Eating across the divide: “I said Trump is a bit of an authoritarian and should not make a state visit to the UK” | Life and style
Joe, 33, Brighton
works JB
Voting record Work in every general election; He wanted to vote LDP in 2010 but was two months too young
I like Bush He and his partner used their parental leave to take their two children, aged three and seven months, on a road trip from Melbourne to Adelaide, in a van
Stewart, 39, London
works Teacher of history and politics
Voting record Always Labor, and in 2029 he will likely feel obliged, after winning the top job, to vote Labor again, but he will do so reluctantly.
I like Bush He runs a sound system with some friends, they play house music and disco, and they’ve just started a night out at a club in Brixton, south London
For starters
atmosphere He seemed friendly – he smiled right from the start.
Stuart He was welcoming and open, and I found him really interesting.
atmosphere We got some bao buns and edamame. And then we had noodles. I ordered pork and chickpeas, and he had very spicy beef.
Stuart I went a little more, because I don’t go out much.
Big beef
atmosphere Stewart thought we shouldn’t kowtow to Donald Trump — we don’t agree with him, and we should take a more principled position, not cajole him with state visits and pomp and pageantry and things like that. It is noteworthy that Trump changed his position on Ukraine immediately after the official visit. Whether that’s coincidence or causation, I don’t know. He is the democratically elected leader of America, so we have to accept that and internalize that. Stewart thinks we’re appeasing Trump. But there are clearly some strong anti-European voices around him in America, and leaders like Macron and Starmer could change his position.
Stuart He felt the Labor government and Keir Starmer played that well. My point is that Trump is a bit of a tyrant and authoritarian. We voted for a Labor government, we pay our taxes, we support our government – and we want to feel represented by our government. I did not feel that honoring Trump with a state visit greatly represented the views of most Labor voters.
atmosphere I think Starmer handled it very well. Trump is a sucker for flattery, so if we have something like a king to flatter, just use whatever we have to make our lives better.
Stuart I liked his point about bringing up the Trump royal family and making King Charles work in geopolitics, but in this day and age, where we learn that we are all fundamentally equal, I don’t believe in having a head of state based on bloodlines. So the whole thing seems wrong – an authoritarian being cajoled by an illegitimate head of state.
Share board
atmosphere We talked about increasing public sector wages. Given the current economic situation, Stewart said he thought the salary offer they received wasn’t bad — and he probably would have preferred to have more money in the schools’ budget than the wages directed at him. I agreed to that. In the health sector, sometimes it’s not just about the money: money in the sector can make your job easier.
Stuart He did not support the resident doctors’ strike. They had just gotten a 22% pay raise, which he said was a bad read on the mood. I usually support any union action for public sector workers, but I was more or less in agreement with him. More broadly, I believe that anyone working in the public sector should be able to afford the necessities of life; More than that, they must be able to live a good life.
For what comes next
atmosphere Stewart believed that Andy Burnham had a positive left-wing agenda. I thought Burnham was very open about his ambitions. It is not helpful for Labor to start stirring things up just before the conference.
Stuart His point was that we needed to give Keir Starmer some time, and my point was: I don’t even know if it’s third-way socialism, or more of the same as what the Tories were giving us. Burnham criticizes the idea that the government is overburdened by bond markets. Rachel Reeves’ fiscal policy defines slow change.
Ready meals
atmosphere We both ordered a cocktail at the end. It was called a new beginning. He said that’s what we can get with Andy Burnham.
Stuart It was a really positive experience. Maybe I’ll talk to him again.
Additional reporting: Katie Drake
Joe and Stuart ate in Liu Xiaomian Carnaby In London W1
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