Craft Politics

Graham is POLITICO's senior trade reporter in London, and he covers Britain's trade relationships with Europe, the United States, and Canada. Last month he co-wrote the piece arguing that Carney's middle powers alliance arrived before the middle powers were ready. Days later, Europe sent an invitation.

What we got into:

Warm words and trade flows. Graham on why Strasbourg was a political signal, and why none of this shows up in anyone's quarterly results before 2028.

The Homer-in-the-hedge strategy. Graham's read on how the Burnham government handles Trump: keep the Starmer deal, blame Starmer for its flaws, and hope the president forgets Britain exists. Plus the New York readout, in which the prime minister raised an unnamed company's trade problem.

"Fresh air and clean water." Seventy percent of Britons, including half of Reform voters, want closer ties with the EU. Andrew explains why that number means nothing, and which question would.

Why Labour reopened Brexit. Burnham told conference the next manifesto will debate a customs union, or rejoining. His own business secretary told POLITICO the conversation isn't helpful. Graham sides with the business secretary.

The last one percent. CPTPP now covers 99 percent of Canada–UK trade. The missing one percent comes down to two companies, Canada Goose and Jaguar Land Rover, and a rules-of-origin fight neither side can finish.

Chlorinated chicken, Canadian edition. The issue that sank a UK–US deal under Boris Johnson is the same one blocking Canada, minus the shouting. Andrew's inbox from the CETA years.

Also discussed: Carney's convening power, Canada's new seat at the table on Britain's next fighter jet, why nobody marches for white-collar jobs, and a G20 trade ministers' meeting where the real conversation is Chinese steel.

Graham's closer: Carney and Trump both said this week they think a deal is possible. That's warmer than anything we've heard in a month. Whether it's more than words, the next 90 days will tell.

Find Graham's reporting at POLITICO Europe and on X @g_lanktree.

Sean is editor-at-large at The Hub, was Stephen Harper's senior economic adviser, and is one of the more prolific policy writers in the country. He also spent the last month arguing a position most of Canada had decided was closed.

What we got into:

The deal in the parallel universe. Sean's read of what was on the table on August 21: tariff-free access for 85 to 90 percent of Canadian exports, at a real cost to autos, steel, and aluminum. His question is what the people who called it unsignable would have said if Carney had signed it.

The madness of crowds. A 60 percent consensus is healthy. A 99 percent consensus is something else. Sean's best line: "I don't tend to make good judgments when I'm mad. I think that scales to governments and countries."

What might get Carney back to the table. The investment summit, and the investors who won't commit until the U.S. file is settled. Sean's theory of the catalyst.

Andrew's Brexit rant, briefly. Associate membership doesn't exist and won't, ten EU states still haven't ratified CETA, and Erasmus alone costs Britain a billion dollars a year. Here endeth the rant.

Managed multipolarity. Sean's provocation: Carney may not just be responding to a less reliable America. He may welcome it. The New York Times interview and the reserve-currency line are the evidence.

Winning the ideas, losing the elections. Tax cuts, airport privatization, labour reform, all from a Liberal government. Sean on why the Reform Party, which never formed government, might be the most successful party of the last 50 years.

Also discussed: Sean's drinking game for anyone who can't name the new B.C. Conservative leader (Lorne Doerkson, for the record), Andrew's theory of political breakups, Carney's approval numbers as "Saddam Hussein territory," what "no direct payments" to the EU covers, and the minivan-driving normie in Surrey who has a nine-to-five and better things to do than politics.

Sean's closer: the measure of a conservative is a commitment to ideas, not a temperament. Reagan said he was a conservative but wasn't in a bad mood about it. Somewhere along the way that got flipped.

Find Sean at The Hub and on X @Sean_Speer.

Two crypto billionaires gave Reform UK £72 million in 36 hours, more than every British party combined raised in all of 2025. All of it legal, for now.

This week on Craft Politics: Sam Coates, Deputy Political Editor of Sky News and co-host of Politics at Sam and Anne's, joins Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy to answer what £72 million actually buys in British politics, and whether Labour can make Reform hand it back.

We discuss:

The handback question — why a backdated £100,000 cap is easier to announce than to enforce, and the "reverse revenge legislating" Sam expects if Reform ever wins

From eight MPs to 326 — Sam's "moonshot" arithmetic, and the tactical anti-Reform voting he's seen in Makerfield, Caerphilly, and Aberdeen South

"Better eyelashes on the same body" — the Burnham bounce, a bloodless coup, and why Sam won't give a verdict until after the 28 October Budget

Why Canada capped donations 20 years ago and Britain never has — Sam's one-line answer, and Andrew on what candidates always suspected the money was really for

Find Sam on Politics at Sam and Anne's: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/politics-at-sam-and-annes/id1709628885

Reform UK is having the best year of its life. Official opposition in Wales. Seventeen seats in Scotland. Over 1,400 councillors. And yet Middle England still hasn't climbed aboard.
This week on Craft Politics: Darren Grimes, Reform UK councillor, deputy leader of Durham County Council, and one of GB News's most recognisable voices, joins Joseph Lavoie and Andrew Percy to answer what Reform actually is, where its next million voters come from, and whether it can govern or just campaign.
We discuss:
The ceiling problem. Reform won more council seats on a smaller vote share than the year before. Is this a party filling the void left by Labour and Conservative collapse, or something structurally stronger?
Where the next million comes from. Darren's two-pronged attack: prove economic credibility to the Sussexes and cultural compatibility to the Red Wall. And why Essex, not just Durham, is now in play.
Not Thatcher's party. Why Reform would nationalise British Steel, why it's past the ideological purity of the 1980s, and how Darren's Labour-voting grandad changed his mind about Maggie.
The Burnham threat. Andy Burnham is coming for the same voter Reform wants. Darren's response: nobody in County Durham knows who he is, and Manchesterism isn't going to solve the North's problems.
The migration radicalisation. A majority of British voters now support detention of illegal migrants. Darren's warning: if Reform doesn't get this right, people will conclude the ballot box is broken and go to the horseshoe of doom.
Government in waiting. What Reform's first 100 days would look like, from scrapping green levies to lifting the cap on medical school places, and why Whitehall needs grabbing by the balls.
Also discussed: HMO Britain, why the BBC immigration argument was always wrong, the billionaire who just left taking £330 million in tax with him, and whether Darren has parliamentary ambitions. Spoiler: the call might come.
Find Darren on GB News and follow him on X.
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Craft Politics is a cross-border political podcast where Canadian and British experts come on to answer one sharp political question per episode. Co-hosted by Joseph Lavoie (former senior advisor in a Canadian Prime Minister's Office) and Andrew Percy (former UK Conservative MP).
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/craft-politics/id1790715962
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Zaw8zZHe7qiFYIby7lKRB
Web: https://www.craftpolitics.fm
Joseph Lavoie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephlavoie/
Andrew Percy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-percy-b996b431a/
Guest inquiries: joseph.lavoie@crestviewstrategy.com
#CraftPolitics #UKPolitics #ReformUK #CanadianPolitics #Anglosphere

Ten days ago Ginny Roth posted a thread arguing that Canadians need to stop being shocked by Donald Trump and start making hard choices from a weak hand. Jason Kenney replied, accusing her of "craven cynicism masquerading as hard-headed realism." And now the Canadian right is having it out, complete with name-calling (Maple MAGA? Really?)
So we brought Ginny on to make the argument herself.
Ginny is a partner at Crestview Strategy, was director of communications for Pierre Poilievre's 2022 leadership campaign, and writes for The Hub and the National Post.
What we got into:
The magic politics button. There's a button every incumbent in the country can press right now — attack Trump, elbows up — and it converts straight into public support. Her worry is what that does to the decisions they're supposed to be making.
We were closer to a deal than you think. And when it fell apart, you could see which pundits were quietly relieved.
What she's actually afraid of. Ten years from now, the politics of this moment will have passed and we'll want open markets back. Ginny isn't sure the public support will still be there. NAFTA was hard fought the first time.
The age split running through this. If you're established and 55-plus, this trade war costs you very little. If you're 40 and can't buy a house, you pay for it twice. Ginny says it maps almost exactly onto the conservative infighting.
Draw a hard line on the right. The takeaway that surprised me most — the answer for Poilievre and Badenoch isn't running to the middle. It's being clear about what they won't talk about, and admitting nobody on the right plays the role Buckley played anymore.
Andrew on the mushy middle. His phrase, and he means a coalition where nobody gets everything — with lines on the right you don't cross, same as the ones on the left.
Also discussed: whether Canadians are being sold a pup on replacing the American market, what Kenney took from COVID, why Ginny doubts half the MAGA accounts in her mentions are real people, Andrew's proposed impurity test, and the ostriches — who did nothing wrong except get bird flu.
Find Ginny at The Hub and the National Post, and on X @GinnyRothTO.