Podcast Summary: The Peter McCormack Show #114 – Vince Cable – Reform v Lib Dems: The UK’s Political Future

Main Theme / Purpose
This episode features Vince Cable, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, discussing the prospects for UK politics in the face of fragmentation and upheaval. With Peter McCormack and his co-host, Cable reflects on the potential rise of Reform UK and the Lib Dems as major parties, public disillusionment, the failures and pressures of government, the changing nature of politicians, localism, and what honest leadership looks like in challenging times. Cable also talks about life after politics and the lessons he’s learned about policy, service, and the realities of coalition government.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A Possible Historical Turning Point for UK Politics

• Vince Cable opens by comparing the current political climate to the post-WWI period when the Liberal Party collapsed and was supplanted by Labour
  • “I think we're maybe at that kind of time turning point again. I think it's very plausible to imagine that Reform are one of the two parties that will emerge from all this. I would like to think the Lib Dems are the other.” (00:00, 03:39)
  • The current climate is one of potential upheaval, possibly foreshadowing a major realignment of UK political parties.

2. Roots of Public Disillusionment

• Cable outlines a succession of shocks:
  • Financial crisis (2008)
  • Brexit (“a big shock,” regardless of one’s politics)
  • The pandemic
  • The Ukraine war and its economic impacts
  • “It's like somebody in late middle age, hit by a succession of heart attacks. I think that's basically what's happened...the sort of country is sort of weary, disillusioned, doesn't quite know where to go and doesn't have any real sense of direction.” (04:40)
• Primary political failure: Over-promising and under-delivering.
  • “If politicians have failed, it's by making promises that they can't deliver. And I think that you can't criticize the public, but the public have believed them and perhaps shouldn't have.” (06:13)

3. Changing Nature of Politicians & Representation

• Increased diversity: More women and ethnic minorities.
• Rise of career politicians: Fewer with ‘real-world’ experience.
  • “What has happened, you've got more and more professional politicians who've been to university, done a few years working as a researcher...then get a seat in Parliament...after a few years, expect to be in the cabinet ...There aren't many people who have been out there working for a few decades.” (08:52)
• Contrast with Cable's own path: Entered Parliament at 54, after a wide-ranging career in public and private sectors.

4. Short-termism in Government vs. Long-termism in Business

• Private sector (Cable’s experience at Shell): Required long-term thinking, unlike politics.
  • “We make a big decision on investing in a big oil field, it's got implications 20 years ahead, whereas politics is about tomorrow, 24 hour news cycles, Very, very difficult to get people to think about the future...” (11:36)

5. Current Political & Social Fracture

• Younger people (Connor, 21) express a sense of ‘no future’ in the UK
  • “...It doesn't really feel like anyone's got…there’s not much future right now.” (15:41)
  • Cable challenges if expectations are too high, and points out the “basic problem” is weak economic growth — “We're in a mature, developed, you might say, relatively declining country. And it's not necessarily an awful thing.” (16:29)
• The “battle line” today: More vs. less government, but we’re “fighting over tiny little bits of territory.” (18:24–18:36)

6. Leadership, Honesty, and the Need for Realism

• Cable on ideal leadership:
  • “My idea of leadership...would be if party leader X came out and said, look, we have a whole lot of really difficult problems...I can't promise you anything except Churchill's blood, sweat and tears.” (20:30)
• Parties’ persistent over-promising: Both Labour and Conservative criticized for “ridiculous promises” they knew they couldn't keep.

7. Coalitions, Compromise, and the Experience of Government

• UK’s first-past-the-post system increases the disconnect between voter sentiment and parliamentary composition.
  • “You can imagine...Nigel Farage's Reform party get...20 to 23% of the public vote and get no seats...it's a crazy voting system...” (30:52)
• Advocates for proportional representation: “...you have plenty of space within the system to have four or five different options. And...to form governments you will have to get parties working together in coalition...better way of reflecting a public that is more fragmented...” (32:16)
• On coalition government:
  • “...probably one of the best governments of modern time...in terms of actually functioning, making decisions and following through and delivering them, we were very good at that.” (33:40)
  • The Free University Fees promise and its fallout — “We made a stupid promise which couldn't be delivered, should never have made the promise. But having made a promise...once in government, we had to do the right thing and we did do the right thing.” (35:43–37:17)

8. Political Motivation and the Career Path in Politics

• On whether to recommend politics:
  • “I do recommend it with the tongue in cheek...when you take everything into account, this is something you can do where you can genuinely make a difference and you can improve people's lives and make decisions that do actually change things fundamentally.” (40:13–41:09)
• Politics as public service:
  • “...have a sense somewhere of public...service rather than duty. The feeling you're not just doing this as a way of advancing your career or making money.” (41:17)

9. Reform and the Public Dislike of Politicians

• Discontent being weaponized by figures like Farage:
  • “...there is, as you say, a kind of simmering unhappiness, discontent, lack of direction, but there isn't any obvious solution.” (19:30)
• On Liz Truss and blaming others for failure:
  • “When you've had such a calamitous end, the thing to do is to step back a little and reflect and be self aware and acknowledge that you may have made mistakes...But her instincts...spend the last three years rushing around the world telling everybody that she was right...people are just laughing at her…” (44:19)

10. The Civil Service and Political Narratives

• Cable defends the civil service:
  • “The collective spirit of those people is actually working in a wider national interest...I just do not buy the idea that they're people in the treasury...are working against you.” (49:12, 50:55)
• Perception split: Left sees civil service as conservative; right as left-leaning.

11. Localism and Decentralization

• Problems with UK centralization:
  • “Local government has had the guts torn out of it...I would massively decentralize local government, give them more freedom to tax and spend and to borrow, because that's what real devolution means.” (54:24–56:39)
• Praise for decentralized models in Switzerland, Germany, and even China:
  • “Bizarrely, the country that is very good at decentralization is China...once you get away from the big political decisions, there's an enormous amount of active, locally driven economic policy...” (57:02)
• In the UK, only ~4% of taxation/distribution is local, versus 40% in Switzerland. (58:01)

12. International Reflections: Trump, China, and the UK’s Place

• On Trump:
  • "Definitely not...He's doing terrible damage...the fact that he's destroying the brand of Western democracy..." (60:47)
• On global competition:
  • “We now have two superpowers in competition...the Chinese are brilliant at pouring money into science, technology, innovation. And Trump is destroying his own country's capacity, slashing their defense budget, overriding scientists and so on. It's a terrible signal to the world actually.” (61:28)

13. If Vince Cable Were in Charge: Honest Government for the Long Term

• First, set realistic expectations: No miracles, “I can't deliver miracles tomorrow. I can't.” (62:13)
• Industrial strategy: “Concentrate on...training and research and development and supporting the key industries of the future. There aren’t many votes in it, but...that’s what’s very important in the long run.” (62:13)
• On taxes and public services:
  • “If you want to make Britain more like Denmark...basically VAT is 25%, income tax is substantially higher and they pay it because they’re confident at the end of it, this money is going to be used to provide decent education, health, social care and other things…what we seem to be saying is that we want European levels of services, but we want American levels of tax. And...two plus two doesn’t equal five.” (24:19)
• Focus on education funding over health. (62:13)
• On Labour’s plan to put VAT on school fees: Opposed in principle and practice. “I can understand...but actually I think it is a free choice...the Labour government were dishonest about it...it's not actually saving money...a bad idea and opposed it. My party did also.” (65:46)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If politicians have failed, it's by making promises they can't deliver.” — Vince Cable (06:13)
• “The battle line appears to be: one side wants more government, one side wants less government...but we’re fighting over tiny little bits of territory.” — Vince Cable (18:24–18:36)
• “My idea of leadership...would be...I can't promise you anything except Churchill's blood, sweat and tears.” — Vince Cable (20:30)
• “We made a stupid promise which couldn't be delivered, should never have made the promise.” — Vince Cable on Free University Fees (35:43)
• “This is something you can do where you can genuinely make a difference and...decisions that do actually change things fundamentally.” — Vince Cable on entering politics (41:09)
• “When in doubt, decentralize.” — Vince Cable on local government reform (58:50)
• “If you want decent services, we’ve got to damn well pay for it.” — Vince Cable (64:13)

Timestamps: Important Segments

• 00:00 / 03:39 – Vince Cable on historic party realignment
• 04:40 – Series of shocks and national disillusionment
• 06:13 – Over-promising as core political failure
• 08:52 – Changing make-up of Parliament and rise of career politicians
• 16:29 – Cable explains UK’s constrained economic choices
• 20:30 – What true leadership in politics should look like
• 30:52–32:16 – Argument for proportional representation
• 33:40 – On the coalition years as successful governance
• 35:43–37:17 – Tuition fees, compromise, and hard policy choices
• 54:24–56:39 – Why radical decentralization is needed in the UK
• 60:47–61:28 – Cable on Trump, China, and Western democracy
• 62:13 – What Cable would do if he returned to government
• 65:46 – On Labour’s VAT on school fees: principle and policy critique

Vince Cable Now: Life After Politics

• Writing & Academia: Cable has published four books, most recently Money and Power, and is affiliated with LSE, Cambridge, and Nottingham. (67:10)
• Business: Chairs a hydrogen infrastructure startup and a company producing batteries for lorries—notes the difficulty in UK venture funding. (68:28)

Tone and Atmosphere

• The conversation is frank, thoughtful, occasionally self-deprecating, and reflective of Vince Cable’s decades in public service. The tone is earnest, focused on realism, honesty, and the limits but also the possibilities of politics for positive change.

Summary Useful For:
Anyone interested in where UK politics might be heading post-2024 election, what honest policymaking looks like, how government and opposition might (or might not) fix the country’s malaise, and what makes a political career worthwhile despite all its challenges.