The Process Was Followed (with Tim Shipman)

About this episode

Tim Shipman discusses the language and causes of political crises with Armando Iannucci.

Tim Shipman steps out of a busy week in Westminster to talk Armando through the language of political crises. Whether "time will tell", or "the matter has been dealt with", we decode what these phrases you will hear from politicians this week really mean. Looking at recent examples, from Brexit to Partygate and beyond, what causes these crises, and how does the communication - and indeed the messenger - make it better or worse? Armando imagines an inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic, Tim clears things up by making things more complicated, and we also hear his sweary sliding scale of scandal, which will make you yearn for a good old-fashioned omnishambles. We also look at the local elections, and why every party turns these multi-faceted choices into a 'referendum' on a particular subject. Got a strong message for Armando? Email us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk Sound editing: Chris Maclean Production Coordinator: Asha Osborne-Grinter Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Recorded at the Sound Company Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios production for Radio 4.

People in this episode

Host: Armando Iannucci

Guest: Tim Shipman

Topics covered

• political crises
• communication
• scandals
• local elections
• political language
• Brexit
• Partygate

Keywords

• political crises
• scandals
• communication
• Brexit
• Partygate
• local elections
• political language

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio 4

Books & works: Titanic

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