You are not currently logged in. Please create an account or log in to view the full course.
Introduction: What are the key current challenges in UK politics?
- About
- Transcript
- Cite
Interview with Vince Cable
This course takes the form of a series of questions put to Sir Vince Cable, a senior politician and former leader of the Liberal Democrats who served as Business Secretary throughout 2010-15. In the first module, Vince Cable introduces himself and offers a brief overview of his political career before answering the question: “What are the key current challenges in UK politics?”. Then, in the second module, we ask: “How can minor or smaller parties impact the political agenda?”. In the third module we think more about the concept of a multi-party system in the UK with the question: “Will we see more coalition governments?”. In the fourth module, we ask “Should we reform the UK electoral system?”, before in the fifth module turning to the question: “How important is the personality of a Prime Minister in UK politics?”. In the sixth module, Vince Cable answers the question “How much power and/or agency do Cabinet ministers have?”, drawing on his own experiences in Cabinet. In the seventh module, we think about the relationship between politicians and the media, before in the eighth module asking: “What are some of the factors affecting how MPs vote?”. In the ninth module, we think about whether private and commercial interests pose a threat to UK democracy, before in the tenth module turning to the issue of whether political parties should be state-funded. In the eleventh module, we ask: “What are the key challenges currently facing UK business?”. Then, in the twelfth module, we touch on the controversial and current topic of House of Lords reform, before finally in the thirteenth module exploring the subject of devolution in the UK.
Introduction: What are the key current challenges in UK politics?
In this module Sir Vince Cable answers the question: “What are the key current challenges in UK politics?”, focusing in particular on: (i) his career in politics, including his role in Cabinet during the coalition government of 2010-15; (ii) his role as party leader of the Liberal Democrats; (iii) his analysis of current economic affairs; (iv) his analysis of the key challenges facing UK politicians, including climate change.
I'm Vince Cable.
00:00:05I recently retired from being MP for Twickenham, which I've been for 20 years,
00:00:07and within that time I've served in the
00:00:13coalition cabinet in a senior role as secretary of
00:00:15state for business innovation skills and then subsequently
00:00:18I was party leader of the Liberal Democrats.
00:00:22I've been involved in political activity for pretty much half a century. I
00:00:25first stood for Parliament in Glasgow where I was a city councillor
00:00:31and actually I got into parliament 30 years after I first stood at the fifth attempt.
00:00:36So my personal political history is that of a long march.
00:00:42I also migrated from being a labour
00:00:47councillor initially through the Social Democratic Party,
00:00:50which then merged with the Liberals to form the Lib Dem.
00:00:54So I've
00:00:58move moved Party is not too many politicians have done that.
00:00:59My main interest in politics have actually been around economic affairs.
00:01:03I think probably the big challenge this country over the next few years
00:01:09is going to be sorting out the horrendous problems which have originated from
00:01:13the financial crisis and then covid and then the energy shock and Brexit,
00:01:19which has done tremendous harm and any future government is going to have to
00:01:24deal with the accumulation of public debt,
00:01:29put the economy on a better footing and then help us to think long term
00:01:32and particularly revive British industry with a kind
00:01:38of long term plan and industrial strategy.
00:01:41Thinking beyond day to day politics, which is all too dominant,
00:01:44and I think by other major area of interest is environmental.
00:01:50I mean, we are going to have to think about
00:01:54much more than we do about the next
00:01:57generation about trying to meet climate change objectives.
00:01:59I now sit on the board of companies that are
00:02:03trying to promote hydrogen and other forms of renewable energy.
00:02:06Government is going to have to treat that as a central issue, not just a nice
00:02:10add on.
00:02:16
Cite this Lecture
APA style
Cable, V. (2023, March 02). Interview with Vince Cable - Introduction: What are the key current challenges in UK politics? [Video]. MASSOLIT. https://massolit.io/courses/interview-with-vince-cable
MLA style
Cable, V. "Interview with Vince Cable – Introduction: What are the key current challenges in UK politics?." MASSOLIT, uploaded by MASSOLIT, 02 Mar 2023, https://massolit.io/courses/interview-with-vince-cable