Chopper's Political Podcast episode 102 - Jonathan Ashworth - WATCH IN FULL

Coming up on Chopper's Political Podcast

Where's the hope gone? Where is the... How did all this fall away

the change that you campaigned? Well, hope's that. Hope is here. Hope's in the room

Yeah, hope's in the room. Welcome back to Chopper's Political Podcast

where I bring you the best guest gossip, news and stories from our studios here at GB News in the heart of Westminster

My name is Christopher Hope and I am GB News' political editor. By the time you watch or listen to this podcast

the polls will have closed in England, Scotland and Wales. The results will be painting a new political reality for our political parties

But a bit more later on that. Before I get into that, I want to talk to an old friend of GB News

and a friend of mine too in politics. He's called Jonathan Ashworth

a shadow front bench for a long period in Labour who lost his seat at the last election

and has been having quite a tough time recently. Jonathan Nash, welcome to Chopper's political podcast

Hello. Great to have you on. You've grown a beard, as I last saw you, that indicates a period of reflection

of thinking about things. I mean, how are you? How have you been

Well, I'll have to disappoint the listeners. I don't have any gossip

because I've not been keeping my hair to the ground as much as I'd usually do

Because I've not been around so much. And the reason I've not been around so much is because on New Year's Day

completely out of the blue, I was hit with a bolt of lightning. I suffered a stroke on New Year's Day

And I presume we'll talk a little bit about that. That's quite a surprise because you're a youngish man of 47

Yeah. What you expect to happen at our age, is it really? No, I'm 47

I've never smoked. I've run marathons and half marathons I do a lot of that for a charity I support

A children and alcoholics charity And I had no idea if I was living with such

Dangerously high blood pressure That's what led to it Yeah, and throughout my time as Shadow Health Secretary

Particularly I was always telling You know, supporting campaigns Particularly for men in their 40s and 50s

To go and get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked and typically

it was very typical of a man even though I was telling others to do it

I was always too busy to go and get my own blood pressure you were five years

you were the Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary 2016-2021 you made all those speeches at the party conference

and you weren't practicing what you were preaching warning about hypertension and all the rest of it

and I just as I'm sure a lot of men think this

just assumed that I would be fine that I would be bulletproof

particularly because I lived a relative healthy lifestyle. I run a lot

I was hoping to run a double marathon this summer. I was going to start training for it

I was obviously going out the window now. I never smoked. There was a rather sort of awkward moment

or embarrassing moment when I was rushed into the hospital on New Year's Day having a stroke

when the consultant recognised me and said, Mr Ashworth, I hope you don't mind me asking you

have you been taking anything? And I was like, I've never taken anything like that in my life

I've never touched anything. Like drugs. Yeah, indeed. Of course, New Year's Day. You may have had a big New Year's Day

Yeah, I mean, I've never touched anything like that. So I've never taken anything I'm not supposed to take

I do drink wine with dinner. I mean, I'm not a Puritan, but..

So you're surprised. I don't... And it manifests itself just with pings and needles

You didn't have the kind of collapse of your face, which can happen with a stroke. So this is the thing

I woke up on New Year's Day with intense pins and needles down my left side

And I thought, this isn't right. This is not normal. You felt like you were stabbing pain all the way up

Yeah. But not painfully. Just numbness, pins and needles. And I thought, have I sort of slept in an awkward way

Something going on, isn't it? Anyway, it didn't resolve. And in the end, I thought I'd just ring 111, just be on the safe side

And they asked me some questions. and they said, sir, we think you're having a stroke. We're sending an ambulance for you

And I was surprised because I didn't have any facial clop. I hadn't lost my speech and language

I could lift my hands in the air, my arms in the air

So all these tests that they do, can you lift your arms in the air? Pluff your cheeks. Can you pluff your cheeks out

All of that I could do. But nonetheless, they sent an ambulance for me because I thought I was having a stroke

Paramedics turn up pretty quickly and God bless them and thank you to the paramedics

They took my blood pressure. it was 175 over 128. That's, and what's a normal one, just for those who aren't medical

Well, you should be around, you know, a man in his late 40s, around, you know, below 120 over 80

Yes. So, half as much again, okay. So that's exploding. I was blue-lighted all the way to the stroke unit in Leicester

and, yeah, I was having a stroke. and it hit me out

And I've obviously now been doing some research into this. Somebody will have a stroke every five minutes in this country

So for out, I don't know how long the podcast goes on for, but you know. Yeah

You know. Five or six during the recording of this podcast. Yeah, we'll have a stroke

Increasing numbers of working age adults, you know, people in their 40s and 50s

Is it skewed towards men or not? Are having strokes. Is it more men than women? Well, I mean, it's usually men, but increasing numbers of women are having strokes as well

And the way to think about this, there's an author called, a writer called Robert McCrum, who had a stroke in his early 40s

I think he's in his 60s now. And he writes in his book, he says the thing about the word stroke, it's such a sort of misleading term because, you know, you stroke someone's hair

you might stroke a pet it's a gentle thing it's a gentle thing you might stroke a your new baby i

mean it's such a it doesn't really capture how devastating a stroke can be and it's a bit like

he said it should be called a brain attack but i don't think that quite works or a collapse in part

of your body that's what it seems to me yeah probably body gives up yeah and it and it is

like a blocked artery in your brain and and i do think there has to be more awareness of stroke

so I'm not in front line politics at the moment but I'm going to do a lot of work now

raising awareness of stroke and the thing about stroke is it's left me

with stiffness in my left side and I've lost my left peripheral vision but one of the

few things I've been doing is to get my movement back and this hand I've been doing my children's

Lego to get movement back What have you built so far? Well, my two girls, and I must say thank you to my girls

have helped me so much. They're really into Wicked, that film Wicked, which was such a hit last year

So we've got a lot of Wicked-themed Lego. A lot of pink there

A lot of pink and greens and emerald colours, and I've been making the Wizards Emerald City and all of this

and making the castle where the palace where Elseber lives and all that

but that's got my movement back in my hands so that's one of the things I've been doing

and the piano I see from social media I've been learning the piano that was my New Year's resolution anyway

but learning the piano has really helped because you're using both hands and it really helps

getting them both sides of the brain working and your hands working

yeah exactly so that's been great I've got back into my running

I do a lot of running when I have this stroke I was limping

and dragging my left leg along I'm not doing that anymore and I think that's because i've forced myself to get back into running around 10k the other week i want i'm aiming to do a half

marathon later this year brilliant i'm thinking i might try and do the london marathon next year

yes um come on gb news and tell us about it i will do get you on and talk about it and and the

and the sort of fourth thing i've been doing is because i've been memorizing and quoting my

favorite bits of shakespeare because i was paranoid that i was going to lose my speech

language and my speech and language was never affected. That your main thing as a politician Well indeed indeed The space of arguments and moving an such a thing Exactly And actually the bit of the brain where the artery was blocked was a different bit of the brain

It's the bit of the brain which controls the nerves in my left arm and the nerves in my left eye

I lost my left side and it's not like it was. But, you know

that's where there was a bit of stiffness. It wasn't a show that impacted my speech

and language because it wasn't the bit, it wasn't actually that bit of the brain. But I was paranoid in the hospital

so I sat there quoting favorite Shakespeare and he must have thought it was a very eccentric character

this guy was lying in a hospital bed quoting Shakespeare to be or not to be

that is the question no fear the heat of the sun nor winter's furious rages

though thy worldly task is done hope art gone and taken all thy wages

all golden lads and girls all must as chimney sweepers come to dust

and things like that and a bit of Hamlet as well I did you know what a piece of work

is a man but I'm not going to go through it all now but I was so paranoid I was losing my, I might lose my speech and language

I was sat in my hospital bed reciting all this. I was seeing the bard

The bard saved you. Absolutely. Absolutely. Wow. So we're five months on, as you say there

You can't see something like your left side. Your left side is sore

You can grip with your hand. I saw you're gripping things okay. Yeah. I mean, because of the Lego

Lego. That's fine. When it first happened, my arm was like one of those fairground, you know

claws at the fairground where you sort of try and get a cuddly toy yes not just what my left arm was

like but we're doing lego and other things like bouncing because you're a young man i suppose and

that's why you've got a bit of age on your side yeah but you talk then about why do we ignore

these warnings we're in snipers alley you've said before yeah in your age yeah i mean yeah i mean

you know in our 40s in our 50s heart attacks strokes a lot of men prostate cancers these are

These are very dangerous ages for men. And I think there's something about the male psyche

where we sort of just assume that these serious illnesses will not hit us

And we still think we're all 21, and we're not. I'm such a hypocrite in as much as I've always supported and campaigned

and said, look, go and get your blood pressure checked, go and get your cholesterol checked

take up your health checks that you get in your 40s. I can show you on my phone all the text messages from my GP surgery

saying you had due your health check, come in. And I kept putting it off and saying

I'll sort it out next week, I'll sort it out next week. Presumably if I'd gone, those checks

You might be spotted that, well, the blood pressure would have been found. Exactly, and I'd have been put on blood pressure tablets

which I'm now on. I'm on daily blood pressure tablets of all of that

on a statin and clopidogrel and all these different tablets, which I'm sure lots of listeners may well be on as well

If I had followed my public advice, I may not have had this stroke on you, is it

Hello, I'm Bev Turner. Now, it can feel like the money in our bank accounts

at the moment does not keep up with the cost of living and maybe there's a solution

I'm here today with the CEO of Tally Money, Cameron Parry. Cameron, what is Tally Money

Well, Bev, with Tally Money, you get a current account and a debit card, but instead of pounds, you use milligrams of gold as your everyday money

So why gold? Gold traditionally is a great store of value. It has, on average, gone up at over 11% per annum

for the last 25 years against the pound. It's tripled in value in the last decade

and in the last two years alone, it's increased by 50% against the pound

Banks' savings products just can't compete with that level of growth. But this isn't just about gold

This is about a currency that you guys have created at Tally Money

Explain it to me as though I'm an idiot. So, look, people need to be able to hold their earnings

and build their savings in a money that retains its value and remains in their legal control and remains theirs to access

away from government control. Great. You had me at not exposed to government control

You should feel safe and happy with your money. You should have peace of mind. The more money you see in your bank balance

And that's the type of thing we're trying to deliver and give people choice in the type of money they get to use every day

Brilliant. Thank you so much, Cameron. Thank you. How do you view Westminster Albans? It's given you a unique take on it, hasn't it

I mean, you lost your seat in 2024. I thought, sorry for you, because I thought you were the one out there making the case for Labour

you're in all the spin rooms with us we're having a big debate about labour policy weren't we

and you you kind of put your you know you've fought the national case for labour and then

you lost your seat what happened before with chris patterning and 92 for the tour yeah and

you do feel a bit it's quite tough on you i think but you you you lit you've learned to live with

that have you i mean and you you're going through a period of rebuilding your career i suppose

and then this happened i mean how do you view that your time have you looked at western now

Is it a different world or is that still part of it? Well, I lost my seat. It was a brutal, rough campaign in Leicester

A lot of people understandably are angry about the daily unfolding horrors in Gaza

I was angry as well. I mean, I wanted the Labour Party to come out in favour of a ceasefire much sooner than it did

I'm someone who's visited the occupied West Bank and has always felt very strongly about these matters

So I understand people's anger, but it was a brutal, rough campaign, a very personal campaign where I were targeted and branded as genocide, John, even though I was very opposed to what was happening and wanted to see a ceasefire

But that's politics. Politics is rough. Politics is brutal. And, you know, it's what we sign up for

I think losing in that general election it was tough I rather

some of you may think this is a very rather self-indulgent point and apologies

if it is but there's a famous interview that Jimmy Greaves once gave in the 80s

or something like that. Former England footballer those days young listeners. Spurs attacker former England striker

Spurs striker I bet Spurs wish he was playing for them these days

might do better they go and strike But it was actually seen as England's most celebrated striker at the time

Of course, Jimmy Greaves didn't get to play in the England World Cup final in 1966 Famously

And Jimmy Greaves did an interview It's still on YouTube in the 80s and the 90s

Where Jimmy Greaves said I always knew that England would win the World Cup in 1966 Why

because England were the best side in the world and we're playing at Wembley

And then he said, well, when the final whistle is blown, he says, I'm obviously pleased

that England have won the World Cup. But I felt like the loneliest man at Wembley

at that moment. And I thought, my God, I understand that because I always knew Labour would win

that general election. It was their time, I think. But it never occurred to me I wouldn't be part of it

No, and that's what seems so harsh on you, really. And I could understand that

I almost felt like the loneliest man in the Labour Party. Yes, I can imagine. On election night

And how are you now then? You're looking at Westminster and the busyness, the local elections and elections that's got on the Wales this week

I mean, you see it carrying on, don't you? But you're an informed observer, I suppose

Does it seem a bit crazy, a bit detached from the rest of the country half the time

Well, look, I mean, I know it is easy to say Westminster is detached, and I dare say a lot of your listeners and viewers will say that Westminster is detached

They're all out of touch. What do they know? I have never been one in politics to play to that particular gallery

I still, you may think this is a rather naive or sort of twee or maybe even sanctimonious view

still think that Westminster, you know, that Parliament is the cockpit of our country

deciding the big issues in the country Of course it gets things wrong Of course it does But in the end it where big decisions that affect people lives are still made And it important that those decisions are

informed by public opinion. It's also important that politicians come on your show, come on

the channel and explain the decisions they make and explain that they'll not always get it right yeah but most of the time in my experience politicians are taking decisions

for the for the in what they think are in the best interest of the country they might not get it right

but usually uh their instincts are in the right place it comes to the right place and that's where

i i i kind of know the kiss on the behind the scenes quite well now not as well as you did as

a colleague but i know him and he's a different person away from the camera and he is doing it

for the right reasons but he's not cutting through is he he's very tough for the labor government at

the moment very tough and and i wonder why it is there and i think that i think it's well first of

all it's tough for all incumbent governments the world over yeah but they weren't they were the

challenges they were the right they were the change makers originally when you were campaigning yeah yeah and i think people look people are people are i mean if you think about it

since the global financial crash in that was 2008 it's nearly 20 years ago

growth in this country has been anemic per person growth has been anemic if this country

of immigration really if the country had grown economically at the levels it usually grew up up

until that financial crash the size of the economy would be about 40 percent bigger the reason that

why that is significant is that if the economy was 40 percent bigger people's wages would have been

better and uh we'd have been able to invest more in our public services in our general infrastructure

and and it and i can i i i think one of the problems in british politics is nobody

is really really focusing on the fact that young people today you know it's a pipe dream to get on

the property ladder they come out of university or education with you know these massive debts

which acts as an albatross around them and the sort of well-paid jobs are not there

whether there's well-paid jobs in advanced manufacturing we're going to see AI come into the sorts of jobs

that we probably did when we went to university and demolish all of them and all them as well

so I think there are big questions that politicians need to be faced with

So where's the hope gone? How did all this fall away, the change that you campaigned

Well, Hope's sat here. Hope is here. Hope's in the room. Yeah, Hope is in the room

But, yeah, it's sad for Keir Starmer, isn't it? I mean, he never got started, really

and now he is where he is, contemplating a very difficult election week

Well, he's got to show how he can turn it around, and he's got to show how he's got to plan to deal with all these issues

and he's got to show how he's got to implement it. He's not going to go anywhere, is he? I don't

I'm very sceptical about all this leadership chatter and gossip that swirls around Westminster

Let's not be daft. People are chatting and gossiping, and it's definitely out there

Of course it is. It's not made up by journalists when sometimes people say

this is all you can't believe me. It never is made up by journalists, actually, in my opinion. But I'd be very surprised if it actually comes to anything

I have no doubt that there'll be lots of noises off. There'll be coded words from various..

It'll unveil the tax on people. Yeah, I am sure that politicians through the Cloak of Annamnity

when they're talking to you and they're talking to other distinguished colleagues

in what we call the lobby or the journalists there, will be saying all kinds of things off the record

that they would be reluctant to say and reticent to say on the record

but I'm not sure it'll ever come to anything because I don't think it ever does, really. Not in the Labour Party, anyway

No, there's a history of it not happening in the Labour Party, but I guess something's got to change

I mean, whether it's... Can the economy change quickly enough? Can you deal with the small-birth crisis

You know, how will you improve people's view of this? Well, I mean, one of the ironies

is that Shabana Mahmood, as Home Secretary, you know, some of the small boats crossings

she's making progress on, but nobody knows about it. Well, she's down 37% a year-on-year

some help by the weather, but even so. But she is making progress

That's a Labour Home Secretary making progress. And the Labour government don't seem to be shouting about it

No. Are getting its message across on that as well as they could

Today, when recording this, is the fifth anniversary of the Hartley Ford by-election

Is it? Blimey, my word. Almost made Sir Keirthama resign. It was the apogee

of Boris Johnson time as Prime Minister and the lowest point for Sir Keirthama as Labour leader

yeah he's not going to go is he i mean he's been there before with these moments in the electoral

cycles isn't he he's going to carry on he was very clear this week or whenever i was it this week or

maybe late last week i heard him doing an interview somewhere and he was very clear that he was given a mandate for five years that was sunday times i think he said that um they do say that don't they

pm so yeah i've heard torian pm say as well but they're disregarding the upset they see a personal

mandate in that vote yeah when they win power of course it's not a personal mandate it's a vote for

The power and energy system, yeah. But that was quite interesting. I thought he was saying

we've got a personal mandate for five years. That means he and his top team are focusing on 2029

which is three years away. And they will think that they will have a plan

to turn around their polling rates over the next three years and that there's a long way to go yet

We're not even at halftime. What's your advice to him then? Well, I think he's got to focus

or continue to focus, on the big issues that matter. which is improving matters in the issues in the economy

I mean, he's got to take some... It's of choices. It's of benefits, maybe

It's of choices. Well, I mean, I do think the way in which our benefit system work

does disincentivise people and traps people out of getting the skills and training they need to get into good, well-paid jobs

We've got over a million young people, neither in education, employment or training

I mean, if you're out of work for a significant amount of time in your younger years

you're highly at risk of a life on the margins. All the evidence shows that. You've got to look at that

what package is on offer. But you've also got to make sure there aren't good jobs out there

for people as well to move into. And you've got to give people opportunities. So I think that is something

they've got to look at. I think it has fallen down the political priority list

but the NHS is always one of the deciding factors at the general election

You will not fix the problems in the NHS unless you fix the wider problems in the social care system

Yes. And again, it's another issue which is at risk of being kicked into the long grass

It always was by the Tories. Yeah, because you've got to make some tough choices

because you've got to decide who's going to fund it. But it's got to be done. We can't keep ducking this

One in three children born today, you know, because of an ageing population

is likely to develop dementia in their lives. we are facing this huge increase

in dementia and Alzheimer's because people are living longer it's a good thing

that people are living longer but more and more people are going to need

social care support I would also if I was the Prime Minister

by the way get in all the big life sciences companies all the pharmaceutical companies

all the AI companies and say let's get together you're the most brilliant mind

why don't we I want you to put a load of research into finding drugs and therapies

to help us cure dementia He's got Louise Casey looking at this, isn't he

Social care. Baroness Casey is looking at this. She's doing a review, but I think, look, you know

you should get all the big brains in the science community to say, look, can we actually find drugs for to cure dementia

If you put the money into the research, you'll make progress. It's a hugely uncertain time, isn't it

this five-way politics we're in with the populist parties eating into the support on left and right

It's extraordinary, isn't it? I mean... And how you take that on as being the incumbent prime minister, as you say, is difficult

Yeah, well, we're in a five-party politics. Certainly in this set of local elections we see seven politics I suppose if you include the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales Yes of course yeah What does that mean for a general election

It's not obvious to me. The things are very uncertain. But I think that in some ways it's a symptom of the fact

that politics has not really delivered what people want delivering. And I think if you're running an economy in such a way

that people do not feel better off, it should be no surprise that people are turning to other options

So they need to look at how they make people. I mean, if I think back, I mean, my mum and dad, working class people

very, very working class people in perhaps unexpected jobs. My mum, I think you know this, my mum was a Playboy bunny girl

It's obvious. Where my dad was a croupier in the Playboy casino

So, you know, most Labour MPs like to talk about their upbringing about

you know, their mum and dad. Dad worked down pit or whatever. So it's not that upbringing

This is just a nightlife. But nonetheless, they're not by any means well off

They were working class jobs. But nonetheless, they were jobs where they felt, you know

they could run a home, raise a family. And where's that certainty gone now

That's not... That's what's missing. I know that that's not the case anymore

People can't do those things on, you know, because jobs do not pay enough

This is what the Labour government has got to look at. How do we run the economy so work pays

Yes. When will the election be? You say 2029, you think he'll go long, do you

Well, that's what I read into what you're saying. But look, I'm not..

Feels that way. Three more years to go. Three more years. But, you know, I'm not in the inner circle anymore

No. Sir Kiyosama is doing his best to root out anti-Semitism, isn't he, in society and the Labour Party, of course

I mean, can it work? I mean, he did deal with it. it seems, and when it was, it's apparently right

Well, people do need to speak out. People do need to speak out because I think

the appalling rise in anti-Semitism and these absolutely disgusting, horrific terror attacks

it's heartbreaking, and it's happening again and again. You know, when there were attacks at the synagogue

in Heaton Park, Manchester, not far away from where I grew up, actually, I know how devastating that is for the wider Jewish community

how upset and how scared people are. And to see it happening again and again

the government has got to do more to stand up, speak out on these issues

And urging all society to take part in that, universities and employers

Wherever you see it, you tackle it. The cops can't do it on their own, can they? Absolutely

I mean, it's got to be challenged continually and constantly. universally yeah

it's tolerated I mean what's your view of Zach Polanski's remarks his tweets

and the like I mean don't be careful I don't know these political leaders well

I mean Zach Polanski I think he's I mean those remarks he said about the police

I mean you've seen his poll ratings drop as a consequence of that

and you have seen there's more reported in the newspapers all the time

sort of green party council candidates. The Bournemouth have their version of that, by the way

It seems these parties, these started parties, have problems with vetting to a degree

You don't excuse it. I'm just saying it is. No, it doesn't excuse it. And look, I don't want to say I understand it

but these newer parties are probably having thousands of people join. Oh, no question

And they've probably not got the infrastructure, but it is incumbent upon party leaders to take a

it's morally incumbent upon party leaders to take a stance and root this out

And what's next for you then, just finally? I mean, you know, you look back at Westminster

the drinking culture that we all subscribe to, and you wonder why we're drinking so much, do you, in Westminster

Is that a problem? Well, look, I mean, I'm not, as I said earlier, I'm not one of those ones who, you know, froze peanuts at the gallery

uh uh uh it froze peanuts from the gallery I should say

I mean you know there's that green MP by the way that green MP that new

green MP who's very charismatic and very presentable it would not surprise me if she

ended up replacing Zach Belansky's because Zach Belansky has said some of these

things I mean this thing about being a hypnotist is a very peculiar story

yes it's a very peculiar story tricked into it by a Sun newspaper and then said it the following

following few days later to the BBC well I mean but it would not surprise me if

that new MP, because she is charismatic and presentable, ends up sort of replacing him at the next

election, in time for the next general election. It's possible. But I don't buy into this, all this

kind of, you know, all these MPs are drinking all the time. No. I mean, you know

it is a workplace, but it's also a place where people come in for events, receptions

and that's right, people should be able to come in for events and receptions. You know, I didn't get too worked up

when all those MPs were dancing to promote, strictly gum dancing, to promote dancing as a, you know

a good sort of exercise. I know that green MP who was complaining about the drinking

she was one of the ones dancing. She was. I mean, look, I mean, these things

Well, the thing, Elon, about that video, Twitter loves things out of context

because then they can make their own points about it. In context, when you know what it's about, which is about moving more healthily

and bringing your blood pressure down, it makes sense. but out of context

it infuriates everybody because there's a war on why are they dancing? Yeah well dancing

is a good exercise I'd encourage people to dance I mean to be honest if I'm the sort of MP

who would have probably joined in if I'd seen it and then everyone would be saying look at this

look at this Wally dancing away you know We see you dancing again

in Westminster What a segway! What's your plan? That's why you're a professional Chris

segways like that well well as as Tony Ben would always say, somebody who I'm sure

is quoted all the time on GB News and... Yeah. He was actually a race to..

You know, there's never any final defeats or final victories. You just have to keep on

You have to keep on keeping on. Keep buggering on, as Churchill would say

Who, of course, Winston Churchill well Winston Churchill had a stroke and carried on yeah

Winston Churchill also lost in Leicester actually he did he fought back

but he lost in he lost in he lost in Dundee in 22

that's when he was a Liberal which the Tories like don't like you're staying in Labour

and you go across to the Tories and then he fought again and he fought

a by-election in Leicester and lost and then he came back as a Tory in Epping I think yeah so yeah

So what's your answer then? You're quoting Fr. Tony Bennett me. You're not answering the question

That's why you're studying politics. You're thinking about it. Well, we'll see

I mean, it's three years away. I know, isn't it? We'll just say, isn't it? We will see

But look, if you're passionate about improving the country, the things that used to drive me were things around poverty, inequality

giving people a fair chance. Yeah, that all matters. You don't give up on these missions and these causes

but who knows well we'll see between now and then there's a race to be run good luck with the

London Marathon and the Harp Marathons if you get in you should get in but thank you for joining us

today on Chopper's Digital Podcast Jonathan Ashworth great seeing you we wish you all the best

thank you very much are you on Twitter what's your handle on Twitter oh my god

well no at John Ashworth but I just have people telling me what a plunker I am

all the time well actually probably using ruder words to be honest goes to the territory so

I tweet at Christopher1x let me know what you think of that email me chopper at gbnews.uk

If you enjoyed this podcast, please do tell your friends. If you really enjoyed it

leave a five-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. That helps other people to find it

Thank you to the great team of colleagues behind the podcast, Mick Booker, and of course, the podcast worker bees

Rebecca Noons and George McMillan. But most importantly of all, thank you again for watching

Stay tuned for more ysis all weekend on Gbnews about local election results

But from me for now, cheerio