Jun 26, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min · 13 segments
Lots to cover in this week's Big Debate episode from record breaking heat to political upheaval, the publication of the Farming Roadmap and government response to Minette Batters' Farm Profitability…
Ally Hunter BlairHost
Sophie GregoryHost
Nicola AppletonGuestUm, as Harold Wilson, the ex-labor, uh, Prime Minister once said, "A week in politics is a long time." And by God, isn't that true this week, Soph?

Um, Keir Starmer has announced he will step down as Prime Minister after growing pressure from Labour, weak polling and poor local election results.

He's expected to stay in place briefly while Labour sorts out the leadership handover, which is expected to start in July.

Um, Ali, what, what are your gut feelings on this? I just, I love that quote as we came in.
But also it just means massive change across the entire, uh, political scene, doesn't it? Like, obviously the, the, the Prime Minister going is the top of the tree, but there was already changes happening.
And again, that will all change, again, if Andy Burnham does become Prime Minister.
And I, I mean, I tell you what, I'm no, I'm no Labour supporter particularly, but what a rise that will be from being thrown out effectively to then coming back as an MP and now currently being the only person that says they'll challenge for the leadership.
I mean, that is some rise, uh, for somebody that said, um, yeah, that, that somebody that, uh, was, was not an MP only two weeks ago.
Now, what does that mean? I guess it means that we're gonna have another change.
I think farmers probably, we could probably get a bit overexcited about that, but we've got to remember that all of the Treasury stuff is done by civil servants, and the person at the, with their name at the top of the list is, is very much, uh, just that person.
So yeah, it's, it's huge, isn't it? We, we always look for long-term stability on farm, and we haven't, we haven't had that.
Like, we, we haven't had a Prime Minister finish their term for years now.
We're, we're changing so quickly, um, and we're always looking for this long-term, multi-generational business living that we have, and we struggle to do that because everything changes so fast.
Um, as Harold Wilson, the ex-labor, uh, Prime Minister once said, "A week in politics is a long time." And by God, isn't that true this week, Soph?

Um, Keir Starmer has announced he will step down as Prime Minister after growing pressure from Labour, weak polling and poor local election results.

He's expected to stay in place briefly while Labour sorts out the leadership handover, which is expected to start in July.

Um, Ali, what, what are your gut feelings on this? I just, I love that quote as we came in.
But also it just means massive change across the entire, uh, political scene, doesn't it? Like, obviously the, the, the Prime Minister going is the top of the tree, but there was already changes happening.
And again, that will all change, again, if Andy Burnham does become Prime Minister.
And I, I mean, I tell you what, I'm no, I'm no Labour supporter particularly, but what a rise that will be from being thrown out effectively to then coming back as an MP and now currently being the only person that says they'll challenge for the leadership.
I mean, that is some rise, uh, for somebody that said, um, yeah, that, that somebody that, uh, was, was not an MP only two weeks ago.
Now, what does that mean? I guess it means that we're gonna have another change.
I think farmers probably, we could probably get a bit overexcited about that, but we've got to remember that all of the Treasury stuff is done by civil servants, and the person at the, with their name at the top of the list is, is very much, uh, just that person.
So yeah, it's, it's huge, isn't it? We, we always look for long-term stability on farm, and we haven't, we haven't had that.
Like, we, we haven't had a Prime Minister finish their term for years now.
We're, we're changing so quickly, um, and we're always looking for this long-term, multi-generational business living that we have, and we struggle to do that because everything changes so fast.
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