there’s panic everywhere and everyone is like a rabbit in the headlights. I would hope that inside the Foreign Office, they already have a plan for the first 100 days after Brexit. The Foreign Office that I used to know and love would have already embarked on this, or have it ready, so that if the people decide to do Brexit they have something they could put up. I think the Prime Minister – if he’s still Prime Minister – need to get up very soon after June 23rd and make a great speech and lay out these principles very strongly to show we haven’t lost our ‘blue waters’ vocation’.

After Hillary Clinton crossed the line in the race to become the Democrat nominee this week, is her rise to the top really a victory for women? She may be the first female nominee for a major political party in US history. But Emily Hill isn’t convinced by Hillary’s feminist credentials. In her Spectator piece, she argues that Clinton’s victory is one for putting up with your dodgy husband rather than a triumph for womanhood. On the podcast, Freddy Gray and Kate Andrews from the Republican Party Overseas discuss. Kate tells Isabel Hardman:

‘The idea that women should be told they are bad women or bad feminists because they are not supporting the first female nominee is absolutely ridiculous. Hillary Clinton does not represent for me, or for Emily, or for a lot of women, what we would like to see in the first female President. Somebody who has stuck to a few policy issues would be great. Someone who isn’t under investigation for corruption, would be great. If women are going to hold the Oval Office, I’d like it to be someone I can relate to and be proud of.’

With the Euro football championships now upon us, is it uncool to admit to being an England fan? That’s the experience of Toby Young, who in his Spectator column this week says ‘real’ football supporters are often sniffy about the international game. But despite all the ups and downs of following the Three Lions, Toby says he couldn’t be more excited about cheering on England tonight. On the podcast he says:

‘If you measure being a football fan on a utilitarian calculus, it’s probably going to make you more miserable than happy. All I can say is, because of that general climate of misery, when your team does succeed, the intensity of the happiness that you feel almost compensates for that lifetime of misery and pain. In my head, I say England are bound to disappoint. But in my heart, I think, my God, we’ve got a fantastic team. So however much you try and prepare yourself by temping down your expectations, inevitably, on the eve of a tournament like this – at least for England fans like me – you get carried away.’

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