In this solo episode recorded from the King Charles III Space Station, Tom and Calum eat humble pie after their confident predictions about the Chagos Islands deal being shelved proved spectacularly wrong. Within days of the last Britannia dispatch, Keir Starmer confirmed the handover to Mauritius would proceed, decisively answering the question "Is Keir Starmer an Anglofuturist?" with a resounding no.
This giveaway fits into a broader pattern of Britain's political elite prioritizing abstract internationalist ideals over their inheritance from previous generations. Tom and Calum draw parallels between the Chagos surrender and the potential handover of the Elgin Marbles, arguing that Britain's custodians are conducting a "national fire sale" that makes the country look weak to international observers.
The episode explores:
Whether Britain's political class has lost the Burkean sense of obligation to past and future
How the country has become "brittle" with single points of failure in central government
The need for local organization and civic engagement when the state fails
Why planning reform is essential but constantly undermined by the "vegetable lobby"
The demographic realities that make military mobilization increasingly difficult
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